Chapter 2
She sat down by the tree and took in her surroundings.
It was bright and quiet — exactly the way she liked it for a nice afternoon reading.
"I’ll finish much more today," she murmured to herself as she opened up her book. Her eyes jumped from word to word and made theories in her mind about the story's plot.
But then, that stench once again filled her nose and she looked up. She wasn’t surprised by the boy’s presence.
"Hello again," she greeted him.
He sat in front of her like yesterday and gazed at the girl for a moment. Then he nodded curtly and blew out a puff of smoke to the side; she smiled.
"Thanks for remembering to blow the smoke away from me."
He blinked, not saying a word, as he locked eyes with her. After a moment, she hastily looked back at her book in embarrassment, realizing that he probably didn't remember their brief interaction. She tried to distract herself as she turned the page of the story.
Then another.
And another.
Her eyes roamed over the words until she had about thirty-two chapters left. She calculated how many days it would take to complete them.
Two days. That’s not so bad, she thought. I would finish it by... Wait, what day is it again?
She patted her pocket and sighed. It wasn’t the first time she had forgotten her phone when leaving the house.
"Um, excuse me," she cleared her throat as she flashed him with a small smile. "Sorry to bother you, but do you know what day of the week it is?"
He gave her a calm, neutral look before holding up four fingers.
"So it’s the fourth day of the week?"
He nodded.
"It’s Wednesday, then."
He nodded.
She smiled. "Great, thanks."
He nodded.
She chuckled as she wondered if his neck ever hurt from nodding so often. Or was he silent only with her?
Closing her book, she quickly shook the thought away and looked up at the sky. It was getting late; she hadn’t realized how long it had been since she left home.
"Well, have a good evening," she chirped before walking away.
Unable to stop herself, she glanced over her shoulder to take a peek at him.
To her surprise, he was walking away also, in the opposite direction.
He didn’t leave as soon as she did yesterday. What was different today?
