Hexus

~8~ Zephyr

[12:09PM, February 2, UTC +09:00]

“Yuriko-chan!”

She hated that name. She hated when anyone called her with the ‘chan’ suffix, but for some reason Aoi couldn’t stop it.

“Yes?”
“Natsuko’s birthday party is this weekend, and she wanted you to know you’re invited.  You will come this time, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes. Of course.”

No, she said in her mind. She had no plans of ever going for another birthday party, where people gathered and shared stories and invaded each other’s personal space and acted like characters from the Precure shoujou series. She could never bring herself to understand why everyone chose to go to one place, act carefree and laugh at nothing in particular. She couldn’t even understand what they were so happy about – it was one person’s birthday, so what are the others jubilating for? Did the person’s increased age offer some type of reward that she wasn’t partaking in? It made no sense to her. She never enjoyed them, even as a child, and she definitely wasn’t going to start now.

“I hope you’re not just saying that. I really hope to see you this time.”
“I’ll try to make it,” she lied, before turning back down to her novel. It was a one of those cliché romance books with the wild fun-loving heartthrob hero and the demure princess-like female character and some conquest to win her heart. She knew where the plot was going but she kept reading; maybe just to see if the author would prove her wrong this time.

The cafeteria was bustling, as always, and some of her classmates were seated around her and engaged in idle conversation. Friends of Aoi, she supposed. She looked at the overhead clock to see how much time was left before the end of lunch break. Twenty minutes. She briefly considered doing her ECC English assignments but she thought better of it. She probably wouldn’t finish in time, and the unfinished business would occupy her thoughts and distract her for the duration of the Math class. She knew that she was particularly neurotic about these things, so she decided not to tempt herself.

“Yuriko-chan?”
“Yes?”
“Were you listening to me?”
“No. I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
“It’s a fancy dress party, so bring your fancy dress. Not an evening dress; it’s supposed to be fun, not formal.”
“I understand.”

She never really understood half the things Aoi said, or why she was so happy and bubbly all the time. She couldn’t even imagine being like that. People said she was proud or stuck-up or cold or depressing, and that was a bit frustrating to hear because she didn’t think she was any of those things. But she had since stopped caring. People would always judge you before they got to know you. Her friends, if she could even call them that, were very few. Aoi was the only one who ever really bothered to involve Yuriko in her daily conversations, even though Yuriko rarely seemed interested or gave replies to her questions. Yuriko appreciated the efforts to get her to socialize, but sometimes she really wished she would leave her alone.

Like today, for example.

“It’s good you told her that. Knowing Yuriko, she’ll probably show up in a business suit and heels,” Mari said from across the table. She and the other girls laughed. Yuriko didn’t.