Don't Lie in Love
Formerly: What Happened When I Lied

Authoress: iTomo
Summary: If you asked me whether or not I liked Natsume Hyuuga, I would give you a straight face and answer, "No." Guess what? I'm lying. NatsuMikan; Formerly: What Happened When I Lied
Chapter: THREE - Nothing
Published: September 6, 2010
Notes: Changed the genre to Romance & Drama – can't take the humor for this song, LOL.
Pairing(s) In Chapter: Uh, I'll leave that for you to figure out!
Disclaimer: iTomo doesn't not own Gakuen Alice.

Amateur Authoress' Office
From the Desk of iTomo

Dear lovely readers,

Okay, I know. I have not updated in half a year XD But it really doesn't mean that I forgot about this story! I was more focused on my other story, Boys Before Alices, and I really suggest you check it out if you haven't : D I have really worked hard on that one, but I think it's time for me to switch gears and go back to this one!

I'm so happy that you guys have reviewed, favorited, subscribed, etc. Thank you so much! Love and cookies for you all : )

And here it goes. BTW, I just realized how hard it is to write in first-person POV, haha. But that's how the original story went, so I'll have to stick with it. Gah. I'm not so sure how I feel about this story – It's been a while since there was actually anything exciting in my social life, so…

iTomo


Okay. Like, what am I doing right now? Am I, the drama queen and top-notch romanticist, actually trying to set up my crush of five years and my best friend?

"…I'll go for now. Call me when you feel like you're sane again, 'cause we have to discuss some details about Nogi's next blackmail photoshoot," Hotaru waved the comment off and left.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Hotaru's POV

My eyes narrowed slightly as I caught sight of a certain raven-head underneath his self-proclaimed cherry blossom tree. He seemed to be sleeping. . . .

Hyuuga, what did you do to Mikan?

As I neared him, his eyes shot open, suddenly dangerously red in the dark of the early dawn.

"Imai."

0-0-0-0-0-0

Mikan's POV

I wasn't sure when I fell asleep again, but when my alarm rung, I was sprawled out on my desk, just inches away from a direct face plant into the cold unfinished dinner Hotaru bought for me. I stood up hesitantly, immediately being attacked with a sudden dose of dizziness and back pain. Ugh.

Dragging my legs to the bathroom, I took one look in the mirror, resisted the urge to scream, and threw myself in the shower. Double ugh.

When I made sure no tear (or rice) residue was on my face and was dressed in my school uniform, I nodded confidently to myself and left for the new hell hole of my life.

-skip to class-

"Hi!" My voice pierced through the rowdy pandemonium of my class, much like every morning since my arrival 5 years ago. It's a routine, really.

And like always, a chorus of "Good morning!" from my classmates greeted me. There was a Baka-bullet from Hotaru, a sweet "Hello" from Ruka, and a nod from Na—him.

'No!' I thought, and shook away the sudden skip in my heartbeat.

I hesitantly took my seat next to him, and made sure to look away. I was never more grateful (despite the pang of discouragement) when Hotaru caught my eye and motioned for me to come to her.

"What are you doing afterschool today?"

Holy strawberry cows.

"Uh," my eyes widened, "Are you actually finally acting like a typical friend and inviting me to hang out?"

I see a hint of a smile dancing on her lips, "Does that mean you're free?"

Holy, holy, holy – chocolate cows!

"Yep," I nodded. Even though Natsume liked her (a lot!), she was still my best friend, and nothing cures a broken – okay, maybe just kicked – heart as a wonderful girls' night – or day – out. . . . right?

"Afterschool, outside by my office?"

"Okay."

-skip to afterschool-

RING!

I needed an outlet, something to soothe me, to make me forget about my terrible luck. Throwing my school-bag by my desk, I grabbed a purse, slipped on more comfortable shoes, and continued to run, refusing to stop to think.

My feet carried me to Hotaru's place before I knew it.

Holy. Vanilla? Cows.

She was actually outside waiting for me. If she continues to do nice things like this, I'll run out of flavors to describe my holy cows.

"You're fast."

"Mhm."

And before we even got to leave, the object of ex-affection and now-obsession actually appeared from around the corner and came up to us. Or just Hotaru.

"Yo," his eyes met mine for a millisecond before looking back at Hotaru.

I struggled to control the fireworks exploding from the eye contact and just waved.

Sigh.

"Hyuuga," Hotaru finally answered.

Why does her monotonous tone sound oddly affectionate to my ears?

"Remember," and he turned around to leave.

No, no, no. Why is this happening to me? What is wrong?

Hotaru paused for a moment, before turning away, pulling me along with her.

I willed myself not to peek behind our retreating figures to see if he was still there. I didn't know what to think of this – What is he talking about? What is she hiding from me? What –

And then realization hit me harder than one of the Baka cannon's punches.

He asked her out. And now. . . . Hotaru's supposed to give him an answer. And, and –

"Hey, what was that about?" I blurted out before I could carefully word my fake nonchalance.

"Nothing."

She's lying to me.

Note: When Hotaru says it's nothing, it's totally something.


Amateur Authoress' Office
From the Desk of iTomo

Dear lovely readers,

I have a plan brewing in my head. But it just seemed like a really dramatic place to end off, so I'm going to leave the showdown for the next chapter.

I am really feeling hopeless about this story. I know what I'm going to do, and I think I'm able to do it. But please, review or something, just to let me know that you're all interested in this… Please?

Thank you to every single one of my reviewers. I'm tired, and my head aches, so now shout-out this time… But hearts to each one of you, seriously.

iTomo

PS: I'm looking for a good beta – Not really one that focuses as much on grammar and stuff, but more like a person to discuss ideas with XD Just to make sure I'm not going crazy. This applies to my other story too… So.