Coming back home is always bittersweet. As much as I am filled with nostalgia and affection for this old place, it reminds me of how much I needed to get out. Regardless of my complicated personal feelings, I couldn’t not come back for my sister’s wedding. Chara and I have always been close, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if I didn’t.

It also works out from a career perspective, as the Newspaper I write for is doing an article on the expansion and modernization of local areas, like my hometown. So, I offered. Unfortunately, the Architect I’m supposed to be talking about the plans for an updated community centre is an asshole that wants nothing to do with me.

Or, at least, she didn’t, until recently. I went out dancing with a friend of mine from Highschool, and one thing led to another. Now we’ve had a couple dates, but she still refuses to talk about it. She’s always got some excuse, that she’s late for picking up her sisters from school, or that she has an appointment with the city to get to.

I wake up in her bed again- her sisters are both at sleepovers, thank God. She’s shirtless and sketching something, head propped up with her fist. She glances at me when she feels me stir, before her gaze drops back to her drawing. I allow myself a bit to put on my underwear, before I grab it from her and toss it behind me.

I move closer, until my skin is pressed to hers. She smiles, and leans in for a kiss. I allow it, using her distraction to flip us over. I pull away abruptly, and she makes a disappointed sound before she takes stock of where she is. She doesn’t seem all that bothered, before I grab my phone and begin an audio recording. She’s confused, until I ask her about the Community Centre.

Her expression sours immediately, as I knew it would, and she fights me. I don’t relent, and she eventually flops back down against the pillows. “Why are you so goddamn resistant to telling me about it?” I ask, shoving her chest gently. She looks down, then away from me. Finally, she makes eye contact with me.

“When I got my degree, I thought I would be designing beautiful things. I thought I would be able to make things like the Roman Colosseum, y’know? Things that would leave a legacy. Instead, it’s all government contracts for shit like the community centre.” She says, a frown pinching her face as she averts her gaze yet again. God, she’s so shifty-eyed. I stop the recording and turn my phone off, as I listen to her.