My Crazy Crush

Sara 1752 July 23, 2046

“I’m home,” I call as I enter back from school.

“Ah Sara, welcome back,” Mom calls from the kitchen. “How was school?”

“It was nice. I had to show a transfer student around the school. She’s very nice and even joined the astronomy club. I showed her to the station; that’s why I’m late.”

“Sora already told me. It sounds like you two are set up to become good friends.”

“Seems like it,” I say as I enter the kitchen. “Alice-chan and Iori-chan also took a liking to her. She already fits in at the club.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Is she coming to see the meteor shower with the club this week?”

“I hope she does. Alice-chan was pretty insistent that she come. Says it’s the best the sky’s going to look for a while.”

“Well, that’s nice. Now, how about you go change and then help me finish dinner?”

“Okay,” I say as I head up to my room. As I climb the stairs, I hear my phone beep. I look and see it’s a message from Tobias-kun. “Can I see you later tonight? I have something to ask, and it’s not really the kind of thing you do over the phone.” it reads. I enter my room, close the door behind me, and jump onto my bed. “EEEEEIIIIII!!!” I screech into my pillow. It worked. It worked. It worked. It worked. I can’t believe the comet worked. His eyes were glued to me the whole day. He was stumbling over his words when he saw me after school. And now he has something to ask me that can’t be done over text! It’s all happening so fast. I think while rolling around in my bed. What will our parents think? I already know his dad is on board with it, so there shouldn’t be any problem there, but what about his mom? What am I saying? She thinks of me as a daughter already. But what about mom and dad? They’ve known him all his life; he’s our third triplet. How could they say anything about it? My mind buzzes with these thoughts and many more until Sora barges in, asking why I’m laying in bed open, mouth drooling like a comatose cucumber. I quickly change and help mom with dinner, but I’m still too giddy to focus and end up cutting my fingers twice. It’s even worse when I stay in the bath too long and almost drown. It’s not till I get out of the bath and put on my pj’s that he texts me again. “Should I take that as a no?” he says. What ? why would he take that as a no? I think before it hits me. I never responded! I frantically tap at my phone, trying to message him back but end up hitting the call button instead. What? No, I can’t talk to him like this! It rings, and he picks up before I can end the call. “Hello”

“Uh.. hey, sorry I didn’t see your message earlier, sorry. What did you want to talk about?”

“Oh it’s not something I feel should be said over the phone. It’s something I feel like should be asked in person, so I’ll just ask you tomorrow morning.”

“No!” I say in an overtly stern voice. “I mean, it’s no trouble; I can just come over now if you want.”

“But it’s late. I’d hate to call you out after you’ve already had your bath.”

“No, it’s fine; I mean, you clearly have something important to tell me, so I don’t mind coming out to hear what you have to say.”

“Yeah, but it’s a big request, so I don’t wanna ask after already having you come out. That ju-”

“I SAID IT’S FINE!” I say even more sternly than before. “Look, just come over and ask me real quick. I’ll be waiting at the door till you do, so don’t keep me waiting.”

“Okay,” he says. I hang up the phone and begin to roll around on my bed again. It’s happening! It’s really happening! I jump from my bead and take a quick look in the mirror. Ahh, not these pajamas, I think, as I clamor to put on the cutest pair I have. I again look in the mirror at my hair, all a mess and wet. I think about brushing that when I realize that I’m almost out of time. I said I’d be waiting for him! I rush down the stairs and hastily slip on my shoes. I fling open the door and see Tobias-kun there, his hand raised, ready to knock on the door. He looks at me, surprised as a huff as quietly as I can to not let him see in fear that he changes his mind. “So.. uhh… What did you wanna ask me.” I say as confidently as I can, hoping that he doesn’t see how red my face is.

‘Well, it’s a bit of a weird request given our relationship, so I understand if you say no.” he says

Oh my God, it’s really happening. I think

“And I know it’s a lot to ask, so don’t feel like you need to answer right away. I can wait a few days.”

He’s really going to do it.

“I would really appreciate it if-”

AAHHH, I knew it was coming, but I’m still not ready for this

“You could gather intel on Suki-san so I can help Sora confess and start dating her,” he says

“Yes, of course, I’d be glad to,” I answer before I process the question. “.... Wait, WHAT?” I say

“Well, we figured that since you’re both in the astronomy club, you could ask her about those kinds of things, and she wouldn’t be on guard about it like she would if Sora or I asked,” he says.

That’s what he wanted to ask about? Then what was with the goo-goo eyes and stammering today?

Tobias 0758 July 23, 2046

“It’s too bad Meng-kun left; he was a good class rep,” one of the boys said. The first day back to class after summer break, and that was the topic we had settled on. Lots of students had gone on trips with family, but the talk of the class was Meng-kun leaving and if he was going to be replaced.

“I saw Fumiya-sensei talking with a girl in the teachers’ room. I bet she’s coming to our class.”

“Ahh, another heart for our resident Kokujin-Kei to snatch, no doubt.” another boy says, patting me on the shoulder.

“Ah, come on, guys. I don’t know what TV you’ve seen that makes you think all Americans are ladies men, but that’s not me.” I say, brushing it off.

“Oh, come on, you even speak french. What girl doesn’t like to hear a man speak french?”

“All the girls from our class, after hearing you try,” We all laugh at the joke. The bell rings, and Fumiya-sensei walks in as everyone scrambles to their seats. “Good morning, class. As you all know, Meng-kun has left us, so we’ll be needing a new class rep. Anyone interested in the position, come get the paperwork from me after class today. Also, we have a new transfer student joining us starting today. I expect you to treat her with respect and make her feel welcomed.” He turns to the door. “You can come in now,” he says. The door slides open, and in strolls a goddess. Her silky hair is tied up in buns with an ornate hair clamp. Her bangs forging an immaculate contrast to pale skin, which seems to glow against the backdrop of her obsidian black hair. Her candy apple red lips and bewildering shamrock eyes seem to gleam like gems pulled from the deepest Persian mines. The collective sigh of the class generating a faint breeze that billows her exquisitely maintained eyelashes. She sashays across the room, her steps in perfect synchronizations with the ticking of the clock hung above the board.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Kano Niǎo. My father is the new Chinese ambassador to Japan. I was born in Hong Kong, but my family moves a lot due to my father’s work. I look forward to learning with all of you.” She bows with an elegance I thought reserved for angels as Fumiya-sensei scans the room. “There’s an open seat next to Tetsu-chan, Tetsu-chan stand up,” he calls.

“Hai!” Sara responds as she jumps from her chair.

“You’re pretty responsible. I expect you to take good care of Niǎo-san while she adjusts to everything.”

“Yes, sir,” Sara says as Niǎo-san steps to her new desk.

Tobias 1713 July 23, 2046

“So... You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Sora asks as we stand at the school gate, waiting for Sara.

“Nothing’s going on. Why would you think that?” I ask

“ Well, you got pelted with chalk in every class, were daydreaming through every break, and now you’ve had the worst day of practice I’ve ever seen. So what is it?”

“I’m… I’m just tired from the trip.” I say

“RIght… I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that you almost dislocated your jaw when the transfer student waked in and spent the rest of the day practically drooling while you gawked at her,” he says smugly.

“I was not drooling… Was I?” I ask concerned

“No, but that more than answers my question,” Sora says with a chuckle.

“Oh, what do you know? You're on the other side of the class.” I say

“Hmmm, you’re right. We should ask Sara. She’s right next to you. I’m sure she saw more than me,” he says

“Sora Tobias-kun,” I hear Sara call for the two of us. We turn and see her walking out of the school with Niǎo-san beside her.

“Speak of the devil,” Sora whispers as the pair approaches us.

“Sorry, I didn’t make you wait long, did I,” Sara asks

“Not at all. In fact, we were just having a great conversation that could use your input.” Sora says. What? No! You moron, don’t talk about it in front of Niǎo-san, I think in horror as Sora continues to speak

“So based on today, what do yo-”

“THINK WE Should go over on our next study session?” I interrupt before he can finish his sentence. Sara and Niǎo-san look at me perplexed before Sara speaks.

“Um. Well, I guess just the usual stuff. I’ll let you know how English goes this week, and we can plan from that.” she says

“Ok, that sounds like a good plan,” Sora interjects. “So Niǎo-san, what do you think of the school so far?”

“Oh, everyone has been so kind and patient with me. Especially Tetsu-chan, I don’t know what I would’ve done without her help.” Niǎo-san says

“Oh, you flatter me too much, I’m just doing what anyone else would’ve done,” Sara says

“Well, it’s nice to hear your first day was so nice. Any idea what club you’d like to join?” Sora asks.

“I’ve already joined the astronomy club,” Niǎo-san says

“Yes, it was quite a surprise when she asked me about it. What are the odds that we’d be seated next to each other and be interested in the same club? I think this is a sign that we’ll be great friends.” Sara says

“Well, any friend of our sister is a friend of ours. Isn’t that right, Tobias?”Sora says, grabbing me around the shoulder

“I- uh... Um.” I stumble over the words as they get caught in my mouth.

“He says yes. He’s tired from a long day of being the star of the baseball team, no doubt. I should take you home, buddy.” Sora says, covering for me.

“Oh, that’s fine. I was going to walk Niǎo-san to the station so you two can head home ahead of me.” Sara says

“Excellent, well, it was nice meeting you earlier, Niǎo-san, and I guess I’ll be seeing you later,” Sora says, spinning me around. “Come on, baseball-sama, let’s get you home.” He says as he drags me away.” I’ll see you at home, sis.” he calls over his shoulder as we walk out the school gate.

He lets go of me once we’re out of sight of Niǎo-san and Sara. We walk in silence for a while before I speak. “Thank you... For covering for me.” I say meekly

“Ahh, don’t sweat it. I owe you for not making fun of me when you found out about Suki-san,” he says. We walk in silence for a few minutes before speaking again. “So…. What are we going to do about it?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” I say.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I mean, I always thought I’d know what to do when I got to this point, but I’m actually at a loss.”

“Did she turn your brain to mush or something? You always have a plan or at least an idea of what we should do next.”

“And what about you? You’ve had a crush for longer than me. Why haven’t you done anything?” I ask

“I was kinda hoping you’d be able to help me out on that front,” he says. “I mean, it’s no secret that you’re a lot smarter than me and helping me out in a lot of ways. I figured you’d be able to help me here too.”

“I’d love to, but I’m completely out of my element here. I don’t know what girls like, and even if I did, there’s no way of knowing what’ll apply to them and what won’t. Something could work for 99% of girls our age, and then it turns out they’re part of the 1%, and we just wasted our time.”

“Couldn’t we just ask them?” Sora asks

“That’s too risky. You can’t just walk up to a girl you don’t know and ask them about what kind of man they like. It’s super, obvious and it’ll probably do more to scare them off than anything else.”I explain

“So how do we get the information? We can’t just stalk them.”

“No. What we need is a way to get the information without getting it ourselves.”

“Like having someone else ask them?” Sora asks

“Yeah that could work. But who would we ask? It’d have to be a girl because it’d feel more like friends chatting than pressing for romantic interest. Do we know any girls that’d be both close enough to them to ask casually and close enough to us so we can ask them?” I say as In ponder our options

“I don’t know… Wait, didn’t Niǎo-san say she was joining the astronomy club? Why don’t we ask Sara? All three of them are in the same club, so they must talk about stuff like that all the time.” Sora says exited

“Yeah, that could work,” I agree. “All we need to do is ask Sara to pry them for information. Then we can make plans from the info she gathers.”

“Alright, but wouldn’t that mean telling her about my crush?” he asks

“Oh right… About that… Apparently, she heard us talking about it in our tent.” I say

“What? How did she do that?”

“We were pretty loud. And it’s not like she wouldn’t have figured it out sooner or later.”

“Yeah fair point. Well, who do we ask her to observe first?” Sora asks

“Well… I guess we can ask her about Suki-san first. I mean, it was your idea, and you have been holding onto it for longer. It’s only fair.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” he says. “But can you ask her to do it for me? It just doesn’t sound like the kind of thing you ask your sister about.”

“Yeah, I can see how that’d be awkward. But let’s not tell her about my crush on Niǎo-san just yet. I’d hate to think we were just using her to get to other people.”

“Ok,” Sora says. “And thank you. I can only hope she’ll be willing to support me as much as you are.”

Sara 1906 July 23, 2046

I stare at Tobias-kun in shock. “You want me to figure out what Iori-chan looks for in a man so my brother can ask her out?” I ask.

“I know it’s a weird thing to ask. We figured it’d sound better coming from me than him.” He says.

“It’s not that I mean. It feels a lot like spying. And I’d hate to do that to a friend.”

“I know it sounds bad, so I don’t want to force you into anything. Will you at least think about it?” he asks.

“I’ll….. I’ll think about it. I won’t go probing, but if someone else brings it up and I hear things during the conversation that’s not spying now, is it?” I say.

“Thank you,” he says, pulling me into a hug. Wait, stop; what are you doing?

“I’ll buy you juice at lunch tomorrow. Anyway, I have to go. See you tomorrow.” He says, letting me go and hopping off across the street, leaving me standing in the doorway, unsure of what to do. “You really had me going there,” I whisper to no one. I turn and close the door behind me. “Well...I guess it isn’t all bad. I guess I just have to admire those goo-goo eyes for a while longer,” I whisper to myself as I head back to my room and hug the picture I keep of him on my desk.