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"I like you. I liked you since I first knew you."

*Shock*

"I mustered up all the courage I can get to tell you."

*Still in shock*

"I.. uh, yeah. I like you. Will you go out with me?"

"Uhm- I... I... I don't know."

"All so sudden huh?"

"Actually...

"So, will you go out with me?"

She woke up with a start. Hair a mess. Eyes still droopy. She recalled her dream. The words were exactly the same what Iori-kun had said, but it was a different face that told her in the dream. Tama-chan. Her face suddenly frowned. That wasn't a good dream. At all. It would've been too much to call it a nightmare, but it wasn't a pleasant dream.

Dream mash-up. She squinted her eye. It was morning. The sun was happily shining through her curtain

Tamamori Saionji.

Once could say he was one of the most sought-after guys in school. A bit serious, but has a funny side, although he didn't show it often because he was mostly either frowning or smirking. He has straight, flowing, spiky hair that sometimes covers his eyes when he drops his head. She always thought he had the most kissable lips in all of the guys at school. And the way he frowns, creases his forehead, it made her heart beat faster. It was an unusual attraction, but it works for her. He seemed the type who was not approachable, but she didn't mind. She was happy just to see him at school everyday. Now that she thought about it, she wondered who was the person whom he liked? Although it hurt a lot, she was eager to know who the lucky person was. And then it hit her.

Hiroyuki Kazue. The senior who was almost always with Saionji-kun's group. She was beautiful. She was actually the class beauty. And she was their class president. A lot of guys were after her, but she didn't seem to like any of them. It was obvious she liked Saionji. Was it her? He didn't really show it, but they were close enough. They're often seen together, just the two of them.

Rui Han. Her name meant "beautiful flower." Well, her name's pretty at least, even if she didn't look exactly like what her name meant. She chuckled to herself. She'd like to believe she was as beautiful as Kazue-san. She wasn't ugly, that she was sure of, because Iori-kun told her she was cute. That was even before he told her he liked her. She had long sort-of wavy hair that fell to her waist, and she had fair complexion, although she was short for her age. But not that short, she amended. It made her more envious of Kazue-san. She was tall and slender, and looked every bit a beauty queen.

Rui Han. She didn't know if he knew her name. He only said he knew who she was, but never really said her name. *sigh* When they do meet again, she'd ask him if he knew her name. Stupid. No, she won't. 

"Rui Han, you are beautiful. You're friends now with Tama-chan, remember?" She tried to scold herself. "Tama-chan won't ask to be your friend if you're ugly."

But she fell back on the bed and buried her face in her pillow. She stayed that way for a good few minutes. Then she got up, climb downstairs, ate breakfast, and went back up to her room and started doing her homework.

She was halfway through her Math homework when she suddenly had the urge to log online and check her Facebook, so she did. 

One Friend Request!

Click! Open page. Gasp! 

Tamamori Saionji.

Accept friend request... she slowly clicked the button. Heart beating faster than ever. If she was connected to a heart monitor, she was sure it would burst. 

He was serious when he said they were friends. 

Facebook pop!

Her chat box was blinking. 

Tamamori Saionji.

What Now?

It sounded like a business deal. But he was so damn cute, it didn't matter.

The two walked in silence. Surprisingly, it wasn't your usual awkward silence. Somehow, the coolness of the weather and the increasing people on the street made it impossible for them to feel awkward.

Friday. Yes, that was it. That's why there were more people outside the streets. There didn't seem to be the need to talk. But he broke the silence.

"Are we there yet?" He asked, with a hint of amusement.

"Yeah, just one more block and I'm home." She smiled.

That was all the conversation they had while walking. The next words from either of them were exchanged when they arrived in front of her house.

"Here we are. Here's where I live. Thank you for walking me home."

"Sure. No biggie. See you at school then?"

"Okay."

"Okay. I'll head home now." He had his arm outstretched again. She took it and shook hands. "Bye. See you."

"Yeah, see you."

And he turned around, walked away. She stared after him. She couldn't believe Tamamori walked her home. She giggled at the thought of his name. She should stop that now, or else he'd notice. Even if she did like him, it was kind of wrong for her to let him know. Didn't her friend do the same and got rejected? No, she will not tell him. She knew it will hurt as much.

She actually wasn't expecting him to stay true to his promise about school. But she held on to his word about them being friends. Well, you can be friends with someone outside school, even if you don't really talk to each other at school, right?

Gate's opened. She walked slowly toward the front door in a sort of daze. She went straight upstairs to her room and flopped on the bed. Eyes closed, she recalled the events in her mind. She loved replaying events like this. But it also was a bad thing because she doesn't get anything else done. 

"Hmmm..." For anyone watching her from the window, she'd look like she was talking in her sleep. "Friends. Hmmm."

She went as far as dreaming he walked her home everyday from school. It was perfectly alright to dream. Nobody else will know. Then an image of Tamamori flashed in her mind. The guy was walking toward her, hair being blown as if in slow motion, and he was walking with sure steps; with a bounce. She almost giggled aloud.

It was wishful thinking. Didn't he say he likes someone else? That was the reason why he came upon her at the park. He just told his good friend that he liked another girl. And what he said earlier; he specified that they were only friends. But- he didn't exactly say they will remain as only friends... Who did he like anyway?

"What now?"

That was when she got up from bed, went to the bathroom and prepared for dinner, and later, bed.

She chewed her food real slow. She wasn't really thinking about anything at all. She just let herself move like a snail. She wasn't in a hurry or anything. Tomorrow was Saturday, and she decided she'd stay at home and do her homework, so she won't have to cram on Monday.

She got around to thinking about him again when she was in bed.

He was home. He was thinking of her. He wanted to see her again. As soon as possible. He couldn't wait 'til Monday. He was standing by the window and looking out, thoughts on her. He wanted to tell her he liked her.

"I wish." She covered her face with her pillow and wished some more.

We Had A Deal

"Would you mind if I ask you what you did?" He asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure if we did the same thing, so I am not that comfortable telling you. However, I don't really mind, but if it's okay with you, you answer your question first."

"Hmmm. Okay. Have you ever experienced something like your good friend suddenly poured her heart out to you and told you she liked you? Well, in your case, a guy friend."

She couldn't believe what she heard. This was exactly what she was feeling. She just nodded her head. And he continued.

"I never meant to hurt her, but I couldn't bring myself to lie to her either. Saying yes, when you really meant no. You get my drift." He shrugged. "I couldn't afford to hurt her that way."

"And telling the truth can hurt, but in the end, it's for the better. Right?" She added.

"Yes. That's right." He shifted, and turned to look at her. "Actually, when I saw you here, I was sort of 'running away' from the scene of the 'crime' too. I didn't plan to be here."

"Oh. I see." That was all she could say, because she couldn't admit to him that she was hoping he'd plan to see her there. After all, he was the reason why she rejected her friend. But what she didn't  expect was that this guy knew her. Or- does he? She froze. Suddenly ashamed of herself.

"Uh, are you okay?" He asked her. He noticed her sudden stiffness.

"Yes, I guess I am." She almost just whispered it. "Uhmm... I just realized something. We never really spoke to each other at school, right?"

He chuckled. "Yes, we don't speak to each other. But, if you think I didn't know you, well, I wouldn't have approached you and offered my help."

She sighed with relief. "Good. I almost died of humiliation. But yeah, I see you at school. It's just that we don't really talk to each other."

"Hmm. Should we change that now?" He creased his eyebrows that made him look more the Tamamori she liked. Tama-chan... 

"What?" She was suddenly caught off-guard.

"You know, the not-talking-to-each-other-at-school thing. It's going to be awkward for me to ignore the fact that I approached you today, and pretend not knowing you back in school."

"You have a point."

"Yes, I have." He smiled again.

Tamamori...

She was already blushing at this point, but since it was already dusk, she thought he wouldn't notice, but she tilted her face away from him all the same.

"Huh? What?"

Uh-oh! She didn't realize she had whispered the name. "Nothing. I mean to say, okay. Let's change that."

Then he extended his arm for a handshake and smiled. "Friends?"

It felt weird, because earlier, she was crying because of him, now she was shaking his hand and accepting him as her friend. Deep inside her, she was wishing he was asking her to be more than just his friend. But she couldn't ask him that. It would've been improper.

"Yes, friends." She managed a smile.

"It's good to see you smiling. I like it better than the sobbing girl I saw earlier."

"Okay."

A few minutes of silence passed. The streetlamps were being lit, and people were either hurrying home or just having their early evening walk in the park.

"Hey, if you like, I can walk you home. Not that I don't trust you walking home alone. Being friends, it's normal to go home together, right?" He chuckled a little.

Her heart beat fast and all so suddenly she accepted his offer. "Sure!" But she didn't think he noticed because he was already getting up on his feet. So, she stood up and walked beside him.

"You have to lead the way. You see, I don't really know where you live."

"Okay. It's just a few blocks from here anyway. How about you? Maybe you live somewhere far away from here...?"

"Oh, no. Not really. I live just a few blocks from here too." And he looked from right to left. "But the way we're going, my house is opposite your place."

"Uh-oh. And you offered to walk me home."

"We had a deal." He reminded her.

How It All Began...

Park bench, around twilight. She is alone, sitting with her head down. You could hear her sobbing. Now, she isn't really crying because someone hurt her. Rather it seems like she hurt someone's feelings. She ran to the park to escape the would-be dramatic confrontation. After she told him she likes somebody else, she never intended to explain further, and she never wanted him to beg her to like him instead.

The person she had hurt was a good friend. But she couldn't bring herself to deceive the guy into believing she likes him too. That was just cruel. So it's better this way, to tell him right away, that there was no romantic future for both of them.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps walking toward her. She looked up and saw him. Well, not the guy she was expecting, but the very reason why she had hurt her friend. He couldn't know, could he? She asked herself.

"Hi." That voice. It was enough to send shivers down her spine, but she fought the urge to fangirl-scream. Instead, she allowed herself to hyperventilate. This seemed normal, since he already saw she was crying. It would only look like she was hurting a lot inside.

"H-hi." She blinked. He blinked.

"I saw you from a distance, and I wondered if I can be of help." He smiled tentatively. It looked like he was weighing the situation. Just to make sure that he wasn't interrupting something. "I found myself walking to this place, and I didn't mean to spy on you."

"Oh- Yeah..." She stammered. "It's okay. I-i...I'm okay."

"That's good. Hey, if you don't want to say anything, it's cool." He raised his palms and smiled. 

Oh glob! This was something she didn't expect. This was too much, actually. "No. Really." She hesitated. But found herself telling him more. "Do you know how it feels like when you've hurt someone but didn't really mean to?"

"Uh-huh. Sounds like me today, actually." He dropped his gaze, and there was a small twitch of the corner of his lips.

"Huh?" I fixed my gaze on him.

He looked up and said, "Yup. That's me today. I know how it feels. Specially if you hurt a really good friend."
"Yeah. Me too."

"Huh- Turns out I can't help you after all. We did the same thing..." He trailed off and fixed his eyes on a tree in front of us. 

"Yeah. I feel so horrible. But I don't want to hurt a friend either."

"Hmmm... But your friend is hurting now, right?"

"Yes, but he'd be more hurt if I deceived him."

"True. Same goes for me. She'd be in worse pain if I did that to her."

At that precise moment, both of them looked at each other. And said, "Weird. Did we really do the same thing?" Then they both laughed.