51.
chapter fifty-one:
I accidentally found
out my enigmatic
admirer is way
cuter than I
imagined!

Minutes passed painfully slowly. I stared at the blank page in front of me. It had but one sentence. Economics is the study of the allocation of wealth and resources of a nation.

The bell rang to my relief, and collective breaths were released throughout the class. My mind wandered to the night before, when Calem asked me to hand my book over. I shut it and gave it to him before my eyes slid to the next row, where Serena was collecting the Alolan students' books.

'Ash, we care about you.'

The handwriting was unmistakable; it was Butterhead's—small and cute. But Misty, May, and Dawn were not the ones writing me anonymous letters. Meaning...

My heart gave a thump, and as soon as Serena and Calem were out of sight, I retrieved my rough note and considered it. "Ash, you gotta open that book," May said when she spotted the familiar black bind. "When we"—she gestured to herself and the arguing couple sitting in front of us—"were worried sick about you yesterday, we wrote down some stuff you might want to read in private."

I bobbed my head, and when it was time for lunch, I stayed back to read. None of them objected, although the girls warned me to eat something before the interval ended. With a promise from my side, they left me alone, and I flipped through the pages to where several sentences were written.

'Remember that time we tied up for a fishing competition? I said you were a loser, but I was the loser for being unable to realize your worth, man.'

I chuckled; it was obviously from Gary, and he would be too embarrassed to admit it out loud to my face. Next was a dragged-out handwriting: Misty's.

'I cannot love you! You gotta love yourself, you baka!'

And then there was May's, followed by Dawn's.

'You know what they say, monkeys like us gotta take words in one ear and let it loose from the other!'

'Don't you worry about Fleur-de-lis! We'll make sure to put him in a flower-de-vase!'

I laughed heartily at the girls' captions. They had made sure to maintain their humor despite being worried, quite in contrast to Gary's.

My heart gave a jolt when I spotted the familiar handwriting in the last line.

'We care about you, Ash. :]'

That smiley. It was definitely Serena. I knew it, deep within my heart of hearts, that Serena still cared. I only had to figure out a way to let my walls come down when around her.

There was one more mystery to be solved, I thought as I made my way to the cafeteria: finding out if Butterhead was really the golden-haired girl I adored.

Serena was nowhere to be seen, I noted. She wasn't there in the cafeteria, and May informed me that the Grade Leaders had a meeting with the teachers over the upcoming prom and the school road trip.

I briefly considered asking Shauna to make sure Serena would have her lunch afterward, but after spotting her with just Lisia, I felt awkward approaching them.

Hours passed, and then came the soccer trials. They went by fairly smoothly, and I made sure not to panic at any given moment. Alain and Brock sent me back five minutes before the end of the practice with a congratulatory note for making it into the middle-year team. Of course, Paul was still the captain, but at least I made it onto the team.

Just as I was about to put my football sneakers into the lockers and retrieve my usual Converse, I spotted a hooded figure in front of my locker. With a gulp, I hid behind the adjacent row and peeked at the enigmatic person. Was it Butterhead?

I observed the person place something inside, then withdraw and look around. My heart nearly stopped when I saw the familiar Tenerife blue eyes scan the vicinity before hurrying out of the locker room. When I was sure she wasn't anywhere near, I emerged from my hiding place and rushed to look at what she had placed inside my locker.

There, inside the locker, was a letter. It was no ordinary letter; it was one from Butterhead. I tore it open and quickly scanned it, my heart jumping with joy with each word I read. Slumping against the lockers, I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

Serena was Butterhead. Serena still cared about me. She didn't hate me, but rather... confessed to liking me.

The very thought made my heart pound faster and spread warmth to my cheeks. It felt like Christmas had finally decided to come early and gift me with redamancy.

"Yes!" I half-shrieked, half-laughed, fist-pumping the air. I got to my feet real quick, shut my locker after collecting my belongings, and made a beeline to the park.

It was time for me to finally reunite with the girl I liked. However, I had to calm down and stop grinning like an idiot. Figuring doing laps would be the ideal idea, I broke into a run, my muscles feeling much lighter than they had in days, weeks, a month even!

The trip to the park was exhilarating. I felt amazing, breathing in the fresh, moist air and the smell of damp soil. It had rained, but not over me. "Serena likes me!" I repeated the words over and over again, hardly believing myself.

When the sun peeked through the kissing nimbus clouds, I felt a glint of hope shine through my life. After having been busy weathering the storm of teenage nightmares, I welcomed the change in the weather with open arms and began constructing how I should go about with my speech.

I decided that having an audience no longer mattered. Not all confessions were made in private, after all. If I were to wait for the right time, I might as well wait an eternity. Serena was a charming person, and a girl as pretty as her would always be swarmed by people, whether she liked it or not.

Regardless, I thought determinedly, it's time to rekindle the essence of our friendship.