Brooding Guy, Quiet Girl

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: "I'm sorry."

Cell phone set with an alarm, I close my eyes and hope the hour ends fast. I may be an unfit slacker, but I can always consider sleeping an exercise. You see, the human body uses up energy at all times, even when you sleep. Hence, by that logic, sleeping is an exercise. My exercise.

...

It is highly advised that you do not follow this train of thought.

Count the sheep, count the sheep... Ein, zwei, drei... I don't know why I'm counting in German... Vier, funf... sechs. Haha, sex. It's pronounced 'zeks' but that mistake is so commonly made that even I ended up falling for it.

Oh, what the hell am I doing? Go to sleep, Reiji, go to sleep... Have a pleasant dream where terrorists attack this school and leave you the sole survivor because you were hidden under the stairs...

Tap. Ta-

Dammit, it's Alice again. Her footsteps sound the same like they did ten minutes ago. And to think I was just about to get some time alone with my beloved staircase.

"Okay, what do you want?" I utter, stepping out from the small space. "Why are you here?"

Who am I kidding, she's not even going to answer the question. Damn foreigners...

Her eyes are stuck toward the ground, and a feeling of gloominess emanates from her. This is really none of my business. But since she's heading to my territory, I should at least figure out how to push her away.

"The Music Club." The thought strikes my mind at the precise moment I needed it to. Thank you brain! "I thought you were going to join it. Had second thoughts?"

She shakes her head.

"So what are you waiting for?"

She doesn't even look at me. Her focus shifts to her trembling feet.

"D-Don't tell me you want me to join? N-No thanks! I've never played an instrument in my life!"

She shakes her head again.

"Well?!" I grab her shoulders, squeezing on them. "What do you want from me?!"

She looks up, letting me see her expression. It's comparable to a doe watching its home set ablaze. Her soft lips fidget, trapping a thousand words that I'm sure she wants to say. Her eyes are arched down, a look of developing sadness, though missing the tears.

They say tears are a woman's ultimate weapon, so a sad expression would be their ultimate sub-weapon.

I'm not a fool. I won't fall for it. It's just crocodile tears. Manipulation. I see this game you're playing, and you won't dupe me, Alice.

"Whatever..." I roll my eyes. "Look, if you have nothing to do here, you should seriously head back to the club."

She shakes her head yet again, and that's when it hit me.

Did they reject her registration?

"Hold on, did they even let you in the club?"

She bites her lip, grumbling faintly.

"So you got rejected?"

She closes her eyes, and nods slowly.

"Did they give you a chance to show them your capabilities?"

Her hands clench into fists, and she shakes her head.

...

What the hell.