After classes ended, Sara made her way back to classes, making sure not to be seen by any teachers. She hadn't attended class after the rather embarrassing events that unfolded.
"Gotta say though, didn't think there was someone like that in school," she commented to herself while thinking back to a blue-haired boy from a different class. As she silently opened the door to her class, she took a quick peek, making sure that no teacher was present. It only took a few seconds of scanning before she opened the door only to be greeted by the very boy that made her too flustered to even come back to class.
"Welcome back, Sara."
Suddenly, her cheeks reddened which was easily visible, thanks to her dark skin tone. Just making eye contact with him made her feel embarrassed. As she cupped her cheeks, she gawked once more at the boy which only made her face look more like a tomato. She could feel her heartbeat beating faster and faster. She couldn't even begin to process why a simple hello made her react that way. A loud bang could be heard as she slammed her arms on a table in class, she did it because her mind suddenly wandered to Tomoya greeting her as she got back from work, like a husband.
"Sara, are you okay?!" His voice was clearly out of concern. He didn't know why she was acting that way. The previous times they had interacted together, she was always very confident in her mannerisms, but this time, she looked like a mess. As he held one of her hands in between his, she became even more of a wreck.
Her heart felt like it was going to explode, and honestly, so did Tomoya's. He made the gesture to try and instill some more confidence in her but as he was about to speak, the words got caught in his throat. He only realized a few seconds after holding her hand how stupid it was to do so. The two were blushing extremely heavily, their faces barely even recognizable as they tried to hide their bashful smiles.
The awkward silence between the two broke as Tomoya backed off and took a few deep breaths.
"Sara, that date," his words were undoubtedly being forced out, judging from his quieter than usual tone, "are you sure you want to continue it?"
The question caught her a bit off guard but it did help her snap back to reality. First off, she had multiple questions as to why he would ask that, but she didn't bother pondering on them for too long. Instead, she went with the answer that came the most natural to her.
"Why wouldn't I," she replied, her voice a bit peeved, "I was the one that suggested it, remember?"
"I—I guess you're right, haha. Sorry." his voice was awkward, more so than usual. The romance he's always read was always fantastical, a hero saving a princess, a boy saving a girl from bullies, that sort of thing. He didn't really know how to handle the situation, his head felt like there was a monsoon of thoughts.
She then clamped on one of his shoulders with the intent of trying to calm him down. "It's okay. It'll just be the two of us."
"Yeah...that's kinda what's giving me a hard time."
With that admitted, the two calmed themselves down in the classroom. Both of them taking a few minutes just to recompose themselves and ready themselves.
The two decided that they'd just hang out for a bit for their first date. Their feelings were in too much of a jumble to handle an "actual date" as they called it. They made their way outside the school and onto a small park.
The park itself seemed to be made for children more than anything, judging from the small space and the slide that only kids would be able to fit through. There was also a seesaw, a swing set, and two benches. Fairly typical in terms of being a playground for kids.
As they sat on a bench, the two finally relaxed. A few people shot them glances as they passed by, probably their schoolmates. Sara wasn't very popular, but she was known to be a member of the track and field team of the school. As for Tomoya, well, probably nobody except his classmates and a few people knew him.
At first, they were fidgetting and striking up awkward chatter.
"Hey, uh, Tomoya. Waddya usually do?" she asked, obviously trying to ease the tension.
"Oh, I usually just...read."
"Oh yeah? What're you reading right now?"
"Um...it's this book about a long-distance relationship."
"C—cool...that must be interesting, huh?"
"Yeah, definitely..."
Though, after some minutes passed, the awkward atmosphere was replaced with a rather quiet and calming one, the two subconsciously decided that talking wasn't really going to lead anywhere. Tomoya decided to just continue reading his book. Meanwhile, Sara, not having anything else to do, just looked at him somewhat absentmindedly.
She felt a weird sense of happiness from just observing him. The small movement his eyes made as finished a sentence, the way he would slightly lick his finger as he turned a page, the way he would periodically look back at her to ask if she was okay.
Her insides felt giddy just noticing these small things, and she couldn't explain why. Unlike the extreme pace of her heartbeat earlier, what she felt this time around was a very faint, but steady heartbeat. She wondered if the thing she was experiencing right now wasn't that of love or just the comfort of being with someone. With a smile, she thought, (Even if this isn't love, I sure do love this feeling.)
As he started to finish up his book, he glanced back at Sara who was still gazing at him. It would probably look creepy if it wasn't for the small smile she gave. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. He couldn't help but imagine just how soft her lips were, how beautiful her eyes looked as she focused in on him, and how her toned body would look. Only now did he start to feel a little bit self-conscious as she just stared at him.
"Hey, Sara. Do you have someone you like?" he blurted out. He covered his mouth with his hands as he didn't intend to actually voice out his question.
After a few seconds of silence, a half-minded hmm came out of her. With, what looked to be a forced smile, she replied, "Weird question to ask since we're on a date."
Knowing that things would get awkward again if he suddenly dodged the topic, he decided to trudge onwards.
"Yes, but... It's just that... Surely you have someone you actually like, right?" he questioned. "From the way you talked earlier, it sounded like Valentine's is quite special to you."
Her usually cheerful tone had lowered significantly. He seemed to have brought up a slightly, if not, very touchy subject.
"Ah...I'm sorry," he apologized, his head hung low.
"It's alright, really," she replied, "but it's getting pretty late. I gotta run home!" She stated without even meeting his eyes.
He couldn't even wave goodbye before she came dashing out of the park and out of his sight. He calmed himself down he practically threw himself at the bench. He relaxed his body and looked up to the sky.
(Maybe I was just having wishful thoughts,) he told himself as he recalled the last few interactions he had with her. He recalled when he teased her, the time they spent together after school, and the time they spent together in the small park just being close to each other. He himself didn't know what to feel about it.
The intense feelings he got from earlier had died down, maybe he just felt excited at the spur of the moment? But he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the small time they spent just being quiet, not really doing anything in particular. He couldn't quite describe it himself. All he knew was he definitely enjoyed the time they spent together.
He grabbed his things and made his way back to his home. The few minutes he had going home was used just thinking about the whole situation. Maybe talking to her would be far too awkward to actually fix anything? Would he just let their relationship—as he called it as he didn't really know what they were—just die out from one question? He organized his thoughts until he got back to his house.
His previously stupid grin from embarrassment now just a small smile. He couldn't really describe the silence from earlier but now he did. It was the type of silence that was blissful. It was the type that gave him peace of mind.