Don't Lie in Love
Formerly: What Happened When I Lied

Authoress: iTomo
Summary: If you asked me whether or not I liked Natsume Hyuuga, I would give you a straight face and answer, "No." Guess what? I'm lying. NatsuMikan; Formerly: What Happened When I Lied
Chapter: One – Screw Hormones!
Published: December 5, 2009
Notes: This chapter will be mainly written in Mikan's first-person point of view, unless otherwise indicated. Contains Japanese terms and honorifics, but I won't go into detail on that cause I'm assuming you guys are pretty much all smart enough. Italics indicate either Mikan's thoughts or emphasis on something.
Pairing(s) In Chapter: One-Sided NatsuMikan; Hinted SURPRISE [Please note that these pairings are never final, they just appear in the chapter randomly and are liable to change.]
Disclaimer: iTomo doesn't not own Gakuen Alice. The authoress also would like to express the fact that since she has no sense of humor, you should not expect to find creative disclaimers every chapter.

Amateur Authoress' Office
From the Desk of iTomo

Dear lovely readers,

Either you stumbled onto my story by chance, or you got referred from my old account, Clapping Reflection. Either way, I hope you enjoy the story, and for those who have been with me during the years I was illegally on the site, I'm sure you'll find that my writing style has changed and hopefully improved very much in the year I have disappeared. I have also renamed it Don't Lie in Love, and I want to try and incorporate more humor into the story, but I'm not sure how humorous I can get with such a moody plot.

To the new readers, here's the old story, if you're interested: www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net (slash) s (slash) 4291390.

Since I'm your typical, immature, attention-whore, 13 year old, I was at first hesitant to rewrite it because I'm the kind of girl that loves reviews and stuff. I'm not sure if I'll be able to regain them, but I like to write, and if my story can capture the hearts of girls who went through the same thing Mikan will go through in the story, I'm sure things will be fine. Don't hate me. I love writing, seriously, don't get me wrong.

I'll leave you for now and bug you at the end of the chapter. Enjoy, sweeties!

Love,
iTomo

I'm the kind of girl-next-door character that people deal with.

I am a kind-hearted person, I think, but it's probably because I'm so weak-hearted when it comes to people I care about. I don't dare to say anything negative, and stuff like that end up screwing your life, you know?

It first starts out small, like neglecting to mention to your best friend that you are practically in love with a certain raven-head, but then this neglect grows until you hit 15. That's when you realize you screwed up, and when you start lying in love.

If you asked me whether or not I liked Natsume Hyuuga, I'd either give you a disgusted face or a straight one (depending on who you are), and then I would say, "No," as if we were discussing weather.

But then, guess what?

I would be lying. I'd be lying without blinking an eye, maybe because I've been in denial for so long. I don't even know why. Is it because I'm positive he wouldn't like me the way I want him to like me? We're friends. Just friends. I'm a friend he protects; he's a friend I care for.

He was your typical asshole character, at first, and then the retarded hormones started developing by the time I turned 12. Ten plus two. And sadly, along with retarded hormones came a two-deal package of stupid ideas and even stupider actions.

It's been a while since I've actually had the courage to admit it mentally, but yes, I do like Natsume Hyuuga, he is not my ideal kind of guy, but I want to hug him and never let go. I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but now that you have pried into the sanctuary of my mind, the only choice for you is to shut up or I'll send Hotaru after you.

And speaking of her. . . .

She's my best friend and one of the most important people in my life, but she's also my rival for one of the wrong-est ideas in the history of shoujo mangas.

Natsume Hyuuga likes her.

. . .

Oh, I wish I could capture your expression on camera right now. It must be so terrifying to think that he would actually be interested in her, but it's not that hard to fathom. Their apathy may be different, for he's bitter and she's cold, but in the end, it's apathy.

It all started a few days ago, actually, when I was in the Dangerous Ability classroom along with some other people, waiting for Persona to come and give us our assignments for the month.

Natsume was sitting a seat away from me, typically bored and mad (most likely at Persona). He glared the chair that was somewhat between us and set it on flames. I nullified it, mostly because it was somewhat indirect interaction with him and then because I felt bad that the innocent chair became the victim of Natsume's anger.

His eyes flickered to me for a sec, and it took courage to stay rooted there without looking away. He turned back to the chair, burned it, and triumphantly stared at me.

I nullified it again. The interaction was getting better.

"God, Princess Panty, the chair is mine. I claimed it first."

"Jeez, leave it alone, Natsume."

He looked upwards, obviously pissed. I didn't want to get him angry, nor did I want to be ignored. I remember scooting my chair closer to him.

"Natsume-kun? I'm sorry. It's just that—"

"Hm."

I bit my lip and wrung my hands, wanting to start a conversation so badly. It was then the most brilliant and obvious topic came to my head. "Hey, do you like anyone?"

. . .Which was a dead giveaway that I liked him. I mean, seriously, I'm an expert in always realizing things too late.

"You're so random, woman."

"I just wanted to see if your heart's as mean as you are. But you know—"

"I like this girl," Natsume said, looking to the ceiling, "And she's unreachable."

I don't know what hurt more, the fact that he liked someone, or the fact he admitted it to me. Oh how I wished this were a shoujo manga, or something. The protagonists always got the guys, didn't they?

My blood ran cold, and I started blinking rapidly. There was only one girl that came to mind when he said it that way, and she was. . . .

". . .Hotaru?" I asked.

His head jerked towards me, eyes wider than usual. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his lips were ready to spit out some random exclamation that I, of all girls, could've gotten his secret crush correct.

"Don't act so surprised," I forced a laugh, "Who else is as unreachable as Hotaru?"

Natsume bit the inside of his cheek as he shot me a hesitant look, "Hold on—"

God, he admitted it. He admitted it. At the tender age of fifteen, my heart was crushed, its contents of admiration and puppy-love spilling over and appearing in the form of smarting eyes and tears.

"Oh," I faked being surprised and stood to get up, "I forgot all about the essay Jinjin assigned us. It's due tomorrow. Hah. I'm so forgetful."

"He assigned an essay?"

"God help you," I inwardly smiled at his confused voice, "Tell Persona I'm sorry, okay, Natsume?"

My voice cracked at his name.

Amateur Authoress' Office
From the Desk of iTomo

Dear lovely readers,

Okay, I totally give up on the humor part. There is no way I can make Mikan's predicament funny without making her sound like a split-personality lunatic, so if you want some more light-hearted stories, you can go to my other story, Boys Before Alices. I'm currently a bit stuck on that, so this is to help cure my Writer's Block.

So, I would really appreciate it if you reviewed, because that's my medicine. It makes me super happy, and writing is my way of escaping the horrible-ness of reality right now.

See you next chapter!

Love,
iTomo

PS: Sing to the tune of Jingle Bells.

iTOMO's

WRITING'S BAD

BUT PLEASE DON'T MAKE HER SAD

SHE KNOWS SHE IS AN

ATTENTION-WHORE

BUT HARD WORK'S IN THIS

LORE~!

V

V

V

V

*You liked my song, didn't you? BD*