Price of admission

Price of admission Part 9

Takagi was riding her bike home with more than a few things on her mind. "What was with that pink letter?" She asked herself. "Could he have a secret admirer?" She shook her head. "No, I would have heard about that ... wouldn't I? I'll have to ask around later."

She reached her house and put her bike away before walking inside. "I should get started on my homework, but first." She pulled out her phone to try and message a friend, but the first thing she saw was a message from Mano. "Huh?" She unlocked the phone and looked at what was written.

Mano: Hey, I think I have something you might want to see.

She looked at her phone and began typing.

Takagi: What is it?

She waited a short time for a response, which was in the form of a picture that made her heart sink. The angle was from the ground but it looked like Nishikata on the roof leaning against the fence next to a girl in a pink hoodie.

Takagi: Who is that next to him?

Mano: No idea, I wouldn't have even seen this if it weren't for Nakai, and some others who also took a picture.

She took a closer look at the picture, sure, it looked like Nishikata, but from that distance, it could be someone else.

Takagi: You sure it's Nishikata?

Mano: The picture doesn't show it, but he turned his head shortly after I took it and it looked like him.

Takagi felt a twinge in her chest as she began to go over the information she had. "There's the letter, and now this." She began to suspect the worst but something told her to remain optimistic.

Takagi: There's always the chance that there's more to this than what's apparent, but thank you for sharing.

Mano: No problem, I hope you're right.

Takagi put her phone away as she began running over the information she had. "It's most likely Nishikata, and no one would normally be wearing a hoodie in this heat so they are deliberately trying to hide who they are." She entered her room and sat at her desk. "So it's likely someone who knows I like him, and doesn't want me to know it's them."

She put her bag on her desk and stared into space. "Should I ask him? I could probably get the truth somehow." She stopped and sighed. "Is it any of my business? I mean ... it's not like he's my boyfriend yet ... he doesn't even realize his own feelings so, whoever this is, the same goes for her." She gave a sad smile as the twinge in her chest became worse. "Guess I'm still jealous though."

Meanwhile, back at the school, Nishikata was only just leaving after his talk with Takagawa. "Man, I'm glad that wasn't what I thought it was." He said with relief. "Wait ... I forgot to ask her how she got that letter into my bag, didn't I?" He shrugged and continued walking. "Well I guess it doesn't really matter at this point."

"Hey! Nishikata!" He heard his friend Nakai call out.

He looked around until he found Nakai walking over to him along with Mano. "Hey guys." He greeted. "You two here to work on homework together?"

"Well, we were actually on our way home, but ... well ..."

"We wanted to ask you something really quick." Mano finished.

"Okay, but how did you know I was still here?"

Mano pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture that made Nishikata's panic; somehow, she had taken a picture of him and Takagawa leaning against the roof fence from the ground floor. "Wha-what am I looking at?"

"That's you in the picture, right?" Mano asked.

Nishikata looked at it again, it was pretty obvious it was him so lying wasn't going to do him much good. "So what if it is?"

"I didn't know you hung out with any girls other than Takagi." Nakai stated.

"And it's not Takagi cause she just messaged me that she was at home." Mano added.

Nishikata felt his insides begin to twist. 'Damn, if Takagi found out about this, she'll think I'm dating someone and tease me about it for sure.' "She's no one." Nishikata turned away as he began to feel a sense of dread. "And why is this important?"

"Well I just thought I'd give you a heads up." Nakai began. "I wouldn't have even seen this if I didn't notice like three others taking pictures."

'Why is this conversation getting worse with every sentence?! Forget Takagi, everyone in the school is going to tease me about having a girlfriend, or cheating on Takagi.' He froze as he went over those words again. 'Wait, I'm not even dating Takagi, why would that matter?'

"Nishikata?" Nakai said catching his attention. "You okay? You're spacing out."

"I'm fine." Nishikata began. "It's just ... not something I can really talk about."

Nakai shrugged. "Well okay then, nice seeing you."

They began to walk away until Mano looked back to Nishikata to shoot him a glare, then proceed to follow Nakai.

Once they were far enough away, Nishikata sighed and began to make his own way home. 'Damn, this whole contest just went from bad to worse, now everyone's going to think I'm dating Takagawa.' He paused as he went over their interaction in his head. 'No, she never turned her head, they won't know it's her, but people will still think I'm dating someone. That means if I do ask Takagi to the concert then it's going to look that much more like a romantic gesture.' He began frantically scratching his head trying to think of a solution. 'And I still can't figure out what this damn feeling means!'