It's already four in the morning and I still haven't finished this confession. I need to get through it soon, while I still have the time. I opened to a fresh blank page in this notebook to keep going. I know you're waiting for answers. So yeah, I'm done playing hard to get, I'm just gonna write it.
_______________________
The day Misaki admitted how she felt about me, she still didn't give me an answer. June came and went, then July, before I finally got her sweet yes on August 12th. I felt like the happiest man alive that day. I got used to hearing her laugh, seeing her smile all the time. I didn't know she could talk that much, or that she'd tease me every chance she got. What I did notice was that she only acted that way around me and her family.
People thought Misaki was the quiet type. That's why everyone was so shocked and couldn't believe it when they found out she was dating me. Me, of all people. I'm super outgoing and basically try to befriend everyone I meet. I'm even more like a people-pleaser than those two-faced politicians. Our personalities are total opposites.
One Sunday morning, I was buzzing with excitement because I was finally going to see Misaki again. We'd planned it that Friday, to meet up for Sunday mass at the cathedral. Truth is, that was our routine every week, going to church together. We still had a little way to go before the mass began. While there were still very few people around, she held my arm as we walked toward the front. And as she did, she promised me that one day, she would wait for me right before the altar.
She texted me saying she was already waiting at the park where we usually met, so I rushed straight over. By the time I got close enough to make her out, I could already tell from a distance she was pouting, dragging her bike along behind her.
Misaki didn't know how to ride a bike. She'd wanted to ask her dad to buy her one so she could practice, but he was too worried something might happen to her and said no. So the two of us pooled our allowance together until we'd saved enough to buy one ourselves.
"Good morning!" I called out, waving at her even though I was still pretty far off. I saw her whole face light up the second she spotted me, so I just broke into a run to close the distance.
She told me her dad had chewed her out after catching her crash into a post right in front of their house. Thankfully, the impact wasn't too bad. Of all the bad luck, she just had to get caught like that by her dad the moment he got home. Misaki never expected him to return early from his seminar. Her dad was so angry that he said he never wanted to see that bicycle in their house ever again.
Since she couldn't bring herself to just throw away something we'd worked so hard to save up for, she asked me to hold onto it for her instead. So every Saturday, two in the morning, believe it or not, I'd sneak her out of her house so she could ride with me. We always picked that hour on purpose, to make sure her parents were dead asleep.
Here in our province, by this time of night the whole town is quiet and asleep. So we basically own the streets, just riding our bikes around, feeling the cool air and messing with each other nonstop. I'd take her home around 4:00 AM, and she'd sneak straight back to her room so no one would catch on.
Everyone would just think their sweet youngest, Misaki, was sound asleep in her bed. During math class, we could barely focus on the lesson. We sat all the way in the back corner, so we could flirt and be all lovey-dovey without anyone noticing.
To keep from falling asleep, instead of listening to the discussion, we'd talk smack about our classmates in that class while we both tried not to laugh too loud. Besides me putting my arm around her and tickling her side, that's really all we were doing back there. Don't get the wrong idea.
One time, I actually grabbed a marker and wrote our names on my desk, even drew a little heart between them. She smacked my hand, worried we'd get in trouble, and honestly, embarrassed too, since it was our names sitting right there for anyone to see. She kept saying, what would the students in the next class think when they walked into this room and saw that.
"Hey, couples in the back!" Misaki and I both straightened up in our seats the second we heard sir call us out. Every pair of eyes in the room turned on us right away.
"What's going on there? Are you alright?" He didn't sound mad, if anything he looked like he was just messing with us.
"Yes Mr. Mendez," I stammered.
"We're sorry big bro. I mean, Mr Mendez," Misaki blurted, just as flustered as me.
"You should've listened to my discussion. But it's okay, just don't get too sweet on each other back there. Kinda makes the rest of us jealous." That set the whole class off, everyone laughing and hollering, piling on with the teasing. I caught Misaki's cheeks turning red while she kept her head down.
September 29, 6:30 PM
Misaki and I were walking down the hallway on our way home. We were in the middle of teasing each other when I noticed her go quiet out of nowhere, stopping mid-step, eyes locked on something ahead of us.
I stopped too and followed her line of sight, and that's when I heard the footsteps coming our way. I spotted Joseph, Bryan, and Carl swaggering toward us, all cocky grins and attitude. Back in high school, I would've turned into a scared little kitten around guys like them. But now, because of Misaki, I have courage now to fight back.
"Wow, looks like our relationship's going great these days, huh," Bryan said, sarcasm dripping off every word as he came up close, chewing his gum like he owned the place. I stepped even closer to him myself, not a trace of fear left in my body whenever they showed up.
"That's what happens when you're actually a decent person, you get to feel good all the time," I shot back, making sure every word landed hard enough to cut straight to the bone. He tilted his head then, trying to peek past me at Misaki, who stood at my back.
"So this is what you replaced me with, Misaki?" Bryan said to her, his voice already starting to crack with anger.
"Replaced? As if you two were ever even together?" I shot back, not backing down an inch. This wasn't the first time the three of them had cornered us and messed with us. There was even a time they pulled a knife on us, and it was only because Mr Ichiro showed up right at that moment, hauling all three of them straight to the dean's office. Ever since then, the tension between us had only grown.
What I said made Bryan's eyes blow wide with rage, and he swung his fist back like he was about to hit me, but Misaki threw herself between us and yanked his arm away before it could land.
"Go ahead, try hurting him, you'll have to go through me first!" Misaki's voice, usually so soft, turned solid, unshakeable. She was gentle by nature, but when she got angry, it was a whole different side of her. Like she couldn't hold herself back anymore, especially after what happened when she dragged Sarah by the hair. She looked like a straight up murderer in that moment.
"Oh really now, you're actually fighting back? Tiny as you are, you think you can protect this coward of a boyfriend of yours?" Bryan said, and then the three of them burst out laughing. My jaw tightened and I glared daggers at them. That used to work on me, but I'm no longer afraid of them.
"How many times do I have to tell you this, Misaki. Come with me and I guarantee your life won't be a mess. Don't push my patience too far," Bryan said, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth while his eyes stayed locked on Misaki, still all too pleased with himself.
"And how many times do I have to say I don't want you, I'm not into you. You think you're the only one running out of patience here?" The second Misaki said that, Bryan took a step back, but the anger stayed carved into his face even as he kept smiling.
"Fine, this is really what you want? Then you're about to find out you picked the wrong person to mess with!" The moment he said that, the three of them started walking off. Right before Bryan passed me, he smacked the back of my head. I let it go, I was done with the drama for the day. Better they just left. I saw Misaki let out a heavy sigh, so I pulled her close and wrapped her in a hug. I hoped that would be the last of it, the three of them messing with us.
Loving Misaki,
-Anthony
WARNING ⚠️
The next chapters contain sensitive themes that some readers may find disturbing or uncomfortable. Reader discretion is advised.