Volume 1: Ch.7

Romance starts with friendship

She ran as if it were the end of the world. She looked weary, but the smile didn't seem to match the picture. Joy smirked, "I have a hunch, but I'm not sure." April rolled her eyes and replied, "I bet you're right."

Instead of heading to the school gates, Jill turned and headed northwest. The gates were the last place she wanted to be right now, with too many procedures and the need to bribe the guard with a pack of cigarettes. She wasn't a runner, but she sprinted like a cheetah, sneaking past the guidance counselor's office. Behind it was a wall with a hole in it, likely made by a student. It was an escape route used by students who wanted to skip class. Jill successfully made it through the small entrance.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone. Fortunately, it was only a light impact and she didn't fall. The young girl, Ashley, offered to go first, "You should go first, sorry about that."

"Oh, Ashley," Jill recognized her immediately. She didn't have time to chat, so she quickly accepted the offer. "Thanks, girl!"

Once outside of the school, Jill was on the road to freedom. A few meters away was the bridge and the highway. She had to return to the entrance of the school where the waiting shed was. In the distance, she saw the silhouette of the young man she liked.

"I don't want him to see me like this," she thought. So, she slowed down and changed her expression. As the distance between them closed, Wayne noticed her.

"Hey, thanks for coming," Wayne said, with an embarrassed smile while scratching his head. He showed her the medicine supplies and added, "I really need your help. I don't know who else to call. I'm sorry."

"Uhmmm…You don’t apologize," Jill replied. "But there's a catch tss..tsss… This time, no wasting money."

"Okay, okay," Wayne agreed, with a sign of approval in his voice. "I won't throw away the food, even if it tastes terrible."

"That's a relief," Jill replied, her tone lightening. But as she got a closer look at Wayne's face, her expression changed to one of concern. "Oh my God, Wayne, what happened to your face? It looks even worse than yesterday. Don't you remember that I patched up your wounds?"

Wayne's cheeks turned a light shade of red as he looked away, feeling embarrassed. "Yes, I remember," he said softly. "April did a great job."

Jill's eyes rolled at the mention of April's name. But she quickly composed herself and started to tend to Wayne's wounds once again. However, her enthusiasm got the better of her and Wayne cried out in pain.

"Ow, ow! What the heck, Jill? Be gentle, please! It feels like a hornet is stinging me!"

Jill's eyes widened with surprise and she quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Wayne looked at her curiously. "What do you mean, carried away? What's going on?"

Jill realized she might have given away more than she intended, and her cheeks flushed a bright red. But Wayne was intrigued and moved closer to her.

"Uhmm, why would you ask? Are you interested in me?" Jill teased, flipping the tables and catching Wayne off guard.

"No, no," Wayne stammered, taken aback. "I-I'm not. I was just confused."

Jill let out a light laugh, and the tension in the room dissipated. "Well, let's get back to what we were doing," she said, her smile returning.

"Sure, no problem," Wayne replied, and the two of them continued tending to his wounds.

After they finished, Jill felt like time was slipping away too quickly. She wanted to stay longer, but she also knew she couldn't.

"Do you want to hang out?" Wayne asked, a hopeful note in his voice. "As a thank you, I promised to treat you, remember?"

Jill was in a dilemma. On one hand, she was tempted to spend time with Wayne, but on the other hand, she didn't want to miss important classes. She let out a sigh, "Hmmmmm, I've never skipped classes before."

Wayne, who had just invited her to hang out, noticed her hesitation. "I don't want to be a bad influence," Wayne said, looking at his feet.

"Why not?" Jill asked, tilting her head to the side. "I mean, I'm down if you are."

“Glad to hear that, and once again thank you," Wayne said, trying to bow his head.

"You don't have to do that, this isn't Japan," Jill said, stopping him. "But enough talking, let's go."

The two walked away from the building, probably just in time for the third class. Jill felt no regret, with a smile on her face, she felt the same joy she felt the day before.

As they walked, Jill suddenly stopped. "Can I ask a question?"

Wayne slowed down and turned his attention to her, still feeling unsure about the girl in front of him.

It's hard to read Jill's emotions, but Wayne can sense that she's hiding something. He's curious and wants to know more. He doesn't have much going on in his life, just waiting for the day to pass by. So, he responds to her question, "Sure, go ahead and ask me anything."

They're standing in front of a private school surrounded by shady trees. Jill rests her chin on her hand and looks at him curiously, "Why didn't you just go to school? I mean, you could have asked us for help there."

Wayne scratches his head and laughs awkwardly, "Well, I did try to go to school. But I saw Anastasia at the gates and freaked out. She was scary, man!"

Jill giggles at Wayne's scared expression. She wasn't teasing him, just finding it cute. "Sorry, I wasn't making fun of you. It’s just that it’s cute to hear that.”

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh! Then what's with the laughter?" He felt that he was being teased.

Jill couldn't help but smile at his reaction. It was a side of him she had never seen before. The young man pouted, and to her it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. She didn't realize what she was saying until it was out of her mouth, "Well, you looked cute."

He didn't respond, their eyes met and then quickly looked away. Jill's heart started racing as she realized what she had said.

Oh my God, what did I just say?!

Feeling embarrassed, Jill tried to clear the air, "I just meant that you looked cute saying that, that's all. Don't get any weird ideas."

Phew, that was close.

"Let's proceed!" she added, trying to move past the awkward moment.

The two continued walking. They reached the bridge where couples hang out underneath, with an unpleasant river down below and surrounded by the sounds of passing cars and tricycles, vroom sounds that never seem to end and dusts that tortured one's eye; after all, they were on a high way road. Jill saw the route where she went and realized, now that everything had slowed down, how bizarre her actions were for the sake of this young man whom she liked. But she didn't regret it, as her actions led to a pleasing result.

"Hey? Are we friends yet?" the young girl posed another question, this time in a subtle, soft voice. She didn't want to regret asking, but her words simply pushed out in the spur of the moment. Her left hand fidgeted as she clung to her right arm, and she needed an answer, thus she looked eagerly at Wayne. "Am I asking too much? Is it too soon to ask? I hope he doesn't think I'm being too forward," she thought.

"I never thought of that," Wayne wondered, as he scratched his head. "I never had friends, that's pretty obvious right? But if you want, then we can see ourselves as that. After all, we already hung out yesterday and are together at this moment," he said, giving an embarrassed smile.

Jill's heart leapt with joy at Wayne's response. "Oh, thank goodness, he's not rejecting the idea!" she thought. "I'm happy about that, I had fun yesterday," she replied with a smile, feeling an outburst of joy from every corner of her body. She didn't expect those words coming from him and it felt heartwarming. "Pleasant to hear that," she added.

"Maybe this is the start of something special," she thought. "Romance starts with friendship, right?RIGHT?"