Pop!

  I cracked my knuckles.

  Pop!

  I cracked my neck.

  Crunch!

  ‘Huh?’

  While walking, I noticed I stepped on a half eaten pack of crackers.

  I frowned.

  ‘Those look kind of good. I wish I could eat them.’

  With that fleeting thought, I continued walking.

  At that moment, I was walking to a library near my high school.

  Usually, I would never go to the library. I had no reason to. It would be rare for me to borrow a book.

  But, it was Nishimoya’s birthday, so I was heading to the library to give her a birthday present.

  Ding!

  ‘Huh?’

  Pulling out my phone, I realized Aurora had finally responded to a message I sent.

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  ‘I sent that message over three hours ago…what was she doing?’

  It was definitely an odd occurrence for Aurora to respond that late.

  For someone like me, who will sometimes just not pay attention to my phone or texts, that wasn’t completely out of character. But for Aurora? She usually is always on her phone.

  ‘That’s weird.’

  I tried not to focus on that too much. Instead, I paid attention to my surroundings.

  When I did that, I noticed I had just arrived at the library.

  Entering inside, I was greeted with complete silence, a huge contrast from the loudness of the outdoors.

  Looking around, I noticed that Nishimoya was already sitting down at a table and reading a textbook.

  She was wearing a blue button up shirt with a long black skirt.

  Walking up to her table, I sat down in front of her.

  “Hey Nishimoya,” I greeted with a smile.

  Nishimoya looked up from her book and returned a small smile.

  “Hey Elliot!” She replied.

  Putting her book down, Nishimoya looked at me directly.

  “So why did you want to meet up? My parents let me relax today for once, I don’t wanna use that chance studying again,” Nishimoya asked.

  In response, I put the white bag I had been carrying onto the table.

  Then, I took out what was inside.

  “Is that…” Nishimoya stopped talking in the middle of her sentence.

  In my hand, I held a box of coding puzzles that were supposed to be video game focused.

  ‘I really hope she likes them. I couldn’t think of anything better to give her.’

  Not letting my anxiousness show, I slid the puzzles across the table to Nishimoya.

  “Happy birthday,” I said.

  Picking up the puzzles, Nishimoya analyzed them with intense focus. Her eyes portrayed a mysterious and inscrutable emotion.

  Once she finished observing the puzzles, she looked up at me with an expression of both surprise and confusion.

  “Thank you,” She said softly, almost like a whisper.

  My anxious smile turned into a relieved one and I sighed in relief.

  ‘Good, she doesn’t seem to hate it. But she might have to hide that from her parents when she gets home.’

  Laughing off this small thought, I responded to Nishimoya.

  “No problem.”