"He—y—wa—ke—u—p"
My eyes trembled.
Is someone… talking to me?
My body began to shake, a rhythmic shove against my shoulder that felt miles away.
"Wak—p."
Just a little longer…
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced my thigh. It was accompanied by a voice that was finally loud enough to break through the sleepy haze.
"Wake up!"
Ahhhh, fine!
My eyes shot open. "Luna, please! Just five min–" I turned, ready to snap at Luna for waking me up, but the words disappeared. It wasn't Luna. It was Mei.
What the hell is she doing? And what is hurting me?
I shifted my gaze to the source of pain. Mei's hand was resting on my lap. Maybe in another world, it would've been the start of some youthful, high school romance—but it wasn't this one.
Mei had dug her nails into my thigh, creasing my pants. The pain shot through my leg and straight into my head, instantly wiping away the last traces of sleep.
I looked back at her. She was leaning quite close to my face with a concerned expression.
You know, if you're that concerned, you can stop pinching me.
I grabbed her by the shoulder and gently pushed her away, about a whole thirty centimetres. Not too close, but not too far.
I tried to put on my most respectful smile, but given the circumstances, it was more of a pained grimace. "Uh, what are you doing?"
Mei's brows furrowed slightly—as if she were making sure I was okay—before returning to her own seat.
"Sorry if I woke you up. I tried to do it gently, but you were in a deep sleep, so I had to be a little more forceful. Anyway, the assembly is about to end, and I didn't want you to get in trouble…"
She lightly clutched the hem of her skirt, her head tilted slightly downward as if she had done something wrong—even though that was not the case.
Damn… now I kinda feel bad.
I let out a long, tired sigh, resetting my expression to one more indifferent as I leaned back into the chair. "It's fine, I don't care. Thanks for having my back."
Her head shot up. Slowly, the guilt seemed to fade as a relieved smile spread across her face. "Yeah... anytime! You're my friend, after all."
A stale silence hung between us for a moment. It wasn't awkward by any means, just a sign that the conversation had come to an end.
Still, given that she had gone out of her way to ensure I didn't get in trouble, it was only right that I kept it going for formalities' sake at least.
It isn't right if we only talked for 'business.' We were supposed to be friends first, after all, even if we weren't the closest.
"Soooo, you wanna fill me in on what's happening?" I asked somewhat sarcastically. "Try not to take as long as the principal, though."
Mei giggled softly. "Sure! I'll do that as we are walking to class. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Besides…"
I glanced over at Luna. A small line of drool leaked from her mouth as she snoozed happily.
Lucky bastard…
"Luna will be half asleep anyway."
"Okay. Make sure you fill her in, too, after, okay?"
"Sure."
The principal loudly cleared his throat into the microphone, ending our conversation. It couldn't have been timed any better.
"And that concludes our assembly. You may now head back to your class."
The teachers began gathering their classes and guiding them back to their rooms.
I quickly kicked Luna in the shin—returning the favour. It isn't fair if she's the only one who gets a peaceful sleep, after all.
She jolted up instantly and looked around in confusion. When she realized everyone was leaving, she hurried out of her seat and followed the crowd.
Ever since we left the auditorium, she hadn't stopped slouching, yawning, or rubbing her eyes.
Yeah… she's gonna be like that for a while.
There was no point in walking next to someone who's barely conscious, so I left her side and approached Mei.
Still, I made sure to keep Luna in my peripheral vision—just in case.
Mei noticed me coming up from behind her, so she subtly created some distance between herself and her friends.
For the first time since maybe elementary school, we were walking beside each other through the halls.
"Soooo," I asked casually. "How's it going to work?"
"Well, for starters, it won't be mixed-grade teams," Mei explained. "The only teammates we have will be our own homeroom class. It's every class for themselves. Although each year will have its own winning class."
"That's quite the change. I guess they wanted it to do something different this year."
Mei nodded firmly. "Probably. Furthermore, the two colours will be black and red."
I couldn't help but scoff. "Aren't those literally our uniform colours? Is this supposed to be some 'school spirit' stuff?"
I said it as a joke, but Mei responded as bluntly as ever. "Yeah. The principal wanted us to feel more connected to our school."
"...I was joking, but I guess not. Anyway, what are the games going to be?"
"It's just your usual. The only difference is, there's going to be a secret 'special' event on the day of."
I didn't say anything as she continued explaining the details. As I listened, I found myself staring at her face—specifically her eyelashes. They were probably extensions, but they looked so real...
I know Lily and Luna would kill for lashes like that. Lily's birthday is in a few months. Maybe I should ask her what she uses–
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"
I blinked, reality slowly settling in once more, before taking a step back. While I'd been busy staring at her make-up, she had stopped talking and drifted closer.
Mei let out an exasperated sigh. "Why are you even asking me to fill you in when you aren't listening?"
"I was listening," I stated flatly. Not in defence, just as a fact.
I spent the next three minutes repeating every word she had said since we left the auditorium. When I finished, she looked away, looking slightly bashful.
"Okay, I know I wanted you to listen and everything," she murmured, twirling her hair around her finger. "But I didn't think you listened to ALL of it..."
I gave her a simple shrug. "It's the power of having a little sister. I can pay attention to you talking while doing something else. She'd complain non-stop if I didn't."
For some reason, for just a split second, Mei stopped, a faint, knowing light flickering in her eyes.
The very next moment, that light was gone, replaced with the cute tilt of her head. "Oh yeah… what were you looking at?"
"Your eyelashes," I said immediately. Just as the words left my mouth, I realized that it could have been taken the wrong way. But it was too late to take it back, so there was no use in worrying about it.
Maybe if it were anyone else, they would have taken it that way, but Mei wasn't like that—and she should know I'm not either.
"Hm? Is there something wrong with them?" she asked innocently.
"I just thought they were really long. Not in a bad way."
Mei's eyes widened, and she gave me a bright, delighted smile. "Thank you! I worked really hard to get them like this!"
"Wait…" I muttered, letting her words sink in. "They aren't glued on?"
Mei stared at me blankly. "Uh, no?"
I let out an overdramatic gasp. "Damn… My sister would be so jealous of you. You have no idea."
Her gaze seemed to soften as she giggled lightly behind her hand. "I'll take that as a compliment."
After that, we spent the rest of the walk talking about random things like what event we wanted to participate in, what we did over the weekend, and so on.
Eventually, we arrived back in our homeroom classroom. Mei and I split off and sat down at our own desks.
The teacher waited for everyone to settle before writing the events down on the chalkboard and turning toward the class.
"Okay, starting now, we will be deciding who will be participating in each event."
The teacher grabbed a ruler and pointed it toward the Relay section written on the board. "We need four people for relay. Is anyone up for it?"
No one raised their hands. It made sense; no one wanted to be the one responsible for the loss—should we lose. Furthermore, not everyone wanted to participate in the actual event.
I wasn't any better. If I had to choose between running and doing nothing, I'd choose to do nothing almost all the time.
Still—while the teacher may have understood where we were coming from—being the one responsible for pushing the students, she had to continue pressing on.
"Guys, please…" she muttered, looking slightly disheartened.
Suddenly, a hand rose. "If no one wants to do it, I can."
Every head in the class turned. Of course, it was Mei. Just like every other year.
I let out a deep, internal breath as I rested my head against the desk and closed my eyes.
Something tells me it's going to be a long sports festival for her…