First Chain - Her Smile
Just before my alarm went off, my mom knocked on my door to tell me to get up. My eyelids feel heavy and my room's still cold. It's already morning and apparently, it's the first day of class.
I am Mark and is now in fourth year high school. I've never been a morning person but since it's the first day of class I'm a bit excited. I often walk to school with my closest friends. Ahh.. the doorbell rang, they're here, I better go or else they'll kill me even if I'm only a minute late. "Coming!"
"Hi! Good morning Mark! Better not be late for our first class!" Anne greeted me as soon as I opened the door. Behind her standing is Ace. The three of us have been together since we were kids and we all go to the same school.
"I'm almost done, I'll just get my bag."
"Hurry up."
"Okay, come on, let's go"
Anne is the cheerful type of girl. She often gives off this bright aura that makes you smile. On the other hand, Ace is a man of few words. He's the cool and mature type, on top of that he is intelligent too.
We often talk about random stuff when we walk to school. Nothing out of the ordinary. I always thought it would be forever like this.
Actually, I had a secret crush on Anne since a long time ago. before I met them, I was always alone, isolated from the group. But her personality made it easier for me to open up to the world. Although I never did had the courage to tell her my feelings because I could not bring myself to do it. I was afraid to break the balance between the three of us so I swallowed it up and remained silent for all these years.
But now that we're on our last year in high school, I've decided to do it now. I may not have the chance later when we're in college because I'm not sure if we'll still be together... Having said that, I'm completely out of ideas on how to tell her my feelings.
"Hey Mark, Are you alright?" Anna suddenly asked.
"H-huh?" That surprised me.
"You seem to be drifting in your own world. "
"Ah. I was just thinking about something. Ahahaha"
"You've never changed. You're always like that" Ace said.
"Well, Since we're already fourth years, I had a lot of things to think about, like what college to enter and stuff." I lied.
"Really?" Anna suddenly looked at me in the eyes, testing if I'm telling the truth.
"I'm not lying! Really!" Sorry, but I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now.
"Ehhh, I don't believe you."
"Come on, let's hurry up. It's almost time." Good thing Ace interrupted us. I could hardly hide my embarrassment.
We made it in time for school. There was the opening ceremony, then the classes. Since our school has a small population, we are all in the same section. Unfortunately, I sit far away from the both of them.
After classes were over, we also went home together, and that has been our daily routine except for my plan, of course.
Months and days passed by, without any progress. There's the thing that it was always the three of us. Another is that, although Anne and I are in the same club, and Ace is in a different one, I can't find the right time to confess because we always head straight home after club activities.
Then one day, our club's activity was cancelled for certain reasons, and I gained an opportunity to confess while waiting for Ace before going home.
