5

I guess I never really paid much attention to hardware stores, but they have more than, well, hardware. Whenever I heard "hardware," I always thought of tools--or maybe computer parts.

Apparently, hardware stores also have plenty of other supplies like gardening tools, BBQ grills, and even school supplies (where Lily and I were currently browsing). It seems like she came here to look for a notebook for someone.

"Purple or blue?"

"Hm?"

"Which one do you like better? The purple notebook or the blue notebook. I think they're both really pretty and I can't decide."

I blinked at her.

"If you're buying this notebook for one of your friends, why are you asking me what color? Wouldn't you know better than I do?"

She hesitated at my question.

"Wellll...they kinda have similar tastes as you I guess. Like you two think similarly. Or at least I feel like you do."

"Similar?"

"Yeah. Like you both wear similar clothes (outside school of course) and it's fun to tease you guys!"

I considered what she had said. Was there really another guy who dressed and acted similar to me? Well, it's not like I know every boy in our school. Especially not other outcasts like me. If they were anything like me, they would be hiding and trying not to be noticed. Wait…

"Hey, Lily?"

"Hm?"

She looked up from the shelves of notebooks.

"This guy you're buying the notebooks for-"

I stopped. All of a sudden her face changed. Like she was apprehensive of what I was going to say next or something.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Haha, I think I was thinking too deep into what you were going to say. Don't mind me."

She gave me a look of disapproval.

"Oy, secret mysterious man. Stop keeping me in suspense! Spill it!"

"Ok ok ok. I was just gonna ask if the guy went to our school."

"Oh, that's it? Yeah, he does. I think he's a really interesting guy. Just like you!"

"I see…"

I wasn't entirely sure why I asked her that question, Or what I had wanted to hear, but I felt a weird sort of tightness in my chest when I heard her answer. I wonder if my asthma is acting up. That would be kinda bad. Like if I literally can't breathe whenever I'm around Lily. Totally won't cause any misunderstandings.

I blinked and shaded my eyes as we stepped out of the store into the bright sunlight. The fact that it was winter did nothing to diminish the brightness of the light. If anything, the reflections off the snow made the light even brighter.

Lily held up a lilac-tinted purple notebook.

"Are you sure the purple notebook was a better idea?"

"I mean it looks pretty! And it makes your eyes stand out more."

"But are you sure this is something he would like and want to use?"

The notebook she held up definitely wasn't a composition notebook used to take notes in. It was a small book that would be perfectly suited to be used as a diary.

"Yeah. If he's anything like me, he'll appreciate having something to sort out his thoughts in."

As a little afterthought, I added under my breath:

"If he thinks anything like me, he'll just be happy that it came from a girl like you."

"Did you say something just now? My friends always complain that I'm deaf."

She laughed. She has a really pretty laugh. It's unrestrained and infectious. Listening, I felt the corners of my mouth start to-

GRRRRRRRRRRR

My cheeks heated in embarrassment. Wow, stomach. Just. Wow. You just had to do me like that.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lily desperately trying to stifle her laughter.

"HEY, IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"Pffff- It is though! You looked so...so scandalized."

I frowned as I watched her clutch her belly and gasp for air. I thought I had gotten used to people laughing at me as a result of all the bullying, but somehow it felt different this time. I can't say I liked it...but it wasn't terrible either.

"Hey, your stomach growling reminded me: I've always wanted to go try out this new cafe! All the girls at school are saying it's super good! Especially the cream puffs. Supposedly they're 'like heaven.'"

15 minutes later, I found myself sitting across from Lily in a spacious modern cafe.

It was a decently sized cafe. The room was rectangular with two walls composed completely out of glass--displaying a view of the busy street. The back of the cafe was a grey and white wall with an orange square painting hung right in the middle of the grey area. The last section of the store was for employees only. A white counter that ran from the back wall to the front window blocked customers from entering that quarter of the room.

The interior seating area took up the rest of the room and was brightly lit by small lights embedded in the ceiling. The floor, tables, and chairs were all made of light brown wood. Oak I think. I don't know much about wood though, so don't take my word for it.

Lily and I were sitting at one of the multiple rectangular tables lined up in a grid pattern. The chairs were very wide, and if I'm being honest, the armrests were basically useless. They were all the way on the sides of the chair, so I'm 90% sure no normal person could comfortably sit in the center of these chairs and still use the armrests.

The ceiling decorations were interesting structures formed from many wooden squares. Hanging from the squares were boxy structures that hung down from the ceiling at different heights and created a nice textured ceiling.

The white kitchen was also brightly lit by large, rectangular lights. Display cases showcased many of the little cakes and sweets the baker in the back had made. Shining machines sat on top of almost every counter. In general, the kitchen appeared to be very technologically advanced with plenty of modern appliances and machines that I had no clue how to use.

Tearing my eyes away from the interior decorations, I picked up the menu that had been placed in the center of the table.

I'm not too hungry though. I'll probably just get a drink and maybe a small pastry.

Hmm. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, sodas, fruit juice. Oh, definitely hot choco. Chocolate forever.

Ok, time for pastries (I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so I'll have to try to not go overboard). Muffins, croissants, streusel (apple and cherry)...oh cream puffs! Didn't Lily say something about their cream puffs? Let's see...they have chocolate, vanilla, Nutella, strawberry, banana, and raspberry. I...like them all? Fruit flavors are amazing. And of course, chocolate and vanilla are classics. But I only want to get one. Don't want to have too much sugar. What should I get?

I stared at the mountain of cream puffs and a cup of hot cocoa in front of me and sighed. I knew this was going to happen. I got three of every flavor. Lily just looked between my mountain of cream puffs and her singular slice of chocolate cake.

"Are you really gonna eat all those?"

"Are you going to judge me if I do?"

"Well-"

"So what if I have a sweet tooth? You're the one who wanted to come for the cream puffs anyways."

"I WASN'T GOING TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE CREAM PUFFS! I was just thinking that this is a cute side of you."

"Cute? First my name, now my eating habits? What's next? My handwriting?"

"Ok, to be fair, your handwriting is pretty decent for a guy. And it is cute that you have a sweet tooth! Like you don't look like that kind of person at all!"

I sighed. Maybe being called cute by a cute, dying girl would be something other boys would fight for (literally), but I still don't like it. It feels slightly derogatory.

After finishing my mountain of cream puffs, we headed back to the train station. Those cream puffs were pretty good. I should come back to that cafe sometime. The Mirage. That's a name to remember.

The sun was starting to set and the sky was turning all shades of pink, orange, and yellow. It was time to head home.

However, something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. On the display of a game store was the game I've been wanting forever!!

I sprinted to the window of the game shop and smashed my face on the display. Supposedly there were only 100 copies in Japan! It's super rare! I've read all about it, but I didn't think something this rare would be so close to me. Gah, I have to get this. There's no way I'll ever find another one.

"Ahem."

I jumped at the sound of Lily gently clearing her throat. ...Oops. In my excitement, I had awkwardly left her in the middle of the sidewalk.

Trying to think of something to say for my dumb action just now, I said the first thing that popped into my mind.

"I- Can you excuse this as another of my cute habits please?"

"Haha, sure. You really sprinted though! I don't think I've ever seen you that excited."

She walked over to join me in front of the store. Did I really just say that? I cringed slightly at my response. Was there really nothing better I could've said instead?

"Hm, 300 Days. Can't say I've heard about it. Is it popular?"

"Definitely! It's the newest release from my favorite game designer! There's only 100 copies in Japan. I never thought I would even see one in my life!"

"Really? Wow, this is bigger than I thought. Wanna take a look inside?"

"Is it okay? You don't seem like the type of person to be interested in games."

"It's fine~ I've dragged you around all day anyway. You should get to do something you want to do too!"

"Well...if you say so then."

Instantly after finishing, I sprinted into the game store as if my life depended on it. Which I guess it did. Or at least my sanity.

When I got inside, my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. It was like a gamer's heaven! Shelves upon shelves of games waiting to be bought or rented. A third of the store was devoted to computers, monitors, chairs, controllers, mice, anything. An entire wall covered in keyboards and gaming mice. And in the corner…

Like a little kid at a toy store, I internally screamed:

"THEY HAVE THE NEWEST CONSOLES JUST SO WE CAN TEST GAMES! HOW WAS THIS STORE HIDDEN FROM ME?"

I swear I could spend the rest of my life in this game store. Add a little mini-fridge and a soft-serve machine and I'd be set.

Oh right. Almost forgot the reason I came here.

Turning around, I quickly walked over to the display case. As I got closer, something seemed wrong.

no...No...NO...NONONONO! Please no! Please tell me this wasn't happening to me! Where the game had once been displayed in the front window was now only an empty stand. The game was gone! Someone had taken it! I was too late.

Disappointed, I started looking for Lily. We had been separated sometime during my internal happiness in the store.

After a couple minutes of listless wandering, I decided to just wait by the door for her.

Just as I arrived at the doors, I saw Lily approaching from the opposite direction--from the direction of the cash register--with a slightly guilty look on her face. In her hand was a plastic bag with the store's logo printed on it. Obviously, she had bought something.

"What did you buy?"

"Uhhh, it's nothing important. Just something I saw. Hey, why are you so sad?"

I told her the whole thing. Somewhere in the middle of my story, she hid the bag in her purse, but I didn't think too much about it. Maybe it's like a guilty pleasure that she doesn't want anyone to know about.

"Awww, that's too bad. You were so happy too."

She thought for a bit, then pulled out a take-out bag from the cafe earlier.

"Here. I got some cream puffs to-go earlier 'cause they were so good. Want some?"

"Is there chocolate?"

She opened it to double-check, and lo and behold, there were chocolate cream puffs. Lots of them. A majority of the box was, actually.

"Well then, I won't hold back. Thank you for the food."

After finishing the customary phrase, I reached into the box and popped a chocolate cream-filled pastry into my mouth.

Instantly I felt better. Well, slightly better. Chocolate helps with everything.

We slowly walked home, eating the cream puffs along the way. We were almost home and the box was almost finished (maybe one or two left) when Lily suddenly stopped.

"Oh! I almost forgot to give this to you!"

"Give what?"

"Here!"

She pulled the lilac notebook out of her bag and handed it to me.

"What's this for? I thought you said this was for a friend."

"Haha. You dummy. You are my friend. I bought this for you."

"Well, uh, thank you?"

We reached the corner where we would go our separate ways, but neither wanted to be the first to say goodbye. For a few seconds, there was an awkward silence, then Lily cleared her throat.

"Sorry for surprising you."

"It's alright. I should've guessed when you were asking me all those questions about which one I liked. I knew there weren't any other outcasts like me."

"Awww, don't say that. I'm sure you're not alone."

"..."

There was another awkward silence. Maybe I should say something this time.

"Well, I have to go home now. I think my mom might complain if I get back too late."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Yeah. Tomorrow." (this needs to change lol)

Before another awkward silence could start, I turned the corner and started walking home.

The second I couldn't see Lily's bouncing 296 days anymore, I felt the corners of my mouth unconsciously lift ever so slightly. When she handed me the notebook, I felt like a weight had been taken off my chest. Now that I could breathe, I felt so happy and free.

I looked at the notebook again. Since she spent so much effort to buy me this notebook, I might as well use it. I think I'll keep a diary in it. It sounds like something unordinary for me, but there's always a first time for everything.