Squares

Once our last class ended, I bid my farewell and hurriedly walked down the hallway. It seems my classmates had to say something but I'd left without lending them my ears. Thinking about it, I was sure they just want me to play again with them but I couldn't afford to waste some time since the P.E earlier made my reading time cut.

As I turned to the stairs, I heard busy steps from my back. Peering over my shoulder, it was the spiky boy again. Lately, I'd noticed that he's always around wherever I looked. Or was it just me...

He stopped in front of me. He had drops of sweat on his forehead as though he ran a mile before arriving in front of me. He even forgot to close the zipper of his backpack and its contents were slightly flowing out of it. After a few heavy breaths, he asked, "Are you going home now, Sakura?"

I was quite confused by his question at first. After thinking about what he meant, I answered him dubiously.

"Yes?"

"Th-then would you like to go home together with me?"

"Excuse me?" My ears may hear it wrong hence I asked him to say it again.

He brought down his gaze, shielding his face away from me, and asked me again, "Do you want to go home to-together with me?"

I grasped the straps of my bag and turned my back. Walking down the stairs, I gave him my answer and left him still stood at the stairs, as the sunlight passed through the window and grazed his skin.

After I got out of the building, I sped up my pace paying no mind to the students around me. As I arrived at the school gate, I spotted a familiar figure. Wearing her school uniform while her back pressed against the wall, she was gazing nonchalantly on her phone. I ran towards my big sister who was waiting for me beside the school sign.

I called her and she shifted her eyes from her phone to me.

"Did I made you wait for too long?"

"Maybe five or six minutes... you sure are fast, Sakura," she answered as she peeked on her phone.

"Not at all. Next time I'll run straight out of the room so you wouldn't have to wait for too long."

She landed her hands on my head in a chop. " No running at the school hallways!"

Eventually, she softened her hand and ran her fingers through my scalp. "Adults don't run in school hallways, you know," she added.

"Yeah, your right." I nodded pensively.

She turned around and looked at me over her shoulder and said, "Oh right... Do you want ice cream? I'll treat you."

I furrowed my brows and gave it a deep thought. Undoubtedly, as a grade five student, I don't have the confidence to say, I don't want it. But I was certain that my big sister would tease me if I enthusiastically nodded.

"Then... A green tea flavor will be fine."

"Okay... Okay, Miss grown-up," she joked.

As we walked down the street, I contemplated whether I should say to my sister that someone asked me to go home together with them or not. I suppose it's the right thing to do but it's not necessary, so I decided to keep it myself.