Blurred Lines | ✓ [1st Edition]

12 | You Look...

That's right, I thought silently. Yuko loves Siobhan. You know he does.

Indeed I do. I remember the night of our Senior's Ball, when she stormed into the ballroom wearing a sleek black gown with killer slits on the side. I recalled the way her eyes searched the room and landed on him, recalled the way he froze up in my arms. The way his hands tightened around my waist, not too much to be painful, but enough for me to know that he saw her too.

After all, it wasn't very often to have Yuko Hideyoshi freeze up completely.

"Yuko. I see you've got a date," Siobhan said, almost emotionlessly. She stopped in front of us, ignoring the attention we were drawing. Yuko narrowed his eyes slightly, pulling me closer to him. Even during such a tense moment, one little touch from him has gotten me blushing like a tomato.

"I don't see why you're upset," he said slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not," she snapped.

"Yes, you are. Your jaw's clenched and you're tense all over. Don't forget, I'm a psychology major," he said quietly, staring straight into her eyes.

"How can I forget? After all, analysing me is all you do!" she hissed, crossing her arms. I averted my gaze from the both of them, concentrating hard on the carpeted floor beneath me. I felt like I was intruding on something extremely private.

"So why do you keep coming back?" he asked, his voice gentle, vulnerable. He didn't sound as confident as he did mere seconds before.

For the first time, it seemed like Siobhan Lanigan was tongue-tied.

"I-I hate you!" she managed to say. Blinking furiously, she cast me a look of jealous hatred before storming off.

Yuko let out a collective sigh, rubbing his temples slightly.

"Girls," he muttered under his breath.

"Go chase after her," I said, tugging at his shirt to get his attention. He blinked, looking slightly surprised.

"What?"

"When a girl tells you she hates you, it's usually the exact opposite. She only says so because you hurt her," I mumbled, blushing slightly. "So chase after her. Make things right again."

"But I'm your date," he stated, dumbfounded. I smiled slightly, "Not by choice."

"Marissa...," he began, trailing off. He glanced the entrance of the ballroom, where Siobhan had slammed shut a few minutes ago. "It's not like Alex held a knife to my throat and threatened to kill
me if I don't take you to the dance. I wanted to."

I nodded slowly, ignoring the way my heart skipped a beat.

"And now you obviously want to speak to her," I said, nudging him slightly with an encouraging smile. "So go."

I never spoke to Yuko afterwards, and I never found out if they patched things up again. It was only two weeks after that I heard that she migrated to Japan.

From what I could see, Siobhan still obviously has feelings for Yuko. And now that they're both in Japan, perhaps their spark will reignite again.

But do you want them to?

"This is my favourite," Reiko gushed, breaking me out of my reverie. Holding up a china cup, she made a show of scooping up a steamy spoonful of Chawanmushi, Japanese steamed egg.

"Chawanmushi is pretty good, I guess. But nothing beats a hot bowl of Miso soup!" Logan argued, gulping down his bowl of soup in one mouth.

Robin rolled his eyes, "Control yourselves, children."

"I'm older than you!" Logan argued.

"By two months. Give it a rest," Robin drawled.

Everyone watched Robin and Logan argue back and forth, and even I had a small, amused smile on my face.

"You look...," a small voice said beside me. Glancing to my side, I realised that the voice indeed came from Yuko. But to my confusion, he wasn't even looking at me. What?

"You look beautiful," he said, tearing his eyes away from the banter between his friends and landing his brown eyes on me. I gulped, speechless. "I just thought you should know that."

"T-thanks," I stuttered, fiddling with my thumbs nervously.

I was acting like a weak little girl! I was supposed to be Marissa Lee, third edition to the Meilleurean Barbies! I didn't need anyone to tell me I'm beautiful!

"You're blushing," Yuko stated matter-of-factly. "Why?"

"I'm not blushing," I snapped instantly, blushing even harder. Yuko pursed his lips, a ghost of a smile lingering on his face before disappearing.

"Whatever you say, Marissa."

-

Squeals!!! I'll allow them to be cute for a little bit hehe...Also, I won't be posting for the next because it's my exams! With me luck, haha! But no worries, I promise to come back with jam-packed new chapters once I am done with my papers!

Image: Marissa's kimono.

Character Polaroid: Emily Park, played by Ginta Lapina.

Song of the Chapter: Beneath Your Beautiful, by Labrinth.