I left my empty classroom and headed into the hall, spotting Gabbie ‌between the streams of students. She caught my gaze and smiled, then waited for me outside the classroom closest to the stairs. She wore my favourite outfit of hers; a purple and pink blouse with a white pencil skirt and white pumps on her small feet. 

“I like your shirt,” I said, after deciding that I love when you wear that outfit would sound creepy. 

“Thank you.” She looked down at it like she had to remember what she had put on this morning. “I had to check out the fashions of Japan, I couldn’t help myself.”

Victor blustered by at that moment. “Hey, I will join you guys in two minutes.” 

My stomach dropped. I had forgotten Victor would be joining us. Gabbie and I headed into the classroom and sat down at two desks near the door. I sighed, all excitement for this language exchange gone. 

“So you want to learn Spanish, huh?” Gabbie opened a notebook then looked up at me. “Any particular reason?” 

I panicked. Because of your hazel eyes would be something a creep would say. Or a guy much more suave than I, I could never be sure. “I’m getting bored with English,” I said lamely. “Learning a language is good for your brain, isn’t it?”

“I think I’ve heard that.”

I kept my eyes firmly on her as Victor entered and noisily took the seat next to me.

“Gabs, did you come up with a plan already?” he asked.

I bristled at the nickname for no logical reason. Victor was married and had at least twenty years on us. 

“I wrote some notes,” Gabbie said. “We should start with the basics.” 

I opened my notebook, too, realizing I hadn’t put in the same effort she had. 

“Self-introduction first makes sense,” Victor said. 

They showed me how to say my name is Tobio in Spanish, with Victor barking pronunciation tips at me, and I had to say it several times to their liking before I could show Gabbie the equivalent in my language. 

Just as I was getting fed up with Victor’s interruptions, his phone chimed on the desk. 

“Oops, I got to take care of something,” he said after checking the notification. He stood to leave. “You guys feel free to continue.” 

I turned to Gabbie, brightening. 

***

The next Friday, Victor didn’t join us, having said earlier in the week that he was too busy to join our language exchange sessions. And I could not be more glad for that.

I found Gabbie in the classroom, wearing my favourite outfit again, and I wondered if she wore it because I had complimented her or if she was in the habit of wearing it on Fridays. 

“Have you been practising?” Gabbie prompted as I sat down in front of her.

“Every chance I get,” I said. That may be slightly exaggerated, but I had practised throughout the week. I didn’t want to let her down. 

“Great! Me too,” Gabbie said. “I don’t think my pronunciation is getting any better, though.” 

“I’m sure it is.” I smiled at her. Her eyes were sparkly even in the unflattering fluorescent lighting of the school and her cheeks pink. 

Her phone vibrated, and after she retrieved it, she typed into it quickly and put it back in her tote bag.

“Do you have to go?” I asked.

“It was that guy with the tattoos from the bar, remember him? He wanted info about taking a class.”

Yuya. I don’t know how the fact that he’d already gotten her number had slipped my mind these past couple of weeks. 

“Oh.” I nodded, wondering how much they had been texting or calling. 

We finished up our exchange, both able to say our professions and hobbies in each other’s languages, and met with Victor leaving his office. He introduced us to his wife, who was waiting for him outside with their black and white French bulldog on a leash. 

“It’s already dark, so I’ll walk you home,” I offered to Gabbie after the others had taken off. 

She looked up at me, surprised. She was so short that if I pulled her in for a hug, her cheek would rest against my chest. The perfect height to tuck under my chin for a cuddle. 

“You don’t have to,” she said. “I thought Japan was safe compared to the US.” 

“It is, in general,” I admitted. Especially small city Takaishi. I broadcasted a smile. “It’s only the gentlemanly thing to do.”

She smiled back. “Well, it’s not that far, so if you insist…”

We began to walk down the street, chatting casually, while I tried to think of subtle ways to pry about Yuya without being too obvious. 

“So what have you been doing outside of work, aside from shopping?” I asked when there was a break in the conversation.

“Not that much,” Gabbie admitted. “I got lost once trying to get to Osaka City from here. And I feel like getting stuff for my apartment, groceries and meal prepping takes up a lot of time. Work tires me out too.” She let out a sigh of exhaustion.

“I guess there’s not much in English around here,” I realized. It hadn’t occurred to me before that foreigners might have a harder time getting around Takaishi than a big city like Tokyo. 

“I tried asking the station attendant for help when I got lost on the trains, but he didn’t speak much English,” she said. “I’m kind of afraid to venture too far now until I work on my Japanese skills more.”

“Well, I’m happy to help you with that,” I said. “I can show you around town sometime if you want.”

Her eyes excavated my face, as if searching for a hidden meaning there. I forced my expression more, hoping it looked friendly and neutral. 

“That’s nice of you,” she said, her step pulling up. “Well, this is my building.” 

I tore my gaze from her to the sky-blue building lit by overhead security lights and gathering moths. The evenings had been warming up since we’d started our jobs at Motto, soon it would be a sweltering, humid summer. 

When students were on holiday in July and August, I could take Gabbie to the beach on Osaka Bay, buy us matching bathing suits beforehand, and we’d eat salted watermelon together. My stomach did a flop as I looked down at her, mentally redressing her in a lavender bikini. 

“Thanks for walking me, Tobi,” she said, her voice puncturing and deflating my fantasy. “Have a good weekend.” 

“Anytime,” I responded. “See you next week.”

With that, Gabbie turned and walked into her building without hesitation. I turned around toward my house, doubling back in the direction we’d come, feeling like I had somehow missed something.

I spent the weekend mostly hanging out with my mom, following her around the home goods store while my thoughts drifted to Gabbie and lamenting that most of my old friends had moved away, were still in school, or I’d lost touch with them while I was in Canada. A good two hours were wasted on Sunday while I looked up everyone I used to hang out with on Instagram to see what they were up to. That was after Mom had forced me to whack dust from our blankets and futons on the patio, then hang them outside in the fresh spring air. 

Disappointed I didn’t run into Gabbie on my way into work, I trotted upstairs alone and peeked around the corner to see who was already in and found her and Victor in his office. I dropped some of my stuff there after greeting them. The American girl looked nervous and keyed up.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, glancing between the two. 

“Nothing,” Gabbie said. “Victor was just telling me Yuya might join us today.”

“Huh,” I made a neutral noise but my stomach soured. No, please, no. 

My classes passed frenetically. I had to force my focus on my students as my mind kept wandering to an image of Yuya sneaking around the building and leering over Gabbie’s shoulder. When the last class finally ended, I scanned the crowd of black-haired heads flooding the hallway and spotted his pointy head nearly immediately. He turned slightly to catch me in the corner of his eye, like he knew I was watching. 

At least he wasn’t in my class, I tried to tell myself, but that meant he’d likely joined Gabbie’s adult class. I thought of offering to walk her home again tonight, even though it was still light out, but Yuya got to her first. She smiled up at him at the bottleneck to the stairs as they chatted, but I couldn’t hear what they said. 

“See ya, Gabs,” I called loudly as I approached them.

“Oh, bye, Tobi!” she answered, making me a little glad Yuya heard it, though he would likely be walking her home soon, if he had any sense. 

I heaved a sigh as I slowly made my way downstairs behind the crowd and made my exit from work, alone. 

The next evening, I snagged Gabbie on our way out of work. No way Yuya could be there every day so I had to take my openings when he wasn’t stealing from me. We walked unhurriedly from Motto as the sun set.

“Sorry if this is too personal, but you said when we started working here you’re not that close with your parents. Have you been talking to them at all? Are you getting homesick?” I asked after some small talk.

“I talked to them a couple times,” she said distantly. “I’m not really homesick, but… I do miss my family’s food. I couldn’t find much of the stuff I’m used to eating at the grocery store down the street. Back home in New Mexico, my aunt and grandmother live across the street from us, so we usually eat dinner all together. My parents worked a lot, and when my mom is not at work she usually wants to be with her family at their house. I guess that’s why we’ve grown apart. My grandparents are originally from Mexico, and they want us all to be together like they say we would if we lived there. I didn’t always want to hang out with everyone every day after school or work. As a teenager, I wanted to be with my friends, or sometimes I just needed some peace and quiet, you know? My family wasn’t always happy about that. They take it personally if I don’t want to come over.”

“I see…” I turned over in my mind what she had opened up about. “They must still miss you and worry about you, though.” 

She stayed silent, and I went on, “I had the opposite experience.” I chuckled. “Both my parents are only children and I’m their only child so I’ve never had big family events. I had to seek out friends when I was growing up or I’d be lonely.” 

 “Wow,” Gabbie marvelled. “I could have used some of that.”

I had touched on my childhood, so I could segue into my past with Yuya, if I really wanted to, but it seemed too late to broach that now. I had already let Gabbie assume I’d never met him, let alone…

“Um, did you see that new guy you’d mentioned?” I feigned ignorance.

“Yes, he was in my class yesterday.” 

Exactly as I'd thought. The conversation fell stale for a moment. Hiding my thoughts was a new sensation; the girls we had fought over back in school had known about both of us. There was no need to pretend we hadn’t developed a rivalry after a while. I was sure our cohort talked about us behind our backs until all the girls at school avoided ‌both of us by our last year of high school. 

I dropped Gabbie off at her building and turned around to go home, deep in memories of the last confrontation I’d had with Yuya before we’d graduated. Yuya had once again stolen my girlfriend from me, after I had admittedly stolen his the year before, and I had run after him in a blind rage one day after school. 

I threw a punch at his head, but he turned and sidestepped me with ease just as I stumbled, a grin on his face that boiled my blood. He and I were like opposite sides of a chessboard. I often thought about what my life would have been like if we’d never met. I was well-liked, with plenty of friends, and on the school’s soccer and baseball teams. Fujiwara Yuya, my antithesis, the thorn in my side. He was the king of the outcasts at school. His circle consisted of other boys who skipped class and smoked cigarettes at the bus stop. I was surprised he’d even graduated, hoping at the start of every year that I wouldn’t see him because he’d finally given up and dropped out.

Once I regained my footing, I squared up to him, my chest bumping against his as I snorted like a bull. He still wore that same stupid smirk. 

“This is the last time you'll mess with me,” I panted, using the derogatory form of you, temee. “We will never see each other again once the school year is over.” 

“You’ll be lucky if you make it out of here with your face in one piece,” he retorted. 

I could sense a crowd gathering around us. I didn’t know if my ex-girlfriend was part of it as the edges of my vision blurred, but I didn’t care about that anymore. 

Yuya’s cigarette-scented breath assaulted my face. His hands snapped up and he shoved me forcefully away by my shoulders. I stumbled again. He was surprisingly strong for a thin guy. Noises rose ‌from the crowd. 

“Let’s call it here. High school is almost over.” I was still breathing hard. I had already received my conditional acceptance letter from Handai, but if I flunked my exams or, worse, got expelled for fighting, that letter would turn into a rejection. 

I stretched out my hand to him, hating him every second. He looked down as if it were a rat crawling up his leg. 

“Come on, dude,” I gritted out. “I’m sorry I swung at you.” 

His eyes flicked back up to mine, and he swung his hand out, slapping it into mine too hard, taking hold and yanking me closer to him. He squeezed, and I imagined smashing my forehead into his teeth with all the force in my body. I was used to butting a soccer ball with my head, Yuya’s face couldn’t be that much harder. But the threat of expulsion and ruining my entire future kept me in check. 

“It’s over,” Yuya hissed his agreement and relinquished my hand. 

We backed up a few steps and our respective friend groups rushed in to flank‌ both of us. 

“You did the right thing, bro, you handled it,” my friend, Shunsuke, assured me, though I still had my eye on Yuya in case he made a dive for me. Shun and a couple other friends had stuck by me through my idiotic behaviour since middle school, so they would be relieved now that we could finally move on.

I graduated and started college, commuting every day on the train. Once I'd heard through the grapevine that Yuya hadn’t gone to college at all, I relaxed and enjoyed school. My year studying in Canada was even better. I didn’t think about Yuya for a long stretch of time and I could talk to people and go on dates without looking over my shoulder. 

Why had I stayed in Takaishi after I finished my degree? I should have moved as far away as possible, like Gabbie had. I had been reassured by a few good years, confident the past was long behind me. 

The truth is that I love my parents. When I lived in Canada, I knew I was coming back soon, but the idea of starting my career and potentially living long-term somewhere like Tokyo physically hurt me. Going months without my mom’s cooking or watching the game with Dad on weekends. I couldn’t let that scumbag Yuya take more of my happiness away from me.