3

         The next day, Mai once again asked me if I was up for some table tennis. She seemed slightly more enthusiastic than yesterday, and I pondered why that might be while setting up the table and the net. Having already done it once, we managed to get everything ready a little faster than the last time.

      "Can I serve first?"

      "Sure?

          She readied the ball-orange this time-and served. It wasn't any normal shot, however. She shook the racket sharply, as if cutting the underside of the ball, which made it spin and caused it bounce back to her side after hitting the table in front of me.

           I was far too confused, more so by Mai's exagger ated motions than the trajectory of the ball, to hit it back.

       "Hum.

          Mai returned my look of suspicion with a wide,childish smile, the like of which was rarely seen on her face. It really left an impression.

        "I looked this up online yesterday. I didn't have a racket, though, so I practised with a spoon."

           She spun the racket in her hand as she bragged, proud that the unveiling of her new technique had gone suc cessfully. It was honestly more surprising to me that Mai was this into ping-pong, but as the chagrin I felt was strong, I decided to act like that didn't interest me.

        "You're using curve balls against an amateur? That's low."

        "It's your fault for having no ambition, Shina. Here comes another one!"

             Mai took another weird pose and began serving. She hit it a little too low this time, however, and the ball ended up flying backwards towards her direction instead. It hit the wall and bounced back. After having picked it up, Mai scratched her forehead. Then, bouncing the ball on her racket, she explained.

         "You see, I'm still only good enough to send one out of every ten flying straight forward..."

         "So, you got worse after learning a new technique?" Was I really going to win just by standing still?

              Well, as it turned out, yes. Just like the previous one, her next attempt failed too, and the ball flew off in the distance, bouncing off the floor and the other tables. It ended up landing on my side of the net, and as such, I went to pick it up, even if it had ultimately been Mai's fault. Just then, however, I heard a voice coming from downstairs.

              The shock I felt was comparable to a needle being stuck into my heart. My body came to a sudden halt, and the ball I had been chasing rolled away. Mai reacted similarly. Someone was speaking: a girl. Mai quickly circled around the table and walked over to where I was, and we took a peek down below together. If there was someone on the stage, they'd only need to look up and they'd see us. While the piercing sensation in my heart had already passed, I could still feel my skin tingle nervously.                 It seemed that we were having gym this period. Girls from our class had begun setting up to play volleyball. The reason why I realised this-that they were my classmates-was due to spotting the familiar faces of my friends. Ina and Lily, to be precise. They were currently carrying the net and its supports. We had only ever sat down and talked before, so it hadn't been that much of a shock even when someone did walk into the gym. As such, I had never taken the time to actually learn the class schedule.

             We sat there, crouched, our hands on our mouths. The ping-pong ball still bounced lightly on the floor, and we waited nervously to see if anyone would react to its noise.

         "Oh damn, my heart's pounding", Mai whispered to me. It almost sounded like she was enjoying the thrill. "Why are you getting a kick out of this?" I laughed back, poking her with my elbow.

         "What are we gonna do if they walk up here?" As I asked her this, Mai with her hands still on her mouth-laughed and turned her eyes upwards. "Let's open the window and jump out." "Huh? But, this is the second floor. Won't we break our legs?"

               I voiced my disapproval towards Mai's proposal. Jumping out of any window was scary, but even more so this one since I had never taken a look at what was below it. Although, it did kinda feel like I was taking what was meant as a joke seriously. With a short "hmm", Mai nodded.

          "So, you're saying you don't get enough calcium?"

          "How is that the conclusion you came to?!"

              Me getting angry might have just proven her point.

              Through the wall I leant against, I could feel the chat ter of my classmates. The teacher hadn't arrived yet, it seemed, and there was nothing to stop them from talking. Ina and Lily had no clue where I went when I skipped class, and the thought of me being in the same building as them probably didn't even cross their minds. It was pretty funny to think about.

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