Tonette pulled on the strap of her bag again and pulled the thin pink notebook in her hands closer to her chest. 

"Have a good lunch Tonette!" Ms. Lee chimed from her desk. 

She gave the woman a small nod before exiting the classroom. She was always last to leave the musky room. In fact any time she didn't leave last she would feel bad and as if she did something wrong. 

She made her way through the stuffy hallways of the university, her books and bags so close to her body she swore she looked paranoid. Maybe if it wasn't for the constant taunts and 'bullies' as they were called, she would be in less of a hurry to get out of the place.

Ever since people began figuring out she was a transfer student on a scholarship all the way from the Philippines they never left her alone. Foreigner, alien, unwanted were only some of the mocking names thrown at her on a daily basis. Eventually she had learned to ignore the harsh threats and live life without a care for these people.

"Boo," Someone pushed her from the back slightly and she closed her eyes thinking it was another lonely kid wanting someone or something to pick on.

Turning around to curse him off, a faint smile fell over her face when she realized who the person was. 

"Bobby!" She chimed, leaning forward to wrap her arms around the tall boy.

Her heart skipped a beat when she felt his strong embrace and her lips felt dry feeling his built figure so close against hers. 

"How was class?" He asked.  His smile always made her day.

"Good but it's only lunch," She rolled her eyes. 

Bobby put a hand in his pocket and began to walk with her towards the cafeteria doors. As they entered, a few eyes landed on the two but to Tonette's surprise no one said anything.

She furrowed her brow and continued to look at the faces of the students. 

"What are you planning to get?" A voice spoke from her right. 

It was only then she remembered Bobby was beside her. No one dare spoke when he was around. 

"The usual," She smiled genuinely. 

Her and Bobby had been friends ever since she came to the school. He was the only one that opened up to her and wanted to hang around her. 

Today’s lunch with Bobby was extremely sweet. He continuously showered her with indirect compliments and soft touches. This was a side of him she wasn't familiar with. The two would usually be sarcastic and playful but never this intimate. 

She allowed it though and brought it upon herself to return the favor. She began feeding off of his smile and eyes that gleamed whenever she touched his hand. 

This continued for a while before Tonette finally blinked out of the trance and looked around her. With a jolt she stood up, her heart beating. 

"What's wrong?" Bobby sighed, clearly upset she had broken their chain of flirtatious behavior. 

"Where is everyone?" She spoke slowly.

Bobby furrowed his brow. Her sentence was somewhat slurred and he didn't understand what she was trying to say. 

Tonette groaned. Being a foreign student was hard enough, learning Korean was even harder.

"Where did everyone go?" She tried again, her once frantic voice now much more calm.

"The bell rang a few minutes ago, you didn't hear?" He responded casually. 

She began to break into a furious sweat. She was never late for class, nonetheless she never skipped class. 

"C'mon can we hang out for a little while," Bobby pouted. 

Tonette felt a small jolt of energy surge through her skin and she groaned not knowing how to say no to the gorgeous boy. 

"Bobby please," She tried to beg.

He frowned, his eyebrows creasing together in an attempt to look hurt.

As much as she wanted to leave and go to class, she just couldn't. Spending a few more minutes with Bobby couldn't hurt. She just couldn't resist his presence. His boyish charm was too much for anyone to handle.

"Fine," Tonette grumbled in defeat. She saw his eyes light up and the familiar smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile herself. 

This closeness they had developed was comfortable and Tonette was thankful that she had someone like him to depend on. 

"Anyways, as I was saying before. I think we should play a game," Bobby started, changing up his position so he was sitting straight across from her. 

"A game?" A crease formed on her forehead. 

"Yeah," He smiled, "A confession game where we take turns revealing our secrets."

She bit her lip for a split second. A confession game immediately struck her as a 'I like you, do you like me' sort of game. The only problem was, Bobby didn't really like her. Well, that was what she thought to say the least. 

"Ok, you go first," Tonette knew the only way to get out of this situation was to play it safe.

Bobby hesitated for a split second before nodding confidently.

"Suit yourself," He began, looking up dramatically so he could think, "In the third grade I was afraid of the dark."

Tonette smiled, "That was a weak one."

"You go then," Bobby laughed. 

She thought for a second. What options did she have? She didn't really have any deep dark secrets. Deep dark emotions, yes.

"Uh, my mom and dad separated a few years ago," She managed to shrug.

She noticed Bobby's expression soften for a second before quickly taking his turn. 

"I've taken a piss in the middle of a park before and some kid’s mom saw me," He laughed. 

Tonette almost burst into a fit as she covered a hand over , stifling her giggles. 

"Oh god, you're delusional!" She cried.

Bobby smiled, "Hey, when you gotta go you gotta go."

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and watched him. His laughing face was absolutely priceless; in an attractive way of course. He always looked like he was in a good mood. 

"Your turn," He interrupted. 

"Oh. Well I guess this one doesn't count.." She spoke slowly.

There was a thought in the back of her mind that she was itching to speak of but something about it seemed off. It wasn't really a secret.

"Say it," Bobby leaned forward, seemingly interested. 

She faltered,

"I...I have this thing where every night before I go to bed I sort out my...my thoughts about things that happened that day," She said honestly. 

And it was true. Every now and then she would sit down and think of whatever happened every moment of that day and she would decipher what it meant. In all honesty, most of those thoughts included a specific boy.

"Me too, but I guess it's not different thoughts. It's the same thoughts every night," Bobby responded. 

She gave him a look. Never had she expected Bobby to do the same thing.

"Really?" She asked. Saying she was surprised was an understatement. 

"Yeah, they’re just jumbled thoughts about a certain someone..." Even his response seemed unsure. 

She blinked trying to get a hold of where he was going with this. Even so, a small sense of envy built in the pit of her stomach. Someone was on his mind every night. A girl, probably someone pretty, was keeping him awake. Oh how she wished it would have been her. 

"That's interesting," She made sure to word her response carefully. She didn't want to sound like she didn't care but at the same time she didn't want to sound like she did care.

"It is actually. I spend all this time thinking about her you know? Like trying to know how she thinks and what she does."

She bit her lip, her gaze now on the floor beneath her, "That's cool."

"She fascinates me really. Everything she does is so much different than other girls. It's hypnotizing."

She felt a strong pang at her chest, "Offensive."

Bobby furrowed his brow in confusing. She didn't dare look up though, not when someone else was on his mind. Not when she wasn't the one he wanted to be looking in his eyes.

"How so?" Was his next answer. 

Her jaw dropped. Did he not realize he insulted every single female species for the sake of this other girl?

"You said what she does is different than us, to me that's offensive." She had to bite down her tongue to keep her mood from going sour. 

Bobby couldn't hold back a smirk as he leaned forward and raised an amused eyebrow at the latter.

"Us? Who exactly is us?"

She shrugged, not wanting to respond. This conversation was going nowhere and she would rather end it now instead of hear him ramble on about someone that wasn't her. 

"Can I leave?" She sighed. Class was a much better idea than this. 

"Tonette," Bobby laughed, "Wait."

"No I seriously have to go Bobby-"

He grabbed hold of her paled wrist and pulled on it slightly. Only that small touch made his skin prickle with pleasurable goosebumps. He held on to her for a moment not wanting to let go. Just the simple sight of her looking down at him left him speechless and all sense of sanity left him.

“You’re the only one I think about,” He managed to speak.

Even though everyone knew how much Bobby talked and how outgoing he was, he could admit; that was the hardest thing he had done in his life.

“What?” Tonette breathed, feeling his strong grip loosen on her wrist.

“I don’t know if it’s obvious but I guess I really like you,” He gulped. He was extremely nervous.

She smiled a weird, crooked smile. Tonette never had anyone like her as much as she liked other people. So this confession was beyond amazing for her. She had lived life thinking she would be someone’s second choice or sort of a surplus in the love game. It had never occurred to her that someone would genuinely have feelings for her nonetheless think about her every night. And the mere fact that it was Bobby made her smile grow, if it was possible.

“Do you think I should take things slow? I’m not sure how these things work,” Bobby spoke truthfully and Tonette’s jaw dropped.

“Really?” She held back a grin.

He rubbed a sheepish hand at the back of his neck, “Yeah. Help me out?” He mumbled.

This time, she authentically, actually, truly laughed at his innocence. This y, desirable Bobby was still a little boy and she preferred this side of him.

“You can start by asking me to be your girlfriend,” She bit her bottom lip.

His face lit up immediately and he nodded, “And then?”

She paused for a moment before leaning forward and placing her soft hand over his.

“I’ll help you out with the rest.” Was what she had whispered in his ear, making sure to word her sentence in correct Korean so he would understand.