She watched as the scene before her as it progressed into what she knew it would: a final confession of love. She may as well watch; her family wasn't missing her, that much was sure.

"I can't believe it," the girl stated.

"It's true," said the boy.

"It can't be!" she exclaimed.

"It is," answered the boy.

"Are you sure?" questioned the girl.

"Uh, yeah. Pretty sure," reassured the boy.

"No!" she yelled.

"Yes!" he urged.

"You're lying!" said the girl vicously.

Now he was beginning to get agitated. They'd been going 'round and 'round in circles for practically an hour now, discussing this same, infuriating topic.

"No, I'm not," stated the boy calmly, although his voice held a note of indignence.

"You can't be serious," she told him.

"You can't believe in the truth," he retorted.

She paused; this was certainly getting them nowhere fast. Round Robin was a game she hadn't often played when she was younger, for she found it to be rather annoying and pointless, and she certainly didn't feel like playing it now.

"How can you expect me to believe in the truth when everything I've ever believed in, ever hoped for, ever dreamed about has been fiction?" she finally asked of him in a harsh, loud tone, as was her forte; and for once, she had found a question which he couldn't answer.

For some reason, he sought the answers he wanted--answers he needed; she needed-- in the comforting colors and patterns of the material beneath them.

Finally he answered, "Because this is real."

She was torn between following her heart and listening to her head. "How do you know? How can you be so sure?"

Another pause, then: "I'm not sure this will last forever, but I know what I feel, and my feelings aren't false. Something this strong can't be made-up, no matter how hard you try."

She finally gazed at him with red-rimmed eyes. Oh! how he hated that look she was giving him; those deep, imploring eyes that questioned his very being; that look that said, "I want to believe you with everything I am. I want to know you're not lying, and that my heart won't be broken and left to be trampled beneath your feet."

"Why now?"

"We can do this tomorrow, or the next day, or at nine o'clock next Friday, but it wouldn't change anything. My feelings would still be the same, and I think yours would be too."

She smiled at his answer. He always knew just exactly how to lighten her mood, even if sometimes she wanted to stay angry.

"And you're one hundred percent sure this is what you want?" she questioned once again, and stepped forward.

He stepped forward and smiled; he was finally starting to make her believe! "I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he told her with complete confidence.

She inched closer to him, then asked one final question: "Why me?"

"Why?" he repeated.

She instantly felt any response she might have made die in her throat. His soft lips encaptured hers in a sweet, innocent kiss, and she was in heaven.

"Because I love you."

The girl hidden behind them in plain view felt her heart break into several shattered pieces as they kissed again, laughing. This was most certainly not how it should be, and yet there it was. She couldn't deny him his true chance at happiness. She could never do anything to hurt him, not intentionally. As much as it killed her to see them finally together, it hurt her even more to see him so unhappy. Perhaps, later...no, she could not think these things. It was high time she moved on.

The girl in the shadows sighed as a tear fell from her cheek to the cold pavement below. No, she would not deny him happiness nor love, for none deserved it as much as him. She would happily have given her life for the boy, if it meant he wouldn't feel pain. No, he need never know of her feelings. He had someone deserving of him, and she had never seen him so happy, so exuberent. It almost pained her.

She spoke her sacred secret aloud, though only the shadows could hear it.

I love you.

Helga threw the book down, disgusted. They forgot the "ride-off-into-the-sunset" part. Whoever wrote this should be sued for overuse of mushiness. Crimeny! I can't believe they even made us read this piece of junk. American classic, my left eye! Although...I do like the fact that the author kept the identities secret. She stole a glance at Arnold. I hate stories that hit a bit too close to home... Having finished the reading selection assigned to Mr. Simmons' fourth grade class, she took out a sheet of paper and began to doodle away the last few minutes of class.

Staring out the window of the bus, she didn't sense him approach until it was too late. He tapped her shoulder and she very nearly jumped over the seat in front of her. "Hey Helga."

Taking a few quick breaths to calm her racing heart, she sent a glare at him. "Crimeny, Football Head, next time warn me before you sneak up on me."

Sitting down in the seat behind her, he rolled hiseyes and smiled."Sorry, Helga. So, how did you like the ending of the book?"

Snorting, she told him exactly how she felt about the ending of the book. "Well, Hair Boy, for one thing, it was way too mushy lovey-dovey. Everybody knows that doesn't happen in real life. Secondly, they left out the "ride-off-into-the-sunset" part. If you're going to go all the way with the romance, you can't leave out the sunset part. And besides all that, you knew from the very beginning that the two main characters, whoever they may be, will wind up together. I mean, it's so obvious. All she does is torment him." Realizing what she had just said, she averted her eyes and started anew, though her voice held a nervous note to it. "But I do have to say that the author makes good use of secret indentities. That's probably the only thing I really liked about the stupid book."

Arnold smiled; once Helga was on a roll it was hard to stop her, although he had to admit she made some fairly decent, if ungrounded, points. "Well, I'm glad you liked at least some part of the book," he told her, as he turned back around in his seat to talk to Gerald and steal furtive looks at Lila.

Yes, she hated stories that hit a bit too close to home.

Okay, so this isn't my best story. But I think it's fairly decent, and I'd love to know what you guys think.

It's been a while since I've been on the publishing side of the fanfiction spectrum, but I've been so busy I've not had time to do what I want! Then, to top it all off, my MS Word just up and decides one day that it hates me, so now I'm left with inferior processors, such as Word Pad. I apologize for any mispelled words or grammar mistakes. I've not sent it to any of my friends to proofread it, so...yeah. LOL.

Please review, and tell me what you think of it. It's a bit different than my normal style, but it's always good to experiment. :D