“Okay seriously chica, what’s eating at you?”

“Huh,” you questioned idiotically as you glanced up from your beverage.

“[Name] what the fuck is wrong with you?”

Your eyes connected with soothing brown ones as the girl regarded you with an amused look. You sighed as you glanced back down at your drink; you had been thinking about Shuichi again. How many times was that this weekend? You didn’t want to count; it’d probably scare you.

“Nothing, I’m just preoccupied.”

“Because why?”

“I told you already; I’m falling behind in work,” you lied easily.

The girl rolled her eyes as she ran a pale, slender hand through pin straight raven locks.

“You shouldn’t worry about that. Didn’t you get some help?”

“Yeah.”

“[Name],” she stated in a firm voice.

“What?!”

“You aren’t taking the help, are you?”

“Noreen, I am too! Just not a lot.” Because he keeps distracting me.

“You should take advantage of it, though. It’ll probably help you get back in the swing of things.”

“I know,” you sighed out. “But I just feel bad. I mean, he’s such a nice kid, I don’t want to make him have to take on my load.”

“You’re too sensitive, you know that?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Someone wants to help you out for one reason or another and it doesn’t matter why, but you always feel guilty to take it. You shouldn’t. If it’s being offered, take it without worrying.”

“If only it was that simple.”
“It is,” Noreen laughed out. “You’re just retarded.”

“Gee thanks,” you deadpanned.

“So when are we going to do something interesting?”

“I told you I wasn’t in an interesting mood today.”

“Wanna call Minato up? Kaoru has the hots for you, I hear.”

“Oh stop.”

“He does.”

“Who told you?”

“Minato. So, can we call him up?”

You groaned as you leaned half your body on your counter. “Do we have to?”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Noreen ordered as she began searching through her cell phone.

“We’ll have fun, I promise.”

You had fun, but Shuichi had remained in the back of your mind the entire night. Noreen was right; Kaoru did have the hots for you. If you hadn’t met Shuichi, you would have pursued Kaoru. The more you thought about it, the more frustrated you got. You should have pursued Kaoru, even despite the feelings you were developing for Shuichi. What was the point in remaining loyal to a boy if you could never be with him and he’d never know how you felt? There was no point!

But for now you didn’t have time to think about it because it was the end of school and Shuichi was due to waltz in any second now. It was odd that you were aware of when he was going to arrive. It was like a sixth sense of some sort.

“Hello Miss [Last Name].”

You smiled as you glanced up to see Shuichi entering the classroom. “Hey Shuichi. How’re you doing today?”

“I’m doing well. And you?”
“Superb.”

He laughed lightly. “Glad to hear. I’ve finished reading your story.”

“You did?”
He nodded his head as he began searching through his pack. Gently, he pulled out the stack of papers and placed them down on the desk. “I hope you don’t mind that I wrote on it.”

“If I minded, I would have told you at the café shop,” you laughed out.

He chuckled before walking over to the computer desk and rolling over the chair next to you. Elegantly, he sat down and grabbed the story as he shifted in his seat to be slightly closer to you.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about it.”

You instantly perked as your face lit up. “I’d love to!”

Shuichi then went on to give you feedback to your story. It wasn’t finished yet, but one of the reasons why was because you didn’t know how you were doing. Shuichi kindly gave you suggestions for certain parts of the story while simultaneously praising you for the originality of it all. He enjoyed it thoroughly and hoped you’d continue it soon. When you glanced up at the clock, you noticed the two of you spent a good thirty to forty minutes discussing your story and brainstorming on where you should go next with it.

“Wow. It’s so late,” you proclaimed with a laugh.

“I see that it is.”

“Well, you should probably head on home. Wouldn’t want to keep you too late.”

“What about you?”

“Oh I’m used to staying hours after school once it’s ended. You go on home.”

“Miss [Last Name].” There it was again; that stern yet gentle voice as he took authority over the situation.

You giggled as you shook your head. “Fine, Shuichi. I’m not even going to argue with you this time; you’re so stubborn.”

His lips quirked up into a slight smirk as he sat elegantly poised in his chair. “You’d be surprised how many times I hear that.”

“Oh really,” you laughed out as you leaned back in your chair, crossing your arms over your chest. “I don’t think I would be.”

“No,” he inquired as he arched an eyebrow.

“Nope.”
The two of you had turned your chairs so that you were facing one another, your knees almost touching. Shuichi’s smirk turned playful as his eyes danced with delight. You felt butterflies swarming in your stomach as anticipation increased with each passing second. Where was this going to head?

“I would have to say you’re quite stubborn yourself, Miss [Last Name].”

You playfully rolled your eyes. “Is that all you got, Shuichi? A repeated retort?”

“Oh no, I’ve got many more.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, but I don’t think now’s the proper time to discuss them.”

“Oh why not? I think it would be fun.”

He leaned forward, his hands on his knees. Your heart fluttered at the proximity as your mind desperately raced to figure out what he was doing.

“You’re being stubborn again, Miss [Last Name],” he nearly whispered as the smirk remained on his delicate lips. “Stubborn and persistent. Haven’t you ever heard of the phrase curiosity killed the cat?”

“And that satisfaction brought it back,” you replied smartly.

He chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, creating more distance between the two of you. “You won’t let up, will you?”

“Does it annoy you?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Then no, I won’t let up.”

He chuckled. You knew you were treading on dangerous waters, but you were too far out to retrace your steps now. And Shuichi wasn’t pulling away, so that had to be a good sign, right?

“[Name], you’re still here?”

You whirled around to see one of your male coworkers. He taught the same subject as you and was at least twelve years older than you. You smiled almost guiltily as you stared at him.

“Yeah.”
“Hello Shuichi.”

“Mr. Natori,” Shuichi greeted him with a nod.

You hadn’t noticed before, but Shuichi had pushed the chair slightly farther back, creating a lot more space between the two of you. That had to mean something, right? That it meant he was worried about being caught with you because society made student-teacher relationships taboo, but he still wanted to pursue you? Or was that simply how you felt and wanted him to feel?

“You got the memo about the meeting tomorrow, right [Name]?”

“Yes and thank you for reminding me or else I would have forgot. Shuichi, I’ve got a meeting tomorrow so I won’t be here. If you don’t mind though, I’d really appreciate it if you ran me a few copies of a worksheet. I was going to get to that today but…”

He smiled as he nodded his head. “Sure thing, Miss [Last Name]. I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“Thank you.”

“Well I’ll let you two be. Have a good rest of the night,” Mr. Natori said as he left.

“You too!”

You turned to smile at Shuichi. “He’s such a nice guy.”

Shuichi nodded his head as he started to get out of his chair. Panic swept through your body as you watched him walk over and grab his bag.

“I’m going to head on home,” he stated; he refused to look you in the eyes.

This was not good. You had scared him off. Oh gosh, this was not good. “Right. Then I’ll see you Wednesday?”

“Yes. Goodbye Miss [Last Name].”

“Bye Shuichi.”

He left the classroom without even glancing back. Oh God, oh God, oh God. This is not good. Not good at all. What the hell happened? You dropped your head into your hands as a soft groan left your lips. This was not good at all. What caused him to retreat so suddenly like that? He had been so playful and flirtatious before. What was it?

Could it have been Natori? If Natori suspected anything, he didn’t show it. Would that be what’s bothering Shuichi? It was no use. No matter what you came up with, you just couldn’t shake the feeling that Shuichi was bothered with you. No matter the logical excuses for the redhead’s odd behavior, you simply refused to believe anything except that Shuichi felt uncomfortable around you.

The worst part about it, though, was that you were more upset with him not wanting to be around you than him possibly informing the principal about your “suspicious” behavior. I’m seriously fucked up. And your inner voice wasn’t helping with your self-esteem at the moment.

Sighing, you rose out from your seat and gathered your stuff. A soft smile reached your lips as you placed your story in your briefcase. He was such a brilliant man and he encouraged your wild imagination. Ever since you entered into college, you told yourself you would only marry a man that wanted you to spread your imagination. Shuichi was giving you that encouragement; he even went as far as adding to it. I really hope I haven’t ruined our friendship.

You robotically locked the classroom before walking down the endless corridor. Your classroom was located at the end of the hallway; it was nice because it was located right next to the girls’ bathroom and the stairs, but the faculty’s parking lot was on the other side of the building. You had to walk down your hallway, walk through the lobby, and then down another hallway before reaching a set of stairs that would take you to the bottom floor.

You exited the school building and slowly made your way to your car. You were in no rush; your spirits were dampened and all you wanted to do was pray that Shuichi didn’t break off your friendship. You reached your car and gasped softly at what you saw tucked in between the windshield wiper. It was a beautiful red rose.

You whirled around as you tried seeing if anyone was around. No one was there. You furrowed your brows in confusion as you leaned over and plucked the rose from the window. Whoever left you the rose lifted your spirits. Maybe it’s Kaoru? Minato said he’s notorious for doing extremely sweet things for the girls he’s interested in. It has to be him because… who else could it be?