2.
Naya and Drake stood as if waiting for something to happen.
Her looking like a mauled dog, people kept their distance. A couple, no older than twenty-five, carrying a red and white blanket and a picnic basket picked a different spot. The man put an arm around his woman and shifting himself between them, despite the distance. Like a man walking nearest to the road to ensure a barrier. So gentlemanly… It was surprisingly embarrassing. Drake could only imagine what Naya was feeling if anyone from school saw them…
Well…
It worked.
Nothing was said for the longest time before Drake nodded at the path and Naya walked.
More silence.
He wanted to say something, but a voice said she wouldn't listen. She stared at the ground, hands in her pockets, stretched inwards as if hugging herself.
He'd given her his white nylon jacket, but she wasn't cold, just sad.
They trudged over the river, having found the bridge. He looked back and shook his head. The distance was so reasonable.
Naya turned on the intersection, Drake just behind. He didn't know if Naya knew but she was leading him exactly to his home.
They pressed on, deeper into the city, stopping outside his Apartment.
Apartments made up most buildings in the area, most of the city lived there. There were so many large apartments they created their own internal ecosystem, and most important for a high schooler, a class system. Turning two blocks painted you as an entirely different kind of person. You knew all the kids in your building, everything was too close together to ever make enemies. It was even too close for lovers. For that one went to another block and, to stand out, one never went to their partner's home, because then everyone would know.
His block was shameful.
Nice apartments, the ones worth showing off had guards, his didn't. A district distant from Jin, Paige and presumably Naya's. Their piece of prefecture more or less a combination of industrial, urban and tourism packed tight. Further from the heart rested the rich, and behind, the warehouses and factories, his destiny.
Some people waved their poverty like a badge of honour. Not Drake.
Poor was poor.
Thinking on it, he'd no idea where Naya actually lived. Only that it was better, like Paige, but on another level.
And yet she'd just walked him home.
Did Futaro live near?
"This is me," Drake mumbled, "Umm… I can walk you to your house if you-"
"No!"
She froze, then blushed.
"I can walk myself"
"Oh, okay then"
…um…
"See you after school?" she asked.
"Sure" He mumbled.
Why after school?
Jin would've said she was too high in the food chain, starting a bad mood.
So what? It meant being near her.
He patted her on the shoulder and stepped in, offering a last wave before turning away. The moment he was out of sight, he swore, punching the wall, life could be so complicated, magic excluded.