Later that night, Back at Melissa's place, she was continuing to work on the lightning gauntlets for the presentation. And with her, was Marianne.

"He's really bent on stopping this villain, huh?" Marianne said. "I've never met someone so determined as he is."

"Well, I hope he's got a plan by prom." Melissa said. "Otherwise, the night will be ruined."

"Oh yeah. . . prom is coming up, huh?" Marianne said. "Say, Melissa. . . do you have anyone to go with?"

"No." Melissa said. "No one has asked me yet. But I don't think I'll ask anyone, either."

"Why not?" Marianne asked.

"Well, it's not really my thing." Melissa said. "Though, if someone were to ask me out to prom, then I'd probably accept the offer."

"That doesn't sound like you." Marianne said.

"Mari, we talked about this." Melissa said.

"What about Jake?" Marianne asked. "You seem to have grown quite a liking to him."

Melissa blushed as soon as Jake's name was mentioned.

"Aha, you blushed!" Marianne said in a teasing tone. "You like him, don't you?"

"Where is this coming from?" Melissa asked, still blushing. "You were never this teasing before."

"Well, you remember when Jake was here last night." Marianne said with a smirk.

Melissa blushed even harder as the events from night night before replayed in her mind and she covered her face with her hands and turned the other way, whimpering in embarrassment.

"Th-That was all an accident. . . it didn't mean anything." Melissa said, still blushing. "Jake is just a good friend. Nothing more."

"Oh, that's what they all say." Marianne said. "Trust me, I've been there. I know when a girl is in love."

Melissa gasped as Marianne said that. "L-Love. . ." She said as her whole face went as red as a tomato. "N-No, that's not it!"

"Oh please. . . you know it all too well." Marianne said. "And I may be wrong, but I'm still right."

"I. . . I can't be in love with Jake." Melissa said. "That's not possible. . . w-we still barely know each other."

"Feelings can develop in that time." Marianne said. "The first boy I fell in love with was at first sight."

"How can you he sure that's what it was then?" Melissa asked.

"I'm just saying, it might be that you have feelings for him." Marianne said. "I see it all too much."

Melissa didn't know what to say at that moment. A part of her wanted to keep denying the possibility, but the more she thought about her time with Jake, the more it came to her realization.

'Jake has been so kind to me from the beginning.' Melissa thought to herself. 'And he's not that bad looking at all. Maybe. . . maybe Mari's right. Could I. . . could I really be in love with Jake?'

"Anyway, it's getting pretty late." Marianne said, as she stood up. "I better get home. Will you be okay by yourself, Mel?"

But Melissa didn't respond. She was still deep in thought about Jake. Marianne just smiled as she sat down next to Melissa and placed a hand on her shoulder, which made her suddenly snap out of it and brought her back to reality.

"Are you alright?" Marianne asked.

"Uh. . . y-yeah, I'm fine." Melissa said. "It's all good. I'm totally alright. Nothing's weird. I'm not being weird!"

"Okay. . . ?" Marianne said, in a confused. "I'm gonna go home now. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Y-Yeah. . ." Melissa said.

With that said, Marianne walked out the door, leaving Melissa alone with her thoughts.

"I should call him. . ." Melissa said to herself. "Yeah, that's a good idea. . . I'll talk to him for a bit. I'll prove that there's nothing weird going on with me. I can be normal."

With that said, Melissa pulled out phone and called Jake's number.

'This is stupid. . . what's gotten into me?!' Melissa thought to herself.

Suddenly, there was a click on the other end and Jake's voice was heard through the other end.

"Hey, Melissa." The voice of Jake said, through the phone. "What's got you calling me this late?"

"H-Hey, Jake. . ." Melissa said, trying her best not to sound too suspicious by stuttering too much. "I just wanted to check in and see how your plan was coming along."

There was a sigh in the other end of the call from Jake. "It's not looking too good at the moment." He said. "It's hard to pinpoint Vortex's next move. I'm pretty sure he might be waiting for prom to make a final strike."

"Yeah. . . that sounds about right." Melissa said, as she nervously tapped her foot. "But I believe you can figure something out, cause I trust you. . . cause we're friends."

There was a slight pause for a few seconds after what Melissa said. After a few seconds, Jake's voice came back.

"Are you alright?" Jake asked.

'Oh crap. . . did I say something wrong?' Melissa thought to herself. 'Damn. . . I must've sounded like such a fool. Curse these feelings. . .'

"Melissa?" Jake said, starting to sound concerned.

"Oh, I'm fine." Melissa said, as she twirled her hair with her finger. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm just, uh. . . distracted. There's a lot to do for our presentation. Gotta figure out how to make it perfect, right?"

"Yeah. . . right." Jake said.

'Damn it. . . I'm sounding like a complete moron right now!' Melissa thought to herself. 'He's gonna think I'm a total loser. . .'

"So, how is it coming along?" Jake asked. "Do you think it'll be ready for the presentation tomorrow?"

"Oh, right. . . tomorrow." Melissa said. "Yeah, it's all coming together nicely. I think you'll like the finished product. It's an easy 'A+' for sure! Or maybe it'll be so good that we'll get an 'A++'!"

'That was so cringe!' Melissa thought to herself, as she immediately regretted saying that. 'What is wrong with me? I think Mari's words are getting to me in a negative way!'

Melissa then heard a faint chuckle on the other end. "It's that's good, huh? I can't wait to test it out." Jake said. "You know. . . this whole thing has got me stressed out. And I'm worried about what the outcome will be."

"Oh. . ." Melissa said.

"But you've really helped me through it." Jake said. "And I appreciate that. You're a really good friend, Melissa."

Melissa gasped softly as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she listened to Jake's kind words.

"Ever since I moved up here. . . I didn't think I'd be able to adapt well at all. But you helped with that too." Jake said. "And I hope that you'll never stop supporting me. Cause I'll keep supporting you, no matter what. Once we get that 'A' on our project, I hope we can keep doing all our with new stuff, because. . . I like working with you."

"And I. . . I like you too, Jake." Melissa said.

"Huh?" Jake said.

"Uh, I mean. . . I also like working with you, Jake." Melissa said. "We make a good couple. . . uh, I mean partners. We're good partners. . . no, team! We're a good team!"

Jake was silent for a second again, before he spoke again. "Yeah. . . we really are, huh?" He said.

"Anyway, it's getting late." Melissa said. "I should really get to bed. And I don't want to keep you up with my banter."

'Though I really love talking to you. . .' Melissa thought to herself. 'And I love hearing your sweet voice. . . wait, what am I thinking?!'

"Alright then." Jake said. "I don't want to keep you from your work. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait, one more thing. . ." Melissa said.

"Oh, what is it?" Jake asked.

Melissa took a deep breath and prepared to say what she wanted to. "If. . . if it's okay with you, I was wondering if you'd like to, maybe. . . go to prom. . . with me." She said. "But, just as friends. . . of course. Y-You don't have to answer now. I don't want you to stress over it. I just. . . I wanted to give you that choice, that's all."

Jake was silent in the phone for a few seconds after she asked that.

"Prom. . . ?" Jake said. "Well, I-"

"Actually, forget I asked." Melissa said. "It was silly of me to even bring it up. I know you've got your hands full with Vortex. I'll just. . . I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, wait-"

Without about her thought, Melissa hung up the phone and put it down on the table, before sitting down on her couch to think about what just happened.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Melissa said, facepalming herself multiple times. "Why did I go for that question?! Obviously, he already mentioned that he'd be fighting Vortex that night! Why did I even think to ask such a stupid question like that?"

Melissa then heard her phone vibrate as Jake's number appeared, as he was calling her back. Melissa just ignored it and flipped it over until it stopped. She then went up to her bedroom and got into her bed and rolled on her side. Tears then began to well up in her eyes as she started to sob quietly into her pillow.

------------

Meanwhile, back at Jake's apartment, he was laying in bed as he tried to call Melissa back once again. But it only continued to ring, eventually going to voicemail again. He sighed as he placed his phone down and rolled over on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

To be continued. . .

Jake Moon and Marianne belongs to me

My Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi

All rights reserved