Some days I just wake up and live the same day as yesterday. Shower, bus ride, school—rinse and repeat. Today is no different. My alarm goes off at 6:30, but my body beats it to 6:25 instead.
I get myself out of bed, get today's outfit from the laundry pile, and bring the pile back into my room for hanging later. I start the shower. Teeth are brushed and flossed. God, I hate dental hygiene. Can't skip it.
I step into the shower, unhooking my loofah from the valve, then pouring an unnecessary amount of body wash on it. I scrub every crevice. Then my hair, I value it most and begin pouring conditioner on my hands, rubbing it in, and applying it to the edges of my hair. Rinsing my hair is the most important part. I get out of the shower, but realize I forgot to wash my face. I grab my face wash but knock my bottle of conditioner over, whatever. I rub the face wash in my hand, applying it then washing it off with water. I go to my cabinet and there's only crackers because I haven't shopped in a while, there's some dust at the top shelf of the cabinet.
I'm on the bus, the engine humming.
When the bus arrives at a stop, parents say bye to their children, some do and some don't. I didn't even think about waving. I didn't have the option to, but whatever. After getting the children the bus goes on its way. The chatter on the bus is white noise, all voices at the same volume, and it's making me sleepy. The bus stops, and suddenly we're at school.
Oh, the vending machine is refilled with some new drinks. The last time they had a new round of drinks I think was two or so months ago, I remember that day vividly, it was exam day. Anyways, let's see…
"Iced Zero Sugar Black tea"
"Decaffeinated Iced Zero Sugar Black Coffee"
"Pineapple Candy Sports Drink"
"Zero Sugar Oatmilk"
Oh, and guess what! There is
"Water"
Hmm, yeah, real big contenders.
I just grab the water. Making my way up the stairs to the dining hall for breakfast. As I get up the stairs, I see people walk-talk with their friends, I can't make out what they're saying.
I walk into the dining hall, and the stuffiness of the room greets me. After sliding past multiple people, I finally got to the food counter. They have the usual food, tamagoyaki, and rice balls. But one day of the week they sell melon bread. Usually I am never able to get it, but it seems like no one wanted any. I hand the yen to the lady, she tells me with a muffled voice to "Have a good day."
I normally eat breakfast and lunch on the roof before the first class starts, and today, since the bus driver decided to rush to the school early, it's only 7:25 and first class starts at 8:00. My spot is next to the roof door, so I take a quick turn to the left, and there's a girl?
""Hi" She says in a soft voice
Her hair is in a bun and her bangs perfectly cover her forehead, the ends of hair are in a washed out deep violet. She appears to be European, I wanna say eastern. She looks well done, the kind of girl who is subliminally asking to be looked at.
"I sit here." I say with a slight stern, with a little bit of curiosity. I haven't ever talked to someone up here, at least in weeks.
She looks at me with confusion. By the looks of it she has never seen me.
"Oh uh.. I sit here for lunch and breakfast."
"You probably have a different lunch than me, which one?"
"I have C lunch." She says with curiosity in her tone
Her voice sounds familiar, but I don't know where.
C lunch? That's my lunch! I've never even seen her. She wasn't on the other side of me so she must be coming up here for me.
"Wait C lunch? How?"
"I was assigned to C lunch." She says matter-of-factly, with a sort of sarcasm.
"Well yeah of course you were, but I have C lunch to, how have I not ever seen you?"
"You probably just took a wrong turn , I see you and you always go on the left side, not my right."
Hm, I do, let me prove her wrong.
"Can you sit up real quick, I won't take your spot."
She sits up right away and there it is! My pen that I always leave!
"My pen is right there, I always leave it in my spot."
"Oh I must've dropped my own pen. Just check the other side."
I walk to the right side of the roof door, and… sigh… It's right there.
"Okay whatever, you have the left side and I'll take the right side."
She giggles at me, finding it funny.
"Yeah, yeah whatever." I say feigning annoyance.
Five minutes later she goes to my side of the roof door and sits next to me.
"What's your name?" She asks, maybe she got bored from whatever she was doing.
"My name is Ryoma, people call me Ryo though."
"Well, Hello, Ryo." She sounds so sweet. "Are you gonna ask for my name?" She says giggling
"Oh uh, yeah what's your name?" I was about to ask anyway.
"My name is Mika, I'm part Polish, I don't know if you could tell." chuckling to herself
"Actually I could tell, my guess was that you were eastern European." I knew she was, I just wanted her to notice I noticed.
"Well good guess." She is impressed.
"Ryoma is a cool name, your parents are good at naming" She says trying to spark conversation.
"Actually both my parents are dead." I say casually with apathy
"Oh, well I'm sorry." She is taken aback.
"No it's okay, it happened a while ago." I say without introspection
"Well hey I've been in foster care for like 8 years. We're kind of the same I guess." She puts a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"Oh?" She's kind of like me
"It sucks, I wish I could get out." She says with a neutral tone.
"So are you in foster care?" She asks just to make sure
"Actually I am not, my uncle allowed me to live by myself." I say as surprised is etched on her face
"Wait, by yourself?" Her expression stays stagnant
"Yeah, only me." I say calmly as she is still surprised.
"That must be lonely though, even like my friends in foster care are there." She says with concern. "Do you hang out with anybody?" Her eyes have the same expression for a moment.
"Here and there, I have friends, just not best ones."
"Yeah, that's understandable, not a lot of people are best friend worthy I guess."
The bell suddenly interrupts below the roof.
She gets up next to me.
"Alright, see you at lunch Ryo?"
"Yeah of course."
She proceeds to go to her class and I'm left atop the roof.
I've never met someone like that in my life, I just clicked with her instantly, it's like she melds directly into my personality. Not only that, she is so pretty, she has this look on her face that is like she gets me, and I haven't felt that ever.
I pack up my things then go to my class.
The day falls through and I don't remember it well.
The bell rings, signifying lunch, and for some reason I feel like I am being called to lunch all of a sudden, so I pick up my pace.