A confusing message

It was the last day of school before winter break and we got our test results. Some classmates looked hopeless, because surely their bad grades will make them spend the next few days lamenting and working on improving, but in general the atmosphere was celebratory.

“Wow, it's the first time I've passed all my subjects. I owe it all to you, 'sensei'”.

Surprisingly, Andrea thanked me with a Japanese bow.

“You don't have to thank me, it's your own effort that made you do well in the exams. So please, raise your head now, you're making me a little uncomfortable.”

Andrea returned to her normal posture, but before she pouted and stuck out her tongue at me.

These last few days I have started to implement my plan to "win Andrea's heart", making some changes in my behavior towards her.

As a saying goes: "The heart is conquered by the stomach". Taking advantage of the fact that I'm the official cook of my house, every day I have been preparing a delicious lunch for Andrea. At first she was a bit reluctant to accept that I cooked for her, so to convince her I told her that this was essential if she wanted to continue absorbing more knowledge and not fail the exams (which is not a lie at all, a good diet is always important).

“Mmmmmmm, it's delicious!”

Continuing with the theme of food, Andrea and I were currently having our last lunch of the year at school. There were still a few more classes to finish the day, but we were already totally relaxed, enjoying having passed everything.

“God, these ham rolls with cheese and walnuts are exquisite.”

I was very happy to see that Andrea was enjoying my food. Whenever I saw her eat, it made every minute I spent in the kitchen worthwhile.

“Thanks, but you'd better eat slower, look…you got a little dirty around your mouth.”

I took a napkin and gently wiped the contour of her lips. Of course, I did this action with bad intentions, as part of my plan to win her over.

“You're very kind, thanks.”

She just smiled at me and continued eating as if nothing had happened. I've been trying this kind of 'flirting' for the past few days, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be having any effect.

“Hey, I hadn't told you, but Leonel wants to go out with us today to celebrate, but he's going to leave his soccer practice a little late. What do you think, do you want to wait for him?”

“Sure, let's go! Anyway, I was going to stay late to practice too.”

“Great, then I'll send him a message.”

Actually, I was the one who had planned all this. I knew this last day of school was important, because if I didn't play my cards right I could go a long time without seeing Andrea.

“Done, I already sent the message to him.”

“Okay.”

She finished eating and we went back to our classroom.

“So, while we wait for Leonel, can you help me practice with the bow?”

“Again? Looks like someone is getting serious about archery.”

No, silly, I just want to spend time with you! I wanted to yell that in her face, but obviously didn't.

“Hehehe, what can I tell you, I'm just trying to improve.”

We get to our seats and just let the clock tick until the last day of school was over.

“Students, I wish you have a happy holiday.”

“WHOOOOOOO!”

Almost everyone in the classroom was shouting in unison the start of winter break. Meanwhile, Andrea and I left for the archery range.

I was worried that she would feel obligated to spend her valuable time with me, but this was the best way for me to attack her heart. As in my days as a striker, my plan was to have the ball (her attention) as long as possible, which would eventually give me the perfect opportunity to score (to confess my feelings).

“I'm counting on you, 'sensei'.”

I returned her greeting from earlier and gave her a Japanese bow, to which she simply laughed.

“Well, let me place the targets and we start your lesson.”

Archery targets are marked with 10 rings to be scored from 1 to 10, with the ring in the center having the highest value. Just to give an idea how good Andrea is, she has told me that she has never shot an arrow with a value less than 8.

“Stand your ground, straighten the bow more!”

Just to give an idea how bad I am, I have never shot an arrow with a value greater than 2.

“Come on, you're not concentrating! Do it again!”

Andrea reminds me a bit of Leonel in the way of training. I'm not a big fan of the "Yell at your student until he wants to cry" methodology, but I have no choice.

“Relax your shoulders, you're very tense!”

I shot another arrow and this time hit 1.

“Andrea, could you come closer and check if I'm holding the bow correctly?”

“Well, I guess so...”

Again, this is part of my evil plan. I asked her to please put my body in the correct position. What I was really trying to do was have a little more physical contact with her, but again she didn't seem to care one bit.

“Done! You should always stand like this when you are going to shoot.”

This just depresses me. To think that she wasn't physically attracted to me was a blow to my pride.

The old me would have given up by now, but I'm not that person anymore. So I concentrated as much as possible to make her proud with my next arrow.

Calculating the trajectory with the mental agility of Archimedes, maintaining the firm posture of a Viking, and with the willpower of Achilles, I shot at the target.

“You're amazing, Robin! You managed to hit your first 3 points!”

I had never felt so good about myself. They were perhaps the most celebrated three points in the history of archery.

“Well, I think that's enough for today. If I practice longer I'm sure to become the next archery prodigy, and I don't want to take your position away.”

I handed her the bow and arrows back and she started to shoot. Honestly, I always end up feeling a bit guilty for taking away her valuable training time, but it relaxes me to know that she's too good.

“Look Robin, memorize my posture so that the next time you practice you can do it better.”

Of course I didn't miss the opportunity to look at Andrea's beautiful figure. Everything about her was perfect, no matter how much I looked for it, I couldn't find a single thing that I didn't like about her body.

“Can I take a picture of you? It will be very useful for me to study later.”

It wasn't a lie.

“Well… sure, I don't see a problem.”

I opened the camera app on my phone and just as I was focusing the photo, a feeling of guilt washed over me.

“S-sorry, it seems that my camera broke down… it will be another day.”

“Huh? How odd. Well it's fine, don't worry.”

Deep down I knew this was the right thing to do.

After that I didn't bother Andrea anymore and she was able to practice in peace. I had agreed with Leonel that he would leave us alone for a while and later he would appear and we would go to celebrate McBurguer Jr., but after an hour I received a message; apparently he was actually very busy with the soccer team, and he wasn't going to accompany us.

“Andrea, Leonel is not coming. We better go.”

“Too bad, I wanted to eat a hamburger.”

“You want to go with me?”

I got up the courage to tell her that last thing, this was a decisive moment. Like in a soccer match, I passed the ball to Andrea, and the rest is up to her...

“I-I…I would feel very bad for Leonel; we better leave it for another occasion.”

Ouch, she decided to kick the ball out of the stadium.

“Y-you're right, we better leave it for another time.”

Like a warrior I said those last words with the best smile I could.

In the end, we store the archery equipment together and went home.

My heart was broken in pieces, but I still had one important thing to do, so this was no time for regrets.

While we were walking, I decided to complete the original plan for the day.

“Andrea, I… I want to organize a Christmas dinner at my house with you, Marin, my mom and Leonel, to… you know, celebrate all the good things that have happened this year. You would like to go?”

Phew! I was very nervous, but I managed to finish the mission. Originally I planned for Leonel to say this while we were eating, but for obvious reasons I have to improvise.

Again, it's all up to her.

“Of course! It will be very fun!”

I felt my heart start pumping blood again. I really didn't know what I was going to do if she rejected me again.

“Perfect! I'll send you a message later with all the details.”

“Okey-dokey!”

She brought her right hand with the fingers together towards her temple, imitating a military salute. She looked so adorable!

We continued talking for a while longer about trivial things until we got close to Andrea's house.

“Well, I think it's time to say goodbye.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

It was our first winter break, so it was weird not being able to say "See you tomorrow" like we almost always did.

“Goodbye.”

She raised her hand and just turned around.

“Goodbye, Andrea.”

I also turned around and headed home with my feelings mixed up.

I was looking down, paying attention to the lines on the sidewalk. With each step I took I wondered if this day had gone well or not; maybe she accepted dinner simply because she had already rejected me before. My head was a mess.

I walked a couple of blocks and just as I was turning the corner, I heard a voice in the distance.

“Roooooooooooooobiiiiiiiiiiin!”

Due to the distance, I couldn't see clearly who was the person running towards me, but as they got closer, everything became clearer.

Unbelievably it was Andrea, who seemed really tired.

“You're good? What happen?”

She was having a hard time breathing, she must have run from her house to here.

“J-just… I just wanted to tell you that… don't forget to send me that message!”

It took me a couple of seconds to assimilate what message she was talking about, but it's that I was totally surprised to see her here.

“WELL, BYE!”

She didn't let me tell her anything, she just ran back to her house.

Should I go for her? I just kept my hand outstretched as I watched her walk away.

God, what just happened?

“AGGGGGGH, DAMN IT!!!!”

I despaired, my heart could not calm down. This girl is going to drive me crazy; she first makes me believe that I'm a nuisance, and then she makes me delusional like this.

“FOR GOD'S SAKE! TELL ME IF YOU LIKE ME OR NOT!”

But I've already decided: It'll be at Christmas dinner when I confess that I'm in love with her.