Rival?

A/N: This story resembles 'That One Smile'. I know I should stop writing such stories, but these are honestly one of the best ways to work on my presentation, which, well, is improving slowly - to put it decently. Anyways, enjoy!

~

"Now, now, what harm could it be in admitting your relationship with little Miss Sunshine?", Harley cooed.

Drew, May, Harley and Soledad were supposed to be on an outing. May had suggested the idea "to clear the air after the Grand Festival", but this was not exactly what she had had in mind. None of them had won the Festival this year and the final round was that day. They had decided to accompany May, as they thought that it would do them some good after the chaotic year (except Drew, who May had managed to drag along by the corner of his sleeve).

Drew, who made a mental note to himself to never come out on an outing with Harley again (even if that meant with Soledad), snapped back in an irritated tone, "May and I are just rivals! How hard is it to get that into that thick skull of yours?"

May frowned inwardly. This was the third time he had used that term. Sure, they were great rivals, but was that all?

May had always seen Drew as a great friend. All the moments they had had together were special to her, and she couldn't bear to think that he didn't feel the same. "Is that all I am to you? A rival?", she asked with sad eyes.

Had all those moments really been nothing to him?

The green-haired teen looked at her surprisingly, a little taken aback by the question. That's when he realised that 'rivals' was evidently an outdated term to describe their relationship. Still, he answered in a rather oblivious tone, "A great one at that. Why? I am sure you feel the same."

May's heart sunk. She felt like running away from there. It had taken her years to admit to herself that she had fallen in love with her rival. Although she thought that the chances of him returning her feelings were very low, she valued him as a friend above everything else. But at the same time, she was not unaware of Harley and Soledad's company, and thus, remained calm.

Soledad looked at Drew, and then at May, worriedly.

~

It was evening. Soledad was on her way to the Grand Festival party, when she came across Harley.

"Oh, dear! You are going to the party, right? Let's go together!"

Soledad denied him saying that she had to meet someone before, and went to visit May.

She knocked on her room's door, and asked politely, "May, are you in?" At first, she got no reply, so tried again.

"It's open."

She went inside the room, closing the door behind. "Hello, May. You better get ready. The party has started."

"Thanks for the reminder, Soledad, but I am not going."

"But you love parties, May."

"I just don't feel like it. Don't worry about me-"

"It's because of Drew, isn't it?"

May deadpanned. That was the last thing she had expected Soledad to bring up in the conversation. "What? Of course not. What does Drew have to do with this?", she said, trying to act surprised.

Soledad kept smiling at her quietly, until finally, she gave up and sighed.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about", Soledad assured her.