Thursday

“She isn’t here.” Mark found himself saying these words out loud the day after the fateful incident. The words that stung his tongue were more of a question rather than a statement. Mark felt the painstaking guilt wash over him as he eyes the girl’s usual seat empty and bare.

Had he scared her off with his last words last time?

 Impossible, the girl had smiled that him that time right? Maybe she had just done it as a form of polite refusal or some sort of way to cleanly get away from him.

Reflecting on last night’s events, he did recall the girl looking alarmed at some point of their conversation.

And that was all it took to convince himself that he did scare her off with his shady ways.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…” he began muttering under his breath while he took out his frustration on the door, kicking it with such force that it had slammed close with a loud thud.

His aggravation was cut short when he heard something rustle from above. “Crp, somebody was here?” worried that someone from the faculty or any of the authorities heard or witnessed him thrashing the door in anger.

“Hello?” the voice was fleeting and puzzled.

And not to mention familiar and warm.

He turned around to face the source of it and was not disappointed. Climbing down the stairs with small cautious steps, she smiled when she found the familiar figure standing lamely near the door. “Oh it’s just you.”

She muttered under her breath, her tone was dripping with relief. “I thought you were a teacher coming out for a smoke or something.” She added, her voice was airy and tone was oddly friendly.

Mark could only smile at this, both bewildered and delighted “So I didn’t scare her off.”

“So why were you kicking the door.” she asked, a teasing smile plastered on her face as she went closer to the boy.

“Because I was frustrated because I thought I had scared you away.” He didn’t say that of course, it was far too stupid and not to mention awkward on both sides if he had admitted this .

Growing fretful under the girl’s taunting stare he made up an excuse most fitting for the situation “There was a cockroach on the door. I stomped on it.” He smiled for good measure and luckily the girl bought it without a second more thought about it.

“I see. Good on you then.” Her tone made it sound that she had been friends with him for much more long than they had really began talking to each other.

Not that Mark minded though. He grinned and remembered the girl climbing down from the rooftop earlier.

“Hey” he looked at the girl who still wore her sweater under her blazer, but unlike the days before, had the hood down. It was still early, as the sun still hadn’t made a move towards dusk, making it easier for the boy to make out her features.

Mark only then realized that she was far more prettier than he had made out of her yesterday. Pushing those thought away, he asked. “What were you doing at the rooftop? Isn’t it off limits for winter?” He teased with the same friendly tone the girl had, thinking that he had he upperhand that time.

“It isn’t winter anymore.” The girl responded while pouting.

“Eh?”

“Dummy. It’s spring now.” She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the midst of all the chill one would still feel down to his bones if they wore one less layer of clothes.

“The sweater you’re wearing doesn’t really prove your point though.” He pointed out, an accusing finger was directed at the girl.

The girl, who suddenly seemed flustered answered in a rush and slur of words. “Me wearing a sweater doesn’t prove or disprove anything.” She defended. “It’s all about the cherry blossoms.”

“Cherry Blossoms?” Mark wondered what the girl meant, but he was given only a second of confusion as the girl continued her argument.

“The cherry blossoms near my house are already blooming. And once the cherry blossoms start blooming, it automatically signifies the beginning of spring.” She answered with confidence that made Mark wonder whether or not she was pulling his leg or not.

”You have a point.” He agrees, as he recalls seeing a tree or two already in bloom.

“Of course I am.” She replied, a big grin on her lips. “Wanna go to the roof top with me then?” she offered while pivoting on her heels and climbed up the stairs. He did nothing but quietly follow the strangely friendly girl and wonder what’ll happen next in this uncanny series of events.

To say that they had used up all their conservations that day was most accurate.

 It seems that the moment the two of them had climbed up to the rooftop, and felt the cool “spring” breeze against their faces was also the moment when they were slapped with reality of how weird their current situation was.

In the end, they ended up wallowing in the cold as they sat with a compromising distance from each other as they exchanged awkward small talk, and mostly read their respective reading materials.

The night marked its end when the girl stood up from the bench took her bag and gave a boy a smile. It was much more than just polite but not as much as how friendly it seemed earlier.

“I had fun.” Her opening remark caught him by surprise, though it wasn’t unpleasant. “See you again tomorrow?” and to say that he was surprised just now would be an understatement.

He broke in a big crooked smile and replied “See you again tomorrow.” Repeating her words,in a much more assuring tone.

She laughed and turned to leave. “I’ll be off then” she bid.

Mark hesitated on whether saying this would be good or not, but he risked everything on the line and decided to go with it “Be careful on the way home.”

She stopped in her tracks and smiled “I will.” Mark nodded in response and the girl continued in her tracks.

Despite the girl not seeing, Mark waved his hand until the girl was out of his sight.

Friday

“What’s that?” Mark asked as he plopped himself beside the girl who was reading something out of her regular series.

They were at the rooftop again, and unlike the previous days, the school was still buzzing with excitement as it had only marked its end.

 Mark who had wanted to get to the rooftop earlier had been unfortunately held up by some annoying brats (AKA Jackson and JB) who wouldn’t let him leave the classroom, had he not promise to go somewhere with them during vacation.

He promised despite not knowing any of the details as so they could get out of his hair, but they still wouldn’t let him leave. Pressing things further, the two asked why he left in such a hurry the day before.

Did you have a hot date? – Courtesy of Jackson.

Can he even pick up girls? – Courtesy of Jaebeom.

He finally got them out of his hair when he said something about things left to do at his club and managed to shove the two barbarians out of his way and ran as fast as he could through the hall.

“Check this out.” the girl said while giving him a magazine.

It had been opened at a specific page, the words ‘GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER’ were etched in large, bold letters in bright colors that would have hurt his eyes if he had stared at it for too long.

He looked up from the colorful madness in his hands and gave her a perplexed look.

“You’re kidding me right?”

In which the girl shook her head defiantly.

“Sadly, I don’t know whether I should read this article or not. But all I know that this is one outdated magazine.” He said, poking fun at the poor thing.

The girl puffed out her cheeks, clearly frustrated by the boy’s denseness. “I brought it, thinking it would be easier to get know each other… and to avoid awkward silences afterwards.”

“Ahhh…” Mark said, a bit dumbfounded at his own thick skull and remembered that things did get a bit uncomfortable last night. “She does have a point.”

“So, do you want to try it out or not?”

Mark mused as to feign thinking about it, and smiled at the girl in the end. “Why not?”