𝙼𝚛s. 𝚂. 𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚒. | Ｆｒｏｓｔｂｉｔｅ | Book 2

5 - Respond

"So you've gone viral again," Midnight tilted her head to one side, crossing her legs. "How are you holding up?"

You smiled, borderline uncomfortable. Not at the question, nor the counselor, but the memory of last night into this morning. Todoroki's picture with you went viral on the internet in a matter of hours–people DMing you and asking questions. Out of curiosity, you went to his Photogram and discovered he had almost two thousand followers by the end of the night.

You checked this morning and he had five thousand.

Not that you were jealous of him. Or counting.

After all, it was giving you more exposure, too...again.

All the caption said was "Even after lunch, I still #stanhanazmae." It seemed you got the answer to your question of why he asked about the word 'stan.'

Of course, the tag was popular, so naturally it would give him some exposure, but you were still surprised because Photogram's algorithm could sometimes be...difficult.

"I'm doing okay," you answered. "I'm mostly shocked that the post went viral so quickly."

"And Todoroki? How is he handling the exposure?"

"I don't think he notices, to be completely honest," you confessed.

Midnight laughed. "Ah. From what I've heard about him, that sounds about right."

You chuckled at that, holding steady the teacup she provided for you earlier.

"On a lighter note," she leaned back, a wry smile on her lips as she rested her cheek on her hand, "How was the date?"

"It was good," you said. "We went to a coffee place near where his mother lives. Then we went and visited her. I...It was great until I had a...moment of sorts, where I was second guessing him."

You bowed your head in shame. You couldn't believe you did that. But you needed to tell someone. Someone who would believe you and tell you yes, you were wrong and he's not what you fear he is.

And if not...then they could at least give you some insight on what to do moving forward.

Midnight was the perfect person.

"What do you mean by that?" she prodded.

You took in a breath, thinking of how you wanted to word it. "He...he told me I was beautiful," you confessed. "And...something in me just...triggered, as ironic as it sounds, and...I just...I knew he was lying, or that he was saying that just to manipulate me, or lull me into a false sense of security.

"The problem is," you continued, "is that I know he's not like that. He's not the kind of person to do something like that, so it was completely illogical to jump to that conclusion."

"What made you think that in the first place?" Midnight asked, shifting in her seat, curiosity written on her face. "Do you know?"

"Well, as I was working through it in my head, I jumped to the thought of Tadao–He was the person I danced with at the gala that left me in the middle of our dance, if you didn't know–" she nodded with a hum of recognition– "and he would tell me things like that. Say I was pretty, and my legs were nice...He wanted to marry me, which is why he would do it. It made me very uncomfortable, but it was still affirmation.

"But the moment that I told him no, and...meant it, that night at the Gala, he dropped me. He stopped bothering me. He started insulting me and he humiliated me–internationally. Other boys throughout my life have done that too. And I was...I was afraid that since Todoroki was telling me I was beautiful and complimenting me, since he did earlier that day too, was because of that. And...it...it ruined the date? I thought it did. I didn't–" you cut yourself off, "I don't want to tell him because I feel foolish for even thinking it, but my fear is that...That he is just like the other boys in my life, because I...I don't want that."