Old Acquaintance

As another school day ends without any problems, the group of friends exits the school gate. The girl with blue hair from the café approaches them, particularly Ken.

"Hi Ken! Do you remember me? I'm Amy. Can I talk to you?" She asks him.

"Uh, sure." He looks at her, waiting for her to tell him what she wants to say.

"Not here. Can we go somewhere more private?" She glances behind him, briefly looking at the others, and lingers a bit longer on Rebecca.

"Sure. This way." The two of them walk away from the others.

"Do you know who she is, Willy boy?" Briar asks.

"She looks very familiar, but I can't remember."

"Come on, such a tall and beautiful girl with that dark blue hair must have left an impression on you."

"You know, Ken usually doesn't introduce me to all the girls he's hanging out with because he loses touch with them after a week at most."

"You're boring."

"So she's just a girl from another school." Ghalen says.

"Yes, that's how Ken would describe her." Will says.

"So it's nothing interesting, let's go." Brayton starts pushing Ghalen from behind, and Briar grabs them both by the collar.

"Nooo! I need to know! I need answersss!!" While Briar protests, Ken returns.

"Ah, you didn't leave without me." He says, and Brayton whistles.

"What did she want?" Nora asks him.

"She invited me to a karaoke date."

"Did you accept?" Briar asks.

"Yup." Briar looks at him first, then at Rebecca, and back at him.

"There’ll be some mutual friends I haven't seen in a while." Ken explains.

"I hope you have fun!" Rebecca says as Brayton continues to drag Briar and Ghalen towards his car, waving to the others.

"I hope so too." He smiles. Almost every time she wishes him something good, he can't help but wear the biggest and goofiest smile he has ever had.

"The only downside is that it's tonight, and I found out with such short notice."

"Is that a problem? Did you have something else planned?" She asks.

"Well, I wanted to study more the things you taught me!" She smiles.

"I'm glad you're so dedicated, but you'll have other opportunities to do that."

"Want to come with me?" He asks her without thinking too much.

"Uh? No, I can't. I wasn't invited. It would be rude."

Too bad, it would have been more fun with her...

"However, we should go to karaoke sometime!" He says.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I went. Thinking of it, Will used to drag me there all the time."

"Then we should go together!" He says with a big smile.

* * *

Later that same evening, Ken is ready to go to the karaoke with his old friends. According to Amy, some of her friends will be there too, and he can't wait to see what kind of people they are. He doesn't remember Amy very well, so accepting her invitation to go out was a risky move. He just hopes she's not the "crazy psycho" type he's dealt with before.

The karaoke they decided to meet at is quite far from his home, so he takes a bus to get there faster. As soon as he arrives, he sees Amy waiting at the entrance of the venue, leaning against the wall.

"Amy!" He calls her to get her attention, as she was chatting on her phone. "Are the others already here?"

"Yes, they're inside. They're waiting for you." She says after running towards him and wrapping her arms around his and resting her head on his shoulder, leading him inside.

As soon as they enter the private room booked for the outing, Ken scans the room for the two guys he most wanted to see; and as soon as he finds them, he shrugs off Amy's arms and goes over to them. Amy frowns and sits on the couch, making sure there's a seat next to her, and keeping an eye on him to make sure the two guys don't take him away and ruin her plans.

As soon as Ken finishes talking to his friends, he looks around and Amy signals him to come to her. Ken does, sitting next to her.

"Do you want a drink?" She hands him a shot of vodka.

"No thanks, I can't get drunk. I walked here."

"What are you even doing here, then?"

"You said something?" He raises his voice slightly because the karaoke songs are muffling both their voices.

"Do you want something to eat? The snacks here are fantastic."

He leans over the bowls and plates on the table, grabbing a handful of chips.

"How are things going?" She asks him.

"Good. And you?"

"So why didn't you call me back?"

"Uh, it's been a year. I don't remember. Sorry..."

"We can make up for it..." She places her hand on his thigh, and he almost chokes on the chips. He quickly wipes his mouth and removes her hand from his leg.

"No thanks. Um, I think-"

"Is it because of that girl? The short one with light brown hair."

"She's my friend-"

"Figured. She's so ugly and so short she looks like an elementary school kid, not to mention her-" She stops talking when she looks up at Ken's face and is taken aback by the expression of utter disgust. Her eyes meet his, and for a moment, she thought she had auditory hallucinations as she almost hears him say, 'Are you done talking? I can't stand your disgusting presence anymore.'

"I don't know what point you're trying to make, but it's better if you shut up now. She's much prettier than you, that I can say with certainty. I'm not in the mood for karaoke anymore. If you see Tim and Naoto, tell them I'll definitely catch up with them." He turns around and leaves the venue, leaving a stunned Amy behind.

Why are her words affecting me so much? I need to talk to someone... but Will is on a date... Whatever. He decides to call him anyway, even though he knows both he and Nora will be angry with him.

A few minutes pass, and he's almost convinced that Will won't answer, but after a while, he hears his friend's grumpy voice on the other end of the phone.

"What's up? It better be important."

"I was with that girl from this morning... do you remember her?"

"And?"

"She started talking bad about Rebecca, and I got angry and left. But that's not like me... I don't understand. I thought. If she had started badmouthing you, for example, I would have gotten angry and told her to stop and stuff. But instead, I was so angry, I don't know what kept me from punching her..."

"Did you?"

"No."

"You should've."

"Dude, be serious."

"Dude, it's obvious it's different with her than with me. Why aren't you in love with me?"

"How can you be so sure? I love you so much, man."

"I love you too, man." Ken winces slightly from the pain as Nora elbows him.

"On a serious note... wait, should I tell you?"

"What?"

"Oh, well, I'll tell you. You're in love with Rebecca. Good luck with this information. Bye bye." Will hangs up.

"Wait! Am I? What?!"

On the other end of the call, Will sighs as he hangs up, walking with Nora.

"You shouldn't have told him. I wanted to see how long it would take for him to figure it out."

"Probably years. He can be really dumb."

"I know."

"Sorry for taking the call during our date."

"Don't worry."

"I worry. You would've been mad just hearing my ringtone. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. You don't need to worry..."

He stops and stands in front of her, taking her hands in his.

"I know something's bothering you, so tell me everything." She sighs.

"I can't beat you."

"I know my potential."

"I'm failing all my exams... I can't study... I don't know what's happening to me..." She leans into his arms.

"Is it because you want to go to the same college as me?"

"Yeah! At this rate, I won't make it!"

"You still have a year to bounce back, and you don't need to get top grades, okay?"

"But what if it gets worse?"

"It won't happen." He pulls away from the embrace to look into her eyes. "Do you want to study together? It might make you feel more confident."

"No, I have to do it on my own."

"Are you sure?" She nods. "Alright. I'm here if you want to talk, vent, or accept my offer. I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you..." They share a sweet kiss with only the moon as their witness.