Sleeping made it better. I didn't hate myself anymore, just life in general. I was dreading going to school the next day, but I had a plan on how to handle things.

I was going to pretend it never happened.

Great idea, I know. Ten points to Ravenclaw for that one. There really wasn't anything else I could do, though. I was going to have to go to school and sit next to him today, as I would until we changed seats, which was in the distant future. There wasn't anything else for me to do other than it up and ignore him, like the mature adult I know I am.

I was still nervous, though. It felt slightly irrational, to be so worked up by something like this, but it was the truth. I guess this was the kind of thing my parents were hoping I would get over given enough time, that I speak to enough people, that I make enough mistakes that it doesn't matter anymore. I didn't really care to get to that point, though. I'd rather socialize with the same people I always have, because I know how to act around them, I know what to say, I know what they expect of me, and I know what I can expect from them.

But for now, my parents aren't happy with that, so I have to try things their way.

School that day went pretty normal, as I didn't try interacting with people. I was still my self-inflicted wounds from yesterday. Why was self-pity such a comforting place to be? The only down side was that I had the whole day before I sat by the boy, which meant I had all day to be nervous about it. 

I finally started relaxing a bit during lunch break. I was sitting in the cafeteria, reading a really good book, and not thinking about something that probably wouldn't be a big deal when it happened but still bothered me way too much. As I reached for my drink, my hand bumped it, knocking it off balance. I turned from my book to grab it, which I thankfully did, and I was pulled back into the real world. While I was there, I started overhearing a conversation happening at the table in front of me.

"Is that a confession letter?" a guy asked, quite loudly, who was facing away from me so I couldn't see his face.

"Is she seriously giving it to him now?" another asked, facing me so I could see him smirking. "In the middle of the cafeteria?"

There was a girl holding a folded slip of paper out to one of the boys at the table. Her cheeks were red, and she looked extremely uncomfortable. Not that anyone could blame her. The boy she was holding the paper out to was pointedly not looking at her, but at his friends, smiling along with them.

"Please accept this," the girl said, still holding the paper out to him. The guys at the table chuckled, and the boy she was talking to turned to her, reluctantly.

"I'm sorry, I don't like girls like you," he said, swiping his eyes from her head, to her feet, and back up again, making his meaning very clear.

Her face got even redder and, surprisingly, irritation began to show through her features. The look was quite plain at first, but then she repressed it, putting on a poker face. Her hands still out, she said;

"It's not from me, it's from a friend."

To which all the guys snickered, and one said, "Sure it is."

Another one fake whispered, "Who does this girl think she is?"

"Hey, knock it off," another voice said, not from the table. "Just take the note. You don't have to be nasty about it."

I glanced over to where the voice had come from, and was shocked. It was the boy. The boy from my class. The one I embarrassed myself in front of. He was sitting at the next table over with a group of people I didn't recognize, which didn't really say much about them. He was sitting reclined in his chair, hands in his pockets, his face turned towards the scene I had just been watching with a stern look on his face.

"I can handle this, Kai," the girl shot at the boy from my class.

What?

I realized that, aside from the blush, she didn't really seem to be that embarrassed at all. From her tone and expression, she actually seemed annoyed. She had said earlier that the note was from a friend, not her, so maybe that was actually true. Then why would her face be red?

"Why are you so interested?" one of the guys from the table asked, turning to, I guess, Kai. "Do you like her? Or did she like you and you're just trying to push her off on someone else?"

Kai's face grew harder, and the girl rolled her eyes. She rolled them. Then it hit me; her face was probably red because she was mad. So the note definitely couldn't be from her, not if it really was a confession letter. This guy and his friends had been so rude to her; she would have given up on him instead of insisting.

Or, at least, that's what I hope she would do. Some people have weird taste. And by weird I mean terrible.

"I'm interested because one of my friends is her boyfriend, and I know for a fact that you're not her type," Kai said, not flinching. "So take the note, I'm sure she has other things to do."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," one of the guys said, turning away from Kai, and they all exchanged looks that said "who does this guy think he is?"

"You can tell your friend," the boy who was supposed to be getting the note said, "that I'm not interested."

"Good," the girl said, finally lowering her arms, tucking the note in her pocket, no longer holding back her irritation. "Maybe now she'll understand what a dill hole you are and move on."

With that said, her face markedly less red, she spun on her heels and stalked out of the cafeteria, leaving behind the idiots at the table next to me to be idiots amongst themselves.

I glanced back at Kai, surprised not only that this had happened, but that Kai, of all people, if that really is his name, was part of it. When I looked at him, he was looking back at me, his face softer. He swiftly looked away when our eyes met, straightening up in his chair, staring intently at something on the table.

I thought for a moment about what I had just seen. I was definitely impressed. It's not easy to stand up to people, whether it's for a friend or not. What he did was awesome, even if it didn't really change much. Regardless of that girl's indifference to the boys and what they said, no matter how strong it was, she probably still appreciated that someone said something in her defense. I know I would be thrilled. Then I remembered what happened yesterday, and my own face turned a little red. What happened was even worse to think about now that I respected the boy. Just as I was accepting what had happened, he had to go and be a good person. Stupid good people.

He glanced back over at me, and when he saw I was still looking he didn't turn away immediately. I made a split second decision and concluding that I respected this boy, and smiled at him, hoping he'd get that it was my way of saying "good job." He didn't seem to, though, as all he did was part his lips slightly and continue looking at me expectantly. I gave him a thumbs-up without raising my hand too high, trying to make it subtle, though I'm not sure how it could be subtle, trying to make it less cheesy. It was embarrassing, but better than actually saying anything to clarify what I was trying to convey.

Too embarrassed to continue, I broke eye contact to look down at my food. I took one last bite, chased the food with a final drink, and then tucked my book under my arm as I went to dump my trash as I headed on to the classroom.

Everything went pretty much as usual up until my final class, the one that I had with Kai. I got to the class first, and I read through him getting there, so nothing much happened until part way through, a small square of paper landed on my desk. Surprised, I looked in the direction the note had come from, and my eyes landed on Kai. He looked back at me for a second, looked at the note, then back at me. Confused, I looked down at it. There was nothing written on the outside, but I could only assume the note was from him and for me. It took me a second to process that, as no one had ever written a note to me before. I unfolded it, read it, realized what it said, read it again, then looked back over at Kai who was waiting on a response. I nodded, feeling my heart flutter a bit as he nodded back and turned to the front of the class.

I had no idea what was going to happen, but I was excited to find out.