p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"As soon as I showed up to school in the morning, I had noticed that some of the students were glancing my way, with somewhat worried expressions on their faces./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"The fuck is em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"their /emproblem? /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"A thought occurred to me – had the others told anyone about our breakup?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But they wouldn't have any reason to do that…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"…Right?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse spotted me, and began to walk beside me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Her hand grabbed mine, and she rushed to the dormitory./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I'm not even allowed in here," I muttered. "In your dorm. I can't be in the girls' dorms. It's against the rules."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""But I snuck into Feli's room, remember? For the party?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "Yeah, but wouldn't your roommate be pissed?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She exhaled. "My roommate is Liz. And she's out at the moment. We need to talk."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Oh…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse shut the door, and stood at the doorway./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…Clarisse?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She turned to me, and tears were rolling down her cheeks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Clarisse?!" I rushed to her, and she burst into tears./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She looked up at me, sobbing. "I hate him. Kuya Toni…he…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Clarisse, calm down," I said. "So you found out. Sure. But—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I HATE HIM!"/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I hugged her, as we both sunk to the ground. I kissed her on the cheek, attempting to calm her down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Why?!"/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" she sobbed. "Aren't em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"you/em upset, too?!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded, my eyes teary. "Of course I'm upset, Clarisse. I'm so fucking mad at myself. But it's not entirely his fault."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""How is it em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"your/em fault in any way?!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Because I was kinda using him. Just to feel good about myself."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse wiped away her tears, sitting close by me. I put my arm around her, whispering to her to calm down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I don't hate him, but I'm so angry," she quietly said. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "I'm hoping that we can at least somehow still be friends, but…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""He doesn't want to talk to anyone. How are you—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I'll try," I muttered under my breath. "I'll do anything to at least get him to talk to me again, dammit. Anything."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She hugged me again. "I'm sorry for being mean to you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I smiled a little. "It's alright, but you're still a thotty."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse laughed. "Stupid."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"My hand went over to hers. "em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Mahal kita,"/em I mumbled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She raised her eyebrows, and gaped at me. "Did you just…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Google Translate…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse grimaced. "Ew."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""You're late," Ms. Ren snapped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shrugged. "Sorry."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She sighed. "Are you alright? You look a bit down…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""When isn't he?" someone snorted. I turned bright red at the remark./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "I'm fine."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I sat at my desk – next to Antonio./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked pretty normal – wearing the same expression he did on our first day last year – the day he met me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Are we really back to square one again?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shook off the thought, sitting down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino? Please read from paragraph 3."/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Uhm…" I flipped the pages of my textbook, a little flustered. I had gotten lost in my thoughts again. "Sorry, miss, I can't find it…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Here," Antonio mumbled, pointing below the page. "Read from there."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…Thanks…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"As I read the line aloud, my heart fluttered at the thought of him talking to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But there was definitely something missing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Well, I can't blame him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He literally just broke up with the first love of his life the other day./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"…Hm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I sat by the tree again, with everyone else. They all gaped at me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""You aren't looking good at all," Ivan said, a hint of concern in his voice. "What happened?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Holy shit," Gilbert said. "You've gotten so thin. And your eyes…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shrugged. "I didn't sleep or eat. I do that sometimes. Nothing new. So what?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I will fucking kill Antonio if he ever dares to come back to this tree," Liz mumbled. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shaking my head, I looked at the ground. "Please don't lash out at him, dammit. It'll only make things worse. And it's not entirely his fault. It was his choice. I hit his limit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Alfred shrugged. "He has some nerve if he decides to show up here anytime soon."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We all looked behind us./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio was standing behind us, his lunch in his hands, a normal expression on his face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Gilbert grimaced. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Hey…" He sat next to Francis, and I sighed. He had picked the spot farthest from me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Needless to say, it was awkward./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Yao and Alfred tried to liven up the mood by coming up with some crazy conversation-starters, but it didn't help./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"My brother started crying, and Ludwig had to walk away with him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I actually feel bad for the potato bastard, dammit. It wasn't his fault./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio looked at the ground, playing with a blade of grass./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI sighed, trying to hold back the tears./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Alfred sighed. "The bell's about to go soon. Anyone wanna trade food?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I have to go," Antonio said, giving a little smile, though it was obviously fake. "I'll be late for class."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We all nodded, picking up our belongings, walking to class./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I heard Clarisse mutter, "Asshole" to her cousin, before walking beside me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I haven't said anything to him yet, but I know that he's avoiding me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He'll talk to me every now and then – but only while doing a school project./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He's all about studying now – he doesn't even talk to any of his friends./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"A month had gone by, and he had still been quiet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino, I'll do this part of the homework, then you'll do that part – and then we'll combine our answers."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No. Not Lovino./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino?"/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Call me em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Lovi./em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked at me. "Are you okay?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "Y-Yeah…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Then…can we study at your house?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Yeah…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"It was quiet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Too/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" quiet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio looked at me. "You've gotten thinner. Are you eating well?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He let out a sigh. "You know, I don't hate you, right?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shook my head. "You're lying."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I feel like you're the one who hates me, actually."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No./span/strongspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" Stop it, Lovino. Don't cry./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"You can't cry in front of him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Not now./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He isn't your boyfriend anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked at me, making eye contact with me for the first time in a while. "We can be acquaintances, if you want—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Antonio, I…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Tears filled my eyes, and I began to panic./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Stop crying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Stop fucking crying, you fuckingem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" idiot./em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But I want to be more than just acquaintances./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Being friends again would be nice, but I want more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Having a crush on each other is even nicer, but I want even more than that./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Just dating is already amazing, but…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I don't want you./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"need/em you./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Trying to keep myself together, I nodded. "Yeah…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""We can be friends."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No, no, no, no./span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I can't cry./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Close friends?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Nononononononononononononononononononononono./span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded, sighing. "Friends…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio looked down. "You know, holding in your feelings isn't good for you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""What do you mean…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I know that you want to cry."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"A tear trickled down my cheek./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I know that you're holding it in."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He dropped his textbook and pen./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""You can cry if you want to. I won't make fun of you. I promise."/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"There was that familiar, sincere tone in his voice, and the dam in my throat broke./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I hiccupped, and burst into tears, my face in my hands./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I…I can't do this anymore," I sobbed. "It's already been three days, but…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I wasn't even looking up from my hands, so I couldn't see or even imagine the expression on his face right now./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Breathing at an unsteady rate, I let out a frustrated scream, muffled in my hands./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Please…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Call me em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Lovi /emagain, Antonio. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Please./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I continued to cry – there wasn't a time I could remember where I had cried this much./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Sure – I had been physically and verbally abused throughout my childhood, but I had never cried like this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio's hand slipped into mine./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But it did nothing to stop me from crying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked at me. "I was too harsh on you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Damn right/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" you were./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I was stupid to say all of those things."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Exactly./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But why do I still love you?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino…"/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Dammit. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I can't do this anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino. Listen to me. Look at me."/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I lifted my face from my hands, and he threw his arms around me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""We're probably only going to remain as friends from now on, but I want to let you know that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say all of that. I'm sorry I hurt you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Sobs continued to fall from my lips, and I hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I…I…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"As much as I want to say it, I know that I can't./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We aren't together anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Not romantically./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We're more than classmates./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We're more than acquaintances./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We're more than friends./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But we're only close friends, and will never become more than that./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Lovino and Antonio./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I can't say it to his face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I would be mortified./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"And he would probably be confused, being the oblivious, wonderful bastard he is./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But I say it in my head, purely for my self-satisfaction. I'm a selfish person, right? This is the least I can do to help myself feel somewhat better./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I love you./span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"The fuck is em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"their /emproblem? /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"A thought occurred to me – had the others told anyone about our breakup?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But they wouldn't have any reason to do that…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"…Right?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse spotted me, and began to walk beside me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Her hand grabbed mine, and she rushed to the dormitory./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I'm not even allowed in here," I muttered. "In your dorm. I can't be in the girls' dorms. It's against the rules."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""But I snuck into Feli's room, remember? For the party?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "Yeah, but wouldn't your roommate be pissed?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She exhaled. "My roommate is Liz. And she's out at the moment. We need to talk."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Oh…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse shut the door, and stood at the doorway./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…Clarisse?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She turned to me, and tears were rolling down her cheeks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Clarisse?!" I rushed to her, and she burst into tears./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She looked up at me, sobbing. "I hate him. Kuya Toni…he…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Clarisse, calm down," I said. "So you found out. Sure. But—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I HATE HIM!"/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I hugged her, as we both sunk to the ground. I kissed her on the cheek, attempting to calm her down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Why?!"/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" she sobbed. "Aren't em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"you/em upset, too?!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded, my eyes teary. "Of course I'm upset, Clarisse. I'm so fucking mad at myself. But it's not entirely his fault."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""How is it em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"your/em fault in any way?!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Because I was kinda using him. Just to feel good about myself."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse wiped away her tears, sitting close by me. I put my arm around her, whispering to her to calm down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I don't hate him, but I'm so angry," she quietly said. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "I'm hoping that we can at least somehow still be friends, but…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""He doesn't want to talk to anyone. How are you—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I'll try," I muttered under my breath. "I'll do anything to at least get him to talk to me again, dammit. Anything."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She hugged me again. "I'm sorry for being mean to you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I smiled a little. "It's alright, but you're still a thotty."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse laughed. "Stupid."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"My hand went over to hers. "em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Mahal kita,"/em I mumbled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She raised her eyebrows, and gaped at me. "Did you just…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Google Translate…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Clarisse grimaced. "Ew."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""You're late," Ms. Ren snapped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shrugged. "Sorry."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"She sighed. "Are you alright? You look a bit down…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""When isn't he?" someone snorted. I turned bright red at the remark./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "I'm fine."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I sat at my desk – next to Antonio./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked pretty normal – wearing the same expression he did on our first day last year – the day he met me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Are we really back to square one again?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shook off the thought, sitting down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino? Please read from paragraph 3."/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Uhm…" I flipped the pages of my textbook, a little flustered. I had gotten lost in my thoughts again. "Sorry, miss, I can't find it…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Here," Antonio mumbled, pointing below the page. "Read from there."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…Thanks…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"As I read the line aloud, my heart fluttered at the thought of him talking to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But there was definitely something missing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Well, I can't blame him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He literally just broke up with the first love of his life the other day./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"…Hm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I sat by the tree again, with everyone else. They all gaped at me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""You aren't looking good at all," Ivan said, a hint of concern in his voice. "What happened?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Holy shit," Gilbert said. "You've gotten so thin. And your eyes…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shrugged. "I didn't sleep or eat. I do that sometimes. Nothing new. So what?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I will fucking kill Antonio if he ever dares to come back to this tree," Liz mumbled. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Shaking my head, I looked at the ground. "Please don't lash out at him, dammit. It'll only make things worse. And it's not entirely his fault. It was his choice. I hit his limit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Alfred shrugged. "He has some nerve if he decides to show up here anytime soon."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We all looked behind us./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio was standing behind us, his lunch in his hands, a normal expression on his face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Gilbert grimaced. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Hey…" He sat next to Francis, and I sighed. He had picked the spot farthest from me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Needless to say, it was awkward./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Yao and Alfred tried to liven up the mood by coming up with some crazy conversation-starters, but it didn't help./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"My brother started crying, and Ludwig had to walk away with him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I actually feel bad for the potato bastard, dammit. It wasn't his fault./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio looked at the ground, playing with a blade of grass./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI sighed, trying to hold back the tears./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Alfred sighed. "The bell's about to go soon. Anyone wanna trade food?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I have to go," Antonio said, giving a little smile, though it was obviously fake. "I'll be late for class."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We all nodded, picking up our belongings, walking to class./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I heard Clarisse mutter, "Asshole" to her cousin, before walking beside me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I haven't said anything to him yet, but I know that he's avoiding me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He'll talk to me every now and then – but only while doing a school project./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He's all about studying now – he doesn't even talk to any of his friends./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"A month had gone by, and he had still been quiet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino, I'll do this part of the homework, then you'll do that part – and then we'll combine our answers."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No. Not Lovino./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino?"/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Call me em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Lovi./em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked at me. "Are you okay?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded. "Y-Yeah…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Then…can we study at your house?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Yeah…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"It was quiet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Too/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" quiet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio looked at me. "You've gotten thinner. Are you eating well?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He let out a sigh. "You know, I don't hate you, right?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I shook my head. "You're lying."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I feel like you're the one who hates me, actually."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No./span/strongspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" Stop it, Lovino. Don't cry./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"You can't cry in front of him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Not now./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He isn't your boyfriend anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked at me, making eye contact with me for the first time in a while. "We can be acquaintances, if you want—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Antonio, I…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Tears filled my eyes, and I began to panic./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Stop crying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Stop fucking crying, you fuckingem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" idiot./em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But I want to be more than just acquaintances./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Being friends again would be nice, but I want more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Having a crush on each other is even nicer, but I want even more than that./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Just dating is already amazing, but…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I don't want you./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"need/em you./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Trying to keep myself together, I nodded. "Yeah…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""We can be friends."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"No, no, no, no./span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I can't cry./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Close friends?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Nononononononononononononononononononononono./span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I nodded, sighing. "Friends…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio looked down. "You know, holding in your feelings isn't good for you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""What do you mean…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I know that you want to cry."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"A tear trickled down my cheek./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I know that you're holding it in."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He dropped his textbook and pen./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""You can cry if you want to. I won't make fun of you. I promise."/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"There was that familiar, sincere tone in his voice, and the dam in my throat broke./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I hiccupped, and burst into tears, my face in my hands./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I…I can't do this anymore," I sobbed. "It's already been three days, but…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I wasn't even looking up from my hands, so I couldn't see or even imagine the expression on his face right now./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Breathing at an unsteady rate, I let out a frustrated scream, muffled in my hands./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Please…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Call me em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Lovi /emagain, Antonio. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Please./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I continued to cry – there wasn't a time I could remember where I had cried this much./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Sure – I had been physically and verbally abused throughout my childhood, but I had never cried like this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Antonio's hand slipped into mine./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But it did nothing to stop me from crying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"He looked at me. "I was too harsh on you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Damn right/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" you were./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I was stupid to say all of those things."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Exactly./span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But why do I still love you?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino…"/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Dammit. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I can't do this anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""Lovino. Listen to me. Look at me."/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I lifted my face from my hands, and he threw his arms around me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""We're probably only going to remain as friends from now on, but I want to let you know that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say all of that. I'm sorry I hurt you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Sobs continued to fall from my lips, and I hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;""I…I…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"As much as I want to say it, I know that I can't./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We aren't together anymore./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Not romantically./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We're more than classmates./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We're more than acquaintances./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"We're more than friends./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But we're only close friends, and will never become more than that./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"Lovino and Antonio./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I can't say it to his face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I would be mortified./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"And he would probably be confused, being the oblivious, wonderful bastard he is./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"But I say it in my head, purely for my self-satisfaction. I'm a selfish person, right? This is the least I can do to help myself feel somewhat better./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"I love you./span/em/strong/p