Jonathan “Charmer” Rodriguez is an ordinary high school senior who doesn’t take his studies seriously. Always late for class, he’s seen as a delinquent by the rest of his classmates, who are busily preparing for their college entrance examinations. He hates his life and the whole town, and the closest thing he has to a real friend is Loser Protagonist Marlo “Marlo” Grabe, who just barely manages to rise to the level of Butt Monkey at the best of times. Jonathan is thoroughly miserable. Then one day, while walking to school, he bumps into Tsumugi Kotobuki, a shy girl whose only friends at the school have already graduated. Whenever Jonathan sees her around school, she’s alone; her classmates scarcely notice she exists, and no one has any interest in befriending her. No one, that is, except Jonathan, who without even realizing it finds himself taking her under his wing. As he sets out to help her reestablish the school’s drama club, he finds himself connecting (or, as it often turns out, reconnecting) with several other girls from the school. Although he doesn’t care much about them at first — he doesn’t much care about anything at first — he gradually opens his heart to them as they get to know each other better.
Mar 23, 2018 • 6,800 words • Ages 18+