I pressed my hand against my forehead and with a serious expression on my face, I wolfed down the snack I had. I then heard a voice being directed at me.

“What’s bothering you?”

Sitting in the seat next to me was Mallory. She was sitting with her chin resting against her hands and was staring at me with inquisitive eyes.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I responded. Knowing Mallory, had I been truthful, she would have likely created a big fuss over the whole thing. So, Instead of giving her an honest answer, I just shoved one of my snacks into her mouth.

“I’ll take one of those,” Aiko said as she braided Mallory’s hair. She opened her mouth as I grabbed another snack.

“Here.”

Mallory took the snack and placed it in Aiko’s mouth. Aiko munched on it for a few moments and swallowed it before continuing to braid Mallory’s hair. Her hands were extremely fast and adept.

“So, what’s going on with you Kate?”

Ah, damn it! I thought I had distracted her with the snacks.

“Don’t act so surprised,” Dora whispered after swallowing the snack she was chewing on.

I gave her a look of disdain. I tried to tell her to not share anything about my situation.

“Hey.”

“She finally told Noah she likes him.”

GASP!!!

Mallory acted surprised and covered her mouth with both her hands.

“Whoa, really?”

Aiko was also surprised and almost messed up Mallory’s hair upon hearing the news.

I looked at a few of her dark hairs that had fallen askew and slightly slanted my eyebrows.

Eh, I imagine that she’d be very angry if it all had come undone.

Mallory’s brown eyes twinkled as she opened her mouth to speak.

“Come to think of it, I heard some commotion about Noah coming by.”

“Oh, that was him coming to accompany Kate to class,” Dora said, pointing at me with one hand and picking up a handful of snacks with the other. A bitter smile spread across my face.

“What?!” Aiko blurted out in surprise. Her hands slipped causing Mallory’s braids to come undone. Her dark green eyes sparkled as she patted me on the shoulder.

“Whoa! Wow! Hey, so you two are together now, right? You’re a couple?”

“Ow, that hurt,” I muttered with a hollow expression, but Aiko paid me no mind and just clapped and began chatting with Mallory.

Mallory brought her chair closer to me and wiped invisible tears away from her eyes.

“Has Cupid’s arrow finally struck our Kate?”

“Does this mean I don’t have to listen to you go on and on about Noah anymore?”

“Yeah, I got tired of listening to all that.”

These were some odd remarks, but I just let them slide.

“So, are you going to introduce us to him?”

I looked away upon hearing Mallory’s ridiculous question.

Aiko’s green eyes twinkled as she moved her face in closer.

“So, you’re a couple now? Boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“Yeah, are you a couple?”

At that moment, my friends couldn’t have looked any more spiteful.

I slammed my hands down on my desk and let out a shriek.

“Stop it! He turned me down. He didn’t want me. Got it?! Are you happy now?”

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became very somber. I bit my lip and rested my head on the desk.

I heard my friends whispering words of sympathy around me.

“What? He came to walk her to class only to turn her down?”

“Yeah, what’s that about?”

“Are you okay? You don’t look so well.”

Mallory tapped me on my back.

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

I let out a moan-like sigh and the room fell silent for a moment.

Dora inspected my face as if she were trying to read my mind and shouted in a loud voice, “Guys, she’s crying!”

“Ugh, I’m not crying!” I cried out, raising my head up immediately.

She’s really something.

“Don’t cry. Here, eat this.”

Aiko thrust a chocolate snack into my mouth. I grumbled as I strained to chew it.

While forcing myself to chew it, a piece got caught in my throat and I coughed. Just then, the bell rang.

“I have to go to class.”

I quickly grabbed my books and pushed in my chair.

My next class was magical runes. I had the class together with Aiko.

“Hey, we’re going,” Aiko said, linking arms with me and waving to Mallory.

Carrying my textbook and pencil case in my free hand, we went to leave the classroom. However, just then, I saw someone outside the classroom door. I could tell from the person’s silhouette that it was somebody tall.

“Noah…?”

I stumbled over my own feet when I saw him leaning up against the wall as if he were waiting for someone.

Are you kidding me? He’s not here to accompany me to class again, is he?

“Oh, what’s this? Noah came looking for you, but you’re not even out the door yet?” Aiko asked. I laughed nervously in response as I tugged at her arm.

It can’t be. It can’t be… I repeated in my mind, hiding my face with my hand as I left the classroom. But then, I heard my name being called out in the most amazing voice.

“Katelin.”

Damn. This is certainly an awkward situation.

“Ah, Noah…” I mumbled in a weak voice as if all of my energy had been sucked out of me.

Noah’s eyes twinkled and a small smile formed on his face as I looked at him.

“I see you have a friend.”

Why is he smiling all of a sudden?

Seeing Noah’s smile on top of his overly handsome face was just too much for me and I ended up dropping my textbook onto the floor.

Noah bent down and picked up my book. He brushed the dust off of it and gave it back to me.

“Th-Thank you,” I said as I took the book back with a puzzled expression on my face.

Grasping my situation, Aiko quickly tidied up her hair and introduced herself with a coy gesture.

“I’m Kate’s friend, Aiko Green.”

“A pleasure,” Noah said, nodding his head slightly in response. He then turned and locked eyes with me. His radiant silver hair flowed down before me. I could see his golden eyes so vividly.

“Should I just go?”

“Wh-what? N-No, it’s okay,” I replied, closing both of my eyes and shaking my head ‘no.’

Who could refuse someone with a face like that?