As i entered the school building i could hear everyone in the background chattering and laughing, i knew what everyone was gossiping about.

Once again a storm has presented itself, and so early in the morning!

I JUST got rejected a few minutes ago and people are already talking about it.

News does spread like wildfire around here.

Seriously that's what everyone is so focused about? Why don't they talk about something else like the weather or what homework is due later.

Even i don't know the answers to that but still.

Am i really the only interesting topic around here? Geez.

They scan me from top to bottom , i feel as if i was naked being stared at like that.

"Oh your right"

They giggle and it took alot in me to ignore them, i pretend to be deaf and keep on walking.

But i can't seem to shut my hearing off. I should have brought earplugs or something !

"I heard she just confessed to irie of class A!"

"Really?"

"That aihara kotoko girl professed her love to irie of class A!"

"Seriously? To irie-kun!?"

Keep walking kotoko, just pretend you can't hear them , i gripped tighter to my bag. I don't want to lose it so early in the morning, i have the whole day ahead of me.

Just as i was about to finally calm down i hear the guys gossiping…. GUYS

"That's her aihara-san"

"Seriously? She's not even hot though, not only is she not smart but she's also not sexy"

"She should really learn her place"

"Right?"

From there it just got worse

"Poor thing"

It was that moment like i felt like i had some super powers or something, i could just hear just about anything and everything they were saying!

Don't cry kotoko, don't give them the satisfaction...stand your ground !

I couldn't take it, i just had to say something

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I ran to the closest hallway and booked it till i couldn't hear the laughing

I stopped to catch my breath

"Kotoko! You confessed to irie-kun!?"

"jinko , not so loud! "

"Wait, how did you know?"

"You did it at the school entrance! Everybody saw it! It's all over social media !"

"The whole school's talking about it!" jinko stated as she showed me her phone

A picture of me handing the letter to irie-kun was posted with alot of likes and comments

"How embarrassing"

Why didn't i think this though, i should have brought him to somewhere private but… he doesn't really know me, i don't think he would have came if i asked.

"Why'd you have to pick the school entrance!?" satomi scolded

"It's like your asking to be gossiped about!"

"And to irie no less"

"Yeah why didn't you think about the consequences!?"

"You knew he was going to turn you down"

"I thought maybe i stood a chance" well… now i know i don't i guess…"i thought MAYBE, just maybe…."

"OH PLEASE!" jinko aggressively pats my back

"That's never gonna happen!"

"Were talking about irie-naoki here!"

"Kotoko! You know our classes are divided by a grading curve!" satomi reminded me

Okay, you're all probably confused so let me explain,

Irie is the uncontested number one student in the highest class, A

Besides that, he scored the highest in japan in the mock exam.

They say his IQ is 200, he was born a genius and with those good looks

And he's the son of a CEO to boot

He speaks a lot of different languages, and plays just about almost all the instruments, he is our best tennis player on the school team that even won nationals !

It's not a exaggeration when girls call him the perfect man, because he just is !

"Lets face it, he's a super boy" satomi interrupts me before i get lost in my train of thoughts

"And in comparison , were in class F"

"Were the bottom of the barrel in this school!"

Jinko states the obvious

"Our world is totally different from his!"

"But i did my best you know" i protested, trying to make them realize that maybe i had hope

"In my first year, second year, third year, i tried my hardest to get into class A, the same class as irie-kun"

I felt them pause and look to where they were, a few steps behind me, they looked so lost.

"What?"

"Hey kotoko" satomi's eye contact was scaring me a bit

Then she jumped so close to me she was only inches away from my face "you know the alphabet right?"

I nodded "yeah of course"

"Then count how many letters are there between A and F"

Jinko jumped in

Did they really think i was that dumb that i didn't know my alphabet? Ignoring that i sighed.

" A , B , C , D , E , F"

"Thats right"

"It would be a miracle if you from class F got into class A"

"The odds are worse than winning the lottery"

Okay, that one stung, i can't believe my friends were against me on this, after getting rejected so harshly!

"Worse than the snow falling mid summer" they continued

"Worse than getting hit by a shooting star?" i asked

"Huh?"

"What?"

"oh , nothing"

"Anyway, you live from a different world from irie's got it?"

"Maybe so, but i wanted to clearly communicate my feelings to him before my highschool days are over, afterall, i don't want to regret anything when im older"

"Your naive!" they both shouted

When we finally get to the classroom, just as i expected everyone was hovering while gossiping, they see me come in and scream my name.

Then they talk some more as if i wasn't there. Can this get any worse?

"SHUT UP!" jinko screamed

They paused a bit and kept on talking more.

Satomi escorted me to my seat as jinko tried to stop them from talking about my business out loud. Thats them, even though my friends can be really mean and straight forwards towards me, they only do it because they care.

I sighed thinking about how lucky I'am to have them by my side even though they know what i did was stupid.

When i finally got settled down in my seat jinko came back to join us.

"He's a boy in his third year of highschool, don't you think that it's weird he's not interested in girls?"

"It's not normal i tell you"

See ? now they're both trying to cheer me up.

"That's right! There are plenty of boys in the world who would be better for you kotoko"

Before i could even defend irie-kun i hear someone's shouting from the hallways

"KOTOKO! HEY KOTOKO"

Oh dear….

"See? There's one!" jinko teases.

I see kinnosuke from a distance, along with his group of friends hurrying their way towards us.

"Kotoko, hey kotoko…." when he finally reached me he grabbed my shoulders and looked me dead straight in the eye, he was panicking, most likely heard whats going on

"Is it true you professed your love to class A's irie and got rejected?!"

"Is it true!?"

"Is it true!?"

"Kin-chan your too close!" thankfully jinko pryed him off of me.

"How can you like a nerd like that"

a what!? Irie-kun's not a nerd… i felt slightly offended.

"When you've got a guy like me?" he posed, trying to look cool i assume.

That's kin-chan. We've been friends since day 1 of highschool, he always tries to go where were going and he always never goes anywhere without his posse, kin-chan is a good friend and he's always looking out for me, but he claims that he loves me and everyday he tries to convince me to love him back, when i told him so many times that i don't see him that way, he just won't budge! He should know by now that my heart only belongs to irie-kun and no one else.

"I don't belong to you kin-chan" i stated, i always try to remind him but he's just so stubborn

"I even brought you kin-chan's special takoyaki made just this morning"

I felt my face lift up and kin-chan snaps his fingers to order one of his friends to bring it over.

"I'll eat them!" kin-chan makes the best takoyaki! Well… second to my dad's of course!

I blink and a bento box is presented before me, kin-chan opens it and the aura of takoyaki hits me like the morning sun, i can feel my empty stomach dancing

"Arigatou!" itadakimasu!" i didn't waste a second and dug in, feeling oh so satisfied that finally something is going down my belly!

"Delicious!"

"Well kin-chan! At least you're a good cook! Both jinko an satomi join me to eat as well

"What do you mean at least!?"

"My feelings for kotoko are second to none! Maybe he's in class A, maybe he's a genius, but i won't lose to that bastard irie!... he rejected kotoko, i can't forgive him, he's basically challenged me to a duel"

Oh god…

"That guy's a little too full of himself"

Please make it stop…

"Ive had enough…" i finally blurted out

"Like what everyone says… i wasn't thinking straight, he wouldn't even read my letter...he can't be a good person right? I'm….a poor judge of a man's character"

There i said it, for everyone's sanity, i said it.

This has to be done, i can't have them talking bad about irie-kun, and i can't have the whole campus gossiping about what just happened… maybe if i just lay low it will die down, maybe if i just stick to the status quo then everything will go back to normal… i can still admire him from afar, but i have to do this because it will be troublesome for him.. I have to do this so he will at least have some respect in me… right?

I can't have kin-chan start a ruckus and charge him.. Things will get messy

"So i'm okay now, i'm giving up.."

AN: itazura na kiss doesn't belong to me ;)