It Takes Time

Chapter 1

"Who's close to me?" As the voice behind Marin sounded, he didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Not that he could just turn around. Not even seeing her, just her voice was enough to make his heart flutter and his mind go blank. And even if he could turn around, what would he do next aside from stutter like mad. He wouldn't be able to get out a coherent sentence.

But that didn't stop Alyn from speaking up. "Hey, Adrienne, Marin just had a question for you." Alyn winked at Marin, who glared back. If looks could kill, Alyn would be six feet under.

"Really? What did you want to ask me, Marin?" Adrienne asked, her sweet voice resonating in Marin's ears.

Marin struggled to turn around. Once he did, he gulped as he looked down at her small stature. So cute... He thought as he examined her. There was something different about her, Marin observed. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail with her bangs framing her face. But it wasn't just her hair. Her skin was much more tanned most of the time. Today she looked pale. And it wasn't a wintery snow pale. It was a grey, ghostly pale. He was worried about her now. Why did she looks so pale? What was wrong with her?

It was as if all his nervousness had vanished and was replaced with pure concern for his crush. "Adrienne, are you alright?" He approached her slowly, standing only inches away from her as he tried to examine her face better. He thought he say a bruise on her face that was covered in make-up. It was hard to tell for certain, but he was sure that was the case. What happened to her to cause a bruise to form on her face?

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, why do you ask?" Adrienne tilted her head slightly, pursing her lips in confusion, though she somewhat knew what he was talking about.

Marin was about to interrogate her further when he finally realized how close they were. They were nearly touching. Did she not notice? Marin's face heated up, the shyness hitting him like a train. "Ask? Ask what? Y-You're the one asking questions. You're you. You- You're very pretty. Like, absolutely gorgeous. Have you seen your own face? It's literally like an angel. You're like an angel, just without wings!"

"So... A person?"

"No, you're better than a person. You're hotter than the average person. You're, like, the hottest person I've ever--"

Alyn sighed and put his hand over Marin's face to prevent him from embarrassing himself even further than he already had. "So, Adrienne, do you have plans made for May 7th?"

     "May 7th?" She pursed her lips in thought as she pulled out her phone to look through her schedule.

Alyn could just barely hear Marin mumble something into his hand. Probably something about how cute she was, judging by the lovestruck expression in his eyes. Of course, that expression was almost always there when he was around Adrienne.

     Before Adrienne could answer, an arm was slung around her shoulder, startling her slightly. She nearly jumped and dropped her phone, but managed to keep a secure grip on it.

     "Hey, Adrienne~" Miles whispered into her ear seductively, glancing down at her phone. "You have Ladybeetle as your background, huh?" He chuckled.

Marin's eyes lit up at hearing this fact.

"Yeah, he's great, don't you think?" She smiled brightly, staring down at her phone.

The jealousy was clearly radiating off of Miles. "You do know, I'm pretty close friends with him."

"Really?" Adrienne put her phone away and clasped her hands together, facing Miles completely.

"Really?" Marin grumbled into Alyn's hand, which had been yet to be removed.

"Of course. We're the best of friends." He winked at her, snaking an arm around her waist and turning her away from Marin and Alyn. "How about we go to the park and I'll tell you what I know? And I have a question I wanna ask you. It's very important and I'd rather do it where no one can interrupt."