The meeting was not supposed to look suspicious.
Which was exactly why it looked suspicious.
Six girls pretending to "casually" buy juice at the canteen after school.
Four boys pretending to argue about basketball practice near the vending machine.
Everyone stealing glances at each other.
Everyone pretending not to.
Friend #3 (from the girl's group) was the first to break.
She walked straight up to them.
"You know," she said sweetly, "it's very obvious you're waiting for us."
The boys froze.
One of them coughed. "We're not."
Friend #6 raised a brow. "Really? Because you've been staring at our table for the last ten minutes."
Another boy muttered, "We were assessing the… cafeteria architecture."
Friend #1 leaned over to her friends. "Oh no. They're stupid."
The tallest of the boys sighed. "Can we just talk?"
There it was.
The reason they were all here.
An unspoken alliance.
The air shifted from awkward to purposeful.
They moved toward the far end of the canteen, near the back windows where no one really lingered after school.
For a moment, they just stood there.
Girls on one side.
Boys on the other.
Like rival teams negotiating a treaty.
Friend #5 crossed her arms. "So."
One of the boys nodded. "So."
Silence.
Friend #2 finally snapped. "Your friend."
"Your friend," one of the boys replied at the same time.
They blinked.
Then pointed at each other.
"You go first."
"No, you."
Friend #6 rolled her eyes dramatically. "Fine. Let's simplify this. We're here because something happened between them."
A beat.
The boys exchanged looks.
"…You saw?" one of them asked cautiously.
Friend #3 smirked. "From afar."
The tallest boy exhaled. "So you know."
Friend #1 tilted her head. "We know about the first fall."
The boys stiffened.
Friend #4 added calmly, "And the second."
The reaction was immediate.
"SECOND?" one of the boys said sharply.
Friend #2 blinked. "Wait. You didn't know about the second?"
The boys stared at each other.
One of them slowly turned back. "There was a second?"
Friend #6 clasped her hands dramatically. "Oh, this is even better than I thought."
The tallest boy ran a hand through his hair. "What happened in the second fall?"
Six girls looked at each other.
Grins spreading.
Friend #3 leaned forward slightly.
"They landed," she said casually.
"And?" one of the boys pressed.
"And their lips met."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Processing.
Then—
"THEY WHAT?"
One of the boys nearly dropped his drink.
"It was accidental!" Friend #1 defended quickly. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" another boy echoed.
Friend #5 shrugged. "They didn't exactly pull away immediately."
The boys stared at one another.
"Bro is dead," one of them muttered.
Friend #2 frowned. "Why?"
"He told us it was just a fall," the tallest boy said slowly. "He didn't say anything about… that."
The girls gasped in synchronized betrayal.
"He didn't tell you?"
"No."
Friend #6 smirked. "Oh, he's down bad."
One of the boys crossed his arms. "Okay, wait. What did she say?"
Friend #4 softened slightly. "She panicked."
"Regret?" a boy asked.
"No," Friend #3 answered immediately.
"Hate?"
"No."
"Disgust?"
"Absolutely not."
They all paused.
Friend #1 smiled faintly. "She keeps replaying it."
The boys went quiet.
The tallest one sighed. "He hasn't slept properly."
The girls blinked.
Friend #2's voice softened. "Seriously?"
"He stares at nothing," one boy said. "Then sighs."
"Like dramatically," another added.
"He keeps touching his lips like he's checking if it was real."
The girls collectively lost composure.
Friend #6 grabbed Friend #3's arm. "THIS IS SO BAD."
Friend #5 nodded. "They're literally the same."
The realization began to settle across the group.
Like dominoes falling in slow motion.
Friend #4 said it first.
"…They both think it's one-sided."
The tallest boy nodded slowly. "He thinks she regrets it."
Friend #3 folded her arms. "She thinks he regrets it."
Silence.
The kind that meant something important had just clicked.
One of the boys let out a long breath.
"They're idiots."
Friend #1 pointed at him. "Yes."
Friend #2 added, "Certified."
Friend #6 declared, "Advanced level idiots in love."
No one argued.
Because it was true.
The mood shifted from discovery to strategy.
"So," one of the boys said cautiously, "what do we do?"
Friend #3 immediately replied, "We force them to talk."
"How?"
"We corner them."
"In what way?"
Friend #6 grinned mischievously. "Emotionally."
The boys looked concerned.
Friend #5 shook her head. "No trauma. Just… encouragement."
The tallest boy leaned against the wall. "He won't confess first."
"She won't either," Friend #4 admitted.
"So we create a situation," one of the boys suggested.
Friend #2 nodded slowly. "Where they can't run."
They all paused.
The irony was thick.
Because she had literally run.
Friend #1 snapped her fingers. "What if we make them jealous?"
The boys immediately rejected it.
"No."
"He'll shut down."
"She'll overthink."
Friend #6 tapped her chin. "Okay. Fake rumor?"
"Too risky," the tallest boy said. "He'll get protective."
Friend #3 raised a brow. "Protective?"
The boys went quiet.
Friend #2's eyes widened. "Oh, this is so obvious."
Friend #5 grinned. "He likes her a lot."
"Obviously," one of the boys muttered.
Friend #4 suggested, "What about pairing them for a project?"
"They'll avoid eye contact and suffer silently," a boy replied.
Friend #6 pointed dramatically. "Dance practice?"
"Too public."
"Library duty?"
"Too quiet."
"Confession note?"
"Too childish."
Every idea was thrown out almost immediately.
Not dramatic enough.
Too dramatic.
Too obvious.
Too risky.
They needed something perfect.
Something that would trap them in a moment without forcing it.
Something that would make them confront what already existed.
The group slowly fell silent.
Even the usual loud ones.
Sunlight filtered through the canteen windows.
Dust floating in golden beams.
Everyone thinking.
Friend #3 broke the silence softly.
"You know what the real problem is?"
They looked at her.
"They both think they're protecting the other."
The tallest boy nodded slowly. "Yeah."
"She ran because she thought she embarrassed him."
"He stayed quiet because he thought she regretted it."
Friend #5 sighed. "They're both trying to be considerate."
"And it's ruining everything," one of the boys muttered.
Friend #6 suddenly looked up.
Her expression changed.
The chaos in her eyes sharpened into something focused.
Everyone noticed.
"What?" Friend #1 asked carefully.
She didn't answer immediately.
She just smiled.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
The tallest boy narrowed his eyes. "Why do you look like that?"
Friend #6 glanced at the boys.
Then at her friends.
Then back again.
"Well," she began casually, "we know a few things."
Everyone leaned in.
"They avoid each other in public."
"Yes."
"They panic when cornered."
"Yes."
"They won't confess unless forced."
"Yes."
"And," she added softly, "they care too much about not embarrassing each other."
The boys were listening carefully now.
"So?" one of them prompted.
She tilted her head slightly.
"What if," she said slowly, "we create a situation where they think it's embarrassing at first…"
Friend #3's eyes widened.
"…but then realize they're both in it together?"
The tallest boy straightened slightly.
Friend #5 whispered, "You're thinking something specific."
Friend #6 tapped her chin.
"I might be."
Silence stretched.
Tension built.
One of the boys stepped forward slightly.
"…What kind of situation?"
She didn't answer directly.
Instead, she looked around at all of them.
"We'd need both groups."
"You have us," the tallest boy said immediately.
She smiled.
"We'd need timing."
"Manageable."
"We'd need privacy."
The boys exchanged looks.
Then one of them slowly smiled.
"Oh."
Friend #3's jaw dropped slightly.
"Wait."
Friend #1 looked between them. "Wait."
The tallest boy blinked.
"Wait."
Friend #6 finally spoke clearly.
"Wait…"
Everyone turned toward her fully now.
Her grin widened.
"I have an idea."
The silence that followed was electric.
No one asked her to explain.
Because the look on her face said everything.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
Smiles began appearing across the group.
One by one.
Mischievous.
Determined.
Excited.
The alliance was sealed without a single formal agreement.
The girls and the boys exchanged knowing looks.
This wasn't chaos anymore.
This was a mission.
And somewhere, completely unaware, two idiots in love were about to walk straight into it.