Work Text:
"You don't mean it! I love you! This has been my dream gift for forever !" (Reducted) gasped, long silky black hair whipping around her legs as she hugged (Reducted) tightly. "Of course I do! You're my best friend, aren't you?" A grin plays across his face as he hugs her back tightly and briefly, (Too briefly, a tiny, traitorous part of her mind whispers) before turning away and walking in the direction of school. "Come on! I know you're excited about the iPhone but we still have to get to school" "Y-yeah" She whispers, her voice drowned out in the gentle breeze. She sighs - his shock of blond hair hadn't even been combed and yet catching sight of it still gave her heart palpitations. This was a fairly recent development- these feelings had only begun during that party.
(OK I could put a flashback here, but I have decided not to😊)
"Come onn! We are going to be latee. My classroom is literally on the 15th floor! I wouldn't want Mr John to scold me again!" He called out playfully, smiling with the smile at her. Her heart stopped. "C-coming!" She ran up to him, panting slightly. "What's up with you today? You keep stammering!" He says, with a beautiful teasing lilt to his voice. "S-shut up!" "See! you did it again!" She shoves him, both of them laughing playfully.
As soon as they stepped into the hallway, the whispers began. "Did you hear? His parents recently got divorced.""And his older brother's a failure. Dropped out of school after he was caught taking drugs.""I bet he's doing them too." His smile started to fade as he dropped his gaze. She gave her best glare to all the people talking. Didn't they know that they could be heard? She made a mental note to threaten some of those people later after school. No one was getting away with gossiping about her best friend (and crush) on her watch! 'Hey, are you ok?" She nudged his arm with her shoulder lightly, noticing his expression. She had known that his family life wasn't exactly the best, but that didn't mean he needed people talking about it! He nodded and gave her a tight lipped smile. "Sure." The one word answer terrified her more than anything else.
"You may go, we have finished the lesson for today." The teacher nodded at them, dismissing them for lunch. Yes! She rejoiced internally, glancing at the clock. The teacher had released her early! She raced out of the class and up the stairs, puffing and panting. She ran up to his classroom, only to freeze when she heard something. "...just like your brother! A useless, cheating, drug addicted idiot!" The class burst into snickers at the droning, self assured voice. 'The voice' belonged to the body of (reducted)'s teacher, Mr John.
Coincidentally, Mr John also held a deep grudge against (reducted), for the petty reason that his brother had most certainly not been a joy to teach. (Reducted), on the other hand, was a diligent student, the complete opposite of his older brother, but of course that didn't matter. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all. With a sinking feeling, she realised who was probably on the receiving end of Mr John's reprimands. Needless to say, Mr John kept him in for the entirety of lunch. Sadly, this hadn't even been the first time. Neither did she think that it could be the last time, although she hoped desperately for it to be. (That's why she kept going back every lunch period, in hopes that it would be better that day).
That day, after school, she hurriedly packed her bag, before running back to his class. Threatening the gossipers could happen later! Right now she needed to comfort him! When she got there, something felt- off. There were no lights on in the classroom. Normally, he would wait for her in the classroom by doing homework. She walked inside, frowning slightly. That's when she saw him- standing at the open window. She gasped and ran to him. She didn't make it in time. And neither did he.
Later, it was found out that he had used all of his saved money to buy her that iPhone. It hadn't been a moment of impulsiveness. It was planned. That alone made it worse- that she hadn't done enough to help. Blond hair haunted her dreams for the rest of her life. She never got over her first love. If she had been there more, said more, done more; would anything have changed? She didn't know. And she never would. They were only 15. The last words he ever spoke? "I'm sorry". The last words she ever spoke to him? "You don't mean it! I love you!"
But he did, and love never meant anything anyway.