The Umbrella by Nicole

            Author’s Note: This is just a short story I thought of when I was trying to sleep one night.

~*~*~*~

            I really shouldn’t have been surprised when my mom wasn’t there to pick me up after school. Like always I was the last one there, a small boy standing in the dark entrance waiting to see the headlights of our opulent car to pierce through the increasing darkness. I wish I had a bike or that I could just walk home like everyone else but it was pouring outside (I didn’t have an umbrella) and it was getting dark quickly so I just waited, killing time by tapping my foot on the floor.

My mom was always late getting me; would this be the first time she actually forgot about me? For a moment the thought of having to sleep here at school for the night gave me the willies. Weren’t there some rumors that the school was haunted or something? I panicked and felt cool sweat mar my forehead.

Like hell I was going to stay here for the whole night! Getting more frustrated by the minute I backtracked a bit and found the payphone in the locker room. Using the last bit of my change I had left, I dialed my mom’s cell phone. It rang incessantly (I honestly didn’t believe that she would pick up but I still hoped) until I got a hold of her voicemail. In the darkness of the locker room I heard her bored cool voice say something about how she was busy and couldn’t pick up her phone. She didn’t even say her name, like she expected people to know who she was. I rolled my eyes. It sounded like she was doing people a favor when she would return their call whenever she had the time. 

When I heard the beep at the end of her message, I went ahead and left another message: “Hey, mom. It’s six o’clock. Where are you? I’m still at school.” It took all I had to control myself.

With that I hung up, fighting the urge to slam it down. Really I shouldn’t have been angry with her. I was use to being last of my mom’s list of important things even after her appointment at the hair salon.

Suppressing a quiet sigh I picked up my book bag and headed back towards the entrance to keep watch.  I settled on the cold ground and pulled out my math book. If I was stuck at school I might as well get some homework done. It was boring stuff and there wasn’t much light but I got along pretty good.

The silence that settled over the school was thick and stuffy so I easily heard a noise in the back that silence and my confidence shattered. My body froze automatically and my heart skipped a few beats. I strained my ears to hear it again but silence quickly returned. But after a while I heard it again. It was like someone was walking through the school. I didn’t know why someone would be here so late and I immediately thought it had to be the rumored ghost. With the rainstorm and the creepy darkness there was no other explanation! It was the most afraid I had been in my life! If I hadn’t been frozen on the spot I probably would have run for my life! I guess my imagination ran a bit wild; it does that sometimes.

As the sounds grew closer I realized that it was more like the echo of footsteps. Didn’t ghost hover or fly or something? My fear subsided a bit but I was still wary. Even if it was just another person what would they be doing here so late like me?

At the end of the hall I saw the mysterious figure turn the corner and make their way towards the front doors and me. I just wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I really didn’t ant them to notice me.

Even as I was trying to squeeze myself into the shadows the figure spoke: “Hey, what are you still doing here?” It was a guy, most likely an upper classmate since the voice was unfamiliar to me.

I let out a long sigh of exasperation. “My mom’s running a bit late,” I replied, trying to keep my apprehension and frustration out of my voice. Didn’t want to be rude in front of a friendly student.

As he grew closer, the stranger stepped into some light and I could see that he was an older student, or at least he looked older than me. He had his book bag as well as another long and slender bag slung over his shoulders that held his kendo sword since he was still in his dark training uniform. He sat down next to me, smiling.

“A bit late?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “School ended hours ago.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to tell him the truth so I said, “Traffic.”

“Ah,” he said, nodding to show he understood but he didn’t look very convinced at my story. Suddenly he held out his hand and smiled brightly at me, a genuine smile that caught me off guard. For a moment he looked familiar. “My name is Ryu Hayama.”

A very bright light turned on in my head. That name sounded familiar too. As I shook his warm hand with my left hand (with was pretty awkward), my brain raced to figure out the mystery. It wasn’t long before I realized that I was shaking that hand of the school’s most popular male student. His pictures had been up all over school a couple of days when some girls printed posters of him during the school elections. They had wanted him to be president or something of the student council. Of course he didn’t want to be but he still got the vote. Even girls in my grade where crazy about him. I heard he was good at sports and school but since I never seen him or really cared I didn’t know for sure. Still it was weird to see him. He was like a celebrity and it felt like I ought to know him or something.

“So, do you have a name?” Hayama asked. He was polite not to laugh in my face since I was obviously lacking concentration at the moment.

“Oh.” I felt myself blush from embarrassment and pulled my hand away. “Um…I’m Shoujuro Shino.”

“Shino, eh? You’re a sophomore, right?”

“Uh…yeah.”  How did he know that?

“Do you always stay late after school?”

I shrugged and dropped my eyes. “Most of the time.”

“I see.” Hayama looked past the glass doors but I simply stared at his profile. He was really handsome. I was having trouble concentrating for a moment. It was no one people were crazy about him. He had long dark brown hair that hung in his eyes and his eyes were just as dark. Standing up he was taller than me by more than a half a foot at least since I was pretty short.

“So, do you belong to any clubs, Shino-kun?”

I snapped out of my thoughts to shake my head.

He seemed surprised. “You ought to find a club to join after school. At least you would be able to do something fun instead of waiting around.”

“I guess.”

He stared at me, unblinking. I felt myself blanch out of nervousness. “There’s an art club, Shino-kun. Why don’t you join it? Weren’t you the one who turned in that piece of art for the culture fest last year that had everyone talking?” he snapped his fingers and grinned. “You are! You won an award for it too, right? I was in the audience during the art auction. Yours got the most bids. It was very cool that painting of yours.”

“I suppose.” I was glad it was so dark that he couldn’t see my expression or the nervous way I clutched my hands in my lap. But I was very surprised that he remembered. It had been more than a year since that art festival and I had never turn in another painting since then so the fame that came with it slowly faded away and I was just another nameless student in the large school. “I mean…I’m glad people liked it.”

Hayama glanced at me. “Don’t be modest. People loved that painting. I would love to be able to have even half of that gift of yours.”

That surprised me. “Are you part of the kendo club?” I asked, far to eager to change the subject.

“Me? No. My friend leads the club but he’s sick so he asked me to do it for today.” He laughed suddenly. “I help out the other clubs whenever I can. That’s why most of the younger kids call me ‘senpai’, I suppose.” He ran a hand through his dark hair almost self-consciously. “I don’t mind. I like helping them out.”

I smiled. He seemed like such a nice guy. Since he was so popular I half expected him to be a jerk.

“Here.”

I looked to see what he was holding out to me. It was his umbrella. I looked up at him. “Just in case you have to walk home.”

I was astonished. “Thank you, senpai,” I murmured, taking the umbrella.

“No problem,” he replied, climbing to his feet. “Well it was nice talking to you, Shino-kun, but I gotta head out.”

“If you’re walking home won’t you need this?” Now I just felt bad to taking his umbrella.

“No. I like walking in the rain. You’d get more use out of it than me. See ya around, Shino.”

And with that Hayama left and disappeared in the wet darkness outside. In the end I did walk home but with Hayama’s umbrella I didn’t get wet. My mom had forgotten me but this time it didn’t bug me since someone hadn’t.

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