Author's Note: My writer self usually gets inspired by listening to songs. I believe songs are like stories set into rhythm, and seriously, Taylor Swift's songs are what makes me think of that. I don't know but, not only her songs are catchy for me, but I can, either, relate them to stories I know, or relate them to my life. This belief sparked this idea, and I believe somehow, it will motivate my writer self even more. Hihi. But of course, my other stories won't be left behind. I'm just waiting for... inspiration. :D Haha no, blame school and my internet life if I don't update fast.

Disclaimer: I disclaim all the characters used in this one-shot and all the others that will follow, and all the songs of Swift to be used for the whole collection.

The Story of Us

One: You Belong With Me

It's an ordinary school night, not those somehow boring but contenting summer nights where you roll your lazy ass over your comfy bed, but those nights when you just survived one day in school and you come home straight to your study table to work your butt off at tons of homework adding to those already headache-causing school work you've done during the day. Really, I know you'd roll your eyes because somehow I'm already stating the obvious—and I don't really care about what you think—but seriously, high school has brought to me heck lots of drama and problems and complicated algebraic expressions, and I'm growing sick and frustrated of all of those. And to think I'm still on my first year!

Well, speaking of high school drama, I look out of my bedroom window only to see Koko talking anxiously on his mobile phone, pacing back and forth in his bedroom.

Okay, you see, my family's home and Koko's family's home are just across each other and we've been neighbors since Koko and I were kids, and because Koko and I are basically of the same age, we became playmates the year we became neighbors. We became best friends. We knew practically everything about each other, from our dreams in life, to what songs we listen to, to our sentiments towards other people… We became inseparable.

…Until the third year of middle school came and we had a bubbly pink-haired girl as a transferee in our class. It all happened like a blink of an eye. Koko then hanged out with her occasionally, then it became often, then became always. He baked pastries with her and made me try their products out. He talked about her animatedly during our everyday conversations. They became lab partners while I was stuck to some bald cocky guy. It felt new to me, I mean, him and I not hanging out always already like we used to. But then, he was my best friend, and best friends will do anything to make each other happy.

But then one day, Koko just told me out of the blue that he liked transferee, and that he's going to confess to her one day.

And that day came a little too suddenly for me.

Eventually, she became his girlfriend.

Sure, I am happy for my best friend and his girlfriend, and I give out my support to their relationship—though I am a witness to its ups and downs—but then, I feel that feeling like it's restraining me from doing so. Restraining myself to be happy for them, preventing myself to give out a wholehearted support. Every time I see them together with smiles plastered on their faces, I have this urge of rolling my eyes in—I don't know—disgust. Every time I see them together walking on the school corridors waving at me, my heart gives out a twisted feeling I didn't understand.

And then the next moments, I realized that the 'twisted feeling' was what my bald partner—after noticing my 'funny' reactions, when I see them—called jealousy.

And that I liked Koko all along.

Yes, it's stupid. It's stupid falling for your best friend. Especially when he has a girlfriend.

And it's stupid answering these Math problems our terror-of-a-teacher-with-a-friggin-frog-on-his-shoulder teacher gave us to solve. Thinking about giving myself a break, I grab my iPod and insert it in my speaker, playing music that makes me whip my head sideways. I turn again to Koko's window and see him put his phone down and sigh in exasperation, raking his hair though his hand. He turns towards my direction, and as I realize that he caught me looking at him, I immediately grab a marker and one of the bond papers piled on my study desk and scribble, I show the paper to him through our open windows after I wrote my words.

Quarrel with Anna again?

I see him grab a bond paper and a marker also, and after scribbling, he holds his reply up for me to read.

Yeah. Got annoyed about some joke of mine. Like seriously.

I quirk a brow at his reply. I push the center of my large eyeglasses to my nose bridge and write on another piece of paper, drawing a caricature of myself doing the same expression.

Pretty shows how idiotic you can be.

He snorts. He flips his paper and scrawl down his reply.

You don't need to tell me. I know.
But your drawing still sucks. :P

I scowl. I scribble on my paper rather furiously.

You always say that as if YOU know how to draw.

Hahaha. Just kidding, alright?
You done with Jinno's assignment?

Ugh. It's hell. You?

Well thanks for telling me. Haven't started yet. xD Well, see ya in school!

I snicker, remembering how carefree he is when it comes to school. I write my reply.

Yeah sure. Take care.

When I hold up my reply, I see the drape curtains on his bedroom already spread out, so I pull my paper down, twitching my lips in disappointment. As I read my reply and see the last two words, I cringe, conscious of the possibility of blowing my cover, blowing my cover of being the best friend while I was falling for him.

Tch.

The music from my iPod keeps playing, and I decide to proceed on my head dance, completely forgetting the 50-item assignment from Jinno.

Crap. Stupid me for forgetting Jinno's assignment.

I really don't like writing the answers on my freaking lap while sitting on the side benches and waiting for the school bus because it gives me backaches and ruins my posture, but I've got no other options since I don't like working on my assignments in class because I don't like being copied, and other positions here on the bench would make me look—and feel—more stupid.

While I continue to turn my head left and right from my textbook to my answer sheet, I stop to see a pair of feet wearing sneakers in front of me. I look up slowly to see worn-out jeans, a t-shirt, and the Cheshire grin plastered on Koko's face. He is standing against the sunrise so it seems like he's glowing and immaculate and—

Damn.

"Why are you staring at me like that? You look stupid you know." He still has that grin on his face. Idiot.

"Why are you here, anyway?"

"I'm waiting for Anna. And is it wrong to be with your best friend first thing in the morning?" he casually said as he sat beside me, draping one arm behind me.

Yeah yeah, Anna is the girlfriend and I'm just the best friend. Right.

But, well. There is indeed nothing wrong with being with him in the morning.

He suddenly snorted, seeing me scribbling furiously on bunches of paper. "Not finished with your Math yet?"

"Stop shoving it on my face. And quit disturbing."

I don't know but I can hear incoherent mumbles from him. "Hey, are you mad at me?" I feel then my hair being moved and before I can react, it is his hand trying to see me through my wavy tresses.

I can feel my cheeks burning.

"Stop doing that!" I shove his hand away. "And I'm not angry. Just… I just don't want to be disturbed. I guess you're not too much of an idiot to understand that."

Before he can retort, I hear the sound of a car engine not far from us. I look up with him to see a shiny red convertible parking in front of us, with pink locks popping from the driver's seat.

"Hey, Anna!"

Anna waves. Koko immediately runs to her side, leaving me staring at how giddy he is while approaching her. I see Anna waving at me cheerfully, and I wave my right hand slowly in reply.

Here goes the twisted feeling again.

"We'll go before you, Perms. Is it okay with you?"

"Fine with me. And stop calling me with that name, will ya?"

He chuckles. "See ya!" He waves his hand and climbs on the passenger seat and kisses Anna on the cheek. Anna smiles cheekily at him and exclaims her goodbye message to me, accelerating her convertible again and sending them away.

I just saw again how happy Koko can be when Anna is around.

The twisted feeling in my heart increases.

CLANG!

Talk about startled. "Why are you here, Cheshire? Aren't you supposed to eat lunch with Anna?"

Koko—or Cheshire, as what I call him in retort for calling me Perms, ugly name, I tell you—sits in front of me with that frustrated look on his face, after placing his tray of lunch rather forcefully. "She told me she's busy with cheerleading practice."

I roll my eyes. "So what's with the long face? You know there are times she's busy, and you understand that."

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, settling it there. "I feel like she's avoiding me for days already. You remember the day we were together on the bench and she fetched me with her car? After we arrived in school she just told me to go ahead of her and I say yes. She stormed immediately after I climbed off her car. And these days when I invite her for snacks she tells me she's going to have it with her friends. And she doesn't let me help carry her things like I used to. I don't know. It feels awkward. It's like I did something wrong, but I don't even remember I did." He puts his hand on his table and gives me that stare that makes my heart skip a beat. "Do you think there's something wrong with me?"

I stare at him not too long and I clear my throat. "Besides you calling me Perms, I don't think there's anything wrong with you. Maybe she wants to focus now on her cheerleading. Besides, she's on the squad cheering for your basketball team, after all."

His gaze bears on me again before he sighs. "I guess you're right. But lemme have some of your pineapples first—"

"No. Snatching." I slap his hand away from my dessert.

"Geez," he rubs his sore hands.

I stick my tongue out. Well, his hand may hurt, but at least his usual grin is seen in his expression again.

Besides, that's what best friends do: make their best friends smile again when he feels down.

…

I think "best friends" doesn't sound right to me anymore.

"Shouda, game is starting. We should get going."

"Yes, yes, I'm coming." I shout back at my band mate as I wipe my clarinet, getting ready to play with the Drum and Lyre band for the upcoming game.

What game, you ask? Yes, the basketball game of Koko.

I walk out of the locker room to the basketball court, only to see Anna and her squad mates, all set with their pompoms and cheerleading uniforms that flaunt their freaking assets.

I admit. Somehow, I feel jealous. I feel jealous of her bubblegum hair which makes my seaweed locks look uglier. I feel jealous of her red convertible, of her expensive-looking designer clothes that make my secondhand t-shirts, jeans and sneakers look nothing. I feel jealous of her being cheer captain because it boosts her confidence somehow, which is so unlike me because I tend to cower in the corner.

But most of all, I feel jealous of Anna because she is Koko's girlfriend.

I jog to unite with my band mates, erasing all those thoughts of insecurities in my mind.

And so I hear the whistle being blown and the game starts.

It is a tough one. We all can see how great the opponents played on our court, but then, nothing can defeat the teamwork of our school team and how they work with each other. Not that I'm being biased, but it's true! But more than that, I see how well Koko plays: the way he snatches the ball from the players, the way his sandy brown hair sways when he turns around to run towards their ring, the way he scores points like it's a piece of cake, the way his face shifts from the goofy look to the serious one all throughout the game.

My heart skips a beat once again.

I stifle the urge to stop playing my clarinet and just cheer for him.

The game ends with us bagging the first place trophy and us wailing out in victory. I look around while still on my band position to see how Koko is doing, and I see him standing in the middle of the court—within our school mates jumping around for joy—looking dumbfounded. I shift my gaze to where he is looking, only to drop my jaw with what I witness.

I see Anna dropping her pompoms and spreading her arms wide as she receives the hug from another basketball player from our team, and with their arms wrapped on each other's necks, their lips meet in one unexpected kiss.

I have my mouth still ajar at the scene, and I turn back to Koko who still hasn't moved a muscle. I gulp. Seconds after, he shakes his head and runs out the court, not bothering to confront Anna at all.

He doesn't. Koko doesn't deserve this.

I rush after him, and after moments of looking for him around the campus, I see him sitting on one of the picnic tables surrounding the school grounds not far away from the covered court, his elbows propped on his knees and his hands sitting on his head.

Koko doesn't deserve this at all.

"Koko…" I say as I approach him slowly. He turns a little too slowly, letting me see that wounded look that breaks my heart a little.

"She cheated on me, Sumire. Anna cheated on me."

I can hear the pained feeling in his voice. I move myself to sit beside him, placing my clarinet behind us. He removes his hands from his head and clasps them on his open lap, looking down the ground.

"I've done everything, Sumire. I've done every possible thing to make her happy. I… I just don't understand. Just… why? Are my efforts not enough? Is there something wrong with what I do? Is there something wrong with me? Is there something I can do to make her feel I am enough?—"

"No!"

He turns to me with a questioning look on his face.

I am quite surprised with how I reacted, too.

"You… You are enough, Koko… You're…"

You are perfect to me.

"You're…" I huff a breath. I feel pretty frustrated about this as well. "Just don't feel bad about yourself, okay? This is never your fault. This doesn't involve your efforts. This doesn't involve your liabilities or whatever. This doesn't involve you being not enough."

Silence engulfs us. His expression still doesn't lighten up. I take a short breath in and let it out.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. Don't take this on yourself. It's just… maybe she's not the right one for you, Koko."

He shifts his gaze to the ground, his expression still not changing.

"Look… Talk to Anna about this when you're ready. I know it'll be hard but… it's more important for both of you to clear things up. If you need help or someone you can talk to, I'll be here. I'll be here for you."

He turns back to look at me and eventually offers a small smile in return. Thank God. "Thanks, Perms."

"Don't mention it." I look away, trying to hide the blush forming on my cheeks. "And geez, you made me act out of character."

He snickers a bit. "Well that's what friends are for, right?"

Right.

It is a good thing that day fell on the last week of classes. It gave Koko space to move on during the summer vacation.

I don't know if he and Anna have talked about the issue, but during those times when Koko would invite me to his house so we could play video games or watch Sci-Fi movies while we stuff our tummies with popcorn, he'd go flash that goofy smile of his while trying to win against me in Mario Kart or try to annoyingly pursue me to watch Ringu. But then, it wasn't the smile that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, but the smile that made me feel awkward and uncomfortable and worried. It also felt stupid for him to flash those fake smiles and everything so I suddenly slapped him so hard one day.

Call it a reflex action of something but, really, it was pretty foolish to act all happy while in fact deep inside you're not.

He just stared at me for seconds with that dumbfounded look on his face, though. And then he just smiled. The idiot.

I was pretty sure he hadn't moved on that time.

But now that we have all come back to school as Second Year students, I see him all smiles as we wait together for the school bus to arrive. And when we step on the corridors, he helps me carry my stuff like how he used to in middle school, with the same smile still on his face.

But it was the warm and fuzzy one already.

Somehow, I'm happy for that.

I don't know, but there's a part of me telling it's the perfect time to confess my well-kept feelings to him because I've finally had my chance. But uhh, there's like… something that restrains me to do so. Like… I don't know.

I think I've accepted the fact I'm just his best friend.

And forever I will be.

So now I'm here in my room, studying for the upcoming exams—especially Math because I really don't want to face Jinno's wrath—while everyone's preparing for the Homecoming Dance. Well, you see, I don't really care if I don't attend the Homecoming Dance. And also, I prefer passing the exams rather than going to some activity I really don't care about.

I suddenly turn my head to my open bedroom window and see Koko in a tuxedo. So he's going to the dance, huh. He sees me looking at him, and I then see him grab a paper and a marker and write something on it, just like how we did it on First Year.

You going to the dance?

I sigh. I tear a piece of paper from my school notebook, grab my marker and scribble my reply.

No. Studying.

I see him poke out his lower lip a little. He scribbles again.

Awww, just leave those books behind for a while.
I don't have a date, you know. D:

I snicker a little. He still hasn't changed. I hold up my reply while smirking.

Go date yourself.

It seems that he is still pondering while writing his reply. What he showed me surprises me.

D: Okay.
Wish you'd be there, though.

And then he walks out of his bedroom.

What the hell made him write that? He's so asdfghjkl. Curse you Koko. You make me…

Damn.

Yes, yes, guys. I admit. I may have accepted the fact that I'm just his best friend, but it still doesn't make the damn feeling go away.

Tch.

I think I have a spare dress in my closet.

It sucks being alone.

I mean, I really don't despise being alone—besides, it gives me space to think about things—but then, really, who would like standing alone in a crowded gymnasium full of strips of crepe paper and foil paper and whatever, with all students clad in formal attire dancing around and having fun? Okay, there may be some of my teammates coming over to say hi or something, but then they leave after a few words.

Just great, you know.

To ease the boredom, I look around the gym to see more students dancing below the glowing disco ball, people sitting on counters drinking punch, and Anna standing beside one of the cocktail table together with her boyfriend.

Yeah, I've talked to Anna about what I saw during the championship game when we were First Year, and she told me the bitter affirmative. It hurt a lot, really. I couldn't stop drowning myself in video games and movies and disgustingly fake smiles to forget the pain, but it was in vain. Good thing Perms was there. I could've fallen to the pits of darkness if she didn't slap me that time.

Now, I never felt better.

I wish Perms was here, too. I mean, life is boring without here.

Life would be dull without her.

Haha, what am I saying?

I see people stop dancing all of a sudden and turn their gaze towards the gym entrance while I go grab a glass of punch, not really caring about what the population is gushing about because I'm not really the type who blends in the crowd. Or more like, blending in to their interests.

But then curiosity makes me turn my head towards the entrance.

I almost drop my glass.

I see a girl come into the gym—not seeming to notice the gasps and whispers from the people around her—with her hair tied into a bun, clad in a navy blue dress that makes her green eyes glow. She is turning her head in all directions as if looking for someone.

Crap. What are all of these observations?

But then, I am even more surprised when I realize who she is when turns back to face me.

"S-Sumire?"

She tilts her head. She approaches me a bit hastily, her flats not making a sound on the gym floor, and she flashes a pretty smirk on me.

"What's with that face, Cheshire?"

I don't know but words seem to be stuck in my throat. "I… I didn't expect you'd be here. And… where are your sunglasses?"

She rolls her eyes. "You know, it grew wings and it flew and it left me all alone. Well duh, I left it at home!"

I laugh. "But uhh, how will you…? Nevermind. Your sarcastic attitude never changes, anyways."

"Well that grin of yours doesn't change, either… Though it's not really a bad thing."

I snicker. She rolls her eyes again before giggling. Really, I don't know, but behind those mocking looks on her face and her sardonic remarks, I still find Sumire pretty.

No. No, she's… she's definitely better than that.

"Has anyone ever told you you're beautiful, Sumire?"

Her reaction is priceless. Her happy face is replaced quickly by a shocked one, looking at me incredulously.

I swear there are pink tints forming on her cheeks right now.

"God, will you, ugh!—" she slaps me on the arm, "—cut the crap and stop saying those things out of the blue? Geez!"

I don't mind the burning sensation on my arm. This is hilarious for me to neglect. "But I'm serious, you know."

But really, I am serious.

She rolls her eyes in disbelief. "Ugh, I hate you a lot."

"But I like you."

…

She gapes her mouth at me for the second time. The pink tints on her cheeks grow more shades. "Just… Ugh! Let's just dance, okay?"

I chuckle. I take her hand and drag her to the dance floor, ignoring her surprised shriek. "Well come on, let's go!"

God, she's funny. And she's sweet. And she's beautiful.

Somehow, I feel those four words, which I blurted out a while ago, surprisingly feel right to my ears.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my growing love for Kokoryomi, and for me realizing just this month that his character fits for my "dream boyfriend." Lolololol.

This is also mostly based from the said song's music video, so I also disclaim that one.

Let me know, guys, what you think. :)