As usual, Clara sat looking out the window, listening to her new neighbor at the next desk mutter. He whispered, not looking at the teacher conducting the lesson, skillfully concealing the noise.
Clara didn't particularly want a new classmate as a neighbor. Besides, she was too shy to talk to him, so she thought it was for the best.
After all, sitting here and watching the unchanging landscape... I guess that's what life is. Clara thought.
Suddenly, a familiar whisper interrupted her thoughts:
"Beautiful stranger..."
"..." Clara was surprised by the strange wording, of course, but she knew for sure that it wasn't addressed to her.
After all, why would she be beautiful?
"Beautiful stranger..."
"..."
"Beautiful stranger..."
When will someone answer him? Who is he talking to? She thought silently.
However, the whispering stopped. Clara thought the boy had received an answer, but she didn't turn her head, afraid of giving herself away.
After ten seconds of silence, though, when Clara was about to turn around and see what gestures her classmates were exchanging, the familiar whisper sounded right next to her ear.
"Beautiful stranger..."
"Yoooh!" The girl cried out in fright. The whole class turned to her, and the teacher paused the lesson.
Everyone looked at her in strange silence.
"..." She awkwardly lowered her head, hid her face in her hair, and said nothing.
"Ahem... So, pay attention to these..." The teacher tactfully said nothing and continued the lesson.
Meanwhile, Clara was clearly puzzled by the auditory hallucination that had just occurred.
After looking around and finding nothing strange, she continued to stare out the window. Suddenly, the whispering started again.
"Beautiful stranger..." This time, the whisper came from a little further away. It didn't send goosebumps up her arm, so the girl was able to remain calm and turn toward the sound.
There, her new classmate emerged from under her desk and looked at her with a half-smile. He had been hiding from the teacher's gaze.
"Hehe, beautiful stranger. Sorry for scaring you. I was calling you, but you didn't answer, so I had to get closer... Who knew you'd be so... surprised?" he said, holding back laughter.
Clara looked at the boy, confused, and hesitated. She asked,
"Wh-what do you want from me?"
"Oh, nothing complicated. I just want to know your name, beautiful stranger. You see, it's not very convenient to always call you a stranger."
"B-but why do you need to call me?" The girl asked, still not understanding.
"Hmm... Well, I want to be friends with you. It would be weird to call friends strangers... And I just want to know what such a beautiful girl's name is." The boy said thoughtfully.
"Wh-what?"
The boy repeated her shocked tone.
"Wh-what?" The boy repeated her shocked tone.
"W...what?"
"W...what?" The boy continued to laugh.
"W-wait... Stop repeating it..." Clara said shyly.
"Okay, then tell me... What's your name?"
"B-but..." Clara hesitated again.
"B-but..." The boy repeated, copying her gestures.
"W-wait, stop please... W-why do you want to be friends with me?" Clara blurted out.
"Oh, you want to know the reason... It's just that when I first saw you, my heart started beating faster. Even now, it's still beating wildly. Here, see for yourself..." He said, taking her cold hand and placing it on his chest.
"..." Clara opened her mouth in shock.
"Ah... Can you feel how fast it's beating in your presence? You know, I think..." The boy squeezed her hand tighter against his chest, met her gaze, and began to move a little closer.
"I think it might be... L..." The boy pronounced each syllable deliberately, slowly, and was now only a few inches away from the girl's face.
"..." She was in complete shock, her body shaking nervously.
"O..." The boy moved closer.
"Ve" Finally, with his nose touching the shocked girl's, the boy finished his sentence.
"..."
"..."
At that moment, as the two sat with their noses touching—one smiling cheerfully and pressing the girl's hand to his chest while the other looked at him in complete shock, her mind blank—the boy said with a broad smile,
"Joke."