ᴛᴀɪɴᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ʜᴇʀ

ɴɪɴᴇᴛᴇᴇɴᴛʜ

1 Month Later

"Yo, what's up with you and your guy?" Trey asked as we walked side by side, just leaving our last class. It's been a month now since Ciel stopped talking to me. I tried apologizing again, but he'd just ignore me.

"Ciel, wait up!" I called out, catching up to him. I touched his arm, but he shook me off. "Can you just hear me out, please?"

"What's there to hear?" he said coldly. "The first girl I thought genuinely liked me, and who I fucking lo-liked, betrayed me."

"I said I'm sorry already, what do you want me to do? I didn't even go along with it. I told you I couldn't. I fucking fell in love with you, okay? I know you probably think I'm just saying this, but I'm not. My feelings for you are real. Ciel, I don't want to lose you. I know what I did was wrong. Please forgive me. I'm sorry," I rambled, my voice cracking.

"What did you just say?" He paused and looked at me in shock. "You love me?"

I hadn't even realized I said it. I was just rambling, not planning to let him know so soon. "Yes," I said, looking away. His eyes lit up for a moment, then quickly returned to their usual coldness. My cheeks felt hot. I was never the type to confess my feelings so openly.

"Give me some time," he said, letting out a deep breath. He ran a hand through his hair and then quickly said goodbye, walking off.

"He's not talking to me," I mumbled, "I made him mad."

"Damn, what happened?" Trey asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it," I said quietly. "Come on, we have a few more minutes before our next class."

Trey gave me a concerned look, then wrapped his arm around my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Let's go. I'm sure you guys are just fighting. I mean, in a relationship, people fight. Y'all will bounce back soon, uh, let's go this way." He turned me around, heading down a different path.

"Why? That way is shorter," I pointed behind us to the building. But Trey pulled me closer, and we started walking to class. I glanced behind us and my heart sank. There he was, sitting with a girl. They were sitting closer than friends would, her hand on his lap, and it made me burn with jealousy. I quickly turned away, shaking my head.

After class, Trey and I decided to go out to cheer me up. We ended up at the mall, hopping from store to store.

"Akira, did you figure out where you're gonna intern?" he asked, breaking the silence.

I felt overwhelmed. I had three assignments to finish, plus the pressure of finding a company for my mandatory internship to pass the class. I'd thought of a few places I might try.

"Not yet, but I have a few places in mind," I replied as I skimmed through a rack of clothes. I caught sight of a mirror and snapped a quick selfie, but Trey photo-bombed me. I shrugged and took another with him in it.

"Send me that," he said.

"Okay, sure. I'll send it right now." I sent him the photo and continued shopping.

"By the way, you could try Moriyama Corp. My aunt works there, and she knows the owner. I could put in a few words for you," he explained.

I nearly hugged him out of excitement. "Really? Thanks so much!"

"No problem," he said with a grin. "We're friends after all. You can depend on me sometimes, you know. And stop keeping things in," he scolded.

I gave him a bear hug, and he wrapped his arms around me tightly. "Thanks," I mumbled.