Haru puts his phone away. “You can still make it.”
“How am I gonna—”
My voice cuts off as Haru grabs my hand, pulling me down the path. I nearly stumble as we make our way back tothe streets, cutting through the crowds. “Watch out for bicycles,” he reminds me as we race to the train station, pausing only at the turnstile. My hands fumble around my pockets, searching for my wallet. But Haru swipes me in with his card before following me through.
It’s a blur of heads and shoulders, but we make it just in time. The train is still waiting at the platform. We cut through the crowd, rushing toward it. The moment I make it through the doors, I sense something is wrong. Haru doesn’t come in with me. He’s just standing there on the platform, unmoving.
“Hurry up,” I call after him.
“I’m not taking this train.”
I give him a look. “You said you’re heading the same way.”
“I lied,” he says.
“What are you talking about?”
“I wanted to get to know you. So I made it up.”
I stare at him, unsure what to say. Then the doors start to close. Haru throws out a hand, forcing them back open.
“Don’t leave,” he says.
“What?”
“You should stay,” he says, holding the doors open. “It’s your last night. I’ll show you around Tokyo. I can take you to the field of flowers.” The other passengers are staring, wondering what’s going on.
I hesitate for a second. Part of me wants to step off the train. I haven’t had this much fun the entire trip. Then myphone goes off again, showing Daniel’s name on the screen. I can’t keep him waiting on me. Especially since this could be the night things change between us.
“Stay,” Haru insists.
I glance at the phone and back at him. My heart pounds in my chest as I consider this. I can’t shake the feeling that we are connected somehow. But I let out a breath and say, “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
A bell chimes from the ceiling, followed immediately by a voice, echoing through the platform. Haru reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a piece of paper. The washi he bought from the store earlier.
“I was waiting to give this to you,” he says quickly. “My phone number to stay in touch.”
The bell chimes again, followed by the voice. As I reach for the paper, another train roars in from behind us, blowing wind up from the tracks.The paper flies out of my fingers.Haru spins around, grabbing it from the air. But before he turns back, the doors shut between us.
My heart drops. I press my hands against the glass, trying to open them back up. But it’s too late. The train begins to move. I stare through the window, realizing we’ll never see each other again. Haru slowly disappears from view. All I have left is a red bracelet and the memory of him.
The train vanishes through the tunnel.
Haru is gone.
I wish I had stepped off the train. Or that the paper never slipped from my hand. How will we ever find each other again?
One
FOURTEEN MONTHS LATER
“Do you want to dance with me?”
A television blinks in the corner of the kitchen.The Notebookis playing on low volume as I watch from the sink. It’s the scene where they dance in the middle of the street. I’ve seen this movie a dozen times. He offers his hand, helping her step off the sidewalk. There’s no one else around, only the two of them, slow dancing to the music in their own heads. I used to cringe at things like this. But these days, I like to close my eyes for a moment, imagining myself in the movie. It helps me escape from the monotony of—
“Turn that thing off.”
Mr. Antonio appears from nowhere, shouting orders at me. I’m a thousand feet above downtown Chicago, washing dishes in the hotel kitchen. Servers come in through the swinging door, tossing plates and spoons into trays that fill up beside me. It’s not where I thought I would be after graduation. I imagined myself studying film in college, hanging out with friends on the weekend. But life has a way of sidetracking everything you had planned in your head.
