"Who's this, sister?" Ivan asked as Katyusha walked into the house, a teenage boy following close behind, arms laden with books.
"Oh, this is Sadik," Katyusha responded, gesturing to him. "Sadik, this is my brother, Ivan."
Sadik nodded at Ivan. "Hey. I'm a friend of Kat's. She invited me over to study for finals."
Katyusha nodded, smiling brightly to hide the pain in her heart.
Friends. Yes, she and Sadik were friends. Not as close as she was to someone like Matthew, her best friend, but still close.
Did Katyusha wish they could be closer? Yes; she'd had a crush on him for some time now, ever since they really started to hang out and converse with each other.
Did she ever dare admit it? Not in a million years.
Sadik meant too much to her, his friendship too valuable. She didn't want to risk confessing to him only to find out he didn't feel the same way, potentially messing up their friendship and making everything awkward.
Sadik had gotten her through rough patches in her high school years, making her feel special when she felt worthless. He was the one who helped her when she was being bullied (a task Matthew wasn't able to do; he was too soft to stand up to his twin, let alone bullies), who cheered her up when she was down. Merely talking with Sadik was enough to turn her day around.
So she was fine with the "friend zone". As long as he was her friend, she would be fine. She could deal with the heartbreak as long as she still had him in her life.
"So, Kat, where are we studying?" Sadik asked, snapping Katyusha out of her thoughts.
"O-Oh, I was thinking the kitchen."
Sadik flashed one of his smiles at her, the ones that made her heart melt. "Lead the way, then."
As Katyusha led Sadik through her house, she smiled softly to herself, the familiar warmth spreading through her at the fact that she was with Sadik.
Yes; as long as she could hang out with him like this, being "just friends" was fine.
