I sighed in class, Miss Shizuka on an angry rant. I thought, "She must have had another bad date with a guy. I guess I just don't see the appeal." Mai passed a note to me, not wanting to be caught talking by Miss Shizuka.

It read, "Hana, are you okay? You seem off today. Are you sure you don't want to go to the Flower Festival tomorrow?" I turned to give her a half-attempted smile and a thumbs up. I was not sure how to explain to her that the only person I wanted to take to the Flower Festival was her. I mean, she seemed unattainable. She had it hard for Jared and even though she said she was open to love from anyone, she just wanted him. When the bell rang, she stood up and asked, "You ready for lunch?"

"Actually, I need to talk to PBG about something," I said. As I walked to PBG, she just giggled and gave me a thumbs up. I tapped PBG on the shoulder, "Uhh...PBG...c-can I talk to you..? Privately?"

He offered a soft smile, nodding before turning to Jon, "We'll see you later. Come on Hana." I followed him to his dorm room, figuring it was the most private place he could think of. He sat down on his bed and I sighed and sat down next to him. He asked, "What's wrong? You can trust me with anything." I looked over at him, searching his face. It wasn't something I was too keen on talking about. I think he could see that, and he took my hands. "Seriously, I'm all ears," stated PBG, giving me a gentle smile.

"Promise this won't change anything? I don't want to lose any of my friends…" trailing off I looked away. He just nodded, and when I looked back at him he was concerned. I swallowed hard, "I-I...I have a crush on Mai…t-that's the first time I..said that..."

PBG gasped and I got up, tears welling up in my eyes. I knew this was a bad idea. I went to walk out of the room before he said, "Wait!" He rushed over to me, hugging me tight. When I looked at his face, he looked like he was going through a lot of emotions but trying to hide it. He just cleared his throat, "So you're...a lesbian…?"

I mumbled, "I-I prefer gay…b-but yeah...y-you don't hate me, do you?"

"Why would I hate you for something you can't control…? I mean sure, it's not what I wanted. I figured when you wanted to talk...never mind." He paused, letting me go. "I think we should go to lunch. We should be able to make it back with time to eat."

"I don't feel hungry...I think I'm going to lay down. Will you tell Miss Shizuka I'm not feeling well." I walked out the room before he could say anything else and went back to my room in Primrose. When I got back I just left the lights off, dropping my backpack on the floor and climbed into bed. I felt disappointed, like everything was going the wrong way. After pulling the covers over my head, I fell asleep.

I woke up to hearing a knock on the door. I checked the time, it was after classes were over. Mai had volleyball practice, who could it be? I yawned, "Just a minute." I made sure my hair at least looked matted down before opening the door. Jirard stood outside my door and I was confused. "Uh...come in?"

I shut the door behind him. I rubbed my eyes to fully wake up, as Jirard said, "I'm sorry but I was just worried. You're my friend and when PBG came to lunch, he said you weren't feeling well. When Mai got up he said you said you wanted to be alone and he barely got her to stay and finish eating. I, wanted to make sure you were okay."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Oh. I am feeling a bit better. You don't need to worry about me. I'm sorry. Heh?" I tried to play my feelings off. I still felt a bit hurt that PBG wasn't supportive in the way I wanted him to be.

Making eye-contract with Jirard, he didn't seem convinced. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Trust me." I gave the best smile I could. While Jirard didn't seem completely convinced, I changed the topic. "So, did you ask a girl to the Flower Festival?"

Jirard's face turned pink, "No, I might hang out with some of the guys. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged, "I dunno, I don't think everyone should stay in. Someone I know should have fun."

"You're not going? But it's your first one!"

"I just...I really am not feeling the festival spirit."

"Oh...well how about instead of hanging out, us guys go out with you as friends. That way you can have fun and not miss it. Mai should come too!"

I swallowed hard, calm down Hana. It's not a date, you don't have to say no. I continued to think through it for a moment before saying, "Well, if it's gonna be a bunch of us, I really can't get out of it. You'd all probably come and drag me there anyway." We both laughed but Jirard nodded as he did so. "I'll tell Mai about the invitation when she gets back! Who all's going then?"

Jirard thought for a moment. Then, counting on his fingers, "You, me, Mai maybe. Probably Satch and PBG. Maybe Jon too. I think Shane said if he didn't get a date he wasn't going to go, but maybe I can convince him to go. I think Jared has a date but I'm not sure, and I think Paul, Josh, and Nick were going together but I heard that Paul was going to get asked so they might all end up with a girl. I'll send a group text out, in case I miss some of them." I nodded, feeling a bit awkward about having PBG there. And Shane hated me so I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I couldn't turn back now though.

"This'll be interesting, so I'll see you and everyone else tomorrow?" opening the door, I walked Jirard down and out of Primrose. Jirard smiled, happy he seemed to improve my mood.

"We'll meet you here tomorrow, see ya then!" With a smile and a wave, Jirard walked off. When I got up to my room, I saw my phone light up, I had a few missed texts. I opened the ones from a number that wasn't in my phone first.

The text read, "Hey, I got your number from Mai. It's PBG. I'm sorry if I wasn't super supportive earlier, no one has ever sat me down and told me that. But I'll do my best to be a better friend from now on. Can we talk later?"

I replied, "Yeah, text me when soccer practice is over and I'll meet you down at the field to chat. Thank you for being cool about this." Then I moved on to my other texts. They were from Mai.

"Hey, you aren't feeling well? You looked okay, but don't worry, I got your homework. I hope you feel better, that way you can go to the festival tomorrow!"

"I'm feeling better now. Thank you for getting my homework! Jirard stopped by after classes and he invited us both to go as a group with some of the Normal Boots guys to the festival. I hope you will go with us!" I looked over my text to Mai, adding a smiley emoji at the end before sending it. Right after I sent it, I laid back on my bed staring at the rungs that kept her bed above mine. I wondered if Mai had any clue at all that I liked her.

I spent my time waiting for PBG's reply, daydreaming about Mai. Mai was always confident, and the best friend I could ask for. She didn't push for details about my past and she had already proven that she'd always be there for me. She didn't seem to care that I was shy and awkward, once she decided she was my friend, that was it. I ended up just hoping that Mai could move past Jared and see the way I felt.

Before my daydreams became sad, I got a text from Mai. "Practice is running long, sounds fun! We might get you a boyfriend yet! See you at dinner...maybe." She added an emoji that looked stressed out.

I sent back, "Good luck!" As my text sent back, PBG sent me a text. I scanned it before getting up. I put on my shoes, fixing my bow before heading out to the soccer field. I wonder what he wanted to say.