Everyone's probably wondering what happened after the dinner, and this chapter confirms it! Enjoy!

Chapter Ten

The next day, Jimmy went to school as usual. Chemistry class was the last class of the day again, and he stayed behind to apologize about the previous night. He took longer than usual to pack up his stuff, and was consequently the last person there.

"Uh, Miss Graythorn?" she hadn't realized he was there, and jumped a little. She turned around to face him.

"Jimmy?"

"I just…I just wanted to apologize for last night. You were obviously uncomfortable. I know Dad was being a little pushy about stuff you obviously didn't want to share." Her face had grown dark at this, and he noticed. "Miss Graythorn? Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking about some…stuff."

"Guy problems?" he guessed. She looked up at him and was about to deny it, but looking at his face, he looked so much like him she couldn't bring herself to lie to him.

"Partly. I had a rough childhood, too, and the memories come back to me sometimes. That's why I don't like talking about my past, because I just want to shovel those memories away for good."

"Oh. You're the same as me, then, as least in romance problems."

"I guess so." She remembered him telling her his story, and realized that the only thing she wanted to do was to get hers off her chest, though of course she couldn't tell him the truth. "The truth is I knew a guy a few years ago. He was my closest friend. I'd had a rough childhood, with no family, and no one really treated me well. However, he treated me like a human being, which no one else ever had. He was kind, generous, and helpful. He was a strong shoulder for me to lean on. I couldn't help falling in love with him. But I knew that the love could only be one-sided. He had a friend from childhood, a girl, whom he'd loved for years. She was away when I was there, but the day she came back, I left for America. I went to college, got my teaching degree, and here I am now."

Jimmy didn't try to pry anything out of her. He didn't ask questions. He knew how much she'd have had to have trusted him in order to tell him something like this.

"I never went back to visit because I couldn't bear seeing him with someone else. I still haven't gotten over him, and I doubt I ever will."

"I might know a way you could," said Jimmy cautiously.

"What do you mean?" Vi asked curiously.

"Well, if you loved him as much as you say you did, then if you saw him happy, then you should be happy, too! You'd be happy for him, and you'll be able to let him go and move on with your life!"

Vi considered his words and realized he had a point. If she saw Shinichi happy, then she'd be happy for him, too, and would be able to move on.

Jimmy spoke up, "If you want to go, go over the winter break. The spirit of Christmas will keep your spirits up, whether you celebrate it or not."

"Thank you, Jimmy. I think I will. However, before I go, I want you to promise me something, too."

"What is it?"

She bent over and put a hand on his shoulder, "Do the same thing. Use the spirit of Christmas to live your life to the fullest. Make new friends and make yourself happy."

"I already have." At her quizzical look, he quickly added, "I already have a friend: you. You're one of the greatest friends I could ever have." Ignoring her astonished expression, he said, "Well, see you later, then! And good luck!" and left her standing there wide-eyed.

So now Vi has given her half of the confession, and Jimmy didn't realize who she was. Next chapter, Shiho goes to Beika for the first time in five years. What will she find? Read and Review!

Oh, I'd also like to throw something completely non-story related out there. In the future, the frequency of my updates may decrease by a ton, and I can't do anything about it. Today was the first day of my senior year of high school, and it's already turning out to be a doozy. There was a fight before school (a rare occurence at my school) and the buses were late by 1.5 hours this afternoon. For a school in America, that's unheard of. And I've got a TON of homework, and I'm only posting this because I wrote most of it yesterday. So please bear with me, this story only had 2-3 chapters left!