Ray was running towards his crush, Yumi who was walking back to her home. He called out to her and she turned around.
"Ray? Is there something you need ?"
He panted. "Let me walk you home."
She smiled. His heart skipped a beat
" Sure bestie. But why so sudden? Do you need to tell me something ?" She raised her eyebrow and asked as she began to walk again.
He cleared his throat "ki-kinda"
He followed her while rubbing the back of his neck.
They were best friends for more than 2 years. And what he wanted to say to her could change their friendship for the better............... or for the worse.
'This is the first time I feel like this towards someone. Each time she looks at me.....smiles at me....my heart just skips a beat. I get so nervous and I keep trying so hard not to mess things up. You don't have a clue what you do to me. I really really hope you feel the same way.'
He stopped walking
"Yumi..... I-I like you." He told her while shutting his eyes.
She froze and slowly turned around to face him.
"Ray....I....um....." She turned her gaze away from him and gulped, rubbing behind her neck.
"It's not that I don't like you it's just that I...."
"Hey!" He interrupted her.
"I was just joking." He told her smiling while he was breaking into a million pieces inside.
She breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled and playfully hit his arm
"For a second I thought you were serious."
He laughed and she joined him
They reached her home.
"Thanks for walking me home."
"See you at school tomorrow," he told her while walking away from her house.
"It's okay. Maybe she just can't date anyone. That must be why she reacted like that." He tried to convince himself as he walked away.
A few days later,
After School
"Hey, did you hear? Brian and Yumi are dating apparently ." Natalya told her friend Airi.
Airi gasped
"No way........
How long has it been?"
"Not sure." she shrugged "Some people saw them together ."
Ray overheard their conversation.
'Maybe they misunderstood'
But while he was waiting for Yumi he saw her walking with Brian hand in hand.
Holding back his tears he ran to his house and entered his room. Locking the door behind him, he leaned against the door slowly sliding down, and with his head between his knees he finally let the tears out and cried silently. His whole body was shaking but he kept on crying until there were no more tears left.
He kept on thinking about how she looked at him. He knew she was going to reject him so he laughed it off but still he thought there might be a chance and decided to convince himself but now she already has someone else.
And it hurt him so so much. She was the first one to make him feel this way. The first one to make him so happy with just her smile. He thought they were best friends but she never told him about Brian. It hurt him so much because he finally understood that she only thought of him as her friend and nothing more. Now, she was the first one, the first one to break his heart and leave him this broken after his father and brother left.
He sniffled and got up from the ground and walked towards the sink to wash his face.
He stared at the mirror
"Of course, she doesn't like me.
What was I even thinking?
How could she ever like someone like me"