Yuna Inspired: Our Virtual Family

021

Hana's walk with Victor around the store had been nothing but silence, but it wasn't the silence that bothered her. Or the cold. It was that her hand was clasped with his. She felt her hand get sweatier by the second. She wondered if he found it gross. At the same time, she tried to come up with a subject to talk so that she could stay composed, but she had nothing. Even before their upgraded relationship, they had only talked during baseball practice, and it mainly consisted of "Coach is looking for you," or "Have you seen Logan?"

Besides, what did people do when they first started dating? How was she supposed to act? Was she supposed to look at him? But with what kind of look? As she went through thousands of questions, one thing took the most attention.

"Can I ask you something?" she quietly uttered.

He looked back at her and prompted her to continue.

"Why did you say we're dating?"

"Because we are."

"I thought we were on a trial basis."

"I thought it would be enough even if we don't end up together. But, today, when I saw how you two were bickering, I was more annoyed than ever. Thoughts like 'she's mine' and feelings of jealousy overcame me."

She was confused about whom he was referring to. She knew one of them was her, but who was the other? Today, she had squabbled with Jake, Logan, and Coach Tang.

He looked at her. "Let's go out. For real."

*

Two groups were finished with their shopping goals—the meat group, which consisted of Seth and Wallace; and the desserts group, which consisted of Hailey and Sylvia. They had paid—Coach Tang did give them money—and were waiting at the front entrance for the drinks group, which consisted of Coach Tang, Logan, and Jake.

Since knowledge of the relationship between Hana and Victor, Hailey had been super upbeat.

Sylvia asked, "You're quite happy. Is it because Hana has a boyfriend?"

"Yep. It was my dream to see it. Now, the next milestone is to see her get married."

Wallace docked his head to the side. "Victor's her first boyfriend?"

Hailey nodded.

"We thought a girl like her would have had at least two or three already."

"We?"

"The baseball team. When my buddy saw her, he liked her right away."

Hailey covered her excited squeal.

"But he didn't do anything about it because he thought she was dating Logan."

"But they never dated."

"Then how can they be like that?" Wallace wasn't convinced. "There's no way a guy and a girl can be considered friends when they act like that. There's gotta be something. And if she's never had a boyfriend before, doesn't that mean she was waiting for Logan to make a move on her?"

"When they first met, they didn't get along, so she would never wait for him."

"Exactly. They get along now, so there's the only one explanation—she likes him."

Hailey stuttered to defend her friends' relationship with one another, but a part of her told her that the older guy had a point. She pouted and looked away. She quietly uttered, "They're good friends."

*

This was the longest time Hana had held hands with a boy and sadly to say, she didn't like it one bit. She was tense, uncomfortable, and didn't like the feeling of their skin glued together. She didn't dislike Victor, but she had a feeling it had something to do with their relationship.