the girl in the corner.

episode 7: acquaintances? maybe.

from that day on, suzuki and i had grown quite close. we'd spend our time in the library while i helped her revise her notes during break time. it turns out, she wasn't just scribbling into one notebook, but she was actually taking notes and paying attention to the lesson. she told me she had a habit of hunching whenever she writes, and she's trying to fix it for the sake of her posture. i asked her why she always hunches when writing, and she shrugged and told me it was because she tends to hide her face a lot.

suzuki has also grown used to showing her face more frequently when in my presence. i asked her why she shows her face only around me, and she told me she feels comfortable enough with it when i'm present. i didn't ask much of it, curious though i was. at the end of the day, it was only the start of our friendship, and we weren't close enough to share our deepest secrets and feelings yet.

if we weren't at the library or at class during break—she brings homemade lunches to school and sometimes shares them with me, and i'd started to buy my lunch outside of school on the way here—we'd walk around the hallways chatting about this and that. suzuki was a tender and soft spoken girl, and compared to me, her presence is much quieter and reserved. whenever i'd ask something about her, she'd be very vague and tell me only the things at the tip of the iceberg. i was still able to discover new information about her, though.

my classmates definitely noticed that suzuki and i were growing closer out of the blue, and of course pointed it out to me and asked me stuff about her. i learned she values her privacy very much, and i also think privacy is important, so i don't answer anything they ask me of her without her permission.

due to the time we spend together, i'd subsequently and unconsciously distanced myself from my friends. of course they'd told me about it, saying you've ditched us for that quiet girl? in a tone of exaggerated disbelief and aggravation. i'd rolled my eyes playfully at them and told them that indeed, i'd ditched them for that quiet girl. i think they took it rather personally, but they know me well enough to know that i was just being sarcastic. i'm glad they haven't completely abandoned me and that we still hang out just as usual. i'm suzuki's only friend, so i still have to spend time with her so she doesn't feel lonely.

for that, i'd invited her to join my friend group, and they'd also cheerfully encouraged her. suzuki, however, denied timidly and said she won't fit in with a group of boys and told us to consider what the girls and other people at school would think of a girl hanging out with four to five boys. my friends nodded at her and told her that if she ever changed her mind, they'd still welcome her.

"i've never talked to so much people at once.." she'd sighed once my friends departed from us. i chuckled. "i felt so nervous, so..." she pursed her lips and lifted her hands as she searched in her mental dictionary for the right word. "existent."

"your friends are so nice, though." she smiled at them from afar. "it'd be nice to have a big group of people you'll call friends."

suzuki and i started meeting outside of school during the weekends. we'd go to quiet, isolated places instead of loud and crowded, for we were both uncomfortable at these areas. our most frequented places would be the neighborhood park and the cafe nearby it, and we'd also take strolls around the district at night sometimes. i'd discovered she lives quite close to me, so we'd always meet up and spend some time together.

one time at the park, when we were sitting at a bench and sharing a pack of gummies—we liked the same brand—she'd suddenly sat at my feet and told me to style her hair. i told her i don't know how, but she just looked at me with incredulity and pointed out that i had a younger sister.

"if you won't style my hair," she said. "then just play with it. i like it when someone plays with my hair."

i took a moment before i set down the pack of gummy candy and put my hands to her soft hair, and started styling it in the only way i know, braids. i'd kept her bangs out and started styling her hair accordingly, and i felt her unconsciously relax under my fingers.

since then, suzuki had her hair in that braid. her face was more visible like that and she seemed brighter and more lively with my friendship. but she was still very quiet and awkward around anyone she isn't familiar with. it's nice she became more comfortable and active, though. it's not good for her mental health if she's isolated and alone like that.

i think it was a good decision to keep her notebook with me when she forgot it at school that day.