The bell rang, signalling that homeroom had just ended. Everyone got up from their seats and started filing out of class.
As I got up, I noticed Miss Lee eyeing me down, but I tried to play dumb and act as if I didn't notice. Maybe with any other teacher, I could've pulled it off, but considering Julie's probably talked about me and my personality, she could see through this much, at least.
Okay, okay, I'll try. You don't have to keep staring at me, you hag.
She seemed to get the message—minus the last part—and gave me a satisfied nod.
Suddenly, Luna tapped me on the shoulder, her voice freeing me from Miss Lee's gaze.
"Whatcha spacing out for?"
I turned around. "It's nothing. Anyway, are you ready to go?"
"Yep!"
For some reason, my eyes dropped to Luna's right hand—the one holding her bag. Although it was faint, I could see it trembling.
Without really thinking about it, I took the bag from her and slung it over my shoulder.
Luna flinched as I did, staring at me with her mouth open.
"Whoa—what's gotten into you all of a sudden? You never do anything this nice!"
She mainly said it as a joke, but I knew she kind of meant it, too. I didn't give her an answer. I just rolled my eyes and walked out of class. She followed.
"When did you hurt your arm?" I asked, my eyes straight ahead.
Luna's head snapped toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the shock on her face.
"How did you find out?"
I sighed. "Your hand was shaking, but it wasn't shaking this morning. So I assumed you hurt your shoulder or something when you shot the ball."
Luna let out an embarrassed chuckle and averted her gaze. "Hahaha… yeah. I put a lot more strength into it than I thought. Still—"
She gave me a small jab. "It doesn't hurt that much, though. So I can hold my bag just fine."
I shrugged. "Well, too late to say that now. You can carry it for the rest of the day after this if you want to so badly, then."
"Ughhhh—just when I thought you were getting a little bit nicer. But…"
She turned to me, looking at me with a bright smile. "I sincerely appreciate it, Hoshino!"
I didn't say anything to that. I just kept walking, my eyes fixed on the distance. Or at least, I tried to—but my steps felt… irregular, like I'd forgotten how to walk. I wasn't sure if Luna noticed, but she let out a soft sigh and turned her gaze forward as well.
"So anyway," Luna said, breaking the silence. "Why did you get called out into the hallway?"
"Miss Lee wanted me to help Mei with the whole 'people are relying on her' thing," I grumbled annoyedly.
Luna leaned in, slightly surprised. "Really? Why you, of all people, when Remi's literally right there?"
I couldn't help but look down as I recalled Miss Lee's words from earlier.
"This is the perfect chance for you to get a girlfriend!"
It should've been easy to joke about—and I had no doubt Luna would've found it funny—but I just couldn't get the words out of my throat.
Noticing my hesitation, Luna asked, "What's wrong?"
"Well…" My voice cracked just slightly. "Apparently, her reason was that she wanted to set us up—though I doubt that's her real reason."
"Huh…" Luna rested her fingers on her chin, her brows knitting as she thought. "You and Mei as a couple…"
She let out a long, resigned groan. "Yeah—I just can't see it. You guys are wayyy too different. I mean—she's an angel! And you're…" Luna's eyes quickly scanned me from top to bottom. "Yeah. You'd just corrupt her. Steer clear."
I scoffed. "That's what I thought, too. Still, since she asked me, I kind of have to do something about it now."
"Any ideas?"
I opened my mouth, but all that came out was a defeated, "...Nope."
Luna opened hers as well, as if she had something to add, before shutting it again—she had nothing useful either.
"Well, that's not my problem. At least you have all day to figure it out."
Luna lightly smacked me on the back. I whipped my head around, startled, but she just gave me a big thumbs up.
"Good luck!" she said with a grin.
I sighed. "Thanks—I guess."
With that, we headed toward our first-period class without another word.
***
It had been thirty minutes since the first period started. I had been wedged between Luna and Yu's desks, making it easier to help the two of them if I had to.
Surprisingly enough, however, I hadn't had to help them once, so their studying must've been going fine.
Usually, I'd spend the free time on my phone. I tried to at one point, but hearing students all around the class calling out to Mei made it difficult to do even that. So, I gave up and ended up just watching it all play out.
Just like yesterday, Mei didn't have a moment to herself. The second she finished helping one student, she'd get pulled to another.
A sudden weight pressed on my shoulders as I imagined what Miss Lee would say if she saw my "help."
I dragged my hands down my face as I let out a deep, muffled groan.
Just what the hell do you expect me to do?
Over the past thirty minutes, the only idea I'd come up with was the simplest and most obvious one—get someone else to help the other students. For example, let's say we got Remi. Sure, things might go well at first, but if they asked Remi a question that even she couldn't answer, they'd go right back to asking Mei. It was a temporary fix at best.
And getting Mei to flat-out turn them down was off the table. That wasn't who she was.
Ughhhhhh—I don't know! This is impossible!
That was when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was perfect timing, considering I was about to give up.
I pulled my phone out and turned it on. My eyes widened as I stared at the notification.
It was a message from Julie.
While Julie and I were on good terms, we never texted each other unless it was something business-related, like 'Hey, I'm stopping by your house later today, so unlock the door and leave a drink for me,' or something like that.
I opened the chat and read her message:
I calmly typed out my response.
Of course, just because she was my cousin didn't mean she was spared from my typos.
I figured she'd reply later since she was at work and was about to put the phone away until my message turned to read.
Her response came shortly after.
Even over text, it was clear she wouldn't take no for an answer. So I swallowed my reluctance and sent a single thumbs-up—one that she didn't read.
Just what is up with all these adults telling me what to do today?!
Still, there was no point in complaining, so I moved on.
"Hey," I said, addressing Yu and Luna. "My cousin asked me to meet her at our restaurant after school, but I told her I'm studying with you guys so–"
Luna shot up from her seat, the sound of her chair scraping against the floor cutting me off.
"No way! Why don't we just study there then?!"
Yu stood up too and gave Luna a vigorous nod.
"That's exactly what I was thinking! I was just thinking I haven't been there in a while, so it's perfect timing!"
Both Luna and Yu turned to me, their eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Sooo, what do you say?" Luna nudged.
"I hope you know, even if you say no, Luna and I are going anyway," Yu added.
I looked between two of them before letting out a resigned sigh, sinking into my chair.
"You don't have to be so forceful," I grumbled. "I was going to invite you anyway…"
"That's perfect!" Luna chirped.
She pulled out her phone and started typing furiously, her nails clacking loudly against the screen. "We can invite Sora, Remi, and even Mei while we're at it!"
"Wa–" But before the word could even leave my mouth, my phone buzzed in my hand. I looked down to see that Luna had already sent an invitation to everyone in the group chat, letting them know that we were meeting up at my family's restaurant after school.
I stared at the message blankly, the letters blurring together as my eyes unfocused.
Wow… today really isn't my day.