I didn't know what to do. Three of my friends were jumping around the room and screaming with joy, another one was sitting and smiling sweetly, suddenly having become an angel when it came to matters involving a certain blue haired boy, and a bunch of dudes were apparently parading towards our room with a bouquet of roses.

And then there was me. I sat in my chair, eating a carrot. I wanted to get up and look out the door at the boys with the roses and who knows what else, but I was scared of doing that, too. I had never felt love before and that meant I hadn't felt heartbreak, either. I didn't want to, though, especially if it felt anything like what I felt yesterday when Len told the girls that Kaito didn't like me.

"Oh my gosh, sit down!" Neru pushed Luka down into a chair. She and Teto grabbed chairs and also sat down. They were still jumpy and nervous, though.

"Your face is so red," Miku grinned at Luka, who giggled giddily in response.

I stared at the doorframe blankly. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of some blond hair and registered it as Len. He grinned at me and walked in, grabbing a chair and pulling it over to sit beside me.

"What's going on?" I asked quietly, leaning towards him so that I could whisper into his ear.

"A confession," Len mumbled, his expression indicating amusement.

"W-What do you mean?" I asked.

"You'll see," Len leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. I shook my head but he ignored me. I didn't want to see it.

Three boys walked in and I knew all three of them: Oliver, Gakupo and Piko. Oliver was holding the roses and Piko was holding a few gift bags. Gakupo was dressed very nicely, I must admit. Something was fishy, though, and slowly, I began to realize what was going on.

"Kaito couldn't show up," Gakupo smiled flirtatiously at Luka and the girl gaped at him, "So he told me to talk to you instead."

Len snickered, clearly trying to hold back loud laughter. I tugged at his arm.

"What's going on?" I hissed persistently.

"Gakupo's asking Luka out," Len laughed the words into my ear, "Kaito didn't write the note; Gakupo did. Kaito doesn't even know about this! He's out of the school right now!"

So that's what Gakupo was planning, I thought. I was partially frozen in my spot, sitting back and watching the scene unravel before my eyes.

"W-Wait, I'm confused," Luka looked at him, "What's going on?"

Gakupo took the roses from Oliver and offered them to Luka. "Luka, dear princess of tuna and whatnot..."

I made a face. What the heck was he saying, it made no sense!

"Gorgeous beauty and divine gift of the gods," Gakupo went on, spewing nonsense, "Luka, my sweet, will you go out with me?"

I could hear Neru and Teto exhaling sharply. That's how quiet it was. Beside me, Len laughed a muffled laugh, banging his fist against my desk. Tears had accumulated by his eyes. Miku glanced at me and I shrugged. Slowly, Luka got to her feet and took the bouquet from Gakupo. His face was frozen and I could tell that he was nervous.

"Mm...," Luka closed her eyes and hugged the bouquet close, inhaling the sweet smell of the roses.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open and she thrust her arms forward, smashing the bouquet against Gakupo's chest. The crinkling sound of the clear plastic wrapping was almost as loud as Len's sudden, momentary laughter, which cracked the silence for a split second before dissolving.

"No," Luka said sternly, "I won't go out with you."

Gakupo's facial features drooped and he loosely grasped the bouquet. Rose petals fluttered down to the floor. Luka pulled her arms back and plopped down on her seat, crossed her arms, and scoffed.

"B-B-But...," Gakupo sounded like a motorboat and he actually looked hurt.

"You forged a note," Luka scowled, "You...you lied to me. I thought Kaito wrote the note! I thought..."

"Can't I be your Kaito?" Gakupo pouted, "I'll cut my hair and dye it blue! I'll stop smiling so much! I'll be dark a-and alluring and mysterious!"

"No," Luka said again. Oliver grabbed Gakupo's sleeve and pulled him out of the room.

"Here's some tuna and chocolate," Piko said quickly, dropping the bag off by Luka's feet before scampering after Gakupo and Oliver.

We were all quiet, except for Len, who was still snickering softly. Neru and Teto looked down at the ground awkwardly and Luka didn't move at all. Miku was nervously gnawing at a leek.

"I knew it," Len chuckled, standing up, "I knew this would happen, but...man, the way she rejected him was just so..."

Len laughed and shook his head. Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"What is it?" I asked, looking up at the blonde.

"I'm going to go talk to Gakupo," he said, "Do you want to come? The way this chick turned him down was both hilarious and brutal and something in between."

Before I could reply, Len yanked me along and out of the classroom. Luka angrily yelled his last name out.

"Kagamine!" We heard Luka's roar and Len walked faster, letting my hand slip out of his.

"They're here," Len said, leading me to a stairwell. He pushed the doors open and we saw the three boys sitting on the steps. Oliver turned to look at us.

"There you are," he said to Len.

I looked at Gakupo. He was staring off into space. I sat down beside him and looked down at the dull blue stairs quietly.

"You okay?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"I don't know," he sighed, "Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. Should've expected as much."

"You shouldn't have written that note," I said.

"There's more to it than that," Len said, "You were being too hasty, dude. You have to take it slowly, little by little."

The moment Len said that, his eyes flickered over to my face and I caught him glimpsing.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"No," I began, "Why'd you look at me like that?"

"I was just looking, Gumi," Len laughed, shrugging, "Just making sure you were still there and not a ghost."

I rolled my eyes as the boys laughed. Even Gakupo was chuckling.

"It's fine," Gakupo said, looking at me, "I just wanted to see what she was going to say. I'll try again another day."

"It's not a game, you know," Oliver said, looking up at the ceiling, "You can't keep trying again and again and expect to succeed."

"Yeah, I know," Gakupo replied, "But I know she'll get over Kaito one of these days..."

We sat around at lunchtime, talking about trivial things. Gakupo didn't seem too affected by Luka's rejection but the little difference there was in his personality was clear. He wasn't as cheery or energetic, but he wasn't gloomy or mopey, either. I wondered if this was how most guys were affected by rejections.

I didn't tell the girls that I planned to drag Len along to the mall with me. They wouldn't mind, I was sure. I woke up on Saturday morning around ten, had breakfast and was cleaning up my room when my mom knocked on my door.

"Come in," I called.

The door swung open slowly and my mother looked at me. Her pale green hair was tied back into a taut ponytail with bangs framing her narrow, pale face. She smiled warmly. It sounds creepy, but I think she looks like what I'll look like when I'm in my thirties.

"You're so responsible," my mom remarked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Aw, it was never much of a mess to begin with," I said, putting my backpack to one side.

"You have a guest," my mom said.

"Oh?" I remembered but I couldn't be sure.

My mom moved to one side and I saw Len. He pulled one hand out of his pocket and waved slowly, smiling as he did.

"Hey," he said.

"He's going to the mall with you, right?" My mom asked.

I nodded. Since Miku and Len were my childhood friends, my mother was pretty relaxed around them. Sometimes, though, she treated Len like my 'older brother figure' or something and that angered me, because that dork wasn't my brother and I didn't want him to be one.

"Take care of her, okay?" My mom put her hands on Len's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"I will," he laughed a little.

She turned to look at me again. "Tell me when you two leave," she said before walking off.

Len walked into my room and looked around. I was sitting cross-legged on the floor, by my bed, looking up at him. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and offered a grin.

"Are we going?" He asked before plopping down on my bed and falling back, lying down.

"Yeah, we're going," I said, "And I just made my bed..."

"You want me to get off?" He asked, rolling around on the mattress just to anger me. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. He wanted to tease me. He wanted me to get angry. I did my best not to let him get what he wanted.

"It'd be nice if you could," I said calmly.

Len stopped rolling and hung his head back, over the edge of the mattress. His hair tickled my face and I inched away. He looked at me with wide blue eyes.

"Geez, Gumi, you look like you're about to explode."

"I'm not," I shook my head and he suddenly grabbed me by my shoulders and yanked me towards him. I yelped and he grabbed my face with one hand, examining it.

I watched his dark blue eyes dart across my face, his grip on my chin tight as he kept my face tilted upwards.

"W-What?" I croaked. He exhaled softly and I felt his breath against my face. I reddened but I wasn't really sure why. My heart started to pound and I hoped that he hadn't taken notice.

"Just checking," Len smirked, "You still don't wear makeup, huh? And you've got dark circles forming around your eyes..."

I pushed him away. "That's what you were checking?" I yelled, "I-I'm not your toy, or your doll, or something, Len!"

He looked at me blankly, looking very different because for once, his hair wasn't all over his face. Seeing his forehead was a rare sight.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't know you'd get so angry."

I took a slow breath, realizing that my anger had more to do with how close Len's face was to mine than with what he was doing. This sort of stuff was common for him and I never yelled before. He'd always poke me and squeeze my shoulders and tousle my hair and do things like that. We were friends and we both knew that. Suddenly, I felt very, very sad. I hung my head and nodded slowly.

"It's okay," I whispered, "I should be sorry."

I closed my eyes, my hair falling over my face and my head still down. I heard sounds of shuffling as he got off my bed. I sensed him sitting down in front of me but he wasn't touching me.

"Gumi?" He asked softly. I opened my eyes. He had his head tilted downwards in an attempt to see my face, "Are you crying?"

I shook my head.

"Liar," he mumbled, "I'm not gonna tease you anymore if you get all mopey like this."

"I don't know why I yelled at you," I guess that was a lie but I shrugged the thought aside.

"It's okay," he said.

I finally looked up at him. I wasn't crying but my eyes were a little wet. I think that, maybe, some part of me thought that because I yelled at him, we'd drift apart. I didn't want that to happen.

He smiled a little. "Whatever," he said, "It's okay. I just..."

"I'm not angry," I interrupted. His smile was contagious, I swear it was. If he's around and he can't pull a smile on, then something is very, very wrong, "Len, I...like it when you tease me."

His eyes widened as though I had just said something very important. "Y-You..."

He was stuttering, for once. I punched him playfully in the gut and tried to laugh a little.

"I never thought it could get this awkward between us," I admitted.

"Yeah," Len ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "What do you say we put all this aside and start over?"

I nodded. "We should get going," I said as Len got to his feet and offered me his hand.

Hesitantly, I took it. The physical contact jolted me unexpectedly. Immediately, I pulled my hand back. He frowned.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, looking down at me. Hurriedly, I lifted myself up and shook my head.

"No," I said, "It's fine."

We walked out of my room and he put an arm around my shoulders, the way he always did. It felt different, though. Maybe it was just me who thought that.

I think the part where Gakupo asks Luka out could've been better...
Anyone have a suggestion for the chapter title?