As soon as I got home, I threw down my bags and continued my stomp up the stairs into my room. I quickly grew more furious after seeing the state that I left it in.
"What kind of a dumpster is this!?" I screeched and screwed up my face. There were books and bits and bobs, that I must've been tinkering with the night before, flooding all about the floor from my desk. Not to mention all the packets piled in a mass of various snacks. After kicking about the unorganised junk on the floor as I trudged along, I took an agressive sip from a carton of banana milk I had leftover and plodded towards my bedside. I sunk my face into my pillow and let out a frustrated scream for only the unlucky feathers with my pillow to hear.
"What's all this racket?" I heard a soft voice query as light steps grew louder. "Miyuki, you know you should really clean this… place." It was my sister, Umiko. She realised that I was in a bad mood and went straight into her consolation phase. "Oh dear, Miyuki, what could possibly have been so bad today? I didn't get any complaints from head office, which was different… and quite surprising, but still! You should be happy! No problems caused, right!?" She stepped through the mess, reluctant to do so, and stood by me. I sat up and cuddled my pillow — squeezing it with as much force as I possibly could.
"It's the new boy." I hid my face in discomfort.
"Miyuki!? Are you ill!? Did you just say a boy!?" Umiko gasped and patted around my forehead to check if I was hot. "You never talk about boys! What!? What happened!?" She was really excited. To her this probably seemed like one of those SISTER SPILLS TEA moments in some cringeworthy drama. I could tell she was loving it as she eagerly closed in on my face and whispered: "Do you like him?" Within no time I threw my pillow at her face, leaped away from her and yelled.
"EW! NO, OF COURSE NOT! THAT'S ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING! NOT AT ALL! NO, NO!" Realising I had stupidly thrown away my implement of disguise, I covered my face with my hands to prevent Umiko from seeing how red I was glowing from the humiliation of the truth. "Urgh! Somebody get him out of my head!" I wailed.
"Your mood swings are atrocious, I hope you realise one day." Umiko laughed, though I could tell she was slightly annoyed at the fact I threw my pillow at her.
"I'm sorry! I'm just so confused! I've only met him today and it's not even like we spoke for long or had a proper conversation! How do you know when you like someone!? It's Illogical!" I snatched my pillow back from her and used it for comfort. "How did you know that you liked Nova?" I was disinclined to ask, but I needed to know if what I was feeling was what they call love at first sight.
"Me and Nova?" Umiko giggled to herself and walked to look outside of my bedroom window. "I knew that, deep in my heart, he was the one for me. We kind of just… fell for each other. Of course we had known each other a little while before we became an official couple, though, but sometimes love is just instant and happens within a few moments. So it doesn't matter if you had only met this person today, or maybe even years ago, but of you feel that you love them — then it must be love. You see where I'm coming from, right?" She left out a sigh as she turned back to me and I had the most bewildered face on. "There's no logic to it, Miyuki. Sometimes life just throws things at you that you'll never fully understand, but that doesn't mean you just dispose all previous knowledge of its existence or ignore the fact that it's there. You should embrace it, let it bloom and blossom into something truly magnificent."
"I dunno..." I groaned.
"Well a nice first step is actually talking to the person. How about you say hi and ask for his number tomorrow?" She smiled at me and I nodded slowly, already thinking about how I would go about asking. "And remember, Miyuki, you don't always have to plan things. Sometimes being spontaneous is a good way to convey personality. Just be yourself. It's the easiest and most admirable thing anyone can do." Her hands were on my shoulders and she gave me a stern glare.
"Alright." I gave her a smile back.
I'm going to do it then. Tomorrow, at school, I AM going to...
...
"I'm gonna ask for his number." It was the next day's lunch period and Cameron declared, standing up and preparing herself to go over to Daichi's lonesome table.
"What!?" I shrieked.
"Are you actually?" Valerie was genuinely surprised at her outburst.
"Yep. Let's do it. I'm decided." Cameron nodded, enthusiastically.
"If he gives you his number, I'll give you a tenner." Valerie gave her a competitive smirk.
"Challenged accepted."
"W-wait!" Although I called her name, Cameron was already in a mindset fixed on her dare to succeed in receiving his number. She walked proudly up to him and there was an aura of confidence surrounding her. I began to panic, as that was my plan. She stole my idea! Well... my sister's idea, BUT STILL! His number was supposed to be mine! Surely she wouldn't just give some random girl his number. He's far too anti-social for that kind of act. He won't even try to make friends or hold a decent conversation or accept a sincere apology properly! There's no way in hell Cameron was getting that guy's number just like that.
However, she came back far too happy and, just like that, she had gotten his number with ease. Both mine and Valerie's mouths dropped in astonishment.
"Pick up those mouths from the floor ladies because your girl has just gotten Mr Cutie's number! No need to applaud me, just pass me the money and I'll be on my way." Whilst Cameron did a little celebratory dance, me and Valerie were stunned and stayed in silence. What the hell? I tilted my head to see around Cameron and get a look at Daichi. Now he was on his phone, glaring at it intently. Was he smiling?
"Are you sure you didn't bribe him?" Valerie asked.
"No! I just told him my name and said that I was interested in him and then I kindly asked for his number and he gave it to me. He's really sweet!" Cameron began daydreaming and suddenly we heard a chirpy ring, which came from her phone. She whipped the device from out of her pocket and gasped. "Oh… my… god!"
"WHAT!?" Me and Valerie both jumped up to see what was on her screen.
"He's just texted me!" She jumped with joy. He simply sent her a [ Hey, there.] with a waving hand emoji. By the time we got a glimpse at the message, Cameron span away from us and began tapping at her phone's keyboard in secret.
"Be like then!" Valerie grunted.
"Tehee~ I will~" She sang completely enveloped in her phone now.
Unusually, I felt a strange feeling brewing and I was growing extremely angry. What were they talking about? What could possibly be so interesting? Why did he just give away his number like that? This unruly emotion stayed with me throughout the rest of the day.
By the time it came to physical education, I had created the perfect plan to steal his number from Cameron's phone. I asked to leave the lesson to go to the toilet and had snuck off route towards our lockers. I easily broke into Cameron's locker and then into her phone. Scrolling through her contacts, I went straight to the "D" section and found "Daichi" — she had already put a green heart with his name. I copied the number into my phone and smiled to myself as I walked away happy with my progress. It's not bad to snoop through a friend's belongings just for a number if I put everything back in its rightful place, right? Back to lesson I went, in a blissful mood. I still managed to get his number, just not in the way I had originally planned.
After saying bye to Cami and Val, I hurried home and went straight on my phone. I spent hours typing out different ways that I could introduce myself or explain how I managed to obtain his number, but in the end I gave up and had a snack break. Whilst munching on my food, I deeply considered my sister's words about being myself.
"I'll just wing it." I grabbed my phone and started at it hesitantly, at first, but then I got myself ready to go in without a plan.
And I went to type my first message to him.