--
BRRRIIIIINNNNNNGGGG! The bell clanked loudly, signalling us to go to lunch. I stood up, gathering all my stuff.
"Man..." I said, sighing.
"What is it Takato?" Henry asked. He looked over at he curiously, slinging his backpack over my shoulder.
"Eeeh," I responded. I slid all my stuff messily into my backpack, and fit my arms through the straps. "Thinking about -her- again."
"Oh. No wonder." Henry said, with a chuckle. "You really like her, don't you?"
"Yeah..."
"Why won't you just ask her to the dance already then?"
"I told you, I don't have the guts," I said, and we both trudged out of the classroom.
"Well, get the guts then. I don't know, Takato. But you better say something soon. Time's running out."
"Yeah yeah..." I closed my eyes, nodding knowingly.
"You've liked her for five years already," Henry went on. "I mean, you better say something SOON or else you're gonna be an old man by the time you tell her!"
"I know, but..." I turned to him, facing my friend. "I mean, how can I tell Rika I like her? She's hardly approachable."
"Which makes me wonder why you like her."
"Well..." I responded, pushing the door open to the lunch area, looking up at the bare blue sky. "She has this strength that I never had."
"Yeah, the strength to knock three people out at the same time."
"That's not -all- that I like about her though," I continued. I was babbling, and Henry knew it, but for some reason I kept going anyway. "She's pretty and--"
"Hey guys! Over here!"
Rika stood at our table, waving at us. We walked over to the table and sat down. I sat next to Rika and Henry, and Kazu and Kenta sat infront of us on the opposite side of the table.
"Hey Rika, Kazu, Kenta."
"Hey Goggleboy," Kazu looked at me, smiling. "What took you?"
"He was being a slowpoke, as always I bet." Rika said, giggling. I blushed in response, but quickly hid it as well as I could.
"Yeah, he was slow again," Henry answered for me. He slid his lunchbag out of his backpack. "Well, what do you guys have today?"
"Lame old riceballs," Kenta complained. "Mom never makes anything new."
"Why don't you ask her to make something for you?" I asked him.
"Eeeh," he responded, adjusting his glasses. "She says if I want something new to eat, I better make it myself."
"Makes sense," Rika said, taking out her own lunch, bento. "You're 15, dude, and freakin' lazy."
"HEY!" Kenta exclaimed.
"You know, I hate to admit it but she's right..." Kazu responded, shoving an onigiri into his mouth.
"Aren't you supposed to be the one on MY side! Takato, help!"
"Uhh," I looked at him. "Well, it's kinda true..."
"Aahhh, forget it." Kenta said, biting into his rice ball.
We ate a bit, shoving food in our mouths like the teenagers we were.
"So who's asking whom to the dance?" Rika suddenly asked. I blushed, remembering the conversation Henry and I had in the classroom.
"I wanna go with that blonde chick in our Math class," Kazu said, after swallowing his onigiri whole.
"Who are you asking, goggleboy?" Rika asked, turning to me.
I blushed. "Well... uhh... I want to ask this one girl... but... uhh..."
Luckily, as I sat there flustered, Henry saved me from utter embarrassment.
"But he's not done with his dancing lessons."
...Well, sort of.
Not like it made a difference. I just sat there, babbling "um" and "er" and "uh" over again.
"Dancing lessons, huh?" Rika looked at me curiously, looking me up and down as if I was some sort of alien. "I'm impressed."
Rika? Impressed of me? Wow.
"I didn't think you'd do anything THAT ridiculous." She continued, finishing her sentence.
Nevermind.
"Don't worry," Henry said for me. "He'll be in great dancing shape."
"Whaa?" I finally was able to spit out a word.
"Well," Rika said, looking over at me, "I hope you'll be good at the dance, I guess."
I looked at him, and pulled him away from the table. "I need to talk to you," I muttered.
I dragged him away, rounding the corner of the building. I looked him in the eye. "Gee, thanks a lot."
"What? I just saved your butt."
"Dancing lessons? How is that saving?"
"I saved you from humiliation."
"Thanks, but I think I can do that myself."
"Well, it's no big deal, right? I mean, you can get dancing lessons."
"Oh, really now?"
"Don't worry about it. And if you get good at dancing, maybe you can get the guts to ask Rika out."
"So unlikely. First off, who in their right mind gets dancing lessons?"
"The people on the dance team."
"THEY'RE ALL GIRLS!"
"So? At least they dance..."
"Second, how am I supposed to get the guts to ask Rika out by dancing?"
"Simple. If you learn how to get the guts to learn how to dance, you might get the guts to ask her out. Just try it. You should be fine."
"I majorly doubt it. Tamers don't dance."
"Just try it," Henry said, leaning against the wall so that he was facing the horizon, but he still looked towards me. "I mean, it won't do you any harm, will it?"
--
Woo... that was fast ;
Hopefully I'll get this done. I'm hoping this'll be only about 6 chapters, 8 or 9 tops.
