When The Timer Hits Zero. ~Iwaoi~

~Part Ten~

It's friday. Vacation starts tomorrow, finally. But before that... I sigh, turn off my alarm and mentally prepare myself for seeing Iwa again. I hope he won't talk about my strange behaviour, but since it's Iwa we're talking about... I get out of bed, not feeling hungry. I get myself ready to go out and decide to open up the volleyball gym a little earlier than usual.

After me, Mattsun and Makki are first to arrive. They ask about the wedding and tell me about the movie they watched yesterday. The gym slowly but surely gets filled with volleyball freaks, including Iwaizumi. I wave at him, but avoid him for the rest of the training.

Of course, Mattsun and Makki notice. 'Wanna talk about it?' they ask. I shake my head no. They look at me for a few more seconds, as if trying to convince me, before walking away with their usual jokes again.

I have way more friends than just Iwa. I'll have to distance myself from him a bit. It stings, but it's necessary. As soon as practice ends and I finish cleaning, I sprint to the locker room to change clothes. Iwaizumi asks me to wait for him, but I reject, saying I have stuff to do.

Sorry, Iwa.

Luckily, my first two periods are without Iwa. I try my hardest to keep my attention on the teacher, but as she's only telling things I already know, my mind drifts off. I wonder how things are between Iwa and Lana? I sigh quietly. Time flies when you're waiting for a moment you don't want to come. Third period starts, and I can immediately feel Iwa stare at me as soon as I walk in the classroom.

I chat with some girls, not looking back at him, but it's inevitable; the teacher walks in and I have to take my seat, right next to Iwa's. I smile at him and turn my attention to the chalkboard. No matter how long I look at the teacher, I can feel his stare on me, making me uncomfortable. I look back at him. He's frowning. 'What's wrong?' I whisper. He shakes his head. 'Later.' he whispers back as he turns his head towards the quite boring teacher.

Finally, after two whole periods of history, the bell rings, and lunch break starts. Iwa's glaring at me again. I stretch, feeling really uncomfortable, and walk out of the classroom. As expected, I get followed by Iwa.

After getting outside, I finally turn around. 'Iwa-chan. Mind telling me why you've been glaring at me this whole day?' I sigh. 'You're acting strange. Did I do something wrong?' he answers, still frowning. 'No, of course not!' I put on my most convincing smile, my heart pounding because of the intense look in his eyes. 'You think I'll fall for that?' he scoffs at me. 'Well, I surely was hoping you'd fall for me.' I wink at him, already regretting all choices I made in life as soon as the sentence leaves my mouth. 'Shittykawa.' he flicks me on the forehead. I pout.

We sit on a bench, eating our lunch, making small talk. I just want this break to be over, so I don't have to look at his gorgeous face, listen to his smooth voice, talk to him, trying to hide that my heart is pounding and my voice is shaking.

'By the way, Lana texted me the picture. You still haven't seen it.' Iwaizumi says. Well, that sucks. I don't want to see it. But Iwa already grabbed his phone and is opening a messaging app. He opens the chat with Lana, saved in his contact as 'Lana 😊'. Never have I seen Iwa use an emoji before.

They seem to talk a lot. My heart squeezes, it hurts. Luckily, Iwa is too busy looking for the picture to notice. 'There it is.' He taps the picture and gives me his phone. I grab it hesitantly. This is the moment right before everything changed, captured on a screen, time frozen forever just so we can look at it for a second.

The first thing I notice is the look on my face while looking at Iwa. It's lovestruck, admiring Iwa, cherishing him deeply. Even the normally stern Iwa has a small smile on his face. Looking at the picture both stings and makes my heart race.

If this picture wasn't taken, Iwa wouldn't have known Lana.

I stare at it a little longer until the bell rings. I take my eyes off of the picture, give Iwa's phone back and walk back to class, ignoring his calls for me.