A work-in-progress romance

Haru: First Encounter

My alarm didn't go off, I burned my toast, and tripped while running to catch the bus but missed it. As if my day wasn't going bad enough, while I was walking up the stairs, a girl with her long hair braided suddenly appeared in front of me, falling. Next thing I know, I was at the bottom of the stairs, my body aching all over, and I had trouble breathing. The girl got up, looking apologetic, and helped me up.

"I'm so sorry!", she practically screamed. "Please let me make it up to you somehow!"

She kept bowing her head, and other students going up on and down the stairs gave us some weird, confused looks.

"No, no. Don't worry about it", I say, but in my head, I thought, what the heck is wrong with this girl?! She's so reckless! Who goes down the stairs that fast?!

I started to take my leave, going up the stairs once again, and hoping it won't happen a second time.

"W-wait! My name is Akira Elion from year 1 class 2! Please let me make this up to you!" She was still screaming.

"O-ok", I answered, slightly uncomfortable with her stubbornness. "I'm Haru Tomori from year 1 class 3."

I walked up the stairs again, this time with no interruptions, but I could feel everyone's gaze more intensely than before.

Our homeroom is on the second floor on the left side of the building. I sat on my seat beside the window and sighed so loud that everyone turned to look. What a day this was turning out..

After school, I took my time to leave. To hurry is to waste energy, and after all that's happened today, I can't afford to waste anymore. The girl from earlier seemed to have left school already, so I can worry about her another day. The school is quiet, making me feel alone and comfortable.

As I got to my shoe locker, I saw someone standing nearby, playing with their phone. Her hair was long and in a braid, her bangs covering her forehead and part of her glasses. The longer I looked at her, the more familiar she looked.

She looked up from her phone and saw me. She smiled and said, "Hey Haru!" and I immediately recognized her. It was Akira, the reckless girl from the stairs earlier, but at that time, her hair was down and she didn't have her glasses on.

"Are you free right now? If possible, I'd like to make up for earlier's accident", she said, putting her phone in her pocket and tucking some of her loose hair behind her right ear.

"Umm... I-" I felt like I was being sucked into something I might regret later, but I really didn't have anything better to do on a Friday after school. "I guess I am", I decided. The sooner I get this over with, the better.