Heaven: A Novel

It is 1991 and almost summer. The narrator, an unnamed 14-year-old boy in middle school who has a lazy eye, finds an anonymous note inside his pencil case. It reads: “We should be friends” (1). The narrator initially suspects that this is a prank since he is frequently bullied by a popular student named Ninomiya and his friends, who often tease him with the nickname, “Eyes.” However, the narrator finds more notes inside his desk, each one asking curious questions about his life and his thoughts. One note invites him to meet its writer at the park. After school, the narrator tells his stepmother that he is going to the library and heads to the park.

The narrator is surprised to discover that the person who has been sending him notes is a girl from his class named Kojima. Like the narrator, Kojima is a frequent target of class bullies; they make fun of her poverty, her messiness, and the dark spot on her face. They often describe her as being dirty or stinky, so they call her “Hazmat.” Kojima reiterates her desire to be the narrator’s friend. They agree to continue their correspondence.

At school, Ninomiya and his friends shove chalk into the narrator’s nose and mouth, forcing him to eat all three chalk pieces. Later that day, he writes his first letter to Kojima, mainly “about unimportant things” (10), and they soon begin a regular correspondence. After the narrator finishes each letter, he rereads it closely, despite the headaches caused by his lazy eye. In one of her letters, Kojima suggests meeting again. She and the narrator agree to meet each other at the fire stairwell in school in two weeks.

One afternoon, Ninomiya gags and binds the narrator before throwing him into a classroom locker. Sometime after Ninomiya and his friends leave, the narrator kicks his way out of the locker and escapes to a nearby bathroom. He thinks about Kojima to ease his thoughts.

Kojima and the narrator meet in the stairwell as planned. They are comfortable in each other’s company and enjoy talking with one another. Kojima confesses that she is responsible for instigating a mystery in their class, which began when the students started noticing that someone was making small cuts on curtains, strings, clothes, and books. She explains that cutting objects helps her to neutralize her discomfort and feel normal.

After parting ways with Kojima, the narrator recalls how he had met his stepmother during his childhood. She had suddenly come to live with the narrator and his father, though the narrator’s father had never made any attempt to explain who she was. It was only later on that the woman told the narrator that he could refer to her as his mother. At home that evening, the narrator’s stepmother asks him how school is going and encourages him to do his best before the summer vacation starts. That night, the narrator looks to Kojima’s notes for comfort—they help him cope with the pain that comes from being bullied by Ninomiya. In one of her letters, Kojima offers to take the narrator to a place she calls “Heaven” as soon as the summer vacation begins.

During the last day of school, the narrator watches Kojima get bullied by one of their classmates. One of Ninomiya’s friends passes by and hits the narrator on his head, which makes the narrator bite deep into his tongue. Even after the dismissal bell has rung, the narrator continues to sit in his seat, reeling from the pain. Another member of Ninomiya’s gang, a boy named Momose, enters the room, not noticing the narrator there. Momose starts writing something in his notebook. A girl comes into the room, calling for Momose. She is younger than them, but the narrator notices how pretty she is and how much her face resembles Momose’s. After Momose finishes writing in his notebook, he and the girl leave the room together. Ninomiya returns shortly after to ask the narrator if he has seen Momose. The narrator pretends he hasn’t.

The narrator meets with Kojima at the train station to go to the place she calls “Heaven.” During the train ride, Kojima explains that her usual exclamation of joy, “happamine,” is part of her habit of making portmanteaus out of her feelings and the word “dopamine.” They also talk about having pets, the difference between animal noise and human noise, and what pain must feel like for inanimate objects. They laugh over how their bullies must see them as objects.

They finally reach an art museum. The narrator notices the pained expression on Kojima’s face as she looks at each painting. The paintings mystify the narrator—each one feels surreal and dreamlike. Kojima explains that “Heaven” is not the entire art museum, but the painting she likes most. She has renamed the painting “Heaven” because its original title bored her. She then describes the painting: “[T]wo lovers eating cake in a room with a red carpet and a table. […] Wherever they go, whatever they do, nothing ever comes between them” (38). Kojima goes on to imagine that the lovers manage to live in harmony despite all the difficulties in their lives. She says the painting is near the back of the museum, but when a little boy bumps into Kojima’s leg, Kojima asks if they can take a break from looking around.

Kojima starts crying when they are outside. She describes feeling trapped by various things in her life. To wipe her eyes, she pulls out tissues from her bag, which also contains her scissors. The narrator offers to let Kojima cut off a bit of his hair to help her feel better. She cuts off a fistful of his hair, wrapping it in tissue, and clutching it, refusing to throw it away like she does with all the other things she cuts. The narrator encourages her to open her hand, letting the clump fall away. Shortly after, they leave the museum and part ways again at the train station.