I tore down the hallway, heart hammering in my chest, and kicked open the classroom door. There was Sena, totally zoned out, fiddling with her hair in her little mirror, pulling these ridiculous faces—so far from her usual tough-girl act it almost made me laugh. For a second, she looked so soft, just a kid lost in her own world.
"Well now," she whispered to her reflection, smirking, "I look perfect."
She had no idea I'd just barged in. Her makeup brush hovered in the air, and her face was all scrunched up—half annoyed, half locked in. Then her eyes darted up. She caught me in the mirror.
Everything was swept away by a storm. The playful mask dropped. Her mouth tightened. She snapped the compact shut with a loud, sharp click.
"What do you want now?" she spat, sarcasm dripping from every word. "Come to rub the wound with salt some more?"
"Hey, listen… about yesterday—"
She didn't even let me finish. She stormed past, eyes locked on anything but me. "Save it. I'm not interested."
She was halfway out the door already, hair flying, every step screaming at me to leave her alone. I couldn't let her just go. I already made my decision. I grab her hands.
"Come on, Sena. Stop acting like a kid and just listen to me!"
She tore her hand away and—
Slap!
The sound cracked through the empty room. My cheek stung, but honestly, my pride hurt more worse than I could ever imagine. Sena's eyes burned—hurt and angry all at once.
"Don't you DARE call me a kid after what you said yesterday!" Her voice shook, and I could see her fighting tears, stubbornly holding it together. "Just leave me alone!"
She spun on her heel and bolted. I stood there, rubbing my cheek, feeling like a total idiot. But I couldn't just let it end like that. I took off after her. By the time I hit the end of the hall, she'd already run straight into Kato.
Kato just stood there, calm as ever, one hand on Sena's shaking shoulder.
"Sena, maybe you should hear him out…"
"No way. He's a jerk."
Then Kato glanced at me, eyebrows raised—she didn't have to say anything. I knew I'd screwed up. Sena wouldn't even look at me, just kept her back stiff, jaw set like a squirrel's mouth full of nuts.
"Let's go," Sena muttered, dragging Kato with her. "I don't want to see him."
I just stood there in the hallway, totally defeated. What am I even doing? None of this is working. Maybe I should just give up.
I started heading back to the classroom, but my phone buzzed. Kato had sent a message:
"Follow us. We are going to the cafe near the school. Now."
Did I really have to? I sighed, but followed anyway. Kept my distance—maybe twenty meters behind, like I was some kind of spy. Only Kato seemed to notice; she kept glancing around, keeping Sena's back turned so she wouldn't catch me tailing them.
At the cafe, Kato picked a seat so Sena faced away from the window. I slipped up along the outside wall, right next to their open window.
People passing by stared, some giggling, some whispering. I ignored them and tried to catch their voices from inside.
The air in the cafe could almost choke everyone, including me. Kato never did know how to handle this stuff. And Sena, who usually cracked jokes and couldn't stop talking, was now sitting silently, like being a person without a mouth.
Kato just stirred her drink with a straw, glancing here and there, not knowing what to do. Sena herself did nothing different.
Come on Kato, do something!
"So, uhh… The weather is quite nice today, right?"
"It's really cloudy. It could rain any second by now. What's nice about that?"
"Oh, uh, yeah… Well, it's not as cloudy as before. Maybe it'll clear up."
I caught Kato through the window, arms spread like, "are you kidding me? That's all you've got?"
Kato realized that. She shook her head and attempted to find a new topic. Sena was a bit suspicious of the girl's expression. Then, she turned around to where I was standing. I immediately jumped away from the window before she spot me.
"What are you looking at?" Sena asked.
"Nothing!"
Sena rolled her eyes and continued stirring her drink. I could tell, she'd seen plenty of Kato's nonsense before. Kato let out this big, tired sigh, like she was finally ready to stop dancing around and focus on the main course.
"So, something happened between you and Romi yesterday, right?"
"Let's not talk about that dumb fuck. We're here to have a good time."
"He really hurt you, didn't he?" Kato's voice floated out, gentle but clear.
"More than you can imagine. He humiliated me in public."
"That's cruel. But why did he do that?"
"I might have... blackmailed him about something. But I was just joking around, playing with him. I didn't really mean to cause him trouble. My intention yesterday was to split the bill with him, I never meant to make him pay for everything!"
But strangely, upon hearing all this, Kato giggled as if there was a clown performing acrobatics in front of her.
Sena glared. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry, sorry! I'm not laughing at you. It's just—maybe I've read too many romance novels. Things like this always end up with somebody secretly in love, messing things up because they don't understand how to show it properly about how they feel."
I nearly choked on my own saliva. Seriously? Where did Kato get that from? Was she trying to start a fire?
"Stop joking around! The situation in real life is not the same as the teenage fantasies you nerds are always blabbering about. This is the real world, duh! " Sena practically yelled, her voice cracking with panic.
Kato was silent for a moment, she frowned slightly and bowed her head upon hearing what Sena had just said.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Maybe Romi is right, I really am that annoying and only think about myself."
"It's fine, you don't have to apology. But… if you don't mind me asking, how do you feel about Romi? For real."
Sena looked away, chewing her words. "Angry. Hurt. Disappointed. He's just… he's a jerk. He never gets it."
"No, I mean before yesterday. How do you feel about him?"
Sena hesitated, and for a second, she seemed almost lost. "I… I don't know. I never thought about it. He was just this fun classmate. Easy to tease, and his reactions always cracked me up. He'd get annoyed, sure, but it never lasted. That's what made being around him fun, I guess."
"So you were just trying to get his attention, in the worst way possible?"
Sena grabs a napkin and chucks it at Kato, her face going bright red. "I swear, if you keep this up, the next thing I throw will be a plate."
I don't really understand what's going on right now. Honestly, Sena's words made me feel embarrassed. I felt like I was in the wrong place, eavesdropping on the conversation between two girls in a cafe.
Eventually, they stood up to leave. I waited by the door, watching people walk past, some of them still trying to hide their laughter.
Sena stepped outside first, pausing in the doorway. Her hands shook, one clenched in a fist, the other squeezing her bag strap so hard her knuckles turned white. There was anger there, sure, but also surprise—and something else she probably didn't want to show.
"You... The fuck you're doing here?!"