The Park

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CHAPTER 7: THE PARK

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The park became our place.

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I didn't plan it. No one did. It just happened. After school, we would drift there, one by one, and sit on the rusted swings or the cracked slide or the bench with the knife-carved words.

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Hana brought snacks. She always brought snacks. She never ate them.

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Yuki brought homework. She made Ren do his. He made jokes about how he didn't care about grades. She said he should.

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Ren brought his sketchbook. He drew the park. The swings. The slide. The group. He never finished any of the drawings.

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Mei brought her book. She read. She didn't talk. But she stayed.

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And I brought nothing. I just sat there and watched and thought about nothing.

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One afternoon, Yuki asked me a question.

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"Why do you hang out with us?"

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I looked at her. "You invited me."

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"That was one time. You keep coming back."

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"I don't have anywhere else to be."

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"That's not an answer."

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"It's the only one I have."

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She stared at me for a long moment. Then she nodded, like I'd passed some kind of test I didn't know I was taking.

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Another afternoon, Hana asked me a different question.

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"What do you think about when you're quiet?"

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I thought about it.

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"Nothing."

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"That's impossible."

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"It's not. I'm good at it. I've had practice."

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She laughed. It was the real laugh this time. The one she used when she forgot to perform.

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"You're strange," she said.

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"I know."

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"I like it."

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She said it quietly. Almost to herself. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear it.

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But I did.

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The third afternoon, Ren showed me a drawing.

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It was the park. The swings. The slide. The bench. And four figures sitting on the ground. He'd drawn me. He'd drawn Hana. He'd drawn Yuki. He'd drawn himself.

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Mei wasn't in it.

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I didn't say anything. I just looked at it.

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"It's not finished," he said.

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"It looks finished."

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"It's not."

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He closed the sketchbook before I could ask what was missing.

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At the end of the week, Charlotte appeared.

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She stood at the edge of the park, on the other side of the fence, and watched us. She didn't come in. She didn't wave. She just stood there with her hands in her pockets and her eyes on me.

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Yuki noticed her first.

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"Who's that?"

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I looked up. Charlotte didn't move.

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"No one," I said.

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"She's watching us."

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"She's watching me."

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"Why?"

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"I don't know."

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Charlotte turned and walked away.

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I watched her go. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2Qs8tUoUi

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