"Lies.
Deception.
Dishonesty.
Those are the similar words,
Share similar meaning,
And lead to the same outcome."
"What appears to be a lie, could be the truth. What appears to be the truth, could be a lie."
"But in the end, it's all nonsense.
There is no such a thing as truth, and therefore, there is no such thing as lie."
"Or so I believed."
It's empty.
The school is empty. The bell had rung half an hour ago. Everyone had already gone home. The evening sunlight flashes through the window and went across the floor. I continue my path over the hallway, walking past every classroom beside me. The birds outside fly from the branch all the way to the edge of the school rooftop.
I never intended to stay at school this late, nor did I intend to leave school this early. At this hour, there won't be any students around the school anymore. Clearly, I don't have a reason for being here. And clearly, I should have gone home already.
I stop as I stand in front of a staircase. A spiral staircase, a big one. Red carpet covering over it from the top all the way to the bottom. Although I prefer to use normal stairs, the way to library is much closer here. I put my foot over the steps and another. Walking my way up every steps.
Slowly, my legs reach for another steps. Every steps I take make me think of how people's action are always repetitive and monotonous. As if the architect itself intentionally build it to watch people repeat the same motion in one place.
I set my foot over the last step of the staircase. Continue my way through another hallway. Eventually, I stop Infront the library door. A giant double door, one that looks like it was from the medieval period. I place my hand over the door knob, pushing one of the door open.
Dust drifts past me as I enter. The library is massive, the ceiling is far from the floor. The shelves are set in order. The tall stairs over the shelves went up over the highest part of each row. The library was somewhat dim. There's only 4 window, placed in each side of this place.
There's a hundred of shelves in this library, and hundreds of books category in each row. I walk into one of the row, the shelves on both side contain a countless of literary books, I glance over the books before pulling out one of the books from it's place.
I hold it with my both hands. The book looks brittled and scruffy. I turn the page open as the old scent of the book goes over my nose. I turn from page to page, reading every words.
It was written in cursive perfectly, can almost make anyone who read thinks it was written using a machine. But the spilled ink across each pages of the book proved it was written by a person.
After several moments of getting through pages, I shut the book close and tug it over my armpit. I carry it while walking between shelves.
I slowed my pace down as a single light shoots at a particular floor across where I am standing.
As if the light somehow find it's way into the dim space of this library. Filling one particular place with it's bright while the others remain dim. My legs slowly drift over the light, as I walk closer, my eyes glance over to the side where the light comes from.
The giant window was wide open, as wind pulls my hair over to it's direction. The chairs is messily placed as the books between the shelves fall all over the floor. In the middle of it, multiple books were set almost like a throne. And on top all of the books is a girl laying.
Her eyes shut close as both of her hands and legs hanging over the edge of the books. Her hair is painted blue, and the wind that blow over it makes it almost looks like a wave. Her neck slightly tilt to the other side and her face was cover by the evening sunlight coming from the window.
I move over to the table across from the girl, sit down and pull my eyes away from her. Certainly, there wasn't supposed to be anyone else in school at this hour. And supposedly, this girl should have already gone home.
The dim light covering the entirety of this library, contrasting the brightness of this section makes the whole place seem unreal. The unnatural dark blue colour on her neck length hair combined with her soft features makes it hard to fully convince myself she was actually real.
As I pull my eyes away from her, a soft hum coming from the girl direction.
"Mmmmhhh..."
Continue with a yawn.
"Haaahh..."
The girl eyes flutter open as she rub both of her eyes with her hand, she begin sitting up on the pile of books before turning her eyes over to me.
"Larry Abraham..?"
She tilt her head to the side while her big orange eyes pierced directly through mine. She abruptly jumps from the books, and raise both of her arm over her head as she begin to stretch. She then turns to me again with an almost strange look, her expression then change into a smirk.
"You were watching me asleep, weren't you? It's inappropriate to watch people sleeping you know? Disrespectful!"
She slowly walks herself over to me as she point a finger to my face with an pretentious stern look.
"Do we know eachother?"
I answer shortly.
She tap her chin with her finger as she speaks
"Hmm.. nope, we don't! But we will eventually!"
"So, how do you know my name?"
"Ehhhh??? You don't know? Seriously?"
Her eyes widen as her face lean even closer to mine. I move my face back, giving distance between us.
"You seriously didn't pay much attention to your surroundings, do you?"
She shakes her head in disapproval.
"We're classmates, remember? Even I can remember your name. It's not fair!"
"Classmates?"
A memory struck me suddenly. I remember now, a few days ago, a new student was transferred into my class. Her name is Haru Michael. Although I didn't hear much about her introduction, I do hear people speak of her name loudly like she's a president or some sorts.
Haru then sits down on the table next to me as she tilt her head to the side while scanning all over my face. I glance over to her, our eyes catch eachother as she squint her eyes and another smirk appear over her face.
"Whaaattt~"
"What?"
"You're staring intensely right now, don't you have something to say yourself?"
She raised her eyebrows as her smirk only grow bigger. Her eyes then glance over to the book I was holding, she casually grab it from my grip and hold it with both of her arm. She pulls the book open and read every pages. After several moment, she turn her head towards me with an enthusiastic expression brimming over her face.
"You... You read this?! I'll never read something like this before... this book is a hidden gem!"
She holds it over to my face as a smile remain intact all across her face.
"Umm.. hehe~"
"I've must talked too much huh? Well! I can't help myself you know? If I found something I like, I always want to share about it with someone else. Like, expressing one happiness to another."
Expressing one happiness to another? If the happiness we expressed didn't make another happy, would it still be consider as happiness? Or does happiness only comes from personal interest? Shouldn't happiness be for everyone? Why should we assume our happiness would make others happy as well?
"Im not expressing anything."
I flatly said.
Her eyes widen. She tilt her head to the side while her face seem confuse.
"Pfftt–!"
She holds her mouth with her palm, trying to stop herself from laughing. But a noticeable smirk remain on her face. She shakes her head with a satisfaction washing all over her face. As if what I said is somehow a humourous joke to her.
"What.. what are you even trying to say?! I was just talking about what I feel when sharing something I like and all of the sudden — poof!! You said 'Im not expressing anything.', and more importantly, you said it with that straight face of yours!"
She mimicked my words with the same tone shamelessly. Truly, there's nothing to be laughed about what I said.
She wiped a tear from her eyes while the smirked across her face still remain unchanged.
"Oooh~ Larry..."
"You're a strange person, you know that?"
"You should buy yourself a mirror."
Her eyes slightly widen by my response before her hand ruffle the top of my head, making a mess of my hair.
"And a sarcastic one too, i see.."
She then pulls her hand away before resting her head over her elbow while her gaze continues to linger over mine.
"Oh!"
"I haven't told you my name, have I?"
"Welp..! Ahem! Ahem! Introducing myself.. The name's Haru, Haru Michael! Spring is what it means. And Michael is the blood that I inherited."
She stand up over the table, putting her hand over her chest while her face head toward the ceiling. The window shoots the sunlight over her face and the wind continues to blow over her blue hair, flowing like the sky, the clouds and heading towards the sun.
Haru expression is filled with pride. She takes a seat back, and glance down over the book, her facial went calm as if the sun had set for the moon to appear. The once evening sky, turns into a shade of darker blue, the bird outside flew away to search for their nest. As the two of us remain inside the library. Maybe it's time for me to leave and go home, or, maybe it was her's.
"Larry."
She calls him out with a soft tone.
"Do you.. have a motto? Something that you believe in and lives up to it? Kinda like.. a principle."
"Aren't you curious about mine? Do you want to hear about it? I suppose.. I may honour you a little bit about myself."
"My motto.. urmm.."
She placed a finger over her chin, clearly, she's clueless about it herself. Or perhaps, she never had a motto in the first place.
"Aha! I got it! My motto is.. 'Bringing people closer just like how the sunflower drift closer to the sunlight.'"
She says it with an almost serious look, but her facial remain soft, with a hint of a brighter emotion flashes across her face, as if she found a way to interpret her own naivety and cluelessness.
"Soo.. what about you, Larry? I already told you about mine, so you gotta tell me about yours also, it's only fair!"
She lean her face closer to me, I pull my eyes away from her gaze, and looks over the table. Still, I can tell she was staring, and she may never planned to stop until I finally tell her.
"I dont have a motto."
"But if I do have one, it would certainly be a boring one."
"Eep! You can't just say that and expect me not to be more demanding!"
"'I only talk about what I think, and I only think about what I believe.'"
"That's.. that's your motto?
She seems baffled, she tilt her head to the side before continues.
"It's.. strange, you seem to be the type of person who thinks more than speak. Almost as if you are telling a lie.. or you just don't have anything for you to truly believes in."
It's all nonsense.
The way she said it, the way she defined it, almost as if my motto doesn't even clarify who I really am. As if she's quitely telling me to quit pretending as if I ever have any reason to be alive at all.
In conclusion, there's only one thing I can made out of it.. certainly, I won't meet her again. And thus, our nonsensical encounter and interaction would meet its end here.