*BUZZ BUZZ* *BUZZ BU-* "Fuck, just five more minutes, you annoying clock," Arata said, still in a state of half-sleep.
But then a sudden thought jolted him awake. "WAIT, IT'S FRIDAY!" Arata exclaimed, springing out of bed with excitement.
He quickly brushed his teeth, showered, threw on his uniform, and dashed to the front door, moving with purpose. "Today's the day! I'm going to ask Jasmine out for a movie, 'as friends.'
This time, I'm determined to succeed and leave my past failures behind!" Arata enthusiastically exclaimed.
Arata went full sprint to school; he had to get there before the morning bell and ask her to the movies before the school was flooded with students, to not garner attention from his classmates, especially his friends!
******
Arata reaches school, panting uncontrollably, with sweat trickling down his back.
"Fuck, I gotta go to the bathroom first, can't
Let Jasmine see me like this. Shit, will I have enough time, though? There's only six minutes more." Arata thought, feeling the pressure.
Arata didn't waste any time; he entered the school building and threw his shoes In his locker, closest to the exit and the one under Jasmine's locker.
He sprinted to the upstairs bathroom, falling over himself; once he reached the bathroom, he knew he had to make himself a bit more presentable.
He bolted to the mirror and began fixing himself up, tidying his messy jet-black hair, wiping his sweat, and fixing his uniform.
Arata looked at himself in the mirror, his striking black eyes staring back, " you can do this" Arata assured himself with a smirk, clenching his fist.
He turns around and starts moving to the exit of the bathroom, trying his best to calm his nerves, breathing in and out.
Arata turned right; after exiting the bathroom towards the stairs, he sprinted up just one minute ago to get to the bathroom.
He's nervous, gulping periodically, playing the worst possible outcomes of his invitation, "What if she says 'gross'?" "What if everyone laughs?" what if she feels uncomfortable, and we stop being friends?" Aratas' mind flooded with the worst possible outcomes.
Arata saw himself getting closer to the stairs; he gulped, "She's going to be outside the girl's bathroom on the left of the stairs around 30 feet away, please don't fuck this up, Arata." he told himself.
He reached the stairs. Arata starts walking down, each step increasing his anxiety; he's sweating bullets, expecting the least favourable outcome.
Amidst the thought, Arata accidentally bumps into someone. He quickly comes back to his senses after being in deep thought.
He sees he's caused books to fly out of his fellow classmate, Kobayashi Fumiko's hands and spread all over the stairwell.
"Shit, I'm really sorry, Kobayashi," Arata apologized sincerely, receiving no response, "as expected, no response, the severe bullying probably got to her," Arata thought.
Arata had always felt sorry for Kobayashi, her appearance always threw people off, which led to her being isolated from everyone.
There was not a day when her jet-black hair didn't fall over her eyes, making her look odd to most.
Her abnormally pale skin and abnormally skinny build began many unsavoury rumours about her well-being and family health. The main one is about her abusive family and how she isn't fed.
They were just rumours, but many believed them; the girls that spread the rumours weren't looking out for her they simply wanted a punching bag.
They mocked her further because Kobayashi would usually wear glasses over her hair. It seemed weird to Arata, too, but he didn't question it, "she has her reasons," thought Arata, continuing to help Kobayashi pick the rest of the books up.
Arata hurriedly helped Kobayashi collect the rest of the books off the floor; he was in a rush, with only three more minutes till the morning bell.
With no books left on the floor, Arata handed them to Kobayashi and apologized once more, sincerely feeling bad.
"A-anyway..sorry again; see you next time, Kobayashi," Arata said with a gentle smile, Kobayashi remained silent throughout the entire interaction.
The second Kobayashi turned to climb the rest of the stairs, Arata sprinted down the stairwell, skipping the stairs.
He reached the bottom and turned left, searching for Jasmine around the bathroom.
"Bingo," he said smiling, leaning against the bathroom wall on the outside right next to the entrance to the lady's bathroom, her light blue eyes shining even brighter than any other day, her jet-black hair contrasting her blue eyes beautifully.
"JAS~MINE~," Atara shouted in a purposely annoying tone; Jasmine turned her head instantly, furrowing her eyebrows with an annoyed expression. "Stop saying my name so fucking intimately," Jasmine shouted back humorously with a hint of annoyance.
Jasmine extended her leg out to where the full sprinting Arata was going to pass. Arata, who was sprinting full speed, soon regretted his choices.
Arata flew across the bottom floor of the school after hitting Jasmine's leg at full speed.
Jasmine walked over to Arata, who was kissing the floor, "That was fucking attempted murder", Arata said; Jasmine laughed hysterically, "You had it coming." Jasmine said, smiling innocently.
Jasmine helped Arata up off the floor, "We should head to class; there's only one more minute until the bell." Jasmine said while pulling Arata towards the same stairs he came sprinting down.
Arata stopped in his tracks, stopping Jasmine, who was pulling him by his uniform as well.
Atara held Jasmine's wrist, pulling her towards him and stopping her from progressing towards the stairs.
Jasmine tilted her head in confusion, "what's wrong? We're going to be late, at this rate." Jasmine said in her gentle voice.
"A-ah s-so t-the" "FUCK, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER ATARA!." Atara screamed at himself in his head.
Atara took a deep breath, "I can't fail this time, if I don't say it now I might never get the chance" Atara opened his mouth slowly "Jasmine, do you want to go to the movie with-" *RING RING" *RING RING*
"No fucking way...NO FUCKING WAY, just as I was about to fucking ask her, the bell fucked it all up" Atara felt defeated, losing all the courage to ask.
Atara slumped, keeping his head down, Jasmine continued to hold onto his sleeve.
"See? You made us late," Jasmine exclaimed while dragging the despondent Atara.
Atara apologized; still, with his head down, he felt Jasmine stopping. " we're already late so it doesn't matter much anymore." Atara lifted his head to be met with Jasmine's clear, light blue eyes peering back at him.
"Sure, we can go, to the movies, I mean," Jasmine said in a softer voice than usual while holding onto Atara's sleeve. She let go of Atara's sleeve, "Let's go now; if you keep staring like that, we might miss the whole lesson."
Atara was static; his face lit up, and he finally succeeded. He held his head up high, "Yeah let's get there before we dig ourselves a bigger grave," Atara said humorously.
*****
Both Jasmine and Atara reached class, both getting scolded for their late arrival. Atara was satisfied. Nothing could ruin this day.
"It'd be cool to receive a love letter once in my life, especially from Jasmine," Atara muttered under his breath.