[Music Recommendation: "A Sweet Smile" by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

"Friend, huh?" Hora asked me in a teasing way. "Then why are you grinning and giggling like some hopeless romantic?"

'Oh my goodness. She had been watching me this entire time! What should I reason out?'

"I… I was just—excited!" I tried to sound as convincing as I could.

"Oookaay," she deliberately lengthened that one. "Is she a girl? Or a boy?"

"Why are you asking something so obvious? And besides, does it matter?"

She wiggled her eyebrows, still not done with her teasing.

"Of course it matters. So? It's a boy? How old is he? Is he kind? Do you like him? Are you two together already?"

"Woah! Wait a minute! That's a LOT of questions," I raised both my hands, gesturing to her to stop firing her ridiculous questions. "First, yes, he is a boy. Sixteen years old. He is very kind, yes, and we're not together, okay? We're just friends."

"You skipped a question." Ugh. How could she be so observant?

"I like him—as a friend," I made sure to clarify that, even if I was pretty much unsure of it myself.

She raised her eyebrows. She didn't believe me. I really couldn't get past through her. She'd make a really good detective with that observation skill of hers.

"Okay. Fine. I like him. And yeah, I think I may have a crush on him. But I'm still not sure of it myself, okay? And he doesn't know a thing about it. So please, don't ever, ever try to do or say anything to him or contact him in any way about it. Promise?"

I'm doomed. I just knew it. Hora's grinning from ear to ear like I was a few moments ago.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! OMG!!!! My best friend's got her first crush!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She seemed more excited about it than I am!

"Hey! Stop! Everyone's gonna hear you! Even the neighbors!" I jumped at her and covered her mouth.

"Mmmmmmm!!!" She still managed to squeal despite the situation her mouth was in.

"Please, hold your horses," I tried to calm her down. "And just so you know, he's in the Land of the Red Dragon, not in this country, okay? So a relationship with him will definitely be impossible. Don't get your hopes up."

Hora freed her mouth from my clasps.

"Who says it's impossible?"

"Uhm… reality?"

"Nuh-uh!" she disagreed, raising her fore finger and waggling it from left to right. "There's passports and airplanes. Maybe I should invite him over on your birthday celebration?"

My eyes quickly widened. "No! Please don't! Hora—don't ever do that! I'm not ready to meet him yet. And besides, we're not that close yet."

"You're not close but he gave his email and phone number to you, right?"

"Yes but… it could be an alternate email and phone number. Not his main or personal one, right?"

"And you gave him your personal one?"

"Ugh! Please Hora, just don't."

"Why? It's better to meet him in person, right?"

I sighed heavily. Truly, I wasn't ready to meet him yet. Besides, it would take a miracle for him to agree to come.

"Yes but… what if he becomes disappointed in me? Like, I'm not the girl from his imagination? Or what if he's taken aback if I invited him or asked him to come? I'm afraid he'll just ignore me and not be friends with me anymore."

Hora pouted. "Alright, alright. I won't ask him to come if you're not ready yet." Finally, she conceded. "But don't take too long to get ready or else others might beat you to it. Have you ever thought how he could be surrounded by girls his age, and with the same nationality as him? Girl, you've got lots of competition. If you don't do anything about it, other hyenas will beat you to it and you'll just cry in the corner without even trying."

'Ouch. Sometimes, Hora speaks the harshest of realities. But as much as I hated it, what she said was true. I guess I'll just leave it to destiny if we're really meant together. I've got really low chances anyway. He's really kind and smart so I'm sure lots of girls are already fawning over him. Plus the fact that he's a top player in Armageddon. He probably has lots of fans all over the globe.'

While I was busy sulking over my own thoughts, someone came knocking at my door. I opened it and it was mom, fetching us for dinner. I didn't notice her arrival with dad. Hora and I went down afterwards towards the dining area. I carried my phone with me and Hora brought my printed story. She kept on reading even while we were going down the stairs. I made sure to guide her so she wouldn't trip and fall. She's so petite that she'll probably have her bones broken if ever she fell.

Dinner was fun. Dad told us about his new branch selling really well. Mom also told us some funny stories that happened in "The Secret Garden" restaurant which she manages. My younger brother was silent as usual. Everything was great until Hora told mom about the story I wrote, to which mom's expression suddenly turned serious.

"You wrote a book?" mom asked me in a skeptical way.

"Y-yes, I did. I've been writing it in my free time since a few months back."

My heart thumped loud in my chest. I didn't know how mom and dad would react so I was really nervous to the point I hadn't had a chance to tell them about it. Good thing Hora opened up the topic for me.

"I'm only in chapter seven and I can say she really wrote it well," Hora added. "It's a fan fiction of Armageddon, a really popular game among teenagers nowadays. But even if it's fan fiction, I'd say it's better than the original story. I like how it's written and how the story is going."

Awww… that's so sweet of Hora. And that's a lot coming from her! I'm not sure if she was only saying that in front of my parents but she was never the type to lie about something. So that means she really likes it, right? I felt so happy and blissful deep inside. I smiled at her and whispered my thanks.

"Also," I continued. "Mom, and dad… I think I finally found what I want to take for college." A bit nervous, I finally confessed it, "I want to be an author. I want to write novels and have them published as a book. Or maybe even turned into a movie or—"

"No!" Mom immediately cut me off.

And that's how all the happiness from my face a few moments ago, was completely drained out in an instant…