Faintly in Love with Honoka-chan - 1 -

I am a second-year high school student in love with a certain girl.
That girl passes by me on the embankment on my way to school.

She wears the uniform of a nearby girls' high school, rides a bicycle, and always passes by me.

When we pass each other, there is a faint, pleasant scent.
Is it the smell of shampoo,
or perhaps the smell of fabric softener from the laundry?
With her long hair fluttering,
she passes by refreshingly.

I don't even know her name.

"Honoka-chan"

That is what I have arbitrarily named her and call her. Because she has a faint scent, "Honoka-chan."

Having said this much,
I get anxious that some girl might find it creepy.
I am a teenager with a heart made of fragile glass. Moreover, I go to an all-boys school. A girl's heart is full of mysteries.
If I were ever labeled a "scent fetishist,"
I would have no choice but to drink the wine I swiped from my dad, get drunk, break down in tears, and spend the whole night that way.

Don't you dare make fun of me.
Teenagers have hearts of glass...

Oh, right. I haven't told anyone (about the scent fetish thing), so no one could possibly say that to me, right?

This morning, Honoka-chan passes by again.
Ah, she's so cute.

Am I really creepy?

Today, I imitated Honoka-chan and wore something with a nice scent.

Our high school has fairly loose rules, allows casual clothes, and as long as it doesn't go against public order and morals, it's a free-spirited school, so wearing something with a light scent is fine.

Today, too, "Honoka-chan" rides her bicycle along the path on the river embankment where reeds and pampas grass grow.

When she and I pass each other,
she made a face like (Huh?).
She turned around,
stopped her bicycle,
and said this.

"You there, the one I always see, you smell nice. What fragrance is that?"

It seems she is very interested in fashion.

To be continued

©2023.6.23. Emiko Yamada