Earbuddies: Part 2
Ugh, stupid glasses; Just stay on my face for 10 minutes maybe? As this thought passes through my mind, they once again slip from my nose and I somehow manage to catch them before the hit the concrete. I attempt to fiddle with the screws to tighten them up, but ultimately fail. I attempt to clean them again, they've not been the same since they fell in my breakfast yesterday, Hopefully Misha won't notice.
We ate lunch together yesterday and I asked her to hang out again, she offered a short trip into town and I agreed, mostly because I don't think there is anything else we can do without getting a bus and my weekly allowance from father is getting dangerously low. Hopefully we can find somewhere with cheap food.
Agh, these dumb glasses. I quickly pick them up and inspect them, and find that this drop seems to have been the straw that broke the camels back, as a large fractal pattern has found it's way onto the right lens.
Dammit.
I carefully slot them into to pocket of my over-sized hoodie, hoping that I'll be able to make it through the rest of the day without them, at least. My slightly hazy vision is drawn to the bright pink hairstyle walking through the rather thin crowd of students engaging in after school activities. once she emerges, I grab a sight of her properly.
She's wearing a short skirt, quite similar to the school skirt in fact, with matching knee length socks. Adorning her body is a light colored shirt with some english written on the front, only barely visible past her curled hair. I feel my cheeks burn red as my eyes meet hers, she must have seen that I was staring. She begins to speak as she bounces over, but I don't manage to catch it this far away. I can only guess it's a greeting, so I respond with a small wave. Looks like I was right, as she's skipped her way over to me with a large grin on her face.
"[Hi.]" I think I'll try to use basic sign for most of today, then maybe we won't have to use the dreaded pad.
"[Hello!]"
"[Ready to go?]" This slightly longer sentence takes her a second to decipher, but she get's it before I have to repeat.
"[Yeah, you?]" Her words are very straightforward, but by her body language and face I can tell that she's bursting with energy as always, I'm sure she'd sound a lot more happy if she knew more words in sign.
"[Lead the way]" I gesture towards the road, as I've only been through town once; when I got dropped off at Yamaku. It looks like she doesn't understand the sign, but she does understand my waving towards the road, so she quickly hops off after a laugh that can only be described as explosive, I wonder how loud she is? I have to jog a little to catch up with her, but do easily enough.
Most of the way down the hill we don't speak, or really we can't speak until we're stationary. Even though my entire life has been silent, this silence is quite awkward. I spend the time examining the slightly overcast weather.
---
Once we reach the bottom of the hill and the start of the small town, Misha spins on her heels and attempts to sign.
"[Where do you... want... to eat?]" There are a couple incorrect words mixed in, but I manage to get the message. I think signing a response would go right over her head unfortunately, so I simply reply with a shrug. I hope she doesn't take that the wrong way.
"[Great! I know ...]" The last word is gibberish to me, but she quickly grabs my hand and almost sprints off so I don't really have time to think about it. This casual contact is strange, I've never had anything like this before, but the feeling of her fingers meshed with mine is doing a great job at easing my nerves about today. At least we'll get wherever we're going before the rain begins at this speed. She quickly leads us down various roads, each getting in worse and worse condition until she skids to a halt, unfortunately I do not.
My momentum carries me into her, and my nose bashes against her shoulder sending both of us spiralling to the ground. I quickly rub my nose, nothing is broken but it still hurts a little. I didn't land on anything hard though, what- Oh.
I look down and see that I'm now balanced on top of Misha, who seems to have taken most of the brunt of the fall. Our eyes meet and her cheeks dye a light shade of pink, and I feel my own doing at the same time. It feels like I'm there for an eternity, both of us attempting to read each-other's reactions without showing our own.
All of a sudden I'm bounced from Misha as she releases a laugh that sends me crashing to the concrete next to her. I sit myself up and look to her, she doesn't seem to be hurt so I'm glad about that. I rub my nose once again in an attempt to cover my blush, but most of the pain seems to have redirected itself to my rear anyway.
Before I know it, Misha has sprung to her feet and offered me a hand to get up. I graciously take it and she all but lifts me to my feet.
"[Are you okay?]" I'm worried she's hurt and just hiding it, luckily not as she shakes her head with incredibly energy. She then holds both of her hands up to a sign above us, holding a dramatic pose as I read it. The Shanghai.
She leads us inside, luckily with less speed than she used on the way here. She quickly seats us and I look around for a menu, finding a couple in the centre of the table. I grab one and quickly take a look. Most of the stuff here isn't cheap, but it isn't that expensive either. My attention is drawn my Misha tapping her fingers on the table.
"[What are you getting?]" Maybe I won't have to use my pad today, that thought puts a smile on my face.
"[What are
you getting?]" I reply with a sly grin.