Nora had been planning it since the first day of school. It had started as the usual, dreamy, 'what-if's, but as the year went on it took shape and cemented itself in her mind. It wasn't just a daydream, it was a plan with steps and research. She had to talk to the vice principle and her secretary three different times to get the scheduling right. As the year wound down getting an audience with either became harder and harder, and she was "forced" to set off a few fire crackers in the cafeteria to get their attention. As the last day of school drew closer she started to detach from it. Pretend it was something else. It was easier to pretend she was planning to murder him than consider what she really intended to do.
Nora, in the back courtyard, with a pink halter dress.
The material was silky soft and she kept bunching it up in her fists and dropping it again, letting it swish against her ankles. It made her look amazing. Like a princess on her day off. No one could refuse her anything looking like that, she was sure.
It was about ten thirty, the morning cool burned away, but she lead him to the back courtyard by the long route around the school where there weren't many awnings. She was stalling, almost enjoying the mix of terror and excitement in her stomach.
"Don't you want more people to sign your yearbook, Nora?" Ren was worried about her. She had spent the last few days uncharacteristically quiet, even though classes had been reduced to laid back parties as teachers scrambled to grade their final exams. Now she was dragging him from the hour of uninterrupted yearbook singing they were allowed in the cafeteria. It was like the reverse of speed-dating-talk to someone all year and then give them three seconds to sum up their relationship with you. Nora loved it, or she had.
"Yeah, but I can do that any old time, silly." Nora couldn't get the right amount of up beat into her voice, her smile rising and falling as she lost concentration. "This is important." She pulled him into a shadow in the corner of the courtyard farthest from the sticky picnic tables. The heady smell of warm grass and sugary snacks intermingled and was intoxicating enough to ease some of the tension from her shoulders. They were alone, everyone else in the cafeteria or already gone for summer. It was quiet save for scattered bird cries.
"So, Ren, you know how we're going to Beacon Academy in the fall, and it sounds scary, of course, but I was thinking..." She pulled her eyes from her shoes and looked up at his face, into his own eyes. She had loved pink from day one, and when she saw her favorite color there on his face, deep and almost glowing, she knew he was meant to be with her. She took a deep breath.
"Ren, I really like you, and I was thinking that nothing would be scary if you would be my boyfriend. We could take on Beacon together!" Her special brand of over the top cheer returned with the last sentence, but it was sucked out of her and spiraled away when his face fell at her words.
"Nora..." He said, his tone enough to tell her what he thought, but he, he had to-
Ren, in the back courtyard, with these words,
"I really want us to be together at the academy, but not together together. You understand?"
Her chest was shaking. Trembling like a time bomb was ticking down behind her ribs. She smiled at him, forcing lights on behind her eyes. "Perfectly."