Chapter Two: There's This Girl...
“Harumi, wait up!” Harumi cringed. She was in the lunchroom and Seiji was calling to her. Masking her grimace with a smile, she turned around. This is it she thought. If I don’t tell him how I feel now, I don’t think I ever can. “Seiji, I need to-” He cut her off. “I have something to tell you, Harumi.” A grin flashed across his face, and Harumi’s heart skipped a beat. “Sorry to interrupt you but I don’t think I can wait!” Harumi bit her lip. “Okay,” she said slowly. “What’s up?” Seiji smiled again, and she thought she saw him blush. “So there’s this girl...” Harumi stopped breathing for a moment. “...and I really like her. I want to tell her before graduation, but I don’t know how. You’re a girl, what should I say to her?” Harumi’s courage crumbled before her. Seiji likes someone else? She hadn’t considered that. How could she dump her feelings on him when he was asking her for girl advice? “Earth to Harumi! Love problem, here!” Harumi snapped out of it and looked into Seiji’s sweet, green eyes. ‘I’ve got a love problem, too!’ she felt like screaming. “Um...get her something sweet and tell her. A flower or something. Do you know her favorite flower?” Seiji pondered this. “I’m not sure...do all girls like roses?” Harumi tried to laugh convincingly. It came out weak and strained. “Yeah, I think so. A red rose would be romantic. And just tell her how you feel, Seiji.” Hearing those words come out of her mouth made Harumi want to cry. “But I’m so nervous! Tell me what to say, please??” Harumi sighed. “Something along the lines of, ‘I just wanted to tell you this before graduation...so I can tell you in person. For awhile now, I’ve really liked you.’ Then go on from her reaction.” Seiji beamed and gave her a quick hug. “Thanks, Harumi! You’re the best!” He ran off to his lunch table, eager to share the news with his friends. Harumi plopped in a seat next to her friend Sayuri. She had lost her appetite. Drowning out the usual chatter from Sayuri, she looked glumly at her lunch. Her advice echoed in her mind...the same confession she was going to make to Seiji.