"It was a dream." That was the first thought in Yui's head as she slowly started to wake up. There were a few lazy blinks as she stared at her eggshell white ceiling. She processed what had happened in her dream or what did happen? Each blink, more and more of the dream slipped away from her, like water in her fingers. She knew that Aimi was there in the dream with her, but why was she there? The dream was totally lost now like the dream was drifting behind a fog. She didn't know why, but she felt flush, like she had a cold or something, but she felt fine otherwise. She looked over at her phone to see what time it was. She had woken up just a few minutes before her alarm was set to go off. She laid in bed and moved over to her side, taking her stuffed red fox and holding it close to her chest.
She looked at her room as the morning light started to fill in the darkness. She had a little table for studying or eating in the middle of the room and a few brightly colored pillows for sitting around it. There was a small T.V. on a pink stand covered in stickers of flowers and chibi animals. She had gotten it when she was little and had never bothered to get something else. Her game console was on the floor in front of the stand. The black wireless controller was resting on the table—a few bookshelves stuff with games and stuffed animals and a few books. Across the bookshelves, her king bed had a thick pastel green blanket and a few pillows of that same color. More stuffed animals lined the wall along the bed. She knew that was it childish to have so many, but she didn't care. It's not like she had any friends that were going to come over, and cuddling them made her feel a little less alone.
She struggled to recall the dream in vain, mainly because Aimi was in it and wanted to know what they were doing. She thought about her often. She would sometimes pretend that one of her stuffed animals was Aimi and then tightly hold it against herself and whisper in its ear like she was talking to her. If anyone finds out she did that, she would probably jump out the nearest window from embarrassment. Aimi made her think a lot of things that she had never thought about before, like what it would feel like if the two of them held hands, or if the two of them kissed...? The thought made her stomach leap; her face turned a burning red. She had to push the idea out of her mind. She looked out her window, seeing a few birds crossing the horizon; a part of her wanted to jump out her window and join them. Before the alarm on her phone slapped her out of her thoughts.
She got out of bed, but the lack of sleep from her late-night gaming binge was starting to hit her. She rudded her light blue eyes while using the brush on her nightstand to fix her blonde hair that had become a madded mess overnight. The bathroom, like Yui's room, was quite spacious. Like the rest of the house, the bathroom had a modern look with clean and sharp angles. The house was kept in such pristine condition that you would think that no one was even living there. That was thanks to the two maids that cleaned the house every day. One of them even lived there.
Her name was Hina, she was a sweet older woman with long black hair and soft brown eyes, and was built like a pencil. She was like a second mother to Yui since her birth mother was working non-stop, she had a high-paying but demanding job. It was not uncommon for her to be at work for days at a time or come home late at night, only to leave again after just getting a few hour's sleep. Yui's father also had a high-paying job, but he often traveled for work, so she saw him even less. The two might be called a power couple by people, but she saw them almost like strangers. They both had an awkward way of dealing with Yui. She felt like she was just a prop for them at their elite dinner parties.
She got dressed in school uniform with a green shirt and black blazer. There was breakfast on the table for her. Hina was gone; she left for the store right after making the food as Yui ate in the near silence with just the sound of the ticking clock. She would look out the window as the world came to life and watch the birds. The birds were happily and mindlessly chirping and singing to each other as they jumped from branch to branch. Yui asked herself what it felt like to be like them as she stared into the quiet room filled with expensive furniture. The large Maple table that could seat a dozen or more people there was just her sitting in the middle. The massive living room and table were almost sterile if not for her eating there, and it made her feel unwelcomed, like she had started living on some showroom floor or walked onto the set for some interior design magazine cover. She knew that Hina would clean up after her, but she still washed off her dishes before putting them in the sink. She knew that Hina would wait on her hand and foot if she made her, but Yui didn't want to be a bother to her, so she tried to pick up after herself where she could.
She made her way to the door putting on her black school loafers. She gave the beautiful empty house one last look before whimpering, "I am leaving." There was just silence as she left the house and walked down to the opulence gate; she looked like a puppy being forced out into the cold. She pushed the numbers on the keypad to lock the gate. The code was Yui's birthday, but she never told her parent that it was the wrong day. It didn't matter much since they forget most years anyway.
She made her way to school without incident. She was one of the first students to make it to school. She started coming early so she would have time to study, but the real reason was Aimi. Aimi was on the track and field team. In fact, she was their star player. Which was a big deal since their school was one of the country's top track and field schools, winning nationals countless times in the school's long and prestigious history. Their school was one of the most distinguished schools in the county, which was part of the reason it cost so much to go there. Having a good GPA here would mean getting into almost any university. Most of the students were like Yui from wealthy families.
Aimi would get to school even before Yui so she could run before school started. Yui wasn't much of an athlete, which was extensive and had books all many different subjects. It was on the school's first floor and viewed the brown and well-kept clay track. Yui liked it because it was easy to hide in some little corner where no one would look. She would do some studying, but she would often look up from her books and look out and see Aimi running. Aimi had on pair of red gym bloomers with two white stripes on each side. And a white short sleeve t-shirt, her hair was in a high ponytail. She would watch Aimi enchanted by her every step. The morning light would radiant off her ashen white hair as it gracefully fluttered around her. She would run around the track with the same elegance of a tiger in the jungle's moonlight.
There was a beaming smile on Yui's face the whole time as she stared at Aimi. She would get lost in her own thoughts of being there with a towel and water bottle. Cheering her on at the tops of her lungs. Not that Aimi would ever give Yui second thought, but it was nice for her to imagine. Even if Aimi didn't even know that Yui existed, nothing was stopping her from daydreaming.
While Yui was lost in her own head, Aimi had finished her laps for the morning and made her way back to the school's locker room. Yui saw that she left her navy blue track jacket behind. Without thinking, she rushed out one of the doors that let out to the track field. She walked out into the bright morning to grab the jacket as she went to the locker room to return it. The locker room had rows of high baby blue lockers with just a few wooden benches between them. There was just enough space for two people to pass each other in each row. There were some showers at one end and even a small sauna in the back. Aimi had left by the time Yui had gotten there. As she looked around for Aimi, she saw a letter on the floor. It had to be Aimi's because she would be the only one in the locker room this early. Yui knew that she shouldn't, but her curiosity got the better of her.
I know that we have never spoken, but from the moment I saw your blue eyes out in the audience at last year's School Opening Ceremony. I cant get you out of my head. I need to know who you are, what your voice sounds like, and if you could ever feel the same way about me that I do about you. If you want to meet me, please meet me in the school council office after class.
Yui's face went a bright beat red and her heart almost pounded out of her chest. It was a confession letter, but for who?!
