"Lily," Tarutaru says. They’re sitting in the classroom, it’s late and everyone else has already left. Lily and Tarutaru got stuck talking about everything and nothing for awhile and they didn’t notice how time went on. Lily is staring at the empty doorway. Tarutaru is looking at Lily, her eyebrow raised.
"Huh?" Lily answers and turns to look at Tarutaru. She notices her half-smile, half-grin, and her laughing eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that, Grass Patch?"
"Lily…" Tarutaru says with a barely controlled giggle. "You are such a transparent person," she says.
"What?" Lily exclaims, spreading her hands wide. "What did I do now?" she says.
"Don’t you notice it yourself?" Tarutaru asks astonished.
"Notice what?" Lily says and her voice takes on an annoyed tone. "What should I notice?" she says and looks around the empty classroom.
"Alright, alright, I’ll humor you," Tarutaru says and puts her hand on her face and shakes her head. "Let’s say you don’t even know it yourself…" she says and sits down and gestures Lily to take a seat too. Lily shrugs her shoulders slightly and sits down, leans her hands on the desk and puts her chin on her hands.
"So, it this like a an old mystery novel, where Detective Grass Patch will now explain the whodunit to the readers?", she says and grins.
"Something like that, except there are no readers and the murderer is unaware of being a murderer.", Tarutaru says and chuckles.
"Are you calling me a murderer, Grass Patch?" Lily says with an exaggerated mocking hurt in her voice.
Tarutaru laughs gently and shakes her head. "I don’t know, Lily, you’re both a murderer and a victim at the same time, if I can believe my eyes at all," she says.
"Alright, I give up," Lily says and leans backward. "Tell me where I’m being stupid," she says and rolls her eyes.
"Let’s lead this with a few questions and we’ll see if you can figure it out yourself," Tarutaru says.
Lily sighs theatrically and sits straight, then looks at Tarutaru and crosses her hands in front of her. "Ok, do your worst," she says and smiles.
"Alright, question number one: Why were you staring at the doorway just a moment ago?" Tarutaru asks and holds up one finger.
Lily furrows her eyebrows and thinks. "Uh, I don’t know," she says. "I didn’t notice I was staring at it at all…" she adds and scratches the side of her neck.
"Question number two: Why do you seem distracted at class lately?" Tarutaru says and barely hides a laugh.
"I am?" Lily says confused. "I haven’t noticed… I thought I’m behaving like normal…?" she says.
"Question number three: Who was it that left this room last? Who was it that you kept staring at the whole lesson and then asked my notes because you missed the whole thing? Who was it that you keep trying to get close to, regardless of any success?" Tarutaru says and fails to hide her wide smile.
Lily looks at her and blinks a couple of times. The slowly her cheeks turn red and she turns her eyes downward. "Oh…" she says quietly, and Tarutaru bursts out laughing so hard tears run down her cheeks. She raises up, wipes the tears from her eyes and takes a deep breath. She offers her hand to Lily.
"Come on, let’s get you out of here. Maybe you can still catch a glimpse of that pink hair if you’re fast enough," Tarutaru says and giggles loudly.
Lily rises up, her whole face red as a fire truck. "Eat a sock, Grass Patch!" she shouts and walks out with her face down and her shoulders up, blushing like no tomorrow. Tarutaru follows her, laughing vividly.
ns 18.68.41.179da2
