diaLOG "V"

"Oh sorry, hang on." I remembered that I have my earphones in all the time except during class, so I took them out. Sounds barreled into my ears like an avalanche and a high-pitched, thin, crackling noise spilled out from my earphones.

"Aren't you turning the volume up too high? You're gonna go deaf at this rate," she scolded me from the seat behind me. 

"If I don't max it, everyone else will be too loud and I'll hear them through my earphones," I replied, stopping my music and crudely winding up the cord of my earphones. I sounded unhappier than I intended to seem. She smiled, as if looking at an unruly child, and sighed quietly.

[REDACTED]

"Are you really not going to eat? You won't have any fuel to get you through the afternoon classes." As if it was something we'd always done, she sat behind me and began eating her colorful homemade bento. 

"This again… Are you my mom or something?" With a lighthearted laugh, she continued to peck away at her bento. My personality and tone tend to scare most people away, but she wasn't afraid at all. Honestly, she's really weird.

"Here, have a bite!" She put something yellow in front of my face. It was so close that I couldn't focus my vision.

"What is it?"

"A rolled omelette."

I pulled back a little. Sure enough, that was a piece of rolled omelette between her red chopsticks. Even I, someone who usually doesn't cook, could acknowledge that it was a very well made rolled omelette.

"...It looks super professional. Like something you'd find at a convenience store."

"Thanks, it also tastes great, trust me!"

Even if I refused her at this point, I guessed that she wouldn't give up so easily, so I thanked her and ate it. Her bento was probably chilled with an ice pack, and the cold brought out the sweetness in the rolled omelette. Her happy-looking face made me feel kind of uneasy, so I turned to look out the window. I sighed and the scent of dashi wafted up to my nose.

"Which art gallery are you going to visit today?" she asked, wrapping up her now empty lunchbox.

"Huh, how did you know I was going to an art gallery today? Are you some kind of stalker?"

"Well, I wonder~" she pondered as if quizzing me, and giggled. She was totally messing with me. The flow of our conversations was never straight, but strangely, it didn't really bother me.

For some reason, she took an interest in me because I like to visit art museums–particularly ones that exhibit contemporary art. I always felt like there was something demeaning about calling it "contemporary" art. When people can't understand a sculpture at first glance, they're quick to give up and blame the artist for not making the meaning more obvious. It's not like I don't understand why people think that way, but I think that way of thinking is really sad. Taking your time to observe art and come up with your own interpretations of its meaning is enjoyable, in my opinion, but I didn't have any friends or family who could relate to that. Everyone wanted a clear "answer".

I met her in a middle school class called "art appreciation". While the other students were pointing and laughing at the exhibitions and making a beeline for the museum plaza, I would stare intently at the art. While I was doing that, she started standing next to me at some point. At first, I figured she was just like the other students, so I didn't talk to her and she didn't talk to me either. Without realizing, we looked at all of the exhibits together and when we left, the teacher thought we had gotten lost and was looking for us. It's a fond memory. Ever since then, we started talking and somehow I started inviting her to come with me to visit the art museums; that's how our relationship has been since then.

"Can I tag along with you?" she asked while getting up from her seat. 

"No." I was bullying her a bit as payback for earlier, but then she furrowed her eyebrows. "... I'm kidding. We can go as soon as fourth period is over." Her face immediately brightened up, and she happily skipped towards the door of the classroom. An ill-fitting smile spread across my face and the corners of my mouth relaxed just a little. Man, talking to her drives me nuts.