A New Friend

  I bowed my head and asked her again. With my head bowed I was a bit anxious about the situation because after I made my request she became silent. I slowly raised my head to an unexpected situation. There was a huge bright smile on her face while tears ran down her face. I stood there quite thrown off guard by the sight of this. A part of me wanted to embrace her and ensure that she was fine but I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

  Instead, I planned to just ask her. "Hey, are you alri…" Before I could finish my sentence she firmly hugged me. At first, I was a bit startled because she did that out of the blue but I would get used to it. The warmth for her smooth skin was a very nice experience. Also, since she was a bit shorter than me when she hugged me her hair was very close to my face. I smelt the fragrance that radiated from her hair and it was amazing.

  "I'm so happy!" she said pretty loud. It was a bit strange to see her acting like this since it contrasted her previous timid image but despite it being strange I preferred her this way. "I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make new friends but you and your friends have treated me so nicely even though I'm basically a stranger. I'm so grateful. I was overwhelmed by this pure and wholesome girl. "Don't worry about it, it's always nice to meet a new friend."

  We forgot that we were still in school. "What is going on here?" The janitor caught us hugging each other. "Look be love birds somewhere else." Immediately after he said that we broke up the hug since we were put in such an awkward situation. I tried explaining but he didn't care at all. He just wanted us to leave so he could finish his job. Since he wasn't keen to listen we just left and started walking home together. We were still trying to recover from that uncomfortable moment with the janitor so we made sure we had space between un for the entire walk.

  Eventually, we became less embarrassed about it so we engaged in our conversation. "So what school did you go to before coming here?" "I was actually homeschooled before coming here." "Cool, that must have been interesting." "No, not really. First of all, it got lonely. Second, since my aunt taught me she would always be on my case if I didn't do her work. Also, I still had to go to lessons. It was quite tiring." "So that explains why she is so timid most of the time." I thought to myself.

  "My turn to ask you a question." "Go ahead." "How did you and your friends meet?" "Well on the first day of high school everyone immediately joined a friend group. I didn't know anyone so I was afraid to approach them. I spent my time outside classes alone until I saw them hanging out by themselves. They seemed to be having fun so I asked if I could join them. They reluctantly let me join their grout but gradually they warmed up to me. Ever since we were best friends." "Wow, such a wholesome story!" she internally pondered.

  Unfortunately, the conversation had to come to an end as we arrived at Ayumi's home. I waved her goodbye and then continued heading for home. Ayumi opened her door, dropped her bagged on the floor and then let out a sigh of relief before she smiled. "So it seems your first day was enjoyable." A tall woman said while walking down the stairs towards Ayumi. "Aunt Amaya, I didn't expect you would be home so early." she embraced her aunt. "My shifts changed so now I can return home quicker and greet you after school. Speaking of which did anything exciting happened?"

  Ayumi's face immediately turned bright red as she recollected the moment where we hugged. "Nope! Well, I'm really tired I'm going to rest for a bit. Later aunty!" she hurried to her room and jumped into her bed. "Hmmm, she said nothing happened but judging from her behavior that's definitely not the case. I wonder if it has anything to do with that boy she walked home with. Sigh, I really want to know more but Ayumi won't be happy if I pry into her business so for now I'll try to control myself."

  After her thoughts, she took a bath to try and distract herself from the situation but it didn't work. Meanwhile, I was pretty close to my house and the sky was beginning to darken. "Phew, I made it just in time." I walked into the door to see my mom lying down on the floor sleeping. "How can she fall asleep so easily, I should probably put her in her bed." I carefully and gently carried her to her room and rested her on her bed. "Sometimes I question if who's the parent is." I looked at her and smiled. "You worked hard again today, didn't you? I'll become successful so I can share that load."

  I quietly exited her room and then took a shower. During the shower, I recalled all that happened today. It was quite an interesting day. I met a new friend and learned a bit about her. I became excited to see how this friendship will develop in the future. After I came out of the shower I could hear my phone ringing. I answered it immediately to be greeted by Alexander. "Hi dude, you still coming over to play games?" "Yes, of course. Will Sam come too?" She's going to come but she refuses to play videogames, she could be quite a pain sometimes." "Like you're one to talk."

  "Touché dude, touché." At that moment Ayumi came to mind. "Hey, can I invite Ayumi?" "You mean the new girl, sure dude but why her?" "I got to talk to her for a bit and she's a nice person. Maybe she can join our friend group." "If I didn't know better, I would think you liker her bro." "Nah, I just think it would be nice if we can make a new friend." "If you say so, dude. Anyways, I gotta go to sleep. Later." "See ya!" Excitement kindled within me as I was filled with anticipation for tomorrow.