Onew smiled at his friends over the glass of milkshake he was drinking.  He wasn’t popular in school, far from it, but he had childhood friends who stayed by his side despite their increasing popularity in their own schools. Kibum, or Key as he insisted on being called, was in his school’s drama and fashion clubs, he had many friends, even if they were all girls though Key didn’t seem to mind, and Minho, who went to the same school as Key, was on the school’s soccer team. He was the top of the social chain while Onew easily represented the bottom but none of them cared, while they were outside school it didn’t matter and they always met up for their weekly milkshake and catch up no matter what.

Normally catch up would mean Key rambling on about any drama going on between his friends in the fashion club or how the latest rehearsal in drama was a disaster while Onew and Minho rolled their eyes and tried to seem at least a little interested. But, this time, Onew had some news and he smiled as he retold his story from that afternoon, about how he helped Amber.

“oh, you mean that girl you watch playing baseball in the park every Saturday?” Minho asked and, while it was asked innocently, Onew couldn’t help that but think that there was some amusement in his voice.

“The girl he stalks you mean?” Key laughed and Onew frowned. He had never stalked her! It was just a matter of being in the same place at the same time. Onew liked to study in the park on nice days, it helped him concentrate and it was near his favourite coffee shop too in case he needed an energy boost. But, one day, there was a change to his rountine. There was a group of people, high school students by the looks of them, playing baseball nearby. He watched the game for a while, impressed by the girl who, despite her tracksuit bottoms, hoodie and cap hiding her face, was still obviously a girl. He admired her talent, that was all, but from that point on her group of friends played there nearly every weekend and sometimes he was their studying on the same day.

It wasn’t until about a month into this new routine, of studying while casting glances at the girl playing baseball, that he started to see her around his school and he saw how differently she acted there. In the park she was outspoken, bubbly and energetic, but in the school she was reserved and shy, sometimes even cowering away from certain people as they walked past. He saw that, like him, the school didn’t like her, or accept her...they tried to make her change but she never did. She still looked the same happy self outside school and defended who she for the rest of the week in school.

He was older than her, he could tell from where in the school her locker was, but he looked up to her, he respected her and wanted to befriend her somehow as, surely being at the bottom of the social chain would be easier if there was someone to be there with right?

When he saw how Jessica treated her he knew then that she needed someone to show her that everyone in their school wasn’t like her, even if it seemed like it sometimes. So he took the opportunity to help, to show he was fine with her and willing to help her out even if he, maybe rather selfishly, wanted to see her bubbly smile all the time and not just when playing baseball as well.

“Yah!” Onew snapped “it’s not-“

Key cut him off with a wave of his hand before taking a sip of his milkshake “It’s not stalking, we know. But you finally spoke to her then?”

Amber, as Onew now knew she was called, had been a topic of conversation a few times on their little meet ups over milkshake. Onew would end up talking about a particularly good catch she made in the last baseball game he saw in the park or how she got a home run once again and won the game for her team. He didn’t notice this, however, until Key asked that question. In the same way Key always talked about his clubs Onew always talked about Amber, even if only for a small moment. He couldn’t help it, the girl intrigued him, she was like none of the other girls in the school.

“Yeah hyung” Minho picked up his glass, a rich chocolate milkshake, and drunk some before continuing “How long has it been since you first noticed her in the park? Four months?”

Onew was slowly sipping his own vanilla milkshake through his straw, shaking his head as he did so as there was no way it could be 4 months, no way in hell. Key started to laugh and Onew quirked an eyebrow as he shot a curious glance at the boy. Onew look seemed to make him laugh more, almost falling forward onto the table and not even seeing how Minho moved Key’s milkshake out of the way in case he did. Key rested a hand on Minho’s shoulder as his laughter started to die down, though it bubbled up a couple of times between breaths.

“More like six months. Ask her out already!”

Onew spluttered in response to Key’s exclamation, making some of his milkshake dribble down his chin. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his chin clean, shaking his head more vigorously than before. Ask her out? Why!? He just enjoyed watching her play baseball, that didn’t mean he had feelings for the girl! He barely knew her, how could he like her in that way?

“Kibum, really?” Minho lifted Key’s hand off of his shoulder as he spoke and Onew tried to hold back a laugh as Key complained and shouted about his name being ‘Key, god dammit!’. Onew saw a light smile tug at Minho’s lips, obviously getting the annoyed response he was searching for, before continuing “He can’t like her enough to ask her out, let him get to know her first at least”

“Exactly!” Onew chimed in, not really understanding Minho’s subtle message that he thought Onew would end up asking the girl out at some point anyway. Key, however, got the message and nodded happily. He sent a wink in Minho’s direction, to show Minho’s message was understood before he started to drink his milkshake in earnest.

But Minho was right, at least on the surface. Onew needed to get to know Amber, talk to her more and hopefully become friends. They wouldn’t share any classes due to their difference in age but there were always other chances to talk to her. Lunch seemed to be a good option, he always saw her go towards the library as he walked to the lunch hall and, if she spent her lunch in there, it would be easy enough to find her. Onew nodded to himself, ignoring the bewildered looked that Key and Minho gave him as they watched. After the weekend, on Monday, he would go the library and try and talk to her.

He was determined to make this work.

Author's notes:

Unlike this the last story this isn't prewritten so updates won't be so regular...I hope that's okay

Enjoy~