Out of Reach
By:Aquarius9347
One word said to two people
"Rin! Hey! Wait up!" Justin yelled, trying to catch up.
I stopped. "What is it?"
"Well—um—about the movie. What do you want to watch?"
"None."
"What do you mean 'None'?"
"I don't want to watch a movie with you."
"Huh? What's that all of a sudden?"
"Justin—I want you to stop asking me out."
"Why? Do you have a boyfriend already?"
"Nope. I don't have one."
"So you're saying you don't like-like me?"
"Yes."
"Wow—straight out." He sighed.
"Well that's my decision."
"So—Tom?"
"Nope. I also told him no three days ago."
"Ah—so you've been thinking about it."
"Yeah."
"Well—thanks for letting me know before I completely make a fool of myself."
He laughed half-heartedly.
"Well—See you Justin. I still have a lot of things to do."
"Ah—yeah. Bye."
Then I went looking for Clint.
So—Justin was serious about me. I admit I somehow misunderstood him. However, I still think that he doesn't exclude in my decision. Now, about Clint. I'm completely worried about how to deal with him. I treasure our friendship and I don't want to hurt his feelings.
I stood in the hallway. A door creaked open on my left and then appeared Clint holding boxes full of files. My heart started beating fast. I guess I'm pretty nervous.
"Um—hey! You need help with those?" I asked. Lending a hand won't hurt, right?
"Ah—yes. Can you manage it? This is pretty heavy."
"Yes—of course." He handed me one of the boxes.
My arms felt numb and my head soaked with sweat. I underestimated his words. This box is really heavy. It's like carrying a canon ball.
"So—Rin." Hesitation in his voice.
"Hm?" Trying to hide the pain. This is nothing compared to what he might feel after I say my intentions.
"I don't want you to avoid this question again." Oh no! I didn't think it would be this soon.
We're near the Student Council room. Just a little bit longer.
"So about us." He placed the boxes on one side of the room and lifting the box from me.
"Clint. You do know a little bit of Japanese, right?"
"Uh—yes." He placed the box together with the others. It's just the two of us inside the Student Council room.
I inhaled.
"Kumenasai. Aishiteru tomodachi." Those three words. Sorry. I love you. Friend. I didn't think of it as a sentence. But it will explain what I wanted to say.
We were silent for a while.
"So that's your decision." He said suddenly.
I dared not to look at his eyes.
"Y-yes. I'm sorry. But right now. I just think of you as a friend. It's still not to the level you wanted. It didn't have time to develop. I'm really sorry. I've been so confused lately. About Justin and Tom confessing." The words came out rapidly. I found myself liking Clint but held back because I'm still not sure. He was initially my friend after all. Maybe why I felt like confiding is because he's been my friend since grade school.
"So how did it turn out like this? Who's the lucky guy?"
"You three would be lucky if your affections are not focused on me. It was thanks to Tom's words. He said that no one will harm me because of a decision involving love. It's sticking to my head."
"Three is too much to handle huh? So I guess you needed space to think."
"Yeah. I told Tom that he should forget about me."
"What did he say?"
"His words are incomprehensible. It made me think that he said those to gain advantage." I sighed.
"Well—how about Justin."
"He was thankful that I told him earlier. He said it would prevent him from making a fool of himself."
Then we became silent again.
"Time. You just need time to think."
"Nah—I don't think just thinking will be enough when it comes to this stuff. If I have wanted something fleeting then I would have chosen Justin. That way, after two or three months it will be over between us. And I don't think Tom and I will last a week. I barely know him and rarely get the chance to know him better."
"Is there anybody else?"
"No."
"Fleeting relationships huh? I didn't hear you say my name."
I blushed. I never thought of having a relationship with him from the start.
"So I don't even qualify in a fleeting relationship." He laughed nervously.
"Clint. Why would I want a fleeting relationship with you? Yes. You don't even qualify. Because after that kind of relationship reached its limit, there's no guarantee that those people will still become friends in the end. Since from the start they're never been friends."
"Oh! I guess."
"If you want to be in a fleeting relationship then it's like you're asking me to end our friendship." I said furiously.
"No. You did the right thing. I don't want to have that kind of relationship with you either. I want it to last longer. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. All you need is time for you to fall in love."
"Haha. Now that you mentioned it. I just realized that I've never really fallen in love. Maybe I'm just not happy with the fleeting relationship thing."
The bell rang. It's time for us to go home.
"Going home?" He asked.
"Um—yeah. But I'll stop by at the coffee shop first."
"Ah—I heard they've got a new dessert there."
"Really? I want to check it out."
"Can I come?"
"Not busy?"
"Nope."
"Then sure—Desserts taste better with a friend anyway." Good thing I told him what's in my mind. I'm just not ready to fall in love. I still don't know how. The other two might have left me but I still have Clint, my friend.
"Wow! This tastes great!" I exclaimed. Chocolate ice cream with cherry on top, two chocolate sticks, flowing vanilla, marshmallows and an Oreo cookie on the side, and sharing this with a friend made it tastier.
"This really costs much. At this rate, I'll end up depending on you to pay the other half if I want to eat this next time. Too bad Chelsea doesn't like sweet things. So my sweet-tooth friend, this is our vow. To have this special ice cream at least thrice a month and each of us must pay half of it. So what do you say?" I proposed.
"Hahaha—Sure. Whatever you say. This ice cream is good for two though. So sharing it would be best."
"Yep!" Looks like the other customers are also checking this new dessert out. WTH! Most of them are lovers!
"Hey! I know what you're thinking with that look of yours. Don't think of it too much. You just dumped me remember. Just think of this tradition that you made up as something between the best of friends, alright? I'm not backing out of your proposal you know. This is way tasty."
"You know you can afford it all by yourself."
"But it wouldn't taste as good if I'll buy my own and I shouldn't eat a lot of it 'cause I'll get brain freeze."
We laughed. "Okay. Fine. This just makes us look a lot like lovers though."
"Really? But we're just friends. Think of it as if we're playing house. Just like when we were kids."
I chuckled. "Alright. I get it. This really tastes good huh. Their chocolate cake is also delicious as usual."
"Yup. Here—have this." He said.
"Huh? What's that?"
"Banana cake. Have some." The piece of banana cake on his fork is an inch from my mouth.
"Come one. Eat it already." He said. I did.
"It's great. It's good when combined with this ice cream too." I said.
"Yeah I know." Eating a piece of banana cake from his fork. WTH! Did we just have an indirect kiss? I blushed. I shook my head and tried to forget those kinds of thoughts.
"Hey! What's up?" I asked.
"Huh? What is it?"
"What you just did right now. What's that about?"
"We're playing house, remember?"
"Oh!" I smiled. Well, two can play at that game.
"Here. Have some ice cream on a chocolate stick." He bit once and I dipped it on the ice cream again and bit it.
We laughed really hard. Another indirect kiss. Maybe this is what others refer to as, the prelude to love. But for now, I'm just enjoying every bit of it.
After eating and laughing hard while at it, we got up and started to head home.
We were silent for awhile until someone shouted, "Clint! Hey Clint!". It was a girl's voice. Clint slowed down. I looked around and saw a girl in a school uniform. It was from another school though.
"Eh? Who's she? Do you two know each other?" I asked Clint.
"Er-She's not from our school?" He didn't looked at the girl's direction while he asked.
"Nope." I shook my head.
"Oh! Darn! It's her again. Let's just go. Pretend you didn't hear."
"Ah. Alright." We walked a bit faster. This is getting creepy.
"Uhm—Clint. She's still following us." He looked pale. He gulped. He reached for my hand and held it tightly. "How far is she from us?"
"Uhm—I think about a few paces"
"Run!" Clint was still holding my hand as we ran and made a few detours.
"Isn't this the wrong way?" I asked, nervously.
"We have to buy some time. She should give up by now."
"Huh? Clint! Who was she? Why are we running from her?"
"Sorry you got dragged into this. But that girl is a stalker. She has been pursuing me for months now. At first I didn't know that she was following me. I just thought that she takes the same walks as me. But when I noticed that she's looking at me strangely, I kind of asked her if she has something to say to me."
"Then? What did she say to you?"
"She says that she likes me and that she wants to go out with me."
"Wow. So she likes you. That's why she was following you. Just to see you. Whoa! Isn't that sweet?"
"It was when I first heard it."
"Eh? What do you mean? Why are you running away anyway? Is it because I'm with you?"
"Ah no. Having you around can be used as an excuse. I'll make her think that I already have a girlfriend. So she will stop following me."
"How can someone who likes you become a stalker in your eyes Clint? It isn't like you. Normally, you'd be nicer to the person."
"Normally—yes. But with her, it's the different case. She became a stalker in my eyes after she invited me to a party."
We stopped. We're already in front of my house. I still want to know the reason. It bothers me how incomprehensible his story was.
"Let's get inside. I want to hear the rest of your weird story" I said and pushed the gate open.
"Ah—yeah. Alright." He looked hesitant.
"You. Better. Tell. Me. At least as a payment from letting you drag me". He sighed.
"Alright."
I opened the door with my spare key and got inside. "I'm back!"
"Welcome home!"
"Hello, aunty!" Clint greeted.
"Ah! You're here as well Clint. It's been a while"
"Yeah. It's nice to see you again. You're still the same beautiful aunt as ever." He smiled. Mom looked so happy. Clint used flattery against her again.
"Mom. We'll just be in my room. Can we have some tea?"
"Ah. Sure thing. Study session?" Mom asked.
"Uhm—yeah. Sort of. Exams are near and I'm kind of in a pinch. I'll have him teach me" What an excuse! Surely I can't have her know that I just want to get to the bottom of this situation Clint and that girl is in.
"Really? Is that right Clint?" mom asked.
"Y-yes. It is."
"Oh! That's great! Good for you Rin! It's a good thing you have Clint."
"Yep. We'll just be upstairs. Come on Clint!"
"Ah. Yeah."
We hurriedly went to my room and shut the door. I popped out of the room. "Mom! On second thought, we won't have tea or anything. We just came from the coffee shop and we're already stuffed."
"Oh! Alright! By the way. Rin!" mom shouted from the kitchen.
"Yes?"
"I'll be going out for a while. We don't have enough food for tomorrow. I'll be having a grocery."
"Okay!"
"You two just come down and get some snacks if you want, alright?"
"Yeah! Don't worry about us!"
"Okay! I'm going now." Then we heard the door slammed shut followed by the gate opened and closed.
"Perfect!" I smiled. "Now tell me everything!" He sighed.
We were sitting on the floor, just like were playing house in the old days.
"Okay. Okay. It's like this. She invited me to a party a few days after she confessed to me. I was confident because she said it was with a group. I never thought that it would just be the two of us in one of the rooms in a karaoke bar. I asked her if the others would come and she told me they cancelled out. I decided to go home because she's just looking at me without even opening a topic. When I told her that I'll go home, she suddenly threw herself at me."
"Eh? She threw herself at you?"
"To make it understandable, she pushed me down the couch and started taking her clothes off"
"What? Whoa! Stop kidding!"
"I'm not! Do you want to hear what happened or not?"
"Yeah. I want to hear it. Go on. Don't mind me."
"Tch! Well anyway, I told her that she should get off me or else someone might enter the room and misunderstand. But she just smiled and said that she locked the door after we got inside. She continued to strip. I pushed my hardest to get away from her. When I finally got up from the couch, she knocked me down. That girl!" He shook his head. "She smiled and said she learned judo. I don't want to tell you the rest but—"
"Hey! You and her? Something happened between the two of you that's why you're avoiding her?"
"Eh? No! Nothing happened between us!" I was suspicious. "Well at least it didn't go that far. Her brother broke the door and restrained her on time before she even got the chance to take off her undergarments. I guess he was the one who taught her judo"
"Huh? How did her brother know that you were both in that room? And you said he restrained her sister? Why's that? Didn't he accuse you of rape or something?"
"Hey! This face of mine doesn't look like a rapist! And well it's easy for him to find out what room we were in. He asked the receptionist kindly, in his own way. And as for why he didn't accuse me. He said that he saw my pictures glued on the wall inside Marge's room."
"Gosh! So he knew that his sister was obsessed by you?"
"I think so too. He apologized in her place while being kicked hard by Marge. Her other brothers came and made her wear clothes and carried her away. He told me to avoid his sister as much as possible. So as what you saw earlier, I did as what I've been advised to do."
"Do you think she'll do something like that again? Maybe she just wants to apologize to you"
"Uhm—No. I don't think she intends to apologize. She also knows my home address and keeps leaving love letters for me saying that she wants to meet up again and do things"
"Eeek! That's quite creepy. She's like an otaku. How did she come to like you anyway? She's not from our school."
"She said she fell in love at first sight. By that, without even knowing me that much and with what her brother said, she must have just liked my looks"
"OMG! Clint! She's just one of your fans. With an extreme way of expressing it anyway"
"It would have been better if she was just one of those fans at school. She's a lot scarier because of her judo"
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You've got a hard life ahead of you Clint. Hey! Wait a minute. Usually in the shoujo mangas I've read, when one obsessed admirer finds out that her love interest is with another girl, she'll try to bully that girl right?"
"You read too much shoujo manga. Anyway, you were wearing that cheap jacket which you can buy anywhere. And you pulled your hair up and were covered with your dull cap. And, you wore your ordinary sunglasses, remember? So she wouldn't recognize you even if she sees you again."
"Ah! Somehow those irritating comments you made about what I wore sounds good to me. I think I'll be safe. That get up is also for another reason, you know! It's not like I don't have anything decent to wear"
"Huh? Well why were you wearing them? Come to think of it, every time I see you outside the house and school, you seemed to hide your face. Did you do something wrong?"
"Eh? No way! It's just I received weird messages from someone who seemed like a stalker."
"What? Someone was stalking you? Since when?"
"Since the second month of the school year. I received a letter containing a picture. Do you want to see?"
"Yeah okay." I rummaged my study table and got the envelope.
"Here it is." He opened it and read the letter.
"It's a love letter, with a poem about your body?" He blushed.
"Yeah. It is. Did you see the picture?" he took the photo out and his eyes widened. His face became red.
"Wh—what's with this picture?" It was a picture with me in a bathing suit and the string at the back untied.
"This was when we had our class trip. There were other letters and other photos on it. But you don't have to see them. The point is, I don't think it was a guy"
"Huh?"
"I think that this stalker is a girl"
"How can that be?"
"From the photos the stalker sent me, which were all copies as it said on the letters. Not a guy will be able to take a photo of me up close while bathing. And from those censored photos, it was always with girls."
"You mean that stalker took a nude photo of you?" he blushed.
"Yep. I'm not as afraid though. Knowing that the stalker isn't a guy. I don't mind her taking those kinds of photos since she have what I have."
"Do you think that this stalker is from our school?"
"Hmm-I don't know. But there is also one odd letter that came recently. It was different from those other letters. I don't think that it's from the same person though. From that letter, the stalker was just describing my hair, face and figure. A photo wasn't with it. And there wasn't a poem in it. It just seems like a letter written by an old pervert. The stalker also described the things he sees during the times when I'm outside the school building. Stuffs like, 'I saw your underwear when the wind blew your skirt up' It was really creepy that I decided to wear a disguise so that he won't grab me and do perverted stuff on me."
"Ah! So that's the reason for it. But did you really think that your plan worked?"
"Yes, for the past few days. But I guess I have to change this disguise soon. I think I felt someone looking at me earlier when we were at the Coffee shop"
"Eh? Are you sure? So that means I'm also in trouble now. With how we acted there, I'm guessing he's furious now."
"Ah—maybe. But don't worry, I think he also heard the things we were saying back there."
"Oh yeah! I guess you're right. I won't be targeted because I'm just your friend" he looked depressed.
"Do you want some snacks?"
"Sure"
"I'll be right back"
I went downstairs and rummaged the refrigerator and the cupboards. I sent mom a text message asking her if Clint can stay over because we'll be studying overtime. Mom replied back, saying yes.
Yeah. There's no problem with Clint staying over. He's always done that ever since we were little. Mom is also saying stuff like she wants Clint and I to be together. She even says stuff like she's got no objections if he and I are dating. And with my mom having a boyfriend of her own because she and dad divorced ever since I was still a kid, she's giving me a lot of freedom. Maybe that was why I had a hard time thinking of whom to give my interest. Tom, Justin and Clint claimed that they like me. Although Tom and Justin gave up after I rejected them, Clint didn't and even said he'll wait. But lately, Clint became a little aggressive. He showed me he can be more than just friends with me. And I noticed the many times he blushed a while ago. The Clint in the past wouldn't have acted that way. He would always say he respects me and acts like he's not interested in my looks. He used to say that being with me is just enough. I guess now, he thinks more than that. And after I heard about what happened with him and that girl, I became jealous for some reason even though he didn't have any interest on that girl. It must be because of the fact that if that girl's brother hadn't showed up, something might have happened between them and Clint might have given up on me as well. Doing it with Clint. That girl and him. If I let him wait any longer, what would happen? I can't! I can't let that happen! No way!
I ran towards my room and found him reading the letter again with his hand on his mouth and his forehead wrinkled.
"Hey! What's with that face?" I slammed the door shut and locked it.
"Where's the snack?"
"There's none. What's with the face?"
"This stalker. A girl, right? How come she writes about getting inside you if this stalker doesn't have it?"
"You've got a point. But then there are toys nowadays, right? She must have imagined doing it using those things"
"What a mind she has. She's really obsessed. This is not just a simple admiration" I slowly went to his side while he expressed his thoughts.
"How long will you wait?" I asked him.
"Huh? What? Wait for what?"