Meeting Komi After School Instant

I took the long way out, the path that curves behind the gymnasium where the cherry trees drop their petals into blue plastic buckets. That’s where I saw her.

I’d learned enough of her sign language to catch that. My heart did something clumsy in my chest. meeting komi after school

“Me too.”

We stayed like that for a long minute. No phones. No gossip. No crowd pressing in to ask for autographs or explanations. Just two people sharing a patch of sunlight while the rest of the school emptied out like a tide. I took the long way out, the path