Chapter 5 (Taj)
While Yukine was making the ramen I tried to quickly pack up everything I was doing. It was so embarrassing and now he knows I like making comics! Not only did he scare the shit out of me as well all my references are now jumbled up! When he wasn’t looking I tried to make the pile of reference pages a bit more neater so they’d be easier to organise later.
When he handed me some ramen it smelled surprisingly better than ordinary instant ramen. I have no idea how he made instant ramen better then it is but he is good at making instant ramen! We ate in silence and it was starting to feel way too awkward for my liking. The only problem I had was that I had no idea what to say to him!
“So you enjoy making comics?”
I was relieved he said something but seriously! Did he have to bring up the comics?!
“Yeah, but only as a hobby I don’t really think their good enough to published anywhere,”
“Really because from what I saw your art style was very good! And even though I didn’t really get to see it the comic looked very interesting!”
“Really!?”
“Of course! I may not be good at art but you definitely are good!”
“Th-Thanks,”
It was very encouraging for him to say that to me, even though I had no idea if he actually meant it, it was nice for him to say that.
“So where were you?”
“Oh I was practicing my swimming! I missed out on yesterday's practice because I wanted to see who my roommate was,”
“Oh! So you are a part of the swim team!”
“Y-yeah,” He smiled nervously and it was kinda funny to see him embarrassed.
“So what’s it like being a part of the school’s pride and joy?” I teased.
“I mean it’s not bad but I mainly just like the swimming part, not the praise,”
It was refreshing talking to him. He used to be really quiet but now it seems like he has opened up to me a bit more. We talked for most of the night, it was very surprising to know that we were really different but could talk for hours on end.
I woke up the next morning and it was the exact same routine this morning as yesterday. Yukine seems like an early riser but in all honesty if he could he would sleep until night time, he was so unorganised! I wondered how he went to bed the first night, this time he didn’t go to sleep until probably 2:45am last night. No wonder he always gets up so late! I was lucky that you could barely see anything during the night so I could take my make-up off.
After we both got ready we headed down to the cafeteria to get breakfast.
“You know you should really fix your sleep schedule,”
“I know but I can’t seem to help it! I try going to sleep early but I end up wide awake and I just have to wait until I’m tired,”
“Man that must suck!”
“Yeah it does,”
“Have you tried doing anything about it?”
“Nah not really never saw it as something important,”
“Well, do you atleast have an idea on why?”
“Yeah… but it’s personal,”
“Oh ok…”
We reached the cafeteria and went our separate ways to our groups. The rest of the morning was pretty normal.
During lunch I got a bottle of water and a few slices of pepperoni pizza since it was rare for it to be there and it’s legit my favourite! When I went to sit down with my friends I saw a new person. I immediately knew who it was and got extremely excited. I rushed over to say hi. I put my tray onto the table and started blurting out all kinds of questions.
“Oh my god hi! You must be Jason’s mysterious friend that no one knows! My names Taj, Taj Norman! What’s your name? Do you have any siblings? How long have you known Jason?”
“Dude stop you’re going to scare him!” Lawrence said while almost shoving one of my slices of pizza down my throat.
“Sorry! It’s just you know how excited I get when it comes to new people!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Anyways! As I was saying guys meet Harry, Harry Benson. Harry these are some of my friends Taj and Lawrence,”
“It’s nice to meet you guys!” He said nervously with a smile.
“It’s nice to meet you too!”
“Same here, by the way call me Laurie, that’s what my friends call me!”
When Laurie mentioned that they were friends Harry’s face seemed to light up with joy. I almost felt bad because it seemed he never actually had any good friends.
“So Harry tell us more about yourself!”
“Well Jason and I met in year 3 at Hillstone Primary School, been best friends since. I used to go to another school in this area but transferred for private reasons. My favourite food is burritos and my favourite colour is navy blue!”
“Nice. By the way if you don’t mind me asking what school did you transfer from? Lawrence asked.
“Actually I’d rather not say because of my personal reasons, sorry!”
“It’s fine if you really don’t wanna say we won’t force you!” I said hoping to make him feel less pressured.
“Oh actually this may be a bit personal but what’s your sexuality?”
“Uhmmm….”
“Don’t worry we’re not homophobic! If it makes you feel safer I’m Pan and Lawrence is Bi!”
“Oh ok, I’m actually bisexual too!”
“Oh my god another bi child is among us!”
We all laughed and Harry seemed to be a really nice guy. We chatted for all of lunch and it was sad to see him go because I had no classes with him but I guess we can always meet up tomorrow!
After school I went straight to my dorm because the swim team had practice and I wanted to work on my comic, in private. I didn’t really know when Yukine was gonna get back and I made some instant ramen using his stash. I made sure to put a reminder on to pay him back though. While I was eating I decided to eat on my bed not risking destroying a month of work. While I sat on my bed I got bored and decided to play some music. I shuffle played my Green Day playlist and just sat there, eating ramen, with my music playing in the room. I looked around the room and smiled. I know it’s only been around 3 days but Yukine was a really nice guy! I was glad I met him. Hopefully we’ll become close friends. I want to know more about the guy he hasn’t really told me that much about him apart from: his favourite food are enchiladas, his favourite colour is teal and he is half Japanese and half Australian.
When I was finished I tossed the ramen cup into the bin next to my bed and sat down on my bed and worked on my comic. The comic was a coming of age story about a young ftm trans girl and her journey figuring out who she is and coming out to her conservative family. I personally don’t have experience but I like to think I understand enough about it to make a story. I also do research to make sure I’m not giving out false information. I didn’t think of making these comics as a job, it was all just for personal entertainment. I just thought it would be a good idea to make a ftm story.
It was already 9:00pm and I was starting to get worried about Taj. Did he drown? Did he injure himself? How severe is it? We only met around three days ago and I don’t know why I was so worried. Then I realised I never actually told him I was Pansexual. What if he thinks I’m disgusting? What if he thinks I’m only talking to him cause I like him?! My head was starting to fill with a bunch of nonsense that probably wasn’t true! I was on the verge of having a panic attack because of all this stress.
“Taj!”
I quickly snapped out of it and realised Yukine entered the room a while ago. I turned around and saw a worried expression on his face. Had he been calling my name multiple times with no answer?
“Y-yeah?”
“Are you okay? You seemed really stressed and you weren’t answering me?”
“O-oh yeah sorry I stress out easily, sorry for worrying you!”
“No it’s fine I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You sure you’re fine though, you seemed really panicked!”
“Yeah I’m fine don’t worry!”
“Ok, if you say so…”
He turned around and went inside the bathroom to change. Why was I stressing so much I only knew him for like three days?! What has gotten into me?
I packed up my stuff, sat on my bed and pulled out my laptop to read the novel I was reading. A few minutes later Yukine walked out of the bathroom and he still seemed worried. He walked over to my bed and sat down.
“Hey I’m fine ok!”
“You sure?”
“Positive!” I smiled at him to reassure him that I was fine.
He looked back at me with a smile and walked back to his bed. It was nice to know that he was worried about me. It was stupid to worry about him.
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