Radiant Memories
~Thirty six~
Crush
"You're all red," Tifa Lockhart smirked.
"N-No, I'm not!" Zack Fair stuttered, feeling his cheeks warm up even more.
The dark-haired girl laughed. "No need to be all embarrassed about it, everyone in Radiant Garden knows. Everyone in the other worlds probably know, too."
"WHAT?!" he exclaimed, a look of terror on his face. "Does she know?"
"Oh, right. Everyone except for her." And everyone knows she likes you except for you.
Zack let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness..."
"You should really make a move though," Tifa looked up as a familiar boy zoomed past her holding a bouquet of pink flowers. "A bunch of guys have a crush on her. She gets a confession maybe once every two weeks."
"Yeah, I think Cloud had a thing for her at one point..."
"Excuse me?"
"...I didn't say anything."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
They watched as the person they were talking about rejected yet another poor fellow.
"What if she doesn't like me back?" he asked, frowning.
"As if anyone can resist your charms, soldier."
Zack stood up proudly, pumping his fist in the air. "Yeah, you're right! There's no way she can reject me! I'm irresistib-"
She pulled him back down. "Geez, you can be so cocky sometimes! I wasn't being serious!"
"Hey, I just was fooling around!"
"You almost blew our cover!" she facepalmed. "But... really. Go confess. Just tell her how you feel about her."
"But..."
"WOULD YOU RATHER SEE HER KISSING SOME OTHER GUY CAUSE YOU'RE TOO MUCH OF A WUSS TO CONFESS?"
"NO, MA'AM!"
"Exactly!" Tifa smiled, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Go. I'll be cheering for you!"
Zack took a deep breath. "Alright... Oh, and Tifa?"
"Hm?"
"Thanks."
Without another second to lose, he jumped out of his hiding place, startling his crush in the process.
"Hey, Aerith! Sorry for scaring you..." he scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. "Listen, there's something I've been wanting to tell you..."