I received a weird message in my phone earlier.
- hey is this Sugaya-chan's classmate?
I didn't know if I had to answer it. I was afraid to answer it. What if it was some kind of stalker or one of Sugaya's admirers from another class? I don't want to get into trouble and I didn't want to get her in trouble. But I didn't dismiss the probability that it could probably be one of the girls, they have my number anyway, and this might be some kind of joke. It could be Tsugunaga-san, who was still not over the pouty-faced pic of her I used for the scrapbook. It could be Tokunaga-san, or Sudou-san or...
It could be any of them.
But the problem now is, I replied to it.
- yes. who is this?
I didn't wait long for an answer.
- pretty boy? it's really you huh. it's me, Maimi. I need to talk to you. let's meet later. i'll tell you the place. don't make me wait
So it was Yajima-san. She's the one who called me 'Pretty Boy' first, if I remember correctly. I didn't ask her where she got my number.
What could she possibly want from me? I don't see her or talk to her like that much the other members of Berryz Koubou. I've only talked to her twice, actually. I really don't know much about her but my sister told me that she's the 'leader' of C-ute. She also said that Yajima-san won some kind of award during the last Hello! Project sports festival. She must be really a sporty kind of girl. She's really pretty for a sporty kind of girl. Pretty enough for a photobook. Oh yeah, she's going to have a photobook soon.
Her last message looked like she didn't give me much of a choice. I thought of bringing Sugaya, or even my cousin along, just so I wouldn't feel uncomfortable. But Sugaya said they were scheduled to tape the Kiritsu and my cousin said he had to review some of his lessons. Guess I have to face the leader. Alone.
I wonder what she wants to talk about. Maybe about her photobook? Probably not. But why should I be afraid of her? She's just a girl anyway. A pretty girl. A pretty girl whose kick can probably send me to another planet. I got the chills when my sister showed me that clip of Yajima-san's penalty kick.
I reminded myself not to stare at her legs.
She told me to meet her in the park where my cousin and I saw her before. I arrived there early and I made sure that I had my phone with me. Captain and Sugaya forgave me when I forgot my phone but I don't think Yajima-san would do the same. I think she'll ask me to run fifty laps around the park if I did. Run fifty laps. With my hands.
The thought of it made me check my pocket to check if my phone was indeed there. Thankfully, it was.
Suddenly someone approached me.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I didn't know which clothes to wear." she said.
I turned around and it was Yajima-san. I didn't recognize her easily because that was the first time I saw her wearing something 'girly'. She was wearing a blue blouse and jeans that went just a few inches below the knee. Sorry, I don't what they call that. Girl shorts maybe? I really don't know. No good view of her legs this time. What am I thinking? I swear I saw Sugaya wearing her 'witch clothes', looking at me in my mind when I thought of that.
"Hey, I'm talking to you." She said.
"You look..."
"I look what?"
"Pretty?"
"Right. Thanks. No need to flatter me. I'm going to make this quick. I have to go some place after this." she said as she looked around. It looks like she was checking if someone was following her.
"Okay. What is it you wanted to talk about?"
"I want you to pretend that you're my boyfriend."
"Okay."
"Good."
"..."
"What? You want me to what?" My mind was too slow in processing what she said she wanted me to do.
"I want you to pretend that you're my boyfriend. And you agreed."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"Why me?"
"Why? Will Risako-chan mind if I borrow you for a while? You're just classmates, right?"
I wanted to correct her with that and tell her that Sugaya is my girlfriend, but I thought that maybe I was her last resort for this. I think that Yajima-san has a lot of boys as friends, and that they would probably do anything to be her boyfriend for a day. I needed her to answer my question first.
"Why me?" I asked her again
"You're taller than me."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Not because of my looks?"
"Well, I took that into consideration too."
"Have you even tried asking someone else?"
"Like?"
"Like people you really like?"
"Hmmm. Let's see. Airi-chan is shorter than me and she's too girly to pretend to be a guy. I'm not sure if Kuma-chan is taller, but if we we're seen together, they'd think of her as my girlfriend. I'd look like the guy if I get paired up with her. They'll think of me as a tomboy. Same goes with Erika-chan."
"Airi-chan?"
"Yes. She's a girl."
"Don't tell me Kuma-chan is..."
"Yurina? Yes. She's too pretty to pose as a guy. Erika-chan's a girl too, by the way."
"What about getting real guys and not girls to pretend as your boyfriend?"
"I tried that and they backed out."
"You mean I can back out?"
"No! You said yes already and you have to keep your word."
"But you were talking real fast earlier! I wasn't able to think about it!"
She looked at me with one of her eyebrows higher than the other. It was scary!
*gulp* "Don't penalty kick me." I said.
"So you'll do it then?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Actually, you do. You can pretend you're a girl and be my girlfriend. I'll let you borrow some of my clothes. You want that?"
"Is there another choice?"
"Be my boyfriend or be my girlfriend. Choose."
"Alright, alright. When do I have to do this?"
"On the weekend. I'll send you the details later. I have to go now." she said.
"Where are you going?"
"Megumi-chan's place."
"Murakami-san? I thought she had a boyfriend."
"Yeah. I'm going to ask her some tips on how to tell guys that I'm already in a relationship. You know, tips on how to dump guys the right way."
"How come? You never dumped a guy before?"
"Not really. The last time I dumped one, I told him 'I don't like you, leave me alone' and he ran away crying."
"That's harsh!"
"I know, that's why I'm gonna ask for some tips. I don't want to hurt someone's feelings."
"
I'd rather let you penalty kick me than let you hurt my feelings..."
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
"Okay. See you on the weekend." she said as she went off.
As soon as she was gone, I sent a message to Sugaya, telling her that Yajima-san asked for my help. I didn't tell her the details. I just told her that she asked for my help.
She replied.
- that's great! you're going on the weekend right. i'll come with you then. maybe i can ask Miya-chan and Yurina-chan to come along too.
...
How I wish that I just got penalty kicked instead of letting her talk me into this...
…too bad that wasn't one of the choices she gave me.