Heartbreaker

Chapter 10: Plan

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The next week of school had started out as normally as ever, (Name) was still harassed by Gold's admirers although the numbers seemed to be dropping, which was a relief. They seemed to realize that they wouldn't accomplish anything by bullying (Name), and they perhaps they should be spending more time trying to get closer to Gold himself instead.

Starting on Tuesday, girls simply ignored her, and (Name) was completely fine with that. At lunch, she would eat with Crystal as per usual, and visited the animal shelter after school.

However, Thursday was when everything started to seem... different.

She wasn't sure exactly how it all happened, but it seemed as if the word had gotten around that she and Gold were friends.

Now, girls weren't sending (Name) dirty looks or trying to bully her, rather, it seemed as if they were trying to win her favor. The (h/c)-haired girl had at first been confused, as to why the group of bullies who had cut her cheek just a week earlier insisted on carrying her books and walking her to class.

Then, she realized — now that the girls knew that she was friends with the copper-eyed boy, they no longer saw her as a romantic threat. In addition, they all knew that (Name) could be used to their own advantage, and they thought that perhaps if they became close to (Name), she could set them up with Gold.

Ah, clever. But not happening. The female couldn't help but wonder — did this happen with Crystal? Surprisingly, the answer was no, because it seemed as if Crystal was every bit as head over heels for Gold as the other girl...

Before class began, the pigtailed girl had asked (Name) to meet her in the courtyard, and the first thing that Crystal did was burst into tears. Shocked, (Name) tried to comfort Crystal, but she blubbered out,

"I'm sorry, I lied! He's not just a friend to me — I love him!" Her friend only gaped at her.

"You've known him all these years, haven't you? Does he know?"

"He doesn't! I'm literally just another guy friend to him... he's never noticed my feelings!" This was most definitely unusual for a girl like Crystal. She was tough and indifferent; (Name) could tell that she rarely cried, because the girl looked uncomfortable to be seen in such a vulnerable state. "You... you don't like him in that way, do you?"

"What? Me? No way!" (Name)'s eyes widened. "Look, Crystal, I'll try my best to help you... a lot of other girls have tried to talk to me for this reason, and there's no way in hell that I'll help them after all they did to me. But you... you were always nice to me. I just can't believe you set me up on the blind date." Crystal sighed.

"Sorry about that. It was Gold's idea," she admitted. "I just wanted to make him happy."

"Don't worry, I get." The (h/c)-haired girl smiled. "I'll help you out here like you helped me get through my first week in Johto. I can talk to him for you."

"Really?!" Crystal's face lit up. "Thank you! Honestly, I know I could do it myself, but like I said before, he honestly just sees me as another guy. Literally, if I tried to talk to him about this, he would laugh in my face."

"Don't worry, Crys. Trust me." (Name) grinned. The pair started back toward the main building, and standing in the hallway not too far away was none other than Gold himself. (Name) felt her friend tense up, anxious. "Oh, don't be that way. It's just Gold." Her (e/c) eyes glittered in amusement.

"I know I always act like I don't care, and I guess it works. But really, I just freak out whenever I see him." She cast her gaze at the ground.

"Does anyone know that you feel this way about him?" Crystal nodded.

"Pretty much everyone at the school... except him. Which is why, even though I'm friends with him just like you, girls don't ask me for help." She laughed. "I'm a rival to them, after all."

"Too bad for them, you're the only one I'm going to help," (Name) assured Crystal. "I'll talk to him after school; he does live next door to me after all." Crystal's eyes widened.

"You're his neighbor?" (Name) could detect a hint of jealousy.

"Yes." She shrugged. "No big deal."

"I wish I lived next to him," the pigtailed female sighed. Suddenly, she straightened up and coughed. "Oh no, I'm sounding like one of those crazy fangirls. I'm gonna stop now."

"That's appreciated," said (Name), and they both laughed. Just then, Gold noticed them in the hallway and waved.

"Hi, (Name)! Hi, Crystal!" He grinned widely.

"Hello," Crystal told him stiffly; she still had not recovered from confessing her secret to (Name). Gold, oblivious as ever, didn't seem to notice her discomfort.

"We were just heading to class. Are you and Morty coming with us?" (Name) eyed the blonde boy beside Gold, and exchanged smiles with him.

"Yeah, c'mon!" The energetic male rushed ahead, Crystal hot on his heels, yelling for him to slow down, leaving (Name) and Morty standing there in complete shock.

"Wow, what even happened this weekend?" Morty chuckled. "One minute he wanted you to be his girlfriend, the next minute he planned to completely ignore you, and now you're friends? That's a lot of phases, even for Gold." The female laughed.

"I'm honestly not really sure myself," she admitted. "Long story short, we got put in a little situation on Friday. And uh, not much else."

"It looks like you're off his radar," said Morty, sending (Name) a reassuring smile. Then, he froze. "Wait, you don't like him or anything, right?"

"No." (Name) rolled her eyes. "I've been asked that question so many times, and the answer remains the same."

"Good." The boy nodded. "Because I don't want you to be like another Crystal. They're best friends, y'know?" (Name) hummed. "And you know that she likes him. But Gold puts his female friends completely off-limits, so I just wanted to let you know, if you wanted to make a move on him, sorry, but it's too late."

"Don't even worry about that, Morty," said (Name), scoffing slightly. "I'm content with being friends with him. He's not bad-looking, I'll admit that, but I prefer to leave high school with my heart in one piece."

"Knew it." The blonde grinned. "You're definitely not an airhead."

"What, do I look like one?" The (h/c)-haired girl shot him a slightly offended look.

"Lots of girls turn into idiots when it comes to love," he stated bluntly. (Name) opened her mouth to retort, but quickly, Morty told her, "I'm not looking for an argument. Besides, we've got debates in Professor Elm's anyway. Let's get to class." The female nodded, sighing.

"Yeah."

~~~

(Name) yawned. The debates had been going on for a good half an hour now, and not one of them was interesting. She and Crystal had already gone, and at least the class had been awake for theirs; (Name) was proud of that fact.

"Give a round of applause," Professor Elm stated uncertainly at the end of yet another snooze-fest of a debate. "Next is Gold Hibiki and Whitney Akane. Their topic is, 'Does love at first sight exist'?" (Name) heard Crystal straighten up a bit next to her; now that she knew of the girl's feelings, she found herself picking out the little things that Crystal did whenever Gold was around. "Who will go first?"

"Me," said Whitney, taking out her note cards and clearing her throat. As soon as she began talking (Name) fell back into her daze; it seemed as if this one would be no different than before. She was vaguely aware of Whitney finishing because of the polite claps. Now, it was Gold's turn.

(Name) felt guilty for not listening, but she began to think about what kind of food was waiting at home. Ariana definitely wasn't the best mother, but she was a great cook.

Casserole? Spaghetti? Ooh, maybe pot roast... Outside of the female's little world, Gold had moved onto his commentary.

"I thought I had fallen in love at first sight plenty of times," he stated. "But a friend proved me wrong. She told me, 'What you felt was not love, but merely infatuation,'" he paraphrased. (Name) still wasn't paying attention, as she twirled a piece of hair around her finger aimlessly, but Gold didn't seem to care. "Love isn't just some simple emotion that comes around in a split second... it needs time to develop." Crystal elbowed (Name).

"Wow, he's not doing bad, for Gold, I mean," she whispered. The other female jerked out of her trance, startled.

"Oh, haha, yeah," she mumbled, as the class applauded. She joined in, although she wasn't sure what had happened.

"Class," said Professor Elm. "That was certainly... interesting. The bell will ring in two minutes. Have a great day!"

~~~

The rest of the day passed on rather quickly. It was weird for (Name) to actually have friends to sit with and talk to. All those hours she had spent alone and secluded in the library were in high contrast to the social life she was experiencing now. It was surprising how that had all changed in a matter of days.

(Name) was walking toward the exit to look for Silver, when she was cornered by those three girls again.