Finally, after the last week of exams and empty hours attempted to be filled in with somewhat interesting activities, it was just about summer. Oh glorious summer, the third of June when I was born and began my life. It was also the day the school year ended officially, adding more excitement, at least for me personally.

So far, my day had been generally out of the ordinary. At least five people had greeted me in passing, wishing me a happy birthday, to all of which I'd responded with a startled nod and thanks that I'm sure came off as aloof and cold. Every single time that happened, I internally kicked myself and physically slammed my face against the closest surface to revisit all the reasons why I was never going to be a social person. As I rounded the corner, I very nearly missed slamming into the wall.

"Aw, poor baby. Something on your mind?" As soon as I felt the tap on my shoulder, I turned my head to have a finger collide into my cheek. Once again caught off guard, I stumbled backward, this time the back of my head actually bumping into the wall.

"I don't know if these surprises are even a good thing," I grumbled, gently rubbing the back of my head. At this rate, I was going to be nursing a headache by noon.

"Oh, you'll know after this one," Daniel assured me. "I think you'll like it." I stopped dead in my not-so-subtle attempt to play off the bump I could feel growing larger by the second and winced the moment I realized that it was beginning to throb.

"What'dya get me?" I pinned a large grin on my face. "Is it something that won't make me feel even marginally guilty about taking it? 'Cause so far, that's all I've been getting today." We shared a laugh, him not taking it seriously, and me meaning every single word.

"That's what birthdays are for, silly. Anyway, I noticed that you really like taking photos of pretty things, so I may or may not have gotten you a whole camera?" The way Daniel averted his eyes to focus on the ground told me that he wasn't lying.

"You what?" I almost shrieked. Given that we were still at school, I kept it at a proper level, but it was a pretty loud whisper-shriek in my opinion.

"Close your mouth," Daniel near snapped, covering a hand over my mouth. I tried to pretend that his touch had no effect on me by concentrating on his red hair. "It doubles as a thank you for keeping me company."

"Ooh," I teased, pulling his hand away. "Daniel McGregor the theater and baseball star has a sentimental bone in his body? Wait 'til your fanbase hears about this." Especially as the new transfer, Daniel was one of those people who attracted attention wherever he went. I didn't question the number of people he talked to on a daily basis, but I knew that the statistics were comparable to even Miki's. All this was still going strong despite the fact that it'd been months since he had moved in. Paired with his charismatic nature, he had a lot of students at his side, mostly girls. I'd be lying if I said I didn't mind them.

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and bent a little to whisper into my ear. "There's only one place I want to hear good things from." I shivered, eyes widening at the possible meanings behind that. Before I could ask him to explain himself, he straightened and shoved a neatly wrapped package into my hands.

"Happy birthday, Thisbe. Expect a call from me later," he exclaimed over his shoulder as he backed away. "It's only the beginning of summer, so we have tons of time!" Still speechless, I just watched him go, the package tightly gripped in my hands.

"Thisbe there you are!" Pax ran up to me, her hair barely held back by her bandana. "I—"

My hands were up in the air the moment I saw her, tossing her the package. "Who does he think he is? Here I am, barely even getting through my speeches without stuttering and trying to be as smooth as possible and he pretty much dropped a bomb! I don't know what he means or what he wants and—ugh!" Pax's mouth was open, package on the floor as I began to pace in front of her. In the times of my outbursts, I'd never lost control at school.

"Who, Daniel?" Her voice had lost its cheer, dipping lower. "Thisbe, I should probably tell you—you know what? You're not listening anyway, so why don't we shake it off and start our vacay? We have three months ahead of us!"

She was acting strange again, as she had been in May. I shrugged it off, figuring she'd tell me when she decided whatever information she had was finally worth spilling.

I ignored her suggestion. "I know you and Daniel had a thing or whatever a while back, and—" Pax slapped her hand onto my mouth. Especially after the tag team Gio and I had stunted, it hadn't been much of a secret that there really had been something in between them; it was just a matter of what.

"I don't care what goes on between you two as long as you're careful." I pried her fingers away with a surprised look. Just as I was about to respond, a Gio-shaped mass fell onto our shoulders. Just like that, the tension did a 180 and was gone.

"Hey ladies, ready for the summer?" The question was for the both of us, but his eyes were on me. I let my eyes focus on Pax's colorful headband and thought of things that were friendship neutral.

"It's Thissy's birthday, silly!" Pax grinned. "Of course we're ready. Thisbe, just don't forget that you have to come over tonight for your birthday presents, okay? We all left them at my house."

"'We'?" I repeated. "Who else other than you?"

"Me, for one," Gio piped. "And your sister was there too. Also a couple other people, but I'm not supposed to say because we're pl—" Before he could finish, Pax did something that she hadn't done in a while and also violated the school rules.

I blinked once and Gio was on the floor, Pax sitting casually on his back. I did a double take to make sure I was seeing correctly, going as far as lifting my camera from around my neck and taking a photo of Pax absolutely beaming from the ground.

"Can we not harass Gio?" We all met eyes with my Dad, eyes wide with shock.

"Yes," Gio wheezed in agreement. "Don't hurt the messenger."

"You were the messenger of ruining things," Pax hissed, lightly hitting his head. "But, of course, Mr. Kim, my apologies."

"If you're so apologetic, then get off me!" Gio tried to lift himself up, but with one swipe of her foot, his arms gave out and he flopped back onto the floor.

"C'mon, Pax," Dad chuckled. He held out a hand that Pax took to hoist herself back up. I reached my own for Gio, who made a point of taking a painfully long time to stand.

"Okay, we get it. You're weak and I'm strong." Pax rolled her eyes and grabbed Gio's other arm and gave a sudden tug that had Gio stumbling forward.

"Hey! I'm strong," Gio pouted. He flexed his biceps to provide evidence. My dad patted Gio's shoulder sympathetically.

"Alright, kids. School's out, so leave and never come back. I have work to do. Oh, and Thisbe, Mrs. Greene will be watching you and Eris tonight because your mom forgot a certain something." Dad winked and made his way down the hall to his office, humming as he went.

"So I'm gonna get going," Pax interjected. "Mom's waiting for me outside. Happy birthday, Thissy!"

"Wait!" I pulled at her shirt to hold her back. "Can she give me a ride too? My mom's got a session 'til six."

"Gio said that he's got plans for you two, though." Pax pointed behind me to where Gio was smiling innocently. "Have fun and I'll see you later!"

"So? Where're we going?"

"To the bus!" Gio paraded us forward, spinning dramatically at the door. "We have a bit to go."

"You want me to walk all the way to the bus stop? The one that's fifteen minutes away from here? In this weather?" I opened the door for emphasis, gesturing at the heat waves wildly.

"Uh, yes." He pushed me outside and followed suit. "It'll be worth it."

"Wait! Where's my—"

"Gift?" Gio placed Daniel's package into my hands. "Don't worry, I have a great memory."

"Oh, thanks. We're still not walking to the bus stop, especially not on my birthday." I paused to put the package into my bag.

"That's why God created bikes!" Gio started for the bike rack. "I've got mine and I got Pax to leave hers here for you." He directed me to a pastel yellow bicycle a few rows away from him.

"Giovanni Marcelles, someday you'll be the death of me," I sighed. I put my bag into the bike's basket and maneuvered it out of the rack.

"You still love me, though," he winked atop his own bike, already prepared to go. "Hurry up, the place I wanna go to will close in a couple hours and if we're gonna bike there, it'll take us twenty minutes. Plus, you'll want to be there for a while, so we gotta vamanos!" He took off, hair flapping in the breeze.

"Alright, alright, chill." I pushed back my kickstand and chased after him, the wind blowing at my own hair and pushing my glasses closer to my face. I slowed down to remove my camera and put it next to my bag so that I wouldn't break the lens. I had to admit, the air was a nice change from the stationary heat, even if it was dry and hot.

Soon, we were pedaling side by side, with Gio throwing snappy comments now and then about how we could have taken the bus and me retorting that I could do whatever I wanted.

We took a pit stop at a convenience store just outside of the town to get hats and water. Ten minutes later, I was sporting a baseball cap that declared 'SLEEP' and Gio was wearing a bright green visor that made him look like an old man out on a tennis court.

"Thank you!" Gio called to the lady at the counter.

"Please tell me you're not actually gonna keep that," I groaned as we left the store. "You look like some grandpa!"

"More the reason to wear it, my dear." His impression made me laugh. "But seriously, I think I'll give this to you as your birthday present."

"You do that and I'mma kill you," I threatened with a snort.

"You're gonna regret that when we get there."

"Get where?" My question was left open ended as Gio pedaled away from me. "Hey! Get where?"

"Catch me and I'll tell you," he shouted. With that, I hopped onto the bike and raced toward Gio, never really getting close enough.

All of a sudden, Gio came to a stop a few steps away from a building and got off his bike. By the time I caught up to him, he was waiting impatiently, a foot tapping on the sidewalk.

"You're so evil," I gasped. "I don't think I can breathe anymore." I sat on a nearby bench, too tired to be concerned about how hot it was.

"Good exercise!" He chained our bikes to the bench. "Grab your camera and wipe your sweat. This is gonna be great."

"Gio, we're in the city," I exclaimed. "What is this place?"

"Suburbers wouldn't know," Gio declared haughtily. "C'mon, you're gonna love it." I observed the place skeptically as he dragged me in, noting that it looked like a café.

The minute I stepped inside, I fell in love. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but paired with the amazing air-conditioning, I admired the setup. There were books lining every inch of the walls and the tables had what seemed to be stories covering their tops. Not only that, but bean bag chairs littered the corners, some already occupied by people curled up with a book or an electronic.

"Gio," I breathed. "I think I found my soulmate." He took the camera I shoved into his arms and I started for the nearest shelf.

Before I could get away, the person manning the counter noticed us and made his way to us. "Welcome to the Undisclosed Location." He smiled using all his teeth and eyes, holding out a menu towards me. "And, if you wanna know a secret," he whispered, leaning closer to my ear, "it's named that 'cause it keeps a lot of busybodies away."

"Uh, okay." I nodded uncomfortably. "Gio, can you order us something? Imma go over there." I didn't turn back because I knew the expression on the man's face very well. Almost everyone who met me wore it for quite some time before anything happened. I also got many mental bruises during those periods of times from how often I'd kick myself for saying something awkward.

I pushed that aside when I reached the first wall. It was filled with fairy tales, most of them from Europe, but I could spot a few from Asia in between. I sank into the beanbag at the foot of the shelves and at once noticed the designs on the ceiling. It was almost like—

"Looks like it came straight out of some ancient artwork, yeah?" Gio and I stared straight upwards at the mural that mimicked the sky. It was like the Greeks' gods had decided to open up the clouds to let the mortals see into their world for a second.

"It's indescribable."

"You're welcome," he teased, handing me a milkshake. "Strawberry milkshake with whipped cream. Don't thank me; I know how much I'm worth."

"Shut up," I laughed. "Come and look at these books with me." So we spent the following hours pouring over the timeless fairy tales and debating the credibility of historical, science, and other fiction books that called this café home.

Words can't begin to show how great it felt to have one foot in reality and the other inside my own world physically. By the time we came up for air, my cheeks hurt from smiling and my chest because of my happiness. Gio was more or less the same, but I had a sneaking suspicion that his didn't come from the books.

I couldn't let feelings start flooding in just because I'd made an exception for one person. It wasn't fair to anybody. Before either of us could drag the mood down, my phone started to blare to the tune of a Korean indie song that was a favorite of my sister's.

My eyes widened and hands fumbling, I pulled out my phone to answer it. "Eris? What's up?"

"Check the time, dumbo. Didn't you promise somebody whose name starts with a 'P' and ends in 'ax' that you'd be back soon?"

I put a hand over my microphone and whispered an "uh oh". Gio was watching me with a sheepish expression and holding his own phone out for me to see that it was well into the afternoon.

"Sorry, sorry," I cried. "We'll be on our way soon!" At that, Gio took our cups and the tray back to the counter and came back removing my camera from around his neck to hand it to me.

"You better be," Eris retorted. "Just don't come too quickly. I think Pax somehow lost some of your gifts." Her voice faded as she yelled something at another person in the background. "I'll see you later!"

"We have one more stop before we'll go to Pax's," Gio started as we made for the door. "It's on the way there so it's not too much of a detour."

"Aight," I consented. "Just hope that it's not too hot outside because I'm not in the mood for any more sweating."

"I think you'll find it worth the wait." He held the door for me and we walked out to our bikes together.

"By the way, thank you." We were biking slowly side by side down the road and I risked glancing at Gio as we went. "This is a really great day because of you."

"You're welcome. I know how much it means to you to have fun in close circles anyway."

I twisted my mouth half skeptically. "I wouldn't call this a close circle, Gio. It's more like...I dunno, but it's not a circle."

He smirked and rolled his eyes. "Okay okay, pick at every little thing. Y'know," he paused for a moment. "I don't think I've given you our annual tradition yet."

"Don't tell me you wrote another song," I frowned. "That's so time consuming and you have way better things to do in the first place."

"It's fun," he protested. "I like it, you like it, so where's the problem?"

"Nowhere, I guess," I admitted reluctantly. "It better be good, then."

"I don't make promises I can't keep," Gio winked. "Of course it'll be good. Just you wait."

"I've been waiting," I grumbled. He didn't answer, only giving a faint chuckle over the sound of our chains turning. We stayed like that for the better portion of the ride, just enjoying the company until Gio stopped at the foot of what seemed to be a very large hill.

"We're not going all the way up, are we?" I already knew what he'd say, but I just had to ask to make life harder for myself.

"Hmm," he hummed. "That's a great idea, Beth! I think we will. Thanks for being so enthusiastic." I let my head droop as we locked up our bikes and started up a barely visible path that looked as though the only organisms that used it would be mice.

"Don't worry, we're only going up halfway. I don't feel like dying because of Pax tonight."

"Oh good," I responded brightly. "At this rate, you'll probably being dying because of me anyway!" Gio laughed at that, ducking away from my attacking hand.

I fell silent, not because I wanted to, but because any exercise involving a length longer than a volleyball court wore me out really fast. As I huffed beside a very determined Gio, I resolved to never let him take me anywhere without full details ever again.

"Here," he whispered, pushing away a limb of a tree's branch. "C'mon, it's gonna be really pretty around now. Just straight in front of us; where's your camera?" I gave it to him wordlessly, creeping ahead on my own. Something about the near twilight air made me want to be very still; as though we might break it like the bumbling humans we were.

"Gio, I—" I didn't have anything to say. From this vantage point, we could see the whole city and right now, it was aglow with its lights and the setting sun. My lips were parted in awe. Sure, the city was small and I could see it any day with maybe a ten minute drive from my own town. But seeing it from above made me think that it didn't matter even if I'd seen those very buildings a thousand times before. It was like I was on clouds and they'd parted so that I could see how important these moments were.

So at that moment, I didn't care how the weather was hot and on the verge of being humid; I didn't mind that the sky was getting darker. It was just me and the sleeping city coming to life. And I loved it. My very own storybook scene. The microcosm of civilization and nature's separation.

I spun back around to face Gio, whose face the sun was resting its last rays on. I grinned at him in my happiness and he snapped a picture of me before I realized he'd done it.

"You know me too well." I hugged him tight, trying to express my gratitude through it. He knew the small things were worth it to me, more than presents anyway.

"I'd say if I didn't, then it'd be nine years going to waste," he joked, hugging me back just as tightly. "Anyway, I think you'll have a lot of nice photos from today, so you're welcome."

"It really would be. And thanks." I smiled and took the camera, slinging it over my shoulder. "Wanna sit for a bit? I think we can let them wait ten minutes." He sat with me on a pair of boulders near where the hill dropped suddenly into a cliff, the place where we'd started so small below.

"Y'know, Mama told me that she used to come here with her girlfriends way back when they used to think hooky was cool." Gio leaned back and stretched his legs out. "Hey, put your legs out; I wanna see whose are longer."

"You already know the answer to that though," I complained, unable to completely hide my smile. I unfolded them anyways, my feet coming up short maybe two inches above his ankles.

"Satisfying as ever." He tugged at the braid I'd shoved my hair into, earning a shove from me as I readjusted my hat. "Anyway, here's the song. I couldn't bring my guitar with me, so I recorded it before." He brandished his phone, its unnatural light contrasting terribly with the sunset.

Preceded by a lot of fumbling and false starts, Gio let his voice fill the hill. I closed my eyes and floated away. His voice paired with his lyrics always gave me chills and never failed to make me either laugh or cry. Tonight, it was evidently both.

Nearing the end, the corners of my mouth curled upward and my eyes teared at the same time. When Gio's guitar faded, I crawled onto his boulder, placed my head on his shoulder and whispered, "Don't tell Pax, but you're my best friend."

I could hear the grin in his voice when he replied, "Obviously. We're long term friends."

"It was beautiful, as always, Gio." I straightened. "I dunno how you do it." He pursed his lips like he was deep in thought.

"I think it's good 'cause the person I write it for is good—" Just as his eyes flickered, my phone rang and disrupted the quiet. I almost dropped it in surprise but managed to connect the call without trouble.

"Hello? Pax?" I listened to her go on about how we weren't there and that I'd better get my sorry face down to her house before something bad happened. I gave Gio an apologetic look as I stood up and brushed myself down.

"Guess we gotta go?" It was too dark to tell, but I thought I could see frustration on his face when he ran a hand through his hair. But when the hand came back, there was no trace of anything to tell that he was upset.

"Yeah. Wanna race?"

"Oh, you wouldn't have a chance at beating me. Maybe I'll go easier on you since it's your birthday anyway." Gio's eyes lit up, already picking his way down the hill.

"Hey! No fair, you can't have a head start!"

I was breathing heavily by the time I caught up to him at our bikes, him mounting and pushing off as I was getting on. In the duration we biked, I almost fell a total of fourteen times trying to pass Gio on the way home.

When we stumbled to a halt in front of Pax's house, I truly believed that a murder wouldn't do me much harm. As I glared at Gio out of the corner of my eye, I swept my hair back to fan my neck and let it fall out of its braid.

"Okay, ring the bell while I put the bikes in the shed," he told me, walking away as he talked. I rang the bell and felt Pax's footsteps through the door before I saw her in the glass.

"It's about time," she muttered, pulling me in. "I was about to set your gifts on fire." I stood in the foyer for a moment before I remembered that keeping shoes on were the norm in American houses, no matter how odd it might be.

"Not to mention the house," Mrs. Greene chimed. "Welcome, Thisbe dear. I expect Pax has a lot to show you."

"I do, and we don't have time." Pax dragged me further into the house toward the dining room. "I had to arrange all the presents on the dinner table 'cause there wasn't a better spot."

"Why's the house so—oh." With a flick, the lights turned on and a group of people jumped out at me screaming "happy birthday" at the top of their lungs. They completed the act by pulling some poppers which attacked me in the face with confetti and streamers.

"Finally," Eris drawled, dropping her arm around my waist. "You have no idea how long we waited for you guys."

I batted my hand at her, ignoring her statement. "Is that a house of books around the cake?" Sure enough, in the corner waiting to be sliced was a beautifully simple cake that had books of all sizes as a barrier on all sides except one complete with a roof.

Eris shrugged. "I got bored." With that, she drifted to the couch, fingers flying across her phone keyboard.

"Happy birthday!" My mom cried, launching herself at me. I received her enthusiastically, joined by my dad moments later. "You're all grown up."

"Not yet," I snickered. "I'm not eighteen yet."

"Happy birthday, my aegi," my dad chuckled and mussed my hair. "You're so old now." I scowled and moved away to avoid his hand.

"Thanks, appa. I think I'll just stay over there where you can mess with my hair." I kissed both of them on the cheek and waved goodbye as I headed toward Pax.

"So we're gonna have dinner soon," Pax began when I reached her side. "It's kimbap and ddeokbokki 'cause I know how you like your food."

"You're a Godsend." I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, squeezing Pax around her shoulders. "I'm gonna love being seventeen." Her mom called everyone to the table and I did a headcount just to see who was present. The Marcelles', the Greenes, and mine. Perfectly small enough and just fine that way.

Just as I was ready to tear into the food, my dad cleared his throat and stood up. "Happy birthday, Thisbe. I hope we'll be around to spend a lot more years like this in the time to come. You deserve the world, and we're gonna try to give it to you." I pretended that my eyes were dry and nodded stiffly, lips pressed together to keep a small whimper in the back of my throat. Pax stole my camera from around my neck and clicked away as the families began to eat.

By the time we'd all thoroughly stuffed ourselves, I was not ready for cake. But one song in, I could imagine the taste of its frosting in my mouth. I sniffled as I blew out my candles, too happy just thinking about the cake. When everyone was settled with a slice, I dug into my own and my smile grew bigger every mouthful I took.

"Game time! When're we ever gonna have all the original gang in one place?" Pax lifted me from the couch, grabbing my arm to situate us on the floor next to Gio, his siblings, and my own sister.

"What're we playing?" Eris asked, her eyes never leaving her phone for a second.

"We're playing charades to start us off," Pax paused to snatch Eris' phone. "And everybody's gonna participate."

We played games until my sides were splitting and Eris was having difficulty resisting the chance to play. When we'd finished our latest round of a mix of musical chairs and pictionary, Gio's parents had quietly come in to watch and round up their kids. Mrs. Marcelles gave me a very large hug and patted my cheek before they left.

"Thanks for the surprise," I whispered to Pax. Eris had regained control of her phone and our parents were talking in the dining room which left us to our own devices.

"Anything for my bestie." Pax tilted her head onto my shoulder when she sat up all of a sudden. "Wanna go to my room and watch some t.v. show?"

"You know I do." We got to our feet, but just as I'd hit the first step, my mom called my name.

"Thisbe, we're gonna head out. We have our own plans for us tonight, but if you want to come back in an hour, Mrs. Greene says she's happy to let you stay the night."

"Okay, Mom!" To Pax, I added, "Rain check in, like, an hour and a half."

"Be there or be square!" I rolled my eyes and bumped shoulders with her. "Oh, let me grab the presents for you."

I slipped my shoes on in the time she was gone, soon joined by my parents and Eris. Mom and Dad exchanged a few more words with Mr. and Mrs. Greene until Pax came back, a large paper bag filled with the books and a couple other gift bags dangling from her arm.

"Here," she said, shoving them into my hands. "You're gonna love my present, but don't look 'til you get home."

"Okay, see you later. I'm gonna miss you." I leaned into her for a hug.

"You're gonna see me in a couple hours, dumbo. Just don't get lost on your way over here." Pax sniggered as I hit her on the arm. "Kidding! I'm kidding. Ow!"

"Thanks for having us." My mom shook hands with Mr. Greene and offered a quick hug to Mrs. Greene.

"No problem," Mr. Greene replied warmly. "Thisbe's birthday is just as important as our own daughter's. She's welcome anytime."

"Don't let her know that," my dad remarked wryly. "Or else she'll never leave."

"You know me too well," I cooed jokingly. "Bye Greenes, see you!" In the time it took me to reach our car, my sister was waiting impatiently and tapping on the glass for me to hurry.

"We're gonna go get ice cream," my mom told me. "Like always. I hope you still have room for it!" I gave her a look that asked why she would even suggest that my stomach wouldn't have the space.

The ice cream made us very lazy. Possibly a bad idea, but a very good ending to my birthday nonetheless. I was yawning when I stumbled into my bedroom having barely remembered to take off my shoes at the front door, fully prepared to pass out on my bed. That was when my phone buzzed, of course.

Thinking it was Pax responding to my message about not coming over, I sat up and rubbed my bleary eyes to clear my sight and zoned in on what my screen was flashing. The message made my eyes pop open and chased away any thought of sleep. It read "can u come nd meet me in front of v's?" and just by looking at its sender I could almost predict what was going to happen.

My eyes were still scanning the words over and over again as I unlocked my window and slid the screen out of place. Taking care not to fall, I edged along my window sill to reach the swinging bench that hung right under it. From there, I hopped into the grass with stings running up my bare legs. I took a moment to text Daniel back and tell him I was on my way as I slipped my feet into a pair of Eris' old flip flops that she'd left under the bench.

When I got to Tea End, Daniel's shadowy form was barely visible against the night, only illuminated at all by the lampost down the street. He was sitting at a table and he was bouncing his knee.

"Hey," I breathed, tucking myself into the chair across him. Daniel looked up with a small smile.

"Happy birthday," he returned. "Wish I could've celebrated with you." I gave him a half-hearted shrug.

"So, uh, is there something you wanted to talk about?" I met his gaze and locked eyes with his own. They were dark, probably because it was almost the middle of the night.

"What are the chances of a character in some fiction book confessing and getting the girl?"

"What?—oh." My eyes were wide and I wasn't prepared. Who would have known that I'd be able to get the guy I was crushing on. It was a fantasy, really.

"Say something," Daniel near begged. "Was I not clear enough? Cause if I wasn't, then I just wanna let you know that I like you and I want to see where we could go and I'm sorry if—"

"Daniel, shut up." Not allowing that one second of doubt stop me, I put my hand over his. "You were perfectly clear the first time."

"Then?" His eyes were full of expectancy and as I usually was, I was at a loss for words. "What's your answer?"

"You'll get it every day I see you, starting tomorrow," I finally said. My cheeks were flushed; I could feel it. I didn't want to leave in case this was just some cruel dream. But the tightening of his hand over mine couldn't be fake. It just couldn't.

And so we hit where things get interesting. Is it obvious to you yet?

Nothing's obvious except the fact that you left me for him. 

Chill out, I have my logic and reasons and you can't deny me that.

Well, what's your point in all this? Just get to the end so I can make my case.

Listen carefully and you'll hear my point.

[word count 5729]

[published 11:28 PM Wednesday, January 09, 2019 (GMT+9)]

cookie: 

[v1: she steps into a world of her own,

commanding everywhere she goes

when she comes out, she's always grown

impressing me more than she knows.

v2: the places she graces with her presence

constantly feel like a movie

it's like we're up in the heavens

where it's all covered in beauty.

c: so never stop being you, my anima gemella

no other team is up to par

partners in crime out of a novella

don't ever lose who you are.

b: let your books be your experience

show everyone what they're missing

and this year will be another beginning.

end: i'm always gonna be at your back

to fight with you and be your friend]