"Oh…" Ari's response was soft, simple, and awkward, clearly unsure of what to say.
It was obvious I'd made our lunch painfully awkward—though unintentionally. Gigi had started this whole mess, and I was definitely going to kill her later.
Desperate to diffuse the tension, I turned to Shu's earlier question. "But if I had to choose, I'd say Captain America is the hottest," I said casually, breaking the silence.
Shu let out a triumphant "Yes!" while Gigi looked absolutely scandalised, her jaw practically hitting the table.
I smirked to myself. Honestly, I only said it to spite her.
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Before we headed off to our respective classes, Ari called out to me. "Yumi, can we talk for a second?"
I nodded slowly, and we stepped to the side of the hallway where only a few people were passing by.
"Yumi," she began softly, her voice uncertain, and I noticed the way she fidgeted nervously. "About the conversation earlier…"
I nodded again, waiting silently, giving her the space to continue.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she finally said, her words hesitant but sincere. My brow lifted in confusion wondering why she's sorry about that.
"I didn't know that you're…" She trailed off.
"Gay," I finished for her, my tone even as I nodded again.
She bit her lip and looked down. "Yeah… I just hope I didn't offend you," she murmured, her voice so small and fragile it made something twist in my chest.
God, why did she have to sound so sweet?
With a calm sigh, I said, "I'm pretty open about my sexuality. The whole school knows." I reassured her. "It's just that you're new here, so you probably missed all the gossip."
And that was true—I had practically announced it to the world by pinning a rainbow flag to my backpack. At that point, I was essentially a walking pride flag. That bold declaration worked wonders—all the boys kept their distance and finally stopped pestering me.
"So no, I'm not offended," I added casually.
"That's great to hear," she said, her face lighting up with a smile so radiant it was almost blinding. Seriously, how does someone manage to look that stunning just by smiling?
"Well…" she paused, taking a step backward, her gaze still fixed on me with that gorgeous, almost hypnotic expression. "See you around, Yuu," she finished with a small wave, her voice light and cheerful.
Then, as if to seal the moment, she did a tiny happy skip before turning and walking off in the opposite direction.
See you around, Yuu?
Now, that's a bad sign…
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
"What did you and Ari talk about earlier?"
Gigi, my ever-nosy best friend, blindsided me with the question as I was shoving stuff into my locker.
I slammed the door shut with a loud thud and turned to glare at her. Instead of answering, I smacked her arm, hard enough to make her yelp.
"Really? That's how you're going to greet me?" I snapped, still fuming. "No 'I'm sorry, Yuu, for outing you like that. I didn't mean to,'" I added sarcastically before smacking her again for good measure.
"Ouch! Stop, Yuu!" she begged, throwing her hands up to shield herself. "Look, she was going to find out eventually! Better we tell her first than let her hear it from some ridiculous rumour floating around about you."
"We?" I scoffed, crossing my arms. "There's no we in this, Gigi. I was the one who had to tell her, while you two just stood there silently, probably enjoying my misery like the sadists you are." To emphasise my point, I smacked her arm again.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" she said quickly, her tone surprisingly genuine. But I was still annoyed.
"It was rude of me," she admitted, rubbing her arm. "I just thought... you'd never tell Ari yourself, so I thought I'd help you out."
That made me narrow my eyes suspiciously. "Why does it even matter if Ari knows about my sexuality?"
"It doesn't!" Gigi said defensively, raising her hands. "I just thought... you know, since you and Ari are friends now, maybe you'd be comfortable sharing secrets or whatever."
I stared at her in sheer disbelief. "Ari and I are not friends," I said firmly.
I had no idea how she even came to that ridiculous conclusion. Just because we ate lunch together didn't mean we were suddenly best buddies.
"Oh, well, you should be," Gigi insisted, her tone annoyingly chipper. "I get the feeling Ari wants to be friends with you."
"Yeah?" I replied casually, shooting her a deadpan look. "Well, I don't want to."
Gigi frowned at my bluntness, but I pressed on. "And why are you so invested in whether I'm friends with Ari, anyway?" I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.
There was something about the way she hesitated, the slight shift in her expression, that made it clear she wasn't telling me everything.
Am I intrigued? Sure. But I also know it's none of my business to snoop. If there's something about Ari that Gigi's hiding, I'll let her spill it herself—or not at all.
"I'm not," she replied casually, shrugging. "Like I said, I just think you two would make a good pair. And trust me, Ari's a good and fun person to be around. You should give her—and yourself—a chance." She finished her little speech with a smile.
With that, Gigi waved goodbye and headed off to her next class, leaving me standing there in silence.
I didn't even bother returning her smile. I was too caught up in her words, turning them over in my mind like an unsolved puzzle.
"Chance, huh…" I murmured, echoing Gigi's suggestion. "Last time I gave someone a chance, they completely screwed it up."