I needed to get my mind together. My mom called, and I was currently eating dinner, which was some leftovers of takeout yesterday.

"(y/n), how was your school day?" my mother asked. "Did your meeting go well?"

"It was fine, I dropped Lily off at her piano lessons earlier," I responded. She started piano a month ago and she loves it.

"I see. You know, her music teacher has a son your age. Maybe you might know him?" she asked. I could hear her walk around. I resisted snickering.

"Mom, for starters there are millions of guys my age. And I probably wouldn't even have heard of him," I said as I cleaned my plate. I could hear Lily play "Dear Theodosia" a room away from me.

"Hm, that's a shame. Miss Isabella said he went to Gracefield Academy too," I heard her reply.

"Oh really? Sounds interesting," I said as I walked to my room. It's been a long day for me, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Too bad I had school the next morning.

"Well goodnight, have a great day tomorrow!" my mother said. I had one final question so before she declined I quickly asked her it.

"And before you go," I said. "Is Delilah really transferring to Goldy Pond Corporations? With Oliver?"

I heard her sigh through my cellphone. "Yes, and we may ask you to become the next successor of ours."

"Alright, thank you. Goodnight to you too," I nodded slowly. We ended the call and I got ready to sleep.

Inheriting the company, huh? Delilah would have been the heir since she was the firstborn, but since she moved to another facility because of our partner plan, it might be my turn.

My parents know that I never liked associating myself with business matters. One wrong move and your life career could have ended. It's like Monopoly, but with no Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card.

I proceeded to flop on my bed. It will be great for our name, and It'll definitely look good on my college resume, which is a guaranteed plus.

The only downside is I won't be able to see my friends that often. I'll be busy teaching myself stocks, finances, and filing that I probably would not be able to hang out a lot. That means I might grow apart, and I would definitely not want that.

I groaned and hid my head in my hands, completely forgetting about what happened two hours before. That is until I touched my face.

Great, now that what he said is stuck in my brain, sleep is hopeless now.

For what reason, I don't know, as he left, I felt his lips brush my left cheek before he left my porch. "See you tomorrow, (y/n)," Ray said. He spoke so normally it was like it never happened.

At this point, I'm just going to assume everything he does, says, performs is a lie. Or the total opposite. It's not my responsibility to figure out whether it was genuine or not.

I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep as I stared at my ceiling. It's weird, for the closer you gaze at it, the more it looks like it's moving.

I decided to speak to Gilda about it since she's really good at giving advice. Luckily, I knew exactly where to find her.

I carefully knocked on the drama club dressing room door. Gilda was an aspiring designer, and she's been in Fashion Club since freshman year. She was also my first friend besides (f/n) so I got to know her well.

I heard her exclaim, "Coming!" before she opened the door. "(y/n)!"

I did a little wave as she asked me about my day. She's a great listener, so a lot of our classmates visit her to vent. She then wondered why I came to talk to her.

"Also, can you do me a favor?" she asked as I surveyed the racks of cloth hanging on metal bars. "I'm creating a new design, so can I try it on you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, of course." Gilda then gave me a simple white dress, which I changed in a restroom. I turned around. "Is this okay?"

"Ooh, you look pretty," she complimented, even though she was the one who made it. "I'm just going to pin some material onto the cloth, is that fine?"

I said yes and she started fastening this pale pink fabric on the skirt. "Go on, tell me about what happened."

"Oh right, sorry," I apologized as she walked around me, making little adjustments here and there. I held out my arms so it would be easier for her to fix the dress. "I'm asking for a friend. Say there's this guy who you knew for about a year-ish and the first half you and he had been pretty okay. Until some things led to another, and it escalated from your reach and you don't know what to do."

"(y/n), for starters, the asking-for-a-friend thing never works," Gilda answered, smiling. "And I have a strong idea who this might be about."

I closed my eyes in frustration. "If you know, what should I do? Because last night, another incident occurred and that was the last straw for now you don't even know whether it was real or fake or even if it meant something! And then you don't even know what you feel for him!"

She nodded and her glasses glinted as she perceived carefully. Some strands of her messy bun fell out, framing her face. She narrowed her eyes as she stuck together certain areas.

"Maybe you should just talk to him, (y/n)," she advised looking at me. "If you think he's not being truthful to you, why not be truthful to him?"

"Talking to him?!" I said. "But that's the issue. I can't just talk to him!"

"Why? Does he make it difficult for you?" she inquired. She stepped back. I nodded frantically.

"Yes, that's exactly why," I responded. "It's like whatever I say can be turned against me."

"Mhm, I definitely know who you're talking about," Gilda said, smiling. "And with that in mind, he's bound to listen to you if you say the right thing."

"But how will I know what's the right thing?" I questioned her.

"You'll know when it's the correct time," she answered vaguely. She then took my hand and we walked out. "And how do you think of him?"

"Well sometimes when he texts me, I can't help but smile, or when I buy cookies, I wonder if he might like them," I replied. "Is that weird?"

"No, it's perfectly fine," she said. "And possibly what you feel for him may be returned to you back. See, I've known these people since elementary, and I learn things from each. And I can tell who you're talking about thinks about you on the daily."

Thinking about me? Like how? It's not like I think of him all the time, only when he eased himself into my mind, which is usually when he pisses me off.

Nevermind, he pisses me off every day.

"So you probably should just chat with him, just some lighthearted small talk, before you delve into what kind of person he is," she added. Her eyes lit up when she stitched in the final piece. "Perfect!"

"Thanks, Gilda," I said back. I'm glad I met her. "Well see you!"

"Come back again!"

"Guys, please get a room," I heard (f/n) say from outside the council room. Yikes.

I opened the door and walked in. I sat down on an empty couch and started typing my essay. Emma, Norman, and (f/n) were here already.

"Can we start the meeting now?" (f/n) asked the couple who paid no attention to her. "Hello? I'm right here."

Are they deaf or something? She proceeded to wave her arms in the air, but that still didn't work. I guess they are both blind too. (f/n) looked like a storm was brewing inside her. She took deep breaths and even tried texting them across the room, but the two were too busy flirting with each other to even notice.

"For God's sake, cut it out!" she exclaimed, surprising them.

Wow, (f/n) must have been ignored for a long time. She regained her composure and sat back down. "So? You guys done?"

"Y-Yeah, sorry," Norman apologized even though I knew (f/n) probably wouldn't forgive the two of them for a while. One of the things she hated was when no one listened to her. "What were you saying?"

"She wants to start the meeting now," I answered, on my first body paragraph. "And honestly, save the clinginess for later, okay? This is not a place for public displays of affection."

Emma and Norman looked down. Were we too harsh? Then again, it was getting on my nerves how we weren't completing all our tasks because of them sometimes.

"Alright, now that's settled, Ray should be coming soon," (f/n) stated calmly. She crossed her arms while we waited for him. And she was right; he came just a minute later.

"Now that everyone's here, let's start," Norman said as Ray took a seat. I refused to greet him.

"Since we finished early, I guess we just relax for a bit," (f/n) said, sipping her tea. She has a habit of drinking chamomile to calm her nerves, so I suppose she's still upset over earlier.

I resumed my essay when I felt someone's presence over me. "Hey."

I would have flinched, but I have gotten so used to voices randomly talking that I'm used to it. Ray stood behind where I sat on the couch.

I disregarded him. After what happened at the porch, and what Gilda said, I don't even know what to say. So the best bet is to just not engage with him.

"Don't you have stuff to do?" I asked as (f/n) started her project. He shook his head. "Oh okay, then don't bother me."

"Damn, who hurt you?" he said, clearly fed up with me. I rolled my eyes. "I just said hi, and you look like you wanna punch me."

"Well now that you said so, it doesn't seem that bad," I muttered. This is not okay.

"Don't tell me you're upset over last night," he said, bringing it up. I felt my face warm up at the sudden thought. "I'm sorry if I caught you off guard."

"Huh?" (f/n) said, looking up from her drink. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, nothing occurred," I assured her. "Ray's just being a jerk again."

The bell rang, but since Ray and I still had fish tank tasks, we reluctantly stayed together in the council room. Norman, Emma, and (f/n) left, as we started getting out the supplies. This seemed like a reasonable time to converse, as what Gilda would have said. This was awkward.

"Can I have a pop tart?" I said as he went through the broom closet to get the water conditioner. He proceeded to throw me a chocolate strawberry one without speaking. "Thanks."

We then started to carefully transport the fish to our bucket while we picked out the plants and coral. Cleaning duty was once every while, and since it took a long time, we assign two people. And just my luck, it was our turn now.

10 minutes passed as we individually scrubbed each aquarium decoration and potted new algae in the gravel. He broke the silence.

"Since Valentine's Day is coming up, what are you planning to do?" he asked while I looked at him. I shrugged and answered. Another holiday about infatuation means another day of loneliness.

"I don't know, probably just gonna buy stuff in advance and watch TV," I said. "It's what I do every year."

And it was true. I didn't even like going out because every store was filled with couples and I would feel very out of place.

"Really? No one's ever asked you out?" he said surprised. We were almost finished so we then added back the fish cautiously, so we don't harm them.

I shook my head. "Yeah, that's just how I live. What about you? Doing anything that day?"

"Depends," he replied as he laughed. I narrowed my eyes.

"Depends? What kind of answer is that?" I said back as he turned around to plug in the cord for the filter.

"Depends on whether she says yes," he said reaching behind the shelf. "But she probably won't so I might as well give up on that already."

"At least you might actually have a chance," I said softly, as I heard him turn on the tank. We heard the soft buzzing sound of the filter turning on. "Girls adore you."

"Well not her," Ray said standing up. "Either she would kill me or die of embarrassment even if I said that I liked her."

I laughed as he then offered me an item. "Look what I found behind the bookcase."

He handed me a really dusty book, so dusty that I had to wipe the cover to see what I said. But once I did, I recognized it immediately. "My Romeo and Juliet novel! This is the one I read from our sophomore year!"

"Wow, I didn't realize it was in here this whole time," I said as I inspected the cover art. "And this was when we first met."

"A week after, but yeah," he said looking at the clock. "You seemed pretty angry when I called you a hopeless romantic."

I flipped through the chapters when suddenly, something fell from one of the pages. Ray watched as I gently picked up a sky-blue post-it note. It lost its stickiness and was very wrinkled from being kept in my book too long. But once I turned it over, I immediately recognized what it was.

Your eyes don't twinkle

Your expression stays the same

But your smiles are real

-Ray

It was the haiku he wrote after we argued that morning. I smiled, for I forgot about the memory till now.

Maybe if he wasn't so intolerable, I would've fallen in love with him. But it doesn't work like that. It never does.

I put the book into my bag, as he finalized the fish tank. I wonder if he remembers those memories from second-year. Like when we criticized and insulted each other on everything, to where we were now. We still disagree from time to time, but now, things were different. Ray seemed different.

Maybe it was because I learned about him more, and he wasn't the cocky, sarcastic stick-in-the-mud I thought he was. Sure, he got on my nerves too much, but inside he cares. Or at least I think he does.

I even ask myself whether he's a good person or not. Even after more than a whole 12 months, I still don't know the answer.

He does good things, but I can't figure out if he has moral intentions. It's like I can't find the reason to why I always think of him. Way more than I should.

"To think that was more than an entire year ago. How time flew." I stated, glancing at the floor.

Ray nodded before looking out the window. "Hey, before we leave, can I ask you something?"

"Sure what?" I said as he looked at me. His expression was pretty serious so I was kind of scared of what he was going to say.

"What exactly am I to you?"