It had been a while since I’d gone home so early on a Friday.
I thought about Yuma. He hadn’t contacted me this week. I wondered if he was doing well at his new job.
I was a little concerned, but I told myself that no news is good news. I was still fiddling with my smartphone to check for a message when it rang, as if it had been watching me.
“Oh! It’s Yuma. Maybe he was working overtime.”
I opened the chat. I wasn’t waiting for him, but I felt relieved.
“Hey, Maomi. I need to ask you about the camping trip.”
“Ask?”
What could it be?
I was expecting him to invite me for a drink, so this was unexpected.
What?
Before I could type, a series of messages came in rapidly.
“When I thought about it, camping is my first time. You went to the trouble of inviting me, but…”
“What?! What do you mean by ‘but’!?”
I instinctively shouted at the negative tone at the end of the sentence and held my breath, waiting for the rest of the message.
“I don’t have many friends, and I might make a social blunder in an unfamiliar place, or be slow and inconvenience your friends, I’m so worried I might mess something up. So…”
Every time the “shupo” notification sound rang, a negative message appeared.
Had Yuma’s mind, which I thought had recovered so quickly, still swinging back and forth like a pendulum?
I bit my lip as I imagined Yuma, head drooping, trying so hard to put his thoughts into words.
“Is he going to say he can’t go? Did I invite him too soon? Ah, I’m an idiot! You’re not supposed to rush things like this!”
Maybe I had burdened a still-recovering Yuma. As I held my head in my hands on the waiting bench, another “shupo” sounded.
“So, Maomi, if you’re free tomorrow, would you help me with a practice run for camping?”
“A practice run!?”
How earnest could Yuma be! I felt so touched, as if someone had grabbed my heart. I looked up at the moon.
“Of course I will!”
I sent a thumbs-up emoji in less than a second. Yuma immediately replied with a smiley face emoji.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up at the station tomorrow morning. I’m going to work hard to become a real man, so please watch over me!”
Yuma felt so endearing. He’s going to work hard to become a real man?
What a cute guy.
I skipped onto the train with a slight buzz. It was a peaceful Friday night, and I had no idea that Yuma would show up at the station in a way I could never have imagined.
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