Every Heartbeat

Book1 Chapter3 : Just Friends

Some of us wanted to live a life worthy of being captured on film.

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PRESENT DAY

I can hear the din of my classmates near the graduation stage as I pause the video of Mikha.

"I don't know if I can watch this whole thing now. It's too hard." I said sadly. "Maybe I should save part of it for later..."

But as I look down at my phone, with Mikha's smiling face frozen on the screen, I know I'm still going to keep watching. I retreat in search of a quiet place.

"I never could resist you..." I said, smiling

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"I'm serious, Aiah. Mikha Lim is bad news. You need to stay away from her." Maloi said in a serious tone

"Whoa, Maloi... what's your problem with Mikha?" I said, shocked

"Nothing's wrong with her..." she said, shocked too

I give Maloi a look.

"Okay, maybe I was being a little dramatic, but I'm just trying to look out for you." she said in a serious tone

"I know you and Mikha have been spending a lot of time together, and it's not a good idea." she said sadly

I cross my arms stubbornly.

"Why not?" I said

"Because Mikha doesn't date people. She's never had an official girlfriend... and not for lack of volunteers. I've seen too many girls get their hearts broken because of her. I don't want that to happen to you." she said sadly

"Maloi... I appreciate the concern. But you really don't have to worry. Mikha and I are just friends." I said

Maloi raises a skeptical eyebrow.

"Uh-huh. The cute girl you spend every other afternoon with is 'just your friend'." she said, not convinced

"I'm serious. We've talked about it and everything. She doesn't want to date me any more than I want to date her." I said but not convinced in my own words too

"If you say so..." she said

"Oh, hey Maloi! Hey, Aiah." Colet said out of nowhere

I turn to see Colet walking toward me, but her eyes are only looking at Maloi.

"Hi, Colet. Are you heading home?" I said

"Yeah, I've got a mountain of homework calling my name. I'm pretty sure Mr. Diaz has it out for us." Colet said

"I didn't know you were in AP Physics." Maloi said

Colet blushed and fiddled with the straps of her backpack.

"It's pretty hard to get into M.I.T. without it. And even with it, I still only have, like, a five percent chance, so..." Colet said

I look between the two of them, smiling.

"Colet, are you going to the Fall Carnival?" I said

"Uh, probably. What about you two?" Colet said

"I'm not sure. I was just trying to convince Maloi to go." I said

Colet turns her attention back to Maloi.

"Really? You went last year, right?" Colet said, shocked

"Only because I volunteered to run the book exchange. I just did my shift, got my credit, and went home." Maloi said