“Of course I know! She was riiight over there?”
“Where?”
“Riiight there!”
The place Jessica pointed to was a garden overgrown with shrubs. She’s there? Nothing to lose, so I shook off Jessica who kept clinging to me and walked toward it.
I stumbled a few times because of kids splashing water from the pool, but fortunately I didn’t fall. I secretly glared at the couple in the pool who were busy kissing while stuck together. They were so busy making out they didn’t care about others. They were like kissing gouramis.
“David Evans! Dave!”
I went deep into the garden Jessica told me about and shouted. Since I was a bit far from the house, the sound of the music got a little quieter and my voice carried well. But the only ones responding to my shouts were couples going “Eek!” and covering their disheveled clothing.
Dave wasn’t there. Now I was starting to get angry. I felt a bit wronged too. To leave me alone among so many kids! You’re the only person I know here, I don’t know the address here, and I can’t even go home if you don’t give me a ride! I even left my bike behind!
“…I don’t know either.”
You said you wanted to consult about your worries! Should I just take a taxi and go home? …No, I can’t. How can I leave the male protagonist behind… I don’t know exactly what he thinks of me, but I need to build up favorability too.
I came out of the garden and irritably pulled off the leaves stuck to my pants. It definitely seemed like he wasn’t outside, so I went inside the house. I pushed through kids huddled around a ping-pong table playing a game called “beer pong.”
There was no sign of anyone a head taller than others. The stairs were also full of kids making out with smacking sounds. Like doing a game quest, I climbed the stairs hard, avoiding those kids blocking my feet and calves.
As if they were displeased with me interrupting their kisses, several sharp gazes landed on my face. What, why? Then don’t kiss where people are walking!
“Haah…”
The second floor had far more doors than the first floor. It was a bigger place than Harper’s house. I sighed at the thought of searching through all of this, but without giving up, I opened them one by one—
“What?”
“…Sorry!”
I ended up interrupting kids kissing. Wait, is this a party venue? A kissing venue? Everyone’s just going smack, smack, smack! They’ll catch viruses like that!
Bam! I opened even the last door but Dave wasn’t visible. It was a small room with a bed. A guest room maybe. Now I’m getting tired too… I went in and lay down on the bed. It was big and soft, which was nice. I blinked. Because I turned off the light, it was dim and I could only faintly see the ceiling pattern. Thud, thud, thud… The music was faintly audible, which made my ears more comfortable.
“David Evans, bad bastard. David, Evans. David, Evans…”
I swung my legs to relieve my gloomy mood and sang. It was a nonsense melody and lyrics. Nevertheless, I even conducted while moving both hands. Of course, I don’t know how to conduct.
“David, Evans, idiot, id—”
Bam!
“…Aaah!”
I jumped up in surprise at the sound of the closet door that had been quietly shut opening. Right when I was cursing someone out too. What? What is it? Did someone hear me? My singing isn’t that good…! Wait, but is it even a person? I clutched my fluttering heart. Someone with completely disheveled hair was crawling out of the closet.
“W-Who are you?”
I don’t believe in ghosts but… no, now I believe in ghosts too. If I could possess into a drama, why wouldn’t ghosts exist? But even if it wasn’t a ghost but a person, a crazy person who hid in a closet and came out was bound to be frightening.
“Uh, uhhh… P-Pull me out. I’m… caught on a hanger…”
Unlike her rough appearance, that voice was dreamy, as if dreaming, and it sounded nice. If she put strength into her voice, it might sound like the voice of a voice actor or actor dubbing a musical animation. …A ghost wouldn’t have a voice like that, right?
I hesitated before approaching. What suddenly appeared was not a ghost but merely a small-framed human girl. She was wearing a sweater with a strange pattern. I thought there probably weren’t many ghosts wearing clothes like that.
I grabbed her arm and pulled. Her skin was sticky, but rather than sweat, it seemed like she’d been doused with a drink mixed with sugar. It smelled sweet.
“Th-Thanks. Uhhh…”
The girl who finally got completely out of the closet laughed while removing a metal hanger caught on her calf. She must have quite a positive personality. Even though the situation seemed quite bad…
“Oh, you’re someone I haven’t seen before. What’s your name?”
When she hurriedly combed back her hair, the face that was finally properly revealed was quite pretty. Even though she wore crooked horn-rimmed glasses and had braces on her teeth. Those glasses and braces looked exactly like the makeup used in dramas or movies to deliberately hide the beauty of pretty actresses.
“July Baek.”
She must be from another school too. No quest will come up, I thought, but I answered obediently anyway.
“I’m Ha… No! I’m Angela Fermi!”
When Angela put on her crooked glasses properly, the status window appeared.
<Character Status Window>
◈ Name: Angela Fermi
◈ Age: 17 (11th grade)
◈ Popularity: -61%
◈ Favorability: ???♥
◈ Nickname: ???
◈ Special Notes: Harper Cruz impersonator, Bluedale High School’s famous crazy girl
“How can she impersonate Harper with that appearance? They say she really believes she’s Harper? She’s properly crazy!”
NEW!
You have completed a quest!
<First Semester at Bluedale High School!>
You’ve advanced to 12th grade! Just get through this year and you’re completely done with school! Let’s say hello to friends you couldn’t get close to before.
Greet 100 Bluedale High School students [100/100]
【※Reward: You can now see nicknames! ※】
Ah, I completed the quest. I was so busy looking for Dave I didn’t even know I was on the verge of completion. To think I greeted 100 people, I didn’t even know that many at my original school. I opened Angela Fermi’s status window again. Angela’s nicknames were completely merciless.
◈ Nickname: Harper Impersonator, Scammer, Crazy Bitch, Braces, Ugly Glasses
Her popularity was amazing even looking at it again. -61%… It’s the first time I’ve seen someone with lower popularity than my original -31%. Harper Cruz impersonator… I don’t know exactly what happened, but that’s why her popularity is like that.
“July, thanks. I came to say thanks since you invited me to the party for once, and look at this situation.”
Angela laughed cheerfully. No matter if she impersonated someone, school violence was still bad. I frowned and helped her up.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! The kids were just playing a prank! Pranks are only played between close friends, right? Puhahaha! I should go play pranks too!”
Angela threw the hanger into the closet and jumped up. Then she opened the door with excited steps and went out, but came back.
“I left my shoe! Help me find it!”
I had no choice but to search the closet and find Angela’s left boot, and only then did Angela leave the room. My body and mind were even more exhausted by the situation that passed like a storm, so I lay back down on the bed. In the still-dark room with the light off, I continued the song from earlier.
“David, Evans. Bad bastard. Left me behind. Don’t even know where you are or what you’re doing. David, E, vans…!”
I was singing hard with staccato, putting strength into each syllable, when I heard a “pfft!” sound from somewhere. Thinking Angela still hadn’t left, I raised my head—
“Oh my, July. I’m disappointed. So that’s what you thought of me?”
“……”
Dave was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, looking at me crookedly. With the hallway light behind him, he was covered even more in darkness and looked exactly like a large shadow standing in midair.
I didn’t even know someone had come in when Angela opened the door and left. Dave approached me as I froze blankly. When he sat on the edge of the bed and the mattress swayed, I hurriedly got up.
“No, that’s not it…!”
“What’s not it?”
“I just couldn’t find you, so as a joke…”
Dave leaned toward me and grinned, so I quickly backed away. Why is he smiling like that? …Making me feel strange.
“I was looking around for you too, July.”
“…Really?”
…Guess we kept missing each other. Like a fool, my complaints melted away instantly. Dave sneakily moved about a span closer.
“Yeah, but I couldn’t see you anywhere, so I wondered where you were, but I didn’t know you’d be hiding here so well.”
“I wasn’t hiding. I was just resting because I got tired from looking around for you, Dave.”
“Oh dear, I made you tired. Sorry. Don’t you like the party?”
“Actually… kind of. It’s too loud.”
“It is. My ears were ringing too. Honestly, I don’t really like parties either. I just go often because my friends are always throwing them.”
Dave shrugged. I thought he really loved parties since we’d already come twice in one week, but it was unexpected. Besides, don’t typical high-teen protagonists usually really love parties? There were many unexpected sides to him.
“But July, you said you’d listen to my worries.”
“Oh, right.”
But… when did he get this close? Our knees touched so I jerked back in surprise. But behind me was a blocked wall. I was trapped between Dave, who was as big as a door, and the wall.
“Could you move back a bit?”
“The music outside is too loud… Plus, it’s a private story, so it’s a bit much to raise my voice.”
Dave lowered his head toward me and whispered close to my ear. The distance between our cheeks was barely a finger joint. If done well, even the fine hairs could touch. Thinking that, goosebumps rose and I flinched and stiffened my body. Dave smiled slightly.
“I’m the one talking about my worries, so why are you nervous?”
“Be…Because even the person listening should be serious…!”
I felt like things were going a bit strange somehow, but I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. Even without looking, I could feel Dave’s gaze sweeping over my profile. Why, why is he looking like that…
“Now that I look at it, your hair is light.”
