“Oh, come on! Isn’t there a saying here that goes something like ‘there’s a first time for everything’?”
I half-opened my right eye to glance at the girl sitting next to me on the train heading home after school. She was talking on her phone while waving her hands around amiably; the charming moonstone bracelet on her left wrist rattled almost melodiously with each shake.
“...I wonʼt do anything that stupid, why are you questioning me like this…”
From the corner of my eye, I could see that she was wearing a familiar navy-blue pinafore over a plain white buttoned blouse; from the school badge on her left, it seemed like she was from Coast Secondary School. Her name tag, which was pinned above the school badge, read—
“Mister, if you’re gonna stare, at least do it discreetly,” the girl suddenly spoke, covering her name tag fully with one hand.
I blinked in surprise and turned my head to face her. “W-what?”
“I can literally feel your lewd gaze from ten miles away.” She chuckled, then smiled. “You’re from the JC side, aren’t you? So that makes you my senior…ah, by the way, you’re missing your school badge, senior.”
“Huh?” I glanced down at my own uniform—a white buttoned short-sleeved shirt with the school tie wrapped around my collar paired with greyish-black long pants—and realised that she was telling the truth. “That’s weird, I swear I put it on before leaving home this morning…”
The girl laughed and held out her palm, revealing a small circular metal badge. “Senior, I found this on the floor just now, could it be yours?”
“Y-yeah, it must be, thanks.” I took the badge from her hand; my fingers brushed against her skin ever so lightly, and instinctively I felt a bone-chilling shiver run down my spine.
“...what’s wrong, senior?” Her dark-brown eyes looked at me unblinkingly, a flicker of red in their murky depths.
You are reading story The Hero died, now what? at novel35.com
I couldn’t pry my eyes away from hers at all; it was as if my entire self was being consumed by her intense gaze, swallowed whole in an instant. Yet, instead of fear, a strange warm feeling coursed through my heart—a feeling I couldnʼt quite put my finger on.
This stop is Choa Chu Kang…change here for the Bukit Panjang LRT…Choa Chu Kang…
The announcement for the approaching stop rang; the girl finally averted her eyes, breaking the spell cast over me.
“This is where Iʼm alighting,” she said, glancing up at the route map above the train doors. “Where will you head now?”
I blinked and stammered, “U-um…er…Jurong East…I-Iʼm changing to the green line.”
“Mm, I see.” She smiled and jumped to her feet before grabbing her school bag between her legs, the moonstone bracelet of her wrist jingling merrily. “See you again, senior!”
In a blink, she was gone.
“Why do I seem to be meeting so many weirdos in one day...?” I muttered to myself as the train doors slid close, still couldnʼt quite shake the strange feeling in my heart.