More than Best Friends?

Chapter 4 - Afflicted

Yuki was still trying to avoid Kyle at all costs; he didn't want to face that blonde dork.  Every time he thought about him, he started to feel...strange.  He couldn't quite put his finger on this strange feeling, but it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  But it was unlike Yuki to feel so hot, so he thought that he must be getting sick.  Pe offered to let him stay at her house so that she could take care of him.  Before he came over though, he asked her to go to his locker and get his school supplies for him.

"Let's see... What number was it again?" she asked herself, wandering around the hallway.  Yuki had sent her a text message that contained the locker number, its combination, and what he needed from it.  Pe checked the text message over and over, making sure that she'd find the right one.

Meanwhile, Kyle was walking around the same halls aimlessly.  He noticed that Yuki hadn't been at school recently, and that also meant he wasn't there for track practice either.  He kept thinking about Yuki and hoped that he was alright.  He kept walking around and then noticed a girl wandering the hallway, who looked like she was looking for something.

"Are you looking for something?" he asked her.  Pe looked up to find some blonde guy, he was quite tall and his hair was very spiky.

"Oh, yes!  I'm looking for my friend's locker, he's sick and I was going to get some things for him," she answered.

"What number is it?" he asked.

"Well, it's supposed to be number 667, but I can't find it..."  It was so familiar to him: that was Yuki's locker number.  He felt something wet drip down the back of his neck while thinking about him.

"Oh, uh, I know where that is, I'll help you find it," he offered, a bit awkwardly.

"Thank you!" Pe replied gratefully.

Kyle already knew the answer to his next question, but he asked her anyway: "So, uh, who's your friend?  The one you're helping, I mean," Kyle asked, scratching the back of his head.

"His name is Yuki, he's really tall and he's on the track team!" she answered.  Kyle was expecting that answer, but it was a bit unsettling for him to hear Yuki be referred to as "he", now that he knew "his" secret.  But he wasn't one to go around telling people others' secrets anyway.

"He said he hasn't been feeling well, so I'm letting him stay at my house so I can take care of him," Pe continued.  Kyle thought that it was really sweet of the girl to let Yuki stay at her house, he could probably use a female figure around.  As far as Kyle knew, Yuki didn't have any sisters.

"Is that why he hasn't been at school this week?" Kyle asked her but immediately covered his mouth after saying it.

"Why, do you know him?" Pe asked.

"Um, yeah, I'm the captain of the track team... so, yeah, I do know him."

"Oh! Okay, that's cool!  Yuki always runs really fast, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, I think he's pretty great."  But Kyle knew that that was an understatement, that Yuki was much more to him than "pretty great".  After a little more small talk, they arrived at Yuki's locker.

"Here it is," Kyle said, "But I don't know what the numbers are to open it."

"Oh, that's okay, I do!" Pe said.  Kyle was surprised, Yuki told this girl the locker combination and not him?  Well, it would make some sense, but she seemed to know a lot about Yuki too.  Kyle then had a hunch that Yuki thought of her as more than a friend and felt an ache in his chest, but he shook it away.

"Thank you for helping me," Pe said, snapping Kyle out of his thoughts.

"Sure, you're welcome."

"Well, it was nice talking to you, I hope to see you soon!" Pe said sweetly and then walked away. It was only after she had left the building that Kyle realized that he forgot to ask the girl what her name was.

"Shit," Kyle muttered, but it's not like it mattered anyway, he'd probably hear it being tossed around.

~*~

After Kyle got home, he laid like a starfish on his bed and thought about Yuki again. He was curious to know who that girl was, and how she was such good friends with him.  Kyle couldn't get the stupid thought out of his head that she and Yuki were more than friends.  She knew what locker number he had and its combination, and she seemed very sweet.  It could make sense that Yuki would like her, for she was very pretty as well.  But that thought hurt him, that Yuki would be in love with somebody else.  He didn't get very much sleep that night.

(823 words, 26 October 2019)

(824 words, edited 31 May 2020)