Chapter 1: -- “The Day My Chest Started to Flutter”

"Weird..." I muttered, resting my chin on my hand.
The sunlight painted warm lines on my desk, and across from me, Sora Fujimoto laughed softly with a friend. For some reason, my chest felt tight. Not bad tight, just... fluttery. Like butterflies that got lost.

“He’s just laughing,” I whispered to myself.

“But your ears are red,” said a voice inside my head.
I blinked.
“Koko?”

A little creature with two glowing tails and floating, misty paws curled up on the edge of my pencil case.
“You’re acting strange, Haruka. Do you have a fever? Want me to zap him?”

“No!” I snapped in a whisper, panicking.

The bell rang. My heart beat faster than it should.
Something was changing. Something big.

I walked out of the classroom and headed toward the cafeteria, but on the way, my eyes kept sliding back to Sora.
My heart fluttered, beating rapidly. I’d never felt this way before.

Koko, who floated beside me, noticed the red blush rising in my cheeks.

"You're acting really weird today, Haruka. Is there something wrong with that boy you're staring at? Did he do something to you? Do you want me to do anything about it? Do you want,"

"NO, KOKO, I'M FINE!" I yelled across the hallway.

I yelled so loudly that students around me stopped and stared.
They all looked at me like I’d just committed some kind of crime.

My face burned with embarrassment. Even Sora was staring, confused, and that made it burn even more.

Eventually, they all stopped staring and continued toward the cafeteria.

I followed behind, my eyes fixed on the floor in shame.

"You didn’t have to yell, you know?" Koko teased with a smirk.

"It’s not my fault when all you do is talk, talk, and TALK!" I whispered sharply.

"Geez, I was just trying to help,"

"Yeah, well talking too much isn’t helping!" I cut him off, my voice still low.

"Just... just please leave me alone..."

Koko kept floating beside me, looking worried.
Something was off. Like... really off.

"Sorry for snapping at you, Koko. I’ve just been feeling... different lately."

"Different?" he asked, his tone suddenly serious. "What do you mean by ‘different’?"

"Him," I said softly, flustered, as my eyes slid back to Sora.

"The guy with the blue T-shirt?"

"Yes, the guy with the blue T-shirt!"

"What about him? Did he help you with something? Did he bump into you? Or... did he kiss you?" Koko teased while smirking.

"WHAT? N-NO! S-SHUT UP, KOKO!" I yelled while whispering so no one would hear me.

Koko kept floating around me with a smirk, not saying a single word.

Meanwhile, I kept staring at Sora from behind, and I felt my cheeks grow a deeper shade of red.
Something was definitely off.

We finally reached the cafeteria, and I took a seat.
Meanwhile, Koko floated beside me, going on and on about movie night, the one I had promised him yesterday.

"So what movie do you wanna watch for movie night today, Haruka?"

I didn't hear Koko as I was distracted by Sora, sitting with his friends in the distance, eating lunch.

"Hello? Earth to Haruka! You there?"

"Oh, yeah..." I finally snapped back to reality and glanced at Koko. "Sorry, Koko. Could you repeat that again?"

"Ugh, is that boy distracting you? You know I'm this close to,"

"NO, DON'T YOU DARE!" I snapped at Koko, yelled at him, and stopped him from doing something bad.

I knew that every time Koko was frustrated and jealous, he always liked to cause trouble by zapping people, which could shock them a teeny tiny bit. It wasn’t dangerous, just unexpected. He also liked to cause a little bit of destruction.
For example, last week I made Koko jealous because I wanted to be alone for a bit, and he began dumping milk on the ground for me to clean. In the end, I took the blame for Koko's little stunt.

"I'm talking to you, but this fluffy-haired distraction nugget is stealing all your attention!"

I giggled at Koko's insult, and I tried to hold in all the laughter that was inside of me.

"Oh, so this is funny to you, huh? THIS ISN'T FUNNY, HARUKA! THAT GLORIFIED CINNAMON ROLL IS STEALING ME FROM YOU!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, unable to control his anger for much longer.

"Relax, Koko." I continued to giggle but managed to calm myself down. "You're so jelly donut jealous." I stuck my tongue out at Koko as I teased him.

"Whatever!" he answered, clearly jealous and really frustrated.
Koko crossed his tiny misty arms and hovered just a little higher in the air.

"Tch. That’s it. I’ve had enough of this romantic soap opera."

He spun midair, dramatically turning away from me.

"If you need me, I’ll be sulking in my drawer. Alone. In the dark. With my crushed pride and one stale marshmallow."

"Wait, Koko, are you seriously mad right now?"

"Mad? No. I'm just emotionally inconvenienced," he said, still jealous and frustrated about the situation.

He began glowing faintly, his tails flicking like annoyed cat ears.

"Don’t come knocking unless you’ve got snacks for movie night."

And with a poof of sparkles and way too much flair, he vanished, dramatic to the last flick of his tail.

"Whatever, you little zap rat!" I said as I began to feel frustrated and mad myself.

Later that day, I finally went home from school, and I lay down on my bed, thinking about everything that happened. The really boring day at school, Koko's jealousy, and the weird feeling in my chest every time I glanced at Sora.
There was definitely something off. Really off.
Could it be? No... No, that’s impossible.

"I... I think I have a... a crush on Sora..." I whispered to myself.

"A CRUSH?!" Koko yelled as the drawer opened. "ON THAT LIVING, BREATHING DISTRACTION DISASTER?!" he yelled again, a bit louder this time.

Koko did NOT look happy at all and kept staring at me dead into my soul.