Y U M I (Japanese): reason, cause, friend, beautiful
Y O N A (Hebrew): dove
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y u m i
"Excuse me, Mr. Sato, what is so important that you absolutely must talk about it in my class?" Mrs. Pooler, my Chemistry teacher, asks.
I turn my face toward the front of the classroom where Mrs. Pooler is standing, a hand on her hip.
"Nothing, ma'am. I'm sorry." I say.
She goes back to talking, but stops abruptly when Yona Acker— the most popular kid of the school and also hates my my guys— walks into the classroom.
"Ah, Mr. Acker! Nice of you to join us!" Mrs. Pooler says, taking the slip that the office gives students when they're late. Yona's gaze falls on me, staying there unnecessarily long.
Yona takes his normal seat with his group of friends, sitting sideways in the desk and leaning his head against the wall. All throughout the rest of class, I swear I can feel Yona's eyes lingering on me but I don't know why, and to be honest, I'm kind of creeped out; I mean, the guy has hated my guts for six years, we've been in the same class since sixth grade.
After the bell rings, I head for my locker but also get chased down by my best friend, Kenzie.
"I know you saw Yona staring you down." She says when we stop at my locker.
"Ou, good! You saw it too!" I say, feeling relieved. "I thought I might have been imagining things."
She laughs, tossing her long, chocolate-brown curls over her shoulder. "No, you definitely weren't imagining it..."
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The next two classes before lunch go quickly.
When Kenzie and I walk into the cafeteria and claim our normal table, my phone lights up with a notification from Instagram.
@yonaackerrr wants to send you a message.
I feel my eyes go wide, shoving my phone towards Kenzie who looks up at me, her eyes wide, too.
"What do I do?" I ask, clearly panicking. "The guy has absolutely hated my guts for the last six years. What could he possibly want now?!"
She shrugs. "I don't know. Answer it?"
I click on the notification, opening Instagram.
@yonaackerrr: meet me behind the school at 3:15.
My palms start to sweat, and I look to Kenzie for help; across the room, I see Yona looking over at me, smirk on his face.
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"Are you sure this a good idea?" Kenzie asks me as I quickly throw my stuff in my car before going to meet Yona.
I shrug. "I mean, it's probably not the best but... I'll be fine, Kenz, promise." I say, although I absolutely do not believe anything I just said.
"You want me to hang around?"
I shake my head. "I'll be alright, Kenz. I'll text you later, okay?"
She nods, walking towards her car. I don't walk towards the meeting spot until I see Kenzie's car leave the school lot.
When I round the corner of the building, Yona is leaning against the wall, a foot propped up; he smirks when he sees me, putting his foot back on the ground.
He comes towards me, brushing a finger across my cheek and pushing me against the wall. My heart pounds as I look up at him.
"What's going on?" I ask him.
"You really know how to push my buttons, Sato," he says. "I have a problem, and I believe you have a solution."
I look up at him as he holds my chin in his hand, the other beside me on the brick.
"Which is?" I ask, my pulse quickening.
"I'm failing Chemistry; I happen to know you're very good at it." He says. "I need a tutor."
"What if I don't want to tutor you?"
"What if I told you that you didn't have a choice?"
He reaches in his pocket, pulling a folded up note and sticking it in my hand. He steps away from me and I unfold the piece of paper, which is from Mrs. Pooler and asks me if I would tutor Yona.
I groan in my head and look up at him. "Fine. We start tomorrow at my house after school." I say, walking off before he gets the chance to respond.
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"Hello? What's the tea?" Kenzie asks when I call her after dinner.
I sigh. "He needs a Chem. tutor," I say. "And Mrs. Pooler gave him a note that asked me to tutor him."
"How do you know the note's not fake?" Kenzie asks.
"First off, why would he do that? And second, it was Mrs. Pooler's writing. We're starting tomorrow after school, at my house."
"I mean, he was staring at you earlier... maybe he wants to be friends?"
I scoff. "I doubt it, Kenz. I wouldn't hate it... but you know who we're talking about here."
"Wait..." There's a pause on Kenzie's end. "You like him! You so totally like him!"
I blush. "I-what? No I don't!"
I can hear the skepticism in her voice, almost hearing her eyebrow raise. "Yumi, we've been friends for how long now? Almost ten years. I'm pretty sure I know when you're lying, and that was a lie."
I sigh. "Fine. I guess I do like him. I don't know, I always thought he was attractive, but... I can't explain how I felt after school. He had me pinned against the wall, and I— Kenzie, it was intense."
I hear her laugh a soft laugh. "Sweetie, you know that no matter what happens, I'll always be here for you, okay?"
Kenzie and I talk for nearly an hour longer before hanging up and promising to meet before school in the morning.
I roll over on my side, putting my phone on my nightstand and seeing a message from Yona.
@yonaackerrr: can't wait for our study date tomorrow ;)
I nearly fall out of my bed, sending a screenshot to Kenzie before falling asleep.
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Kenzie comes running up to me the next morning when she sees me standing at the front door, waiting for her. I can practically feel the excitement radiating off her.
"He totally likes you!" She says, not even stopping to breathe. "It's the only explanation! I mean, a winky face!?"
I laugh, looking at her. "What do you think is going to happen this evening?" I ask.
She looks at me, her eyes gleaming. "I don't know, but it'll definitely involve Chemistry."
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I quickly text Yona the directions to my house and speed home quickly to clean up any mess there may be; I'm honestly surprised I didn't get pulled over and given a ticket because of how fast I was going.
The doorbell rings, and I nearly fall down the stairs trying to get to the door.
"Hey," I say casually. "Ready to learn some Chemistry?" I blush immediately after I say it, and look down. I can't believe I just said that.
Yona and I have been working on our homework assignment for almost an hour when he looks up at me.
"Speaking of chemistry," he says, trailing off. "I know you feel it, too. There's no way."
I meet his eyes, shrugging. "I mean... yeah, I— you sent me a winky face."
"Do you like me too?" He breathes, looking as I stand up and walk over to the desk chair.
"What do you think?" I ask him, climbing onto his lap and pressing my lips to his.
"Can we start over?" I ask. "We can start over l-like this. I've never wanted someone so bad, especially after yesterday..."
He looks up at me, cupping my chin in his hand, standing up, holding me close to him and walking over to my bed, laying me back.
"I want nothing else," he whispers, leaning over and kissing me again.
2/27/2021
I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately :/
I've been super busy with school!!
