What is the true meaning of friendship? Can you consider two entities as friends if they talk to each other for a while? Is there any condition to be one's friend? Thinking about these things, I once tried searching about this stuff in the books but I couldn't find one. Certainly, books didn't contain knowledge about this topic or if it was, the answer was always vague.
For some reason, I woke up this morning with *that* in my mind. Did I have a dream about these things? Certainly, I don't know. It seemed like the wind from the window blew parts of my dream and eventually faded from my memories.
*Oh, right…*
That reminded me of how flimsy one memory could be when it comes to things such as dreams and minor events that happened in their life. I supposed that was normal.
"Sakura!"
I looked over my shoulder at the girl who called my name.
I was in the middle of tidying up my desk, preparing for our swimming class when Eimi approached me hence, my hands were still stuck inside the desk's compartment.
"What is it, Eimi?"
Her hair bounced as she toddled off to me. Contrary to her pigtail hairstyle when we were in elementary, in high school— she had her hair down with a hair clip resting on her temple. She had once said that she got tired of brushing and tying her hair up in the same style every day so, she decided to let it down in the meantime. But then, she got used to that hair so she wore it every day. *That was so Eimi…*
"I just thought we could go to the pool locker together…or is that a no?" She let an awkward laugh as she scratched her chin.
Since she still wore her emotions on her sleeves, I could immediately tell what kind of person Eimi was and it made it easier for me to decide what sort of approach I should act on when I'm with her. Though, I had no reason, or rather, I had no interest in this information, it wouldn't be bad to learn a thing or two about Eimi. Since it felt like she kept me entertained in the school.
"Oum, it's okay if you don't want to. Let's just go there together next week or…" Her eyes darted around as her lips pursed.
To be honest, I'd already seen this act many times. I started to wonder when would I grow tired of this but it seemed it would take a year or so. Apparently, Eimi wasn't the type of person who bluntly pushed their desire to other people. Perhaps, that was why I felt comfortable…erm, safe? around her. Honestly, I wasn't really sure.
"You ask and say the same words every time we have our swimming class, how would I say no to that?" I chuckled and pulled my hand to my mouth.
"Did I?" she asked with her head tilted.
Apparently, she—herself didn't notice this habit of hers.
"You don't need to ask me over and over since we will end up in the same place anyway."
"Oh right…" She had her mouth agape as though she just realized this fact.
I carefully lined up my books at the corner of my desk's compartment—since this compilation of paper was important to me—and took the pouch from the inside of my bookbag. And since I was already there, I decided to fix my chair back to its position.
"All done," I announced as I felt satisfied by how I arranged my seat. "Let's go?" I prompted as soon as I finished tidying up.
"Okay…"
Then we set off out of the room and walked down the hallway. Since our school was quite large, they had most of the facilities that high schoolers could hope for. There was a baseball field, a tennis field, soccer, an indoor basketball court—that was sometimes used as a volleyball court, and lastly the indoor swimming pool area. Fortunately, they located the buildings for students near the school gate, or else who would have to walk a long way, covered in our sweat just to get in our room. But that wasn't the reason why I applied to this school, the sole reason was that this was where my big sister graduated from high school.
"Oh right, Sakura," Eimi called as though she just remembered something.
"Yes?"
"Are you free this weekend… I was just thinking we could hang out or do other stuff, you know."
I looked at her, baffled, wanting to say *what for?* but I knew it would come out rude hence I decided to fall silent for a second.
*Hanging out, huh…*
I used to receive this invitation back in junior high but now that she mentioned it, I never accepted any even once. I never went somewhere without my big sister. Of course, except school. That being the case, it didn't mean I would accept hers now. Guess, I didn't really have a reason to hang out with her, after all.
"Oh sorry. I'm not allowed to leave the house without a proper reason," I lied.
I thought she was going to back down like what my classmates back then did when I refused their invitation but she suddenly sprang up to me, hands close to her chest, making me instinctively take a half step back.
"Then, let's go hang out in your house!"
For a second, I wondered what she was meant by saying hanging out in our house. Then I realized, *hanging out* wasn't only meant to do outdoor. This just made me realize how shallow my knowledge about this topic
"I wanted to try it…going to a friend's house," she confessed, her face was a bit red as she let out a light laugh.
*If it is in our house… I think…*
"Sure, I suppose there's no problem about that." Ultimately, I ended up being defeated but still, it wouldn't be much hassle since I wouldn't have to leave my house. Maybe.
"Really? Yehey!"
*What's worth celebrating about that?* I thought, furrowing my brows.
As I pondered, I heard voices appear from my back. I turned to look at the two girls jogging towards us. One with circular glasses with her hair tied up and the other one was…oum, how could I describe her…normal? But I often saw her in the bookstore so I supposed, she was another bookworm like me. The two of them suddenly approached me on the first day of school, telling me how fascinated they were when they heard my speech. Though, all I ever did was read the paper that the principal prepared for me beforehand. There was nothing special about it. Then at some point, I noticed they were always hanging around me. I didn't mind, though.
"Wait for us, Miss Fujihara!"
I slowed down my pace at Ueno's prompting, Eimi followed suit. Rays from the windows grazed my skin and I felt a comfortable warmth. Certainly, the spring bloomed again this day. As they came up with us, I walked back to my original speed.
"You just suddenly leave us," complained Ueno—the one who had circular glasses—as she tried catching her breath.
"You're always taking Miss Fujihara by yourself, Eimi," Ichikawa pouted and glared at Eimi. For some reason, I felt like I heard these words somewhere before, but I couldn't seem to remember where.
"That's not intentional, you know. It's just easy to forget that we have two or more baggage," Eimi joked.
I just chuckled as I watched the two of them arguing, admiring how close they were.
*Speaking of close…*
A moment after, the two of them seemed to get tired and eventually stopped. Ueno pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and started wiping Ichikawa's forehead.
"Look at you, missy. You're too energetic," Ueno reprimanded like a mother as she wiped Ichikawa's sweat.
"It's not my fault, you know. Eimi started it."
"Okay okay. Stopped moving too much, I can't do my work properly here," she chided.
"…'kay!" Ishikawa answered and brought her hand to the air.
Rather than being close friends, they appeared to have a mother-daughter relationship. Personally, a person who had a personality like me couldn't do that. I should commend Ueno for how she took care of the wild erm…energetic Ichikawa.
"You're rather quiet, Miss Fujihara. Is anything wrong or…"
"Ah, don't worry. I just enjoyed watching the two of you," I giggled.
"We're not a comedy duo, you know."
"Yeah, hope not." *Since it would be sort of annoying if they randomly throw a gag on us.*
"Oh, what are you two talking about earlier?" Ishikawa asked as she slid his gaze to me and Eimi and back to me.
I felt Eimi flinched next to me, hence I looked at her as though asking why. As if reading my face, she shook her head and waved a dismissive hand.
I wondered for a second if it was *okay* to tell them, but upon further thinking, there seemed no problem letting them know.
"Eimi asked me if we could hang out this weekend…" *Should I say the part where I lied too? I suppose that wasn't necessary.* "Anyway, we're going to hang out in my house."*…though, I don't know if there's something fun to do in my house.*
"Ah, here she goes again. I wanna come too, let me join!"
"If Kasumi will join, I will go too. Since there's no telling what this missy would do if she had been left alone."
"That's rude!"
"Yes, but that is also the truth."
As I listened to their discussions, I turned right and went inside the pool's changing room. As if on autopilot, I walked straight to the last rows of lockers and opened mine. Putting my pouch inside, I felt somewhat chilliness hanging in the air. Granted, the humidity was coming from the pool behind the door next to this room.
I started to unbutton my blouse and unzipped my skirt when I felt a pair of eyes peering at my skin. I folded my uniform neatly and slid it inside my designated locker but still, those pair of eyes wouldn't disappear. Ultimately, I sighed and looked at the offender. She flinched in surprise then hastily averted her gaze from me, but I already caught her.
"What is it, Eimi?"
"Huh?"
She flinched again and turned to look at me. "No, I mean... What are you talking about?" Her arms moved in different directions.
I shuddered, preventing my laugh to escape as I witnessed how bad her acting skills were. "Oh, I see..." After a second of contemplation, I ended up at a conclusion: "I never have a skincare."
I supposed she admired how my skin glowed(?) hence she was staring at me. As I say so, she looked at me baffled then suddenly shifted to, "Ah yes, you're right. I'm quite jealous because of how your skin looks like when the light met it."
I discreetly peered at my body. Personally, they looked so pale since I spent most of my time inside my room, reading some books. Though I had stopped reading publicly, that didn't mean I stopped reading all the way through. Evidently, I still wanted to learn two or more things about this world. Oh, for a second, I felt I talked like a child there.
*"Yeah, it seems like I talk like a child there..."* For some reason, it made a smile on my face. What was this feeling again? ...nostalgic?
"Sakura?"
I got back to my senses and noticed the three—staring directly at my face. I smiled at them and it seemed it made them confused since they looked at each other in unison.
After I slid into my school swimsuit—which was issued by the school itself—I met Ichikawa, Ueno, and Eimi standing by the doorway. Though, I still couldn't bring myself to call them my friends, a part of me felt warmth in their presence. And I hoped it remained like that even if had to part ways in the future. The sunshine showered us as we entered the pool. Ichikawa and Ueno cheerfully ran towards the pool and attempted to dive but they ended up being scolded by the teachers.
This day, I learned that pool couldn't be fun sometimes, especially when there were teachers around.