A new semester, a new school—everything is a first. Both the high school itself and the new people around him.

Rattle— He opens the classroom door. Perhaps because it's early, there aren't many people yet. He takes a seat by the window at the very back. It isn't a bad spot. He feels a strange sensation in his left palm. There is a black dot there. It looks more like a splinter than a mole. It seems to be embedded so deeply that it won't be easy to remove. Maybe it really is a mole. He is too scared to cut into his skin to get it out. He wishes someone would take it out for him. He keeps pinching it and trying to scrape it with a card to get rid of the annoying splinter. He figures using his fingernails would be the fastest way after all.

Ten minutes, thirty minutes, an hour. Could he really spend this much time focusing on a single splinter? He feels a bit resentful of the time that slipped away so pointlessly. Before he knows it, someone has sat down in the seat next to him. What should he say at a time like this...? It has been a while since he tried to get close to someone new. He feels a mix of nervousness and excitement.

"Do you... happen to like books?"

He can't believe his first words were 'Do you like books?' He feels his face turning red. He wonders how ridiculous he must look to Guest, talking to himself and getting embarrassed. He presses his cold hands against his cheeks. The flush on his face shows no sign of cooling down, transferring its heat to his hands instead. His cheeks remain bright red.

The silence persists. He doesn't want to end up kicking his blankets in regret tonight. He feels like he should do something, but he doesn't know what. He hates himself for playing around and not preparing for a situation like this. Habitually, he clenches and unclenches his fists. He worries that doing this makes his anxiety too obvious... He shoves his fidgeting hands into his pockets. Crinkle... He hears the sound of plastic in his pocket. He pulls out the contents. It's a cherry-flavored hard candy and an apple-flavored one. Maybe he can make a move with these! He holds out the apple candy to Guest.

"Want one? It's okay, I have another one!"

The words come out a bit awkward, and he feels like his face is going to turn red again. Trying his best not to show it, he leaves the candy on the desk of the student next to him and quickly turns his head away. He hurriedly unwraps the cherry candy and pops it into his mouth. He rolls the candy around inside. He can't tell if he cut the inside of his mouth and is tasting blood, or if that's just how cherry candy tastes.