"Would you go out with me?!"
These words were something which I never expected her to say. . .
My reaction?
I'm pretty sure that I looked like a ripe, juicy tomato burning on the sidewalk with crimson, whiskered cheeks. . . not that I cared. And yes, this was the most accurate description.
I was more worried about the reply which I was going to give her, like what the hell should be my answer?
You know those moments when you completely blank out and then just end up looking weird because you haven't shown any sign that you're alive since you don't know what to say?
Yup. That was me right now.
I was not only embarrassed, but at the same time was extremely nervous. Does that go hand-in-hand? Not in my case; that is: until now- and all the times I've been with her.
Zillion thoughts and possibilities were running in my head, unanswered questions and doubts clouded my mind; my heart had suddenly started to beat to a point where all the sounds around me had completely muted and all I could hear was my heartbeat.
Current state- nervousness combined with embarrassment, fear and not to mention hell lot of weirdness.
"Going out": a phase which a individual uses to imply that he/she is romantically involved with another person and wants to go on dates.
Yes. I admit- I did use urban dictionary when I came across this while reading Icha Icha recently which is why I remember this exactly.
But it ain't important how I came to know, what's important is the fact that the girl with spectacles has feelings towards 'me'?
Surely I did help her out from her antisocial self, but, that was only as a friend; I never did any of that because I was 'interested' in her romantically.
I'm a million percent sure that if I was interested in her or pretty much any other girl, I would have confessed right away. I ain't one of those dense or shy guys who secretly likes a person and takes time to understand his own feelings.
wait. . . I'm not, right?
I need a moment.
Do I have feelings for the girl with spectacles?
I won't deny the fact that I do like being in her company, but. . . how does that make her anything different from a friend?
I don't know since how long I've been blankly staring at the girl with spectacles who had asked me to go on a date with her right on the busy streets of Konoha: with the cars honking desperately and people pushing each other to escape from the huge crowd as the traffic lights blinked rapidly. Despite the ruckus going on around me, everything was silent, time seemed to have simply frozen.
A girl just asked me to go out with her on a date. It wasn't any ordinary girl, it's the girl with spectacles.
Me just nervously staring at her wasn't helping. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? I tried hunting for the appropriate words which I could spit out, but none came to my mind.
I was. . . speechless?
A drop of sweat trickled down my forehead onto my tinted cheek as the tension between us grew. My nervousness was killing me unbelievably.
Oh, you know the times when you've gotta give a speech in front of the class and then you suddenly forget everything?
You desperately try to recollect, run through all the past lines you just said, plead your grey cells to help you; but while you are busy in this mental battle of yours, you end up forgetting that you are looking like a blank idiot who has remained silent since an eternity and the entire class is staring at you- deeply, waiting for you to continue but that just increases your level of anxiety to a whole new level.
That's exactly my case right now.
I want to and need to say something, but what?
A girl with prominent blush on her pale face had just confessed leaving me so lost.
Upon analyzing my face mixed with different emotions at the same time of being scared, nervous, shocked, embarrassed and Lenny face knows what; she let out a gasp as if she had just realised something, causing her blush to get darker.
"W-w-w-wait! Don't get the wrong idea!", she screeched as she waved her hands in front.
"We would just watch this movie! Nothing inappropriate for our age! We won't be doing 'stuff' ! ", she added as she pulled out two movie tickets, emphasising on the word 'stuff'.
I immediately let out a sigh of relief as my shoulders relaxed and my breathing and heart rate came back to normal in an instant as the redness on my face disappeared.
"Thank God it's just a movie!" I almost yelled out of happiness.
"Y-yeah" she responded with a nervous laugh.
"So. . . is it a 'yes'? Would you go out with me?" She asked with her voice getting softer as she looked down slightly playing with her fingers.
"Duh! How can I not? I legit thought that you asked me on a date.", I admitted as I crossed my arms followed by laughing at my stupidity.
"Well. . .actually I just d—"
"Why did you have a blush on your face if you didn't want to go on a date at first place? I almost got the wrong idea.", I say as I interrupt her.
The pinkness on her face had started to evaporate and was instead replaced by flashing anger in her eyes.
"Forget it! "she spat with slight frustration as she shoved the movie tickets in the pocket of her blaster and stared to stamp her way ahead.
I was so confused at this point. Why does this girl have the most abrupt mood swings?
"Are we even going for the movie?!", I yelled since she was far ahead of me and was practically running out of frustration or anger?
I don't know, she had her face stained with the deep shade of crimson, so probably she was embarrassed or angry? Or maybe both?
"Yeah! We are going you dense idiot!", she yelled back at me to which I responded by running towards her with a smile on my face, as I ignored the word 'dense'.
Stupid lectures at N.U. got over in a blink of an eye, which is a good thing since I hate the teachers, students, class, studying and pretty much everything.
I still fail to understand how my grades were good enough to get admission here.
Meh, who the hell cares?
As long as I'm here with my own hard work and intelligence and not my father, I'm all good.
I let out a sigh of annoyance but cheered instantly upon realising that I was going for a movie with the girl with spectacles!
"Let's get going Boruto, otherwise we'll be late.", she said as she packed her books in her maroon backpack quickly standing up after straightening her skirt.
"Yeah, right! But first, I need to text mom that I'll be with you.", I say as I pull out my phone from the pocket of my trousers.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an arm rests upon my right shoulder casually. By the signature action, I obviously didn't take time to realise who it was. It was none other than my classic, blue headed friend: Mitsuki.
"Where are you two going?" he questioned with a smirk on his face as he narrowed his golden eyes suspiciously.
"We're going for a movie! You guys wanna come?"I offer as I avert my gaze to Shikadai who was obviously yawning and had his 'what a drag' face.
"Well actually—" the girl with spectacles tried to explain but was immediately cut by Mitsuki's comment.
"Don't worry. We won't come to spoil your little date and ruin your privacy.", he said as he let go of me and smiled 'innocently' and leaned on my bench.
"Okay, this is clearly annoying." I reply as I cross my arms. "We aren't going on a date!" I added and eyed Mitsuki who was clearly ignoring me.
With frustration, I tapped my right foot repeatedly in hopes of him to stop shipping us for no reason.
"So you don't want to go on a date with him Sarada-san?" he asks the girl with spectacles who was playing with her fingers all this time.
Upon hearing his question, her face flushed with the darkest shade of red, which almost matched the color of her bright red spectacles as she tried to hide it by looking away.
"Well I actually. . ."
"You are just making it awkward for her! She doesn't 'like' me!", I shot back angrily whilst interrupting her causing Mitsuki to turn back at me and notice my existence (finally).
"I see. . ." he responded still looking at the girl with spectacles who stood there with a blush built on her rosy cheeks.
"I understand this troublesome situation now. . ." Mitsuki says not allowing his smirk to fade away as he glued his eyes on the raven head.
"Meh, having crushes to begin with is troublesome; but when your crush is a dense idiot, it just becomes a drag." Shikadai adds his blunt and totally out of context statement which again, for some goddamn reason- leaves the girl with spectacles flustered.
"In any case. . ." Mitsuki says as he breaks the awkward silence by straightening his posture and getting a hold of his backpack. "We'll get going. Enjoy." He adds as he winks at me.
Weird guy.
Not to mention that he's extremely creepy and pretty much like a spy or detective who just lives for teasing people for no apparent reason.
Since the past couple days, I don't even understand his remarks anymore.
Despite all this, he is one of my best friends who understands and cares for me, and that's why I love him. (AS A FRIEND)
He signaled Shikadai to tag along with him, as they exited the classroom leaving the girl with spectacles and me along with a couple of other students.
"Even we should get going.", I say as I pick up my backpack still with books sticking out. Well. . . they were volumes of the Icha Icha series, but whatever, doesn't matter.
She simply nodded, still embarrassed and nervous for some reason, as we got out of the silly classroom.
There were a lot of students greeting her as we walked through the corridors, which was understandable since she was favourite of all the teachers being that nerdy student she is, and students (selfish bastards) needed help in studying and hated approaching teachers, so rightfully she is the one they turned to.
Ideally, if she was her antisocial self, she wouldn't have even cared to look at them and would have minded her own business, but the situation was different now. She was actually trying her best.
As for me?
Meh, they still think I'm that guy at N.U. who is here because of my father being the owner. But, the people who talk to the girl with spectacles do end up talking to me occasionally as well since I am literally always with her, and for the sake of social politeness or whatever, people do end up talking to me.
So I was not 'ignored' like before.
The only person who genuinely liked talking to me other than the girl with spectacles, Mitsuki and Shikadai was the class rep. Yeah, her real name is Kakei Sumire, but I like calling her as 'class rep'.
I cannot possibly be the only person on this Earth who stutters every single time he tries to say 'Kakei'. Obviously I cannot call her directly by her first name, so 'class rep' is perfect.
Along with her, even Namida and Wasabi became my friends, and like I mentioned earlier, we have our lunch together. But going to be a little more than honest, they probably just hang out because class rep likes to be with us.
I mean. . . how can Namida possibily forgive me after placing a centipede on her head on the very first day of N.U. ?
Looking back, it was all thanks to that centipede and my prank that I am friends with the girl with spectacles now.
Little did I know that I would find such a close friend when I cursed Shino sensei for forcefully making me sit on the very first bench which was practically the seat I despised the most.
As I was lost in my thoughts, we had already made our way to the movie theatre.
Everything was going great, perfectly. But obviously, something simply had to go wrong. What happened, huh? Well, upon checking my ticket I realised that she had booked for a goddamn horror film.
Going to be completely honest here, I suck at movies like these.
There are only two things in this entire world that can scare me-
One: A recent addition- obviously being uncle Sasuke. I don't even want to imagine his reaction when he would find out that his daughter is spending her time with 'me'.
And the second: are none other than horror films.
I get scared very easily, it's not something I can change overnight, or change to begin with. I swear, whenever I challenged myself to watch 'Courage the Cowardly Dog'- I get nightmares.
Alright I'm obviously lying.
It was accompanied with fever and an upset stomach as well.
I've basically known that horror movies simply aren't my cup of tea since then. But I need to maintain that 'I'm a strong guy' attitude; so I walked into the screening room without complaining- internally dying.
And guess what?
We were the only ones in the damn theatre.
Makes sense because Netflix has taken over the entire world and ain't nobody got time to come to the outskirts to watch a horror movie on it's last day.
This made the entire situation even worse since if there were at least some people, I wouldn't have gotten that feeling of sitting in a dark cave with monsters popping out, grabbing me and pulling me into another dimension.
We sat on our seats (me being super reluctant yet pretending to be all cool) and waited for the movie to begin.
"I-I-I hope y-you aren't s-s-scared. I-I w-would h-help y-you if you a-at any p-point g-get f-f-f-frightened."I say, forcing a smile on my face as I look at the girl with spectacles who had some golden popcorn in her hand along with a glass of coke.
"Me? And scared? Pffff! I love horror films!" she replies confidently as she hands the coke to me after popping in a straw.
"But it does seem that 'you' aren't really good with them."she says with a wide smirk on her face which shined even in the dim theatre as she threw a couple of popcorns in her mouth.
HOW DOES SHE KNOW?! Aren't my acting skills good enough?!
"W-w-what made y-y-you think t-that? I-I love horror f-films! I-I've s-seen about a z-z-zillion!",mI lied as I stuttered almost spilling the coke.
She probably noticed this and let out a small laugh which disappeared as the film began.
You know those cliché scenarios? When a horror film starts and the girl gets frightened and the guy helps her out by comforting her? Hugging her? Patting her head? Whispering that it's just a movie?
This ain't one of those scenes whatsoever, since it's for 'normal' girls.
She isn't even close to normal.
It's been exactly one and a half minute since the film has begun, and I already have my eyes tightly shut while I'm still sitting properly trying my best to maintain my posture and not give her even a slight hint that I'm scared to death.
But the horrifying noises of screeching aren't helping at all. Gosh, how the hell did this girl pick just this movie?! I want to run out of this silly theatre and read the damn Icha Icha!
"Are you scared?", she out of nowhere whispered in my ear which caused me to slightly jump out of my seat.
"O-o-o-obviously n-n-no! This movie is g-g-great!"
"Well then, how can you watch it with your eyes closed?"
Shit.
How the freaking hell did she notice my eyes even in a pitch dark theatre!! I can barely see her!! She just knows me extremely well even though it's not been long since we became friends.
She kept eyeing me suspiciously with a smirk on her face, it almost seemed as if she knew I was lying. At this point, I just gave up. I understood that if I dragged this any further, it would just lead to even more humiliation, so- like a wise, brave, honest man, I spat out the truth.
"Alright fine! I'm scared! Happy?"I confess as I quickly look away to hide my embarrassment and stuff a bunch of those crunchy popcorn in my mouth.
I could hear her laughing which eventually faded away and I could tell she was looking at me which caused me to turn face her still with my mouth full of popcorn.
"Whenever mum gets scared while watching such movies, dad holds her hand tightly. . .", she says with a calmer tone. "Even you can hold mine. . . That is if you want to. . .", she adds as she gently rests her hand on the arm rest of the seat in between us, with her palm facing upwards.
Before I forget to mention, uncle Sasuke holds aunt Sakura's hand and comforts her? The hell? Secondly, someone like aunt Sakura gets scared? Lastly, why does this even matter right now? Get back to reality Boruto!
Well, the girl with spectacles has held my hand twice till now- once when she had grabbed it in her room when I was about to leave after being disappointed that she didn't trust me; and the second being the time when I was once again about to leave in the rain when she had grabbed it and wanted us to walk together.
A blush crept on my whiskered cheeks as I was instantly reminded of all the memories when we had held hands. I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it. I wanted to experience everything all over again which is why I raised my right hand and placed it on top of hers, interlocking my fingers with her fragile long ones, slightly squeezing her palm.
Her hand was warm, just like all the times I've held it; but mine was obviously warmer thanks to the excessive heat released by my body due to embarrassment and slight nervousness.
Her hand wasn't like that of those 'beautiful' girls, it wasn't softer than clouds, it wasn't toned, it wasn't enriched with expensive jewellery nor rings, it wasn't moisturized, it didn't have those long fancy nails with intricate nail art; even so. . . it wasn't like any ordinary hand.
I didn't end up watching the movie at all, and surprisingly the creepy noises didn't bother me anymore. The warmth and tenderness of her hand is something which caused everything to disappear magically. Her hand was definitely much smaller than mine, but it was all that I needed to make me happy. An unconscious smile embossed on my face as I felt her presence.
Couldn't really see her face though because only a damn bat can see in this pitch dark theatre. Wait. . . bats cannot see anything at first place. . . never mind, I suck at references.
Well, the only thing that were visible were her spectacles which reflected the light through them. But, I'm pretty sure that even she was blushing just like me because her hand was getting warmer.
Holding hands with her, reassured me that she would always be there for me whenever I need her. . . and so would I.
She is that person whom I'm blessed to meet. . . For me, she is someone who has become one of the dearest and closest people around me in such a short interval of time.
Isn't it funny when the person sitting right beside me, holding hands with- was a person who didn't even acknowledge my existence in the beginning?
Just when I was lost in these crazy thoughts, for what was an eternity but felt like a minute, the theatre once again illuminated with lights causing her to look at me with a pink color which bloomed on her pale cheeks.
Usually she would gently avert her gaze to hide it, but this time, she chose to keep staring in my crystal eyes.
I didn't know what to do, the entire situation was getting more and more awkward, both our faces were getting darker as our eyes met. I had to say something to break this silence and eye contact.
"The. . . weather is great today!"
Seriously. Out of all the sentences, my brain chose to say this one. I'm so hopeless. It was so damn awkward, but nevertheless was enough to break the silence snapping her back to reality which caused her to slightly jump on her seat.
She immediately looked away as he shoulder length raven hair dropped down on her face.
"S-s-sorry about t-that. . . I-I didn't. . ."
"Y-y-yeah. . . I get it.", I say interrupting her, trying my best to avoid further conversation.
She looked at me, to which I instantly looked away, hoping that she didn't see me staring at her.
"C-c-can y-you let g-go of m-my hand now?", she stated as she stuttered with slight embarrassment and nervousness.
"Y-y-yeah! Obviously!" I exclaim with even more embarrassment and awkwardness as I unwillingly slipped my hand out of hers.
After a brief moment of silence, I manage to change it. "So. . . let's get back home?"
"Huh? It's just the interval, the movie hasn't ended yet." she replies slightly confused as she looks at me.
"WHAT??!!" I desperately roar since although this movie didn't really bother me (because I didn't even care to watch it at first place), it still gave me negative vibes; and now the girl with spectacles wouldn't even let me hold her hand anymore!
"But. . . You're right, we should leave."she says as she gets up from her seat and straightens her posture grabbing her maroon backpack simultaneously.
"And why is that?" I ask as I furrow my eyebrows.
"Because 'you' don't like horror films", she says with a smirk on her face which soon faded as she spoke further.
"And also because I cannot concentrated on the movie when you are holding my hand and constantly staring at me." She adds as she murmurs the last part.
A blush seared through my cheeks and my face was practically on fire as I looked away to hide it.
"Y-y-yeah, let's go.", I reply and start walking ahead as I crumple the empty popcorn container and throw it in the bin.
We walk out of the theatre and out of nowhere, I spot a restaurant at the end of the street.
"Let's go there!" I yell as I look at her pointing towards the restaurant.
"No ways! I don't have enough money!" she says as she puts her hands in the empty pockets of her blazer.
"Oh my, did you actually expect yourself to be paying?" I question her which causes a light pink blush on her cheeks.
"It's on me since you payed for the movie!", I explain as I start walking towards the restaurant with my hands stuffed in my trouser pockets.
"But. . . we just had popcorn and coke!", she yells as she made excuses.
"This is a different experience!" I yell back at her as I continued to walk towards the restaurant clearly not willing to hear any excuses from her.
I eventually heard her light footsteps as she followed me closely inside the restaurant, which was a good thing since I didn't want to argue with her and convince her to come inside.
It wasn't a fancy restaurant or anything special, just a standard restaurant you'll find on any random street of Konoha.
I swung open the wooden door and rushed towards the seat near the window as the girl with spectacles followed me and sat opposite to my seat on the table-for-two.
She placed her maroon backpack down and nervously kept observing everything around and played with her fingers as she tried to make everything unnoticeable.
"What's wrong? You don't like this place?", I ask as I rest my face on my hand as I glared at her with confusion.
"No! Nothing like that!" She immediately said and cleared the misunderstanding.
"It's just that. . . I've never been with anyone other than my parents in a restaurant so. . ." she nervously said as she looked down.
"You are seriously worrying about 'that'? All that you should be worrying about is what you would be having!", I say as I pass the menu card in front of her.
She let out a smile as she took it and started scanning it carefully as if it was her test paper or something.
This girl can be so weird and different. In a good way that is. It was initially difficult to even have a conversation with her, but now. . .we are in a restaurant having dinner!
It's amazing to see how developed her entire personality has become, and I know it's not easy for her to go through such a transition.
Yet, she is trying, and all her 'tries' have been successful. Being with her is something which I always enjoyed, am enjoying and also would continue to enjoy. Although she may not be perfect, but she would remain a perfectionist for me.
The moment she began trusting me, I have started to know more and more about her, and explore her sides which remained hidden all these past years.
She is that person whom I'll forever love to be with.
Maybe... just maybe... Mitsuki is right, and I actually do have feelings for her.
This chapter was just so damn adorable! Definitely one of my all time favourites!
I'm not gonna lie, I was myself blushing so hard while I was writing this heh. Like, they were so cute!
Mitsuki and Shikadai are just too perfect. I wish I could include them more!
Also, can anyone else relate to Boruto's fear towards horror movies? Because I totally can.
I swear I'll be either screaming or crying hah!
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04/08/2018
Edited: 10/02/2019
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