I glided my hand delicately and intentionally.

  Scratch!

  Scribble!

  Scribble!

  The sounds of my pencil making contact onto my poster whispered into my ears.

  ‘Hmm, should I focus on the spaceship or the astronauts?’

  Our art project required us to pick one movie to make an advertisement poster for and I picked a sci-fi one.

  “That looks interesting,” Soriel said as she looked over at my poster.

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  I looked over at her poster and noticed it looked quite dark in color.

  The sketch seemingly depicted a rainy scene with a lone girl with an umbrella walking down a street. Her figure was only roughly outlined, showing that drawing was incomplete.

  “I didn’t think the movie you picked would look so dark,” I mentioned briefly.

  “Oh yeah, well I like stories that speak to your heart. Most of those movies happen to be sad in nature,” Soriel explained.

  “Makes sense,” I responded with a nod.

  Turning my attention back to my own story, a thought came into my mind.

  ‘Huh, aren't the movies she likes just like her music? They both speak to the heart.’

  “Boo!” I heard a voice whisper in my ear.

  I flinched but I didn’t move.

  I just slowly moved my eyes to the side to look at where the voice came from.

  “Pffttt,” Soriel tried to hold in her laughter.

  Ultimately she failed and let out a giggle.

  I continued to glare at her.

  “Stop side eyeing mee,” Soriel said through her laughter.

  I didn’t stop.

  “Stop!” She exclaimed again.

  I finally stopped staring at her and let out a chuckle.

  Soriel smiled when I did.

  **

  Munch!

  I took a bite out of chicken tenders I got for the school lunch from the cafeteria.

  It was decent. Better than most school lunches probably.

  ‘Needs salt.’

  I took a ketchup packet and smeared it over the chicken. Then I took another bite.

  ‘Better.’

  Nishimoya was already at the table with me, so I could’ve talked with her as I ate.

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  But she was working on science homework.

  So I ate in silence. With only my thoughts to keep me company.

  ‘I wonder if Aurora’s dating that guy right now.’

  The thought of such a thing caused me to feel as if I had been punched in the gut

  It made me want to grimace.

  “Hey!” I heard a voice out.

  I recognized that voice.

  ‘Soriel’s coming.’

  Soriel quickly approached our table and sat down.

  “Hey,” I said with a small wave.

  Soriel tilted her head to the side in confusion.

  “Where’s Tristan?” She asked.

  “Doctors’ appointment…I think?” I replied.

  “You think?” Soriel repeated.

  “I’m just guessing. It’s not like he told me,” I explained.

  A look of understanding appeared on Soriel’s face and she let out an “ah” sound.

  “Anyway, we don’t actually need to have 3 people for what I want to do anyway,” Soriel said.

  Nishimoya finished up her work and stuffed it in her bag. Once she did, she began to participate in the conversation.

  “What do you want to do?” Nishimoya asked curiously.

  “Riddles!” Soriel exclaimed.

  ‘Ah, I’m terrible at riddles.’

  With a slightly hesitant heart, I smiled.

  “Aright,” I said.

  “First riddle, I have keys but no locks. I have space but no room. You can enter, but you can’t go outside. What am I?” Soriel said.

  Thinking for only a split second, Nishimoya quickly responded.

  “A keyboard?” She asked.

  “Correct!”

  My eyebrow twitched.

  “What the hell?! How’d you get so fast?! That’s not even fair!” I blurted out annoyance.

  “I don’t know,” Nishimoya answered.

  Soriel chuckled while I rolled my eyes.

  “Next one then!” I exclaimed.

  “Alright, second one. I laugh without sound, when I appear in a chat when emotions abound, what am I?” Soriel said.

  I thought for a bit, confused as to what the answer could be.

  ‘What is up with these crap riddles?! How am I supposed to get this?’

  As I thought, I noticed that Nishimoya was also stumped on this riddle.

  ‘Alright lemme chill out. If it’s not something Nishimoya knows about, then maybe I know about it. Laugh without sound…chat…is it digital?’

  With a “lightbulb” like revelation, I spoke.

  “An emoji?” I blurted out.

  “Yup!” Soriel affirmed.

  “Really?! Awesome!” I exclaimed with a smile.

  I puffed my arms out in the air.

  “I’m the best!” I proclaimed, Soriel giggling in response.

  From there, we solved riddles for the rest of the lunch period. And I didn’t solve a single one.

  **

  Cough!

  Cough!

  ‘I hate the cold. I really don’t wanna have to go out in the cold. Damn, if I can’t even deal with the fall weather, how will I deal with the winter?’

  I walked out of my coding class with a slightly grumpy look. As winter approached, the temperature kept dropping, leaving my body to deal with the consequences.

  Since my last class had ended, I naturally had to go home but fortunately, I didn’t have to

  Ding!

  Checking my phone, I read a text I received.

  — Soriel: Wanna come to the music room?

  ‘Nice!’

  I happily texted back with a “yes” and an “on my way”. Then, I began walking on the way to the music room.

  When I reached, I could already hear Soriel playing the piano.

  I quietly entered inside, put my bag on the floor, and sat down next to it.

  Once I did, I just sat and listened to Soriel play.

  The melody she played on that day was joyful, similar to the song she played when we first met. However, this melody had an innate difference.

  It felt like it was directed purely towards me, as if the song was to bring up only my spirits. If the first melody she played brightened up the air around her, like one big sun, then the song I was experiencing was like a sole ceiling light from a play, that only shined on me.

  It was warm. It was kind. It was great.

  In my head, even though I knew I silently spoke to Soriel.

  ‘Even if things that speak to your emotions, your heart, tend to be sad, it doesn’t have to be. It can make people happy. You make people happy.’

  When she finished playing, Soriel turned to me and smiled.

  “Are you feeling good now?” Soriel said.

  “Yeah, thank you,” I replied.

  “Of course, that’s what friends do,” Soriel replied as she got off her stool.

  ‘So I wasn't imagining it. To play just to cheer me up, she’s really kind, isn’t she?’

  Soriel moved to her bag that was on the floor, taking something out of it and then walking over to sit in front of me.

  “Now, let’s play uno!” Soriel exclaimed.

  “Sounds good,” I responded.

  So we played together, and like usual, Soriel got really creepy as she played.

  But that was fine because…I had fun.

  In fact, all day I’d been having fun.

  Looking at her glee as she won the uno game, I realized something.

  For a while, I had been thinking of Soriel in a weird way, thinking of her as a genius pianist and someone so kind she was like an angel. I unconsciously saw her as someone far away from me. But that thinking had changed.

  Her weird quirk like her creepy gaming smile or how she played for me only a few minutes ago, made me think of her as something else.

  Someone I talked with, laughed with, and fooled around with.

  She was… a dear friend.