Chapter 2 The Lovers

Penelope smiled and waved at Asahi, as he was the last to leave the bowling alley. Just before he exits the second floor by the stairs, she grabs one of his hands with both of hers, with a gentle, 

"Wait-" 

He looks at her, his face already red- She smiles back. 

"Meet me here in 30 minutes, okay? To walk me back. It's kinda. .  Dangerous, y'know."

 She says the last part meekly, and behind her eyes you can see there's something she's hiding. But Asahi didn't see. He smiles nervously, 

"You got it,"

 And quickly, almost as if embarrassed or in fear of rejection, presses a kiss to her cheek before sliding down the railing on the stairs and running off, outside in the darkening sky. Penelope sighs, but sadly this time, with a hint of love. She did love him. A lot. She turns to continue washing up, wondering why the effects of the poison she most definitely had drank hadn't set in yet. She wonders this, as she wipes down the last glass, moving for a towel to dry off, and then spots something, in the corner of her eye. 

Something white. Penelope turns- it's on the floor just about a foot away from her. Leaning down, she finds it is. . . A photograph. What? Is that. . . Her heart begins to race, 

"Asahi?"

Her voice is barely above a whisper. It's her, and Asahi. They look much younger in this photo. When was this taken? She had to show him, that was her only thought, as she all but jumped up from her crouched position and, almost sprinting towards the stairs- and then the edges of her vision became fuzzy, her legs felt like lead. Huh? Penelope had just reached the stairs, she was almost there, but then she fell. Her body wasn't obeying her. All feeling was gone. 

Her last coherent thought was just a name.