Don't Play With Tall Flowers

Chapter 1

Still in a realm of fatigue and boredom, Okawa was forced to listen and participate in the repetitive mathematics class. While staring at the half-finished worksheet in front of herself along with Okawa's mound of notes a light tap caressed her shoulder. As she turned around, Okawa faced another student, hunched over the desk at her rear.

"Okawa-san, what's the answer to question 3?" The student discreetly whispered from across tables, trying to avoid Sensei Aoyama's line of vision.

"I have no idea." Okawa clearly lied as she had already filled out almost all the equations. They stared blankly at the sheet in front of Okawa, then Okawa herself. 'Kawa flashed a quick smile before rotating her body back into its original state. She fiddled at the brim of her socks with the tip of her school shoes, waiting for the stopwatch on the teacher's desk to stop ticking. Tick after tock, the abrupt ring of the clock awoke.

"Thank you everyone, you may hand in your sheets." Sensei Aoyama professed, still sitting in his black-cushioned armchair. Okawa arose from the stiff, wood chair below her, pacing over to Sensei's desk. A student at Kanagawa Prefecture High must obtain fair grades and a good reputation, as Kanagawa High is known for its high percentage of students that enroll into college.

The calm lunch bell rung, and all students exited their classrooms, heading to the courtyard to eat their lunches. The outside yard is an incredible garden, with plants galore. The ground displayed evergreen needles and extruded a pungent yet sweet scent, the sky illuminated the fluffy clouds, you could almost make shapes out of them. Among the loud and disorderly fashioned students, Okawa detected her friends in the far crowd. She shifted her feet along the coarse pavement, avoiding the rigid cracks scattered along the concrete. The middle of our courtyard had an elegant fountain, cement swans were implanted on the rim of the circular water-bearer. Kanagawa's third years would usually sit in compact groups, chit-chatting amongst each other about their collage choices and extracurricular sports. Our second years would most likely be participating in their clubs if not hanging out in the library. First year students associate near the outside of the corridor, exactly where Okawa and her friends domain.

"Okawa, over here!" A familiar, squeaky, high-pitch vocal hollered in Okawa's field of hearing. She swiveled her figure backwards, Okawa spotting her best friends: Ikeda-san, her brown locks are distinguishable from anywhere. Next to the feminine girl stood a daunting male, Fukunaga-kun. Okawa's feet fumbled over each other as she jogged to the wooden bench where Ikeda sat.

"You've grown a bit, Okawa." The male remarked, a hint of sarcasm fed into the statement.

"Don't flatter me, maybe one day I'll be as tall as you, hm?" She teased.

"A girl can only dream." Fukunaga asserted, lowering his torso to Okawa's level, staring into her optical, it was almost intimidating. Okawa parked herself atop of the rectangular bench, beside Ikeda. Before Okawa could exchange words with her, Ikeda dug her hand into her back pocket, digging out a half-crushed chocolate bar.

"You usually come to school without lunch, so I got this for you!" A soft grin then escapes from her mouth.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't really like chocolate by itself." Okawa's teeth shuffle into a smile, at a loss of words. Ikeda's face exposed a perplexed, disoriented expression.

"Oh, that's okay" Ikeda's expression darkened, a flush of soft despair flashed in her eyes, she then blinked it away.

Lunch had ended and Okawa exited her physical education class early. The hallways were typically drowsy and empty at this time of day, but Okawa heard soft scuffling and a feminine voice, she sounded quite... troubled. She sped up her pace and followed the sound. She saw two third years towering over someone, she had blonde hair, the traditional school uniform – that's Kitamura-san! Okawa's legs distanced each other, running toward Kitamura, her shoes clinking on the wooden-board floors.

"Good day, Kitamura! Are you still up for our plans after school?" Okawa panicked, she didn't know what to say, really. Her pupils widened, her back inched further away from the two boys

"Ah, yes!" Kitamura's eyes greeted Okawa with a "thank you". Those boys shouldn't be perverts and creep on a vulnerable girl; Kitamura and Okawa quickly scurried out of the school premises.

They both sat down on the rim of the outdoor fountain, Kitamura's hand millimeters away from Okawa's.

"Thank you, Okawa-san," Her feet overlapped in an act of shyness, "I'm glad you stood up for me."

"It's no problem, do those boys harass you all the time?" She inquired.

"Well, its not just those boys," She paused "it's all of them."

"But why do they hassle you all the time?" Okawa questioned; her eyes sauntered over the blonde girl's features.

"I don't know, maybe it's because they think I'm pretty." Her breath quivered, "But, I never asked to look this way."

Kitamura's words were said with such honor, but with such sadness. Anything she said sank into Okawa's mind, like water to sand.

"Hey, Okawa? What is your phone number?" She chirped. Okawa's eyes lit, she ravaged her pockets, pulling out her silver tinted cellphone.

"Sure, I'm usually not on my phone often though." Okawa enunciated; the two girls exchanged phone numbers, then parted ways shortly after.

Sora <3:

hello okawa-san!

seen 6:43 P.M.

Sora <3:

okawa?

Keiko22:

Sorry, I didn't see your message until now. What?

Sora <3:

oh... i just wanted to know what you were doing :(

Keiko22:

I'm at home.

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I just made the book written in third person, trying something new.