Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 5-Paint it Green

The next day, I was actually excited to get to school, and I couldn't remember the last time I was excited to get anywhere. When I got to the classroom, my heart sunk. No Saki. Did she lie? I sat down and stared at her empty desk.

"Uh...hi? Are you okay?" Hiromasa asked.

"Fine." I answered.

There were still a few minutes left until the late bell. I guess I shouldn't have expected her to be punctual. After all, she had already missed two days. The minutes ticked by quickly. I'm sure Hiromasa was trying to talk to me about something, but I couldn't focus. What was I going to do if she didn't show up? Should I walk back to that apartment building, or finally take the hint and leave her alone? Less than a full minute remained when she finally walked through the door. My heart started beating faster, which I'd come to expect when seeing her now.

"Wipe that stupid surprised look off your face, loser." She passed behind me and pushed the back of my head forward before taking her seat. "I said I'd be here, didn't I?"

"Good morning, Saki." I said. "I have to admit, I was getting kind of worried."

"Yeah, well, you should be grateful. I wouldn't turn up for just anyone."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Yeah. Yeah." She leaned back in her chair. "Let's just hope the day goes by quickly."

The bell rang and Mr. Nagashima started the morning routine. Hiromasa smacked my arm.

"What the hell?" He mouthed silently.

I shrugged at him.

The class continued as normal. Saki looked a little bit unkempt and was far from the most poised one in the classroom, but I couldn't begin to care about that. I couldn't keep my eyes off her anyway. She'd started doodling the minute class started and hadn't written down a single word off the board. Oh well. Baby steps, right? At least I'd gotten her to come to class. She didn't really draw anything substantial. It was more in the way of swirling lines, shapes, and patterns.

A little later in the day, I had to tear myself away from Saki's picture show to go to the bathroom. I'd probably only made it about fifteen feet before Hiromasa came chasing after me.

"Again," he said, catching up to me. "What the hell?"

"What?" I asked.

"Don't 'what' me. How is it that you break up with a girl just two days ago and you're already on a first name basis with another one?" He held up two fingers and jammed them in my face. "Two days!"

I pushed his hand down. "It just sort of happened."

"What? How? She hasn't even been at school."

"We kind of hung out last night." I rubbed the back of my head and focused on the ceiling.

"You what?" he almost shouted.

"Will you keep it down?" I gazed around, making sure he didn't draw any attention.

"What is it with you? You must have some sort of secret. Teach me your ways, master." He put his palms together above his bowed head.

"Come on. Knock it off. Like I said, it just sort of happened. I saw her at a restaurant and followed her."

He raised his head. "So you're telling me to stalk women? That's your secret?"

"No." I put both my hands up. "That is not at all what I'm saying."

"Are you going to hang out again?"

I shrugged. "Probably. That's kind of up to her, I guess."

"Introduce me."