Chapter 1. Not Boring

Chapter 1. Not Boring

White clouds and blue sky showed that the weather was clear. It was a perfect day for sailing, with plenty of seagulls flying around and calling out over the calm sea. Right in the middle of it all, a small fishing boat was speeding along, cutting through the waves in its path. There were only two men on the boat. One was the passenger, the other the captain. The captain had a big, muscular build and brown skin. He looked like he was in his forties because of his white hair. He wore a plain T-shirt and shorts that somehow looked cool while he steered the boat. He also looked like someone who had faced rough seas and strong waves many times before. A real man. As for the passenger, he had a completely ordinary face, a chubby body, and looked like he was still in his teens. The chubby young man wore a short-sleeved white T-shirt and blue shorts. He stood behind the captain because the boat had no seats.

“We’re almost there!” the captain shouted. In the distance, an island came into view. It would be the chubby guy’s new home. He was also the main character of this novel.

The small fishing boat pulled up at a quiet dock. The dock looked empty because there were no other boats around besides theirs. The passenger stepped off the boat and set his backpack down on the ground. Then he took a deep breath and let it out while stretching both arms up high.

“Finally made it,” I said to myself as I lowered my arms.

“Have fun, kid!” the captain yelled as he started the boat and left the dock behind.

“Thanks a lot!” I shouted back while waving my right hand.

I kept waving until the fishing boat got smaller and disappeared from sight. I lowered my hand and picked up the backpack I’d left on the ground.

“Time to go,” I muttered to myself while putting the backpack on.

I turned around and suddenly jumped because someone was standing right in front of me. What surprised me was that it was a girl. A pretty one, too. She had shoulder-length bright yellow hair and smooth white skin. She looked about ten centimeters shorter than me. She wore a white hooded jacket with purple stripes along the edges and a black skirt that only reached above her knees. Our eyes met. I froze. I was stuck staring at my own reflection in her grayish-white eyes.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I could feel sweat starting to run down my forehead. My chest was pounding like crazy because the girl kept staring at me without blinking even once.

“Who is she? Why is she looking at me like that?” I thought while trying to come up with something to say.

In a flash, an idea hit me. Without thinking it through, I flipped my hair back and smiled.

“Hey, beautiful. Want to grab some tea with this uncle?” I said with a smile.

Silence.

“Damn! What the hell did I just say?! How could I invite a pretty girl to tea when I don’t even know her? She’s definitely going to reject me a hundred percent,” I thought.

The girl just stood there, still staring at me without blinking.

“She must be disgusted by my smile,” I thought while forcing myself to keep smiling at her.

Still silence.

“Hello how are you? I am fine thank you and you?” I said to her in English because she looked like a Westerner.

Her expression suddenly changed from curious to confused.

“Ugh! Why did my English turn into such a mess? What am I even saying? Fine thank you and you? Damn! So embarrassing,” I thought while holding back the shame and still smiling at her.

I wanted to look away from her pretty face, but I was afraid it would hurt her feelings if I did. Like an idiot, I just stayed there smiling at her.

“Huf… ha ha ha ha ha,” the girl suddenly laughed while covering her mouth with both hands and looking down.

“Fine thank you and you? Pfft… ha ha ha ha ha,” she said while laughing.

I just stood there, captivated by her face as she laughed freely without holding back. I’d meant to break the silence, but the result was nothing like what I expected. The girl smiled while looking at me.

“Okay,” she said.

“Okay what?” I asked, confused by what she meant.

“Didn’t you want to invite me for tea earlier?” she replied.

Everything went quiet. The only sounds were the sea and the seagulls.

“Did I hear that right? This girl is accepting my invitation?” I muttered to myself.

“Changed your mind?” she asked with a sad expression.

My heart started pounding hard. Without waiting any longer, I quickly nodded twice.

“Of course not, mademoiselle,” I answered while giving her two thumbs up.

Her face went from sad to happy right away. She stepped closer and took my hand. I was shocked because this was the first time in my life a girl had touched me besides my mother. Usually girls always gave me disgusted looks no matter who they were—classmates, teachers, restaurant waitresses, cashiers, even the maid at home would immediately wipe her hand if she accidentally touched me.

“We’re here,” the girl said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I’d been daydreaming the whole time and hadn’t noticed we were already standing in front of a one-story building that looked like a restaurant. Through the window near the entrance, I could see it was pretty crowded inside.

“Come on, let’s go in,” she said while pulling my hand.

I just stayed quiet and let her pull me inside. As soon as we entered, a waitress came up to us.

“Welcome to our restaurant. Table for two?” she greeted us politely. She looked at the girl who was still holding my hand, then glanced at me. Our eyes met.

“Yes, for two,” the girl replied without letting go of my hand.

Suddenly everything went quiet, and I felt every pair of eyes in the restaurant staring at us. The waitress just stood there looking at me too. Her gaze made me feel intimidated. I remembered how things like this always happened when I was around girls. Cold stares. A sharp pain in my chest. A nauseous feeling in my stomach. The cold air from the AC couldn’t cover up how hot my feelings were right now. I wanted to scream and run out of the restaurant.

“Where can we sit, miss?” the girl asked firmly, making the waitress who had been staring at me jump in surprise.

“Oh, right this way,” the waitress said with a smile and led us to a table in the far right corner of the restaurant.

The girl only let go of my hand once we got there. We both sat down and opened the menu. There were quite a few options, and they all looked delicious, so I wanted to try everything in the book. After looking through it all, I finally decided on a cup of warm milk coffee and a plate of seafood fried rice.

“I’ll have one seafood fried rice and a cup of warm milk coffee,” I told the waitress who was serving us.

She wrote down my order and repeated it to make sure she had it right. My heart started racing again when our eyes met. Sweat slowly ran down my face.

“I’ll have one chicken steak, one spaghetti carbonara, one steamed chicken rice, one special complete fried rice, and one large cola float,” the girl said.

I was surprised when I heard how much more she ordered than me. The waitress looked surprised too as she wrote it down.

“One chicken steak, one spaghetti carbonara, one steamed chicken rice, one special complete fried rice, and one large cola float. Is that everything, miss?” the waitress asked.

“That’s right. Please hurry, the worms in my stomach are already making a racket,” the girl told her.

“Alright, please wait a moment. I’ll be back with your orders soon,” the waitress said before heading to the kitchen and leaving us alone.

The girl hummed while flipping through the menu in her hands.

Her voice calmed my restless heart. I glanced at her and could see a leadership quality in her that made me fall for her. As a guy, I even felt like she should be the man instead of me. Suddenly our eyes met. Without thinking, I quickly looked away to avoid her gaze. I pretended to look at the view outside through the window next to me. Slowly I tried glancing at her again. Our eyes met once more. I went back to pretending to look out the window.

“She’s still looking this way,” I thought.

My heart was pounding so hard I could hear my own heartbeat. I tried to figure out how to get out of this awkward situation. Honestly I was confused because this was the first time in my life I’d been alone with a girl. Even though I was pretending to look outside, my mind wasn’t there. I could also still feel her staring at me.

“Hey,” she said, making me turn to face her right away.

She gave me a serious look. I just sat there staring at the beauty on her serious face. We both stayed quiet, looking at each other.

“Is she mad at me?” I wondered.

Suddenly she laughed while covering her mouth with both hands so she wouldn’t bother the other customers. After she finished laughing, she looked at me and smiled. My heart raced when I saw her smile.

“Mia,” she said.

“Huh?” I replied, confused.

“Mia. My name is Mia,” she said.

“Oh, nice to meet you, Mia,” I answered, then told her my name.

“Wow, your name is so cool,” Mia praised the name my parents had given me.

“Oh, thanks, but your name is nice too. It suits a pretty girl like you,” I replied, complimenting her name, which I thought really did sound good to say and hear.

Mia went completely quiet and her face turned bright red. Everything got silent because I only just realized that what I’d said was too bold for someone I’d just met. We both stayed quiet and looked down in embarrassment. The waitress came back with our orders and arranged them neatly on the table.

“Please enjoy,” she said after putting everything down.

“Ah, thank you very much,” I said with a smile toward the waitress.

She paused for a second, then quickly left without saying anything. My chest hurt because of that. I sighed, then felt a glare full of anger directed at me. It was Mia. For some reason she looked mad at me.

“What a flirt,” Mia said while turning her face away.

Her words confused me and made me wonder what I’d done wrong to make her say that. I picked up a spoon and wiped it before using it to eat the seafood fried rice I’d ordered.

“The food’s here. Let’s eat,” I told her.

Without looking at me, she started eating all the food she’d ordered with gusto. I just sat there watching her finish every last bit without leaving anything behind.

“Now that’s what I call full,” Mia said happily while holding her stomach.

“Where did all that food go?” I wondered while looking at her slim stomach.

“You’re not eating?” Mia asked when she noticed I hadn’t touched my food yet.

“Ah, yeah,” I replied.

I ate my food feeling nervous because Mia kept watching me the whole time. I ate slowly so I wouldn’t choke or spill anything on my shirt. I glanced over. I almost choked from surprise when I saw Mia smiling at me.

“Is there something on my face?” I asked.

“Plankton,” she replied.

“Huh?” I said, confused.

Suddenly Mia laughed. That only made me more confused.

“I was just kidding. Don’t take it seriously,” she said while still laughing.

After hearing that, I went back to eating. I sped up a little because I felt bad making her wait for me to finish. It didn’t take long before I was done. My stomach felt full even though I’d only eaten one plate.

“Full?” Mia asked.

“Yeah,” I answered while drinking my coffee.

“Was the fried rice good?” she asked again.

“It was good. Next time I come here I want to try something else,” I replied.

“If you come again, take me with you, okay? There are still other things I want to try,” she said with sparkling eyes.

“Okay,” I answered while giving a thumbs up.

“Really? You’re not lying?” Mia asked hopefully.

“Really. But can I get your phone number?” I replied while taking my phone out of my pocket.

Mia pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. It was pink and covered in star and emoji stickers.

“Let’s exchange numbers,” she said while showing me her phone.

I froze. I hadn’t expected her to actually give me her number. I’d only been joking because I was sure she wouldn’t want to. Hesitantly, I typed in my number.

“This is mine,” I said while showing her the screen.

She quickly typed my number in. I was surprised by how fast her fingers moved. In less than two seconds, my number was already saved in her phone. Suddenly my phone rang and I saw an unknown number on the screen. I answered it.

“Hello?” I said.

“This is my number,” a girl’s voice answered on the other end.

I turned and saw that Mia was the one with the unknown number. She was on the phone while waving one hand to show me it was her calling. I nodded and saved her number in my phone. Mia. Another name in my contacts besides my dad and home. Pride and happiness filled my chest. Without realizing it, I was smiling.

“I want to order dessert. Is that okay?” Mia asked, snapping me out of it.

“Damn, didn’t she just eat a ton and now she wants more?” I thought.

Honestly I was surprised that someone with such a slim body could eat so much when my much bigger body was already full from just one plate of fried rice. I gave her a thumbs up with a smile. Happiness showed clearly on her face. She opened the menu and called the waitress.

“Can I help you?” the waitress asked.

“One banana split, one large ice cream sundae, and one chocolate pudding with strawberry ice cream,” Mia answered.

My eyes went wide when I heard she was ordering not one but three desserts.

“One banana split, one large ice cream sundae, and one chocolate pudding with strawberry ice cream. Is that everything, miss?” the waitress asked.

“Ah, and some french fries with barbecue sauce too, miss,” Mia added.

“Let me repeat that. One banana split, one large ice cream sundae, one chocolate pudding with strawberry ice cream, and one order of french fries with barbecue sauce. Is that all?” the waitress asked to make sure.

“Yes, and please hurry, miss,” Mia requested.

“Alright, please wait a moment,” the waitress replied.

I watched her back as she left us. Mia looked happy. She hummed a song I’d never heard before.

“What song is that?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Hm? Song?” she replied.

“Yeah, I want to know the title of the song you were just singing,” I said.

“Ganbare!” she answered.

“Gan… what?” I said, confused.

“Ganbare! It’s the opening song for the anime Magical Girl Mika-mika-chan,” Mia replied with sparkling eyes.

I stared at her eyes, which were suddenly full of life. I also felt my face turning bright red. Suddenly she stood up from her seat and did a weird move in front of me. She spun around twice while saying something I couldn’t understand, then ended with a pose where she winked and blew a kiss with her right hand. I just sat there staring at her.

“Well? Did I manage to steal your heart?” Mia asked after finishing her little performance.

“Honestly, I have no idea what to say, but we just became the center of attention for everyone and it’s making me embarrassed,” I muttered to myself because I realized every eye was on us.

Mia seemed to still be waiting for my answer, but I just stayed quiet until a little girl sitting with her mother pointed at Mia and said, “Mika-mika-chan.”

They were sitting right next to us. The little girl looked about five or six years old. Her mother quickly lowered her daughter’s hand and apologized to Mia. Mia smiled and walked over to the little girl, then did the same weird move again while singing a song. The little girl looked really happy and started singing along with full energy. The atmosphere turned warm. A lot of customers smiled as they watched. I, who had been embarrassed earlier, ended up smiling at the scene too. Everyone looked happy.

“Ah, I’m so full,” Mia said while holding her stomach.

Now we were walking outside the restaurant. Lots of people were passing by. I felt many eyes on me, but I ignored them because my attention was on the piece of paper in my hand. A piece of paper people usually call a “bill.” My eyes were locked on the number written on it.

“Damn, is this the price of happiness?” I wondered while putting the bill in my pocket.

I looked up at the sky and saw it was already starting to turn late afternoon. I still hadn’t reached my destination. I looked at Mia. She turned to look at me and smiled. Her smile made me forget about asking for the address of the place I was headed to.

“Thanks for treating me,” she said while still smiling.

“You’re welcome,” I replied.

We kept walking without saying a word for quite a while. The sounds of vehicles, people walking by, and our footsteps blended in with the footsteps of the people around us.

“Why did the atmosphere suddenly get so awkward? Was my answer earlier too cold?” I asked myself.

I glanced at her. Mia was still walking beside me, but her expression looked gloomy. My chest hurt seeing her like that. What I’d said earlier must have been the reason for this awkwardness. Cold sweat started running down my face. I racked my brain trying to find a way out of this situation. Nothing. I couldn’t think of anything. I tried again, but the result was the same. Time kept passing until I realized the sky had gone from late afternoon to night. We kept walking without saying a word to each other.

“Tak tak tak,” the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs of a pedestrian bridge.

We reached the top. No one spoke. The only sounds were our footsteps and the vehicles below us. I wanted to start a conversation but couldn’t think of a topic. I kept walking. Without realizing it, Mia stopped.

“Hey,” Mia called, making me look back because I noticed she wasn’t beside me anymore.

Mia was standing not far behind me. She looked at me for a moment, then lowered her head. After a short while, she looked at me again and, with eyes full of courage, said something to me.

“Be my boyfriend!” she said loudly.

I froze. A car horn broke the silence. I tried to process what she’d just said while the sounds around us continued.

“What? Boyfriend? She wants me to make her my girlfriend?” I thought.

My heart started pounding hard. I didn’t answer right away because I was afraid she was just messing with me, but I could see the seriousness in her eyes. Gathering my courage, I opened my mouth.

“Okay,” I said simply.

Her face went from serious to joyful after hearing my answer. She showed excited body language. She turned and ran away from me. She stopped, turned back toward me, and said, “See you later, my love.” Then she turned and ran off. Because I couldn’t believe any of this, I pinched my cheek. I felt the pain.

“So this isn’t a dream,” I said while still holding my pinched cheek.

After confirming the pain was real, I stopped pinching myself. I put my right hand on my chest. I could feel my heartbeat in my palm.

“Looks like my life here won’t be boring,” I said.

After making sure for myself that what had just happened wasn’t a dream, I turned and continued walking, going down the stairs. I kept walking and walking and walking until I finally realized I didn’t know where my destination was. I slapped my forehead and regretted not asking for the address while Mia was still with me.

“I should’ve asked her earlier,” I said to myself with full regret.

I looked up at the sky. It was already completely dark, and the stars were starting to show their sparkling light to the world.

“If that’s the case, I’d better find a hotel first so I can sleep,” I thought.

I continued walking and hoped my feet would somehow take me where I needed to go.