Christmas.

Christmas.

It's Christmas. Then why am I so darn depressed?

Oh, gosh. There's a tearstain on you, journal. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to contaminate you with my gloominess. I just wish – I just wish that instead of you and my family here with me, singing 'Tis the season to be jolly', it was Ren. I guess I'm just trying to comfort myself, huh, after what had happened today. God, where are you?

See you,

Pirika

I slammed my private journal shut and looked out the window, at the pretty snowflakes, at the snow, and at my faint reflection. Santa Claus, if you truly exist, you would know how miserable I am and for Christmas, you might give me a minute with Ren. Just 60 seconds. That's all I ask for.

Flashback

'Hey, Ren. You doing anything special for Christmas?' I asked nervously. Even now, I still could feel butterflies hovering in my tummy whenever we exchanged small talk. 'Nope.' He looked up at me briefly, and then went back to studying the desk thoroughly. He was in a mood to give monosyllabic answers. Right. 'Well, I'm not going to do much too,' I hinted, hoping he'd realize my hidden meaning. 'Oh?' he asked, now moving on to the specific study of his nails. 'Well, maybe just dinner with my family, but that's all. I'm free in the afternoon, and it's going to be SO, SO boring…' I faked a sigh, and looked down 'sadly' at my sneakers, then secretly stole a peek at his expression. Rats! Now he was focusing on the art of how to saw your desk with a ruler. 'Uh?' he responded, showing no interest and no heart at all in this conversation. Hopeless. I glared at him before walking back to my seat, just as a whistling, cheerful Mr. Tiramisu cha- cha-ed his way into class.

'Good news, kiddos! It's Christmas today!' he sang out loud to a bunch of inattentive teenagers. The class, including me, just stared at him blankly. 'So, Mr. Takenero Tiramisu, a.k.a me, has decided to let you all indulge in something fun, new and oh- so- exciting! Now, I know all of you have reached the age where love is in the air, all the time, so I've started this 'service' called Christmas Crush. You get to write a message on a heart- shaped slip of paper, write your crush's name on it and drop it in the hat next to me.' At this he pointed to a shabby- looking black hat beside him. ' I will be recording both your name and your crush's name. After giving out the slips to your crushes, I will hand out a white piece of paper with the words yes or no. If your crush likes you, he or she will circle yes. Then everyone has to hand this up. I will read out the so-called results tomorrow. Well? Ready?' I grinned. Great. This way, I'd surely find out if Ren returns my feelings! Mr. Tiramisu was just so cool. But at the corner of my eye, I saw him break out into a wiggly dance. Or maybe not cool – at all.

To be continued…

I was hoping to retire from all this fanfic writing jazz, but my friend Ishimaru Miwa asked me to work on Obsidian Love. So here's another Pirika and Ren story. It could be worth your while. See you , me…