Sho Minamimoto. He was, without a doubt, the smartest person in my Freshman Algebra class. He was amazing with numbers. He always aced his tests and blew us all out of the water when it came to a pop quiz. I seriously envied him. I had been riding the line on the whole subject of Math since sixth grade. I hated it. When I started failing, though, my teacher demanded that I start having tutoring. I didn't want to, and fought tooth and nail over it, but in the end I lost, and I was stuck in the library after school on one sunny and beautiful Wednesday afternoon. I was completely alone, until he came in and sat across from me. Sho was a cute kid, and had some kind of innocent air around him. He gave me a real smile and set his things down on the table between us.

"Hi Hayako. Ready for tutoring?" He asked me.

"Sure, I guess. Hope you don't get too annoyed with me." I replied quietly.

He laughed at me and shook his head, which forced a little smile out of me. I was surprised by how patient he really was with me, despite all of the mindless questions I asked him. He really helped me. He helped me more than any teacher ever could. Because of him, I passed the next test and my grade started to rapidly rise up from the ashes. I had considered a few times starting to slack off just so that I could hang out with him again. I don't know if he ever caught on, but he made a point to come around and say hi to me often. He wouldn't necessarily go out of his way to talk to me, but if we saw each other and made eye contact, he'd smile at me and say hello, and I'd mumble a hello back, because I never quite knew how to strike up a conversation with him. I was a really awkward and clumsy kid all through middle and high school. It just happened. I never wanted to make friends, because I felt that I didn't really need them, and they definitely didn't need me. When Sho entered my life, things seemed to just change so rapidly. I can honestly say that he was my very first crush, and my only, at that, but I never told him. Never wanted to.

The day that we first had a real conversation and interaction was the day of some cutesy little dance at our school. I didn't go to dances, because I can't dance. While everyone was dressing up the gym and making it look all pretty, I was in the auditorium, practicing for an upcoming recital. I sat on a stool with a pair of headphones on my head, trying to memorize a song. I was quietly singing it under my breath with my eyes closed, so I didn't see or hear someone walk onto the stage and stand behind me. I just kept on singing, nodding my head to the beat of the music. When the song was over, I took the headphones off and hung them around my neck, making some mental notes of where I could embellish notes and add little things.

"You have a really pretty voice," A voice behind me said.

The stool came out from under me and I hit the ground. That was all my fault, of course. I jumped at the sudden sound. I wasn't used to anyone being around when I did this kind of stuff. I heard a muffled chuckle and a hand grabbed my elbow. He helped me up and picked up the mp3 player that had fallen out of my pocket. I looked at Sho calmly. He smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you couldn't hear me," He said.

"It's alright, I guess. What are you doing in here, though? Shouldn't you be with the others, getting ready for the dance?" I asked.

"Nah."

He put his hands in his pockets and walked towards the front of the stage. I picked my stool up and then walked alongside him.

"So, you never answered my other question. What are you doing in here?" I asked again, staring at him intently.

"Oh. I was just wandering, and I saw you up here. How come you aren't at that dance?" I guess it was his turn to ask questions.

I made a sound that was in between a snort and a laugh. He stared at me curiously. I walked along the edge of the stage, not really looking at him anymore. I laced my fingers behind my back as I walked.

"I'm not a good dancer, and social gatherings don't work out so well for me, especially when I have no date," I replied with another laugh.

I continued to trail along the edge of the stage in silence. I turned around to go back the other way and saw Sho standing there, thinking. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't break his train of thought. I knew better than that. He was an analytical kind of guy, and I didn't want to disrupt him. Finally, he looked at me and grinned. I didn't like that smile. It said that he was up to something. That scared me. I froze, one foot in front of the other in an awkward kind of way. I didn't break eye contact with him.

"I could teach you," He offered.

"Not a chance."

I started to walk towards my stool so I could take it downstairs and leave. I patted my pockets and realized that I was missing something. I turned around to look at where I fell, and there was Sho, with my headphones around his neck, giving me a victorious smile. I rolled my eyes and sighed, walking towards him.

"Give it back, Minamimoto," I said.

"Oh, now we're just using last names, Yuzu?" He teased.

"Can we just save this game for later?"

I reached for my headphones and he backed off. I groaned and walked closer to him, while he continued to walk backwards towards the edge of the stage. I smiled a little. Cornered. Or so I thought, anyways. I took two more steps towards him, reached my hand out to swipe my headphones away. He grabbed my wrist and we both went off the edge of the stage. I landed on top of him, and he gave a quiet 'oomph!' when we hit the ground. I sat up a bit, putting my hands on either side of his shoulders. We glared at each other for a bit, and then he just grinned that calculating grin again.

"I'll give it back if you dance with me," He tried.

"You have got to be kidding me, Sho!" I protested.

I knew that I'd have to cave in sooner or later, or I'd never get it back. I just groaned and got up off of him. I hoisted myself back up onto the stage and stood there with my hands on my hips. He got back up and stood in front of me, so that I had to look up to see his face.

We danced, and it was the most fun that I've ever had with another person. It was like I finally had a friend, and wanted a friend. It just…worked, in some cosmic kind of way.

And then…it happened…

We were walking home from school. I remember it clearly. It was the very last day of school, and Sho and I were going to get some ice cream. We were running across the street, and suddenly, Sho shoved me forward. I thought he was just playing around, so I got to the other side of the street and turned around to yell at him and push him back. I saw the car hit him. I saw his blood spray on the pavement. My eyes widened. I didn't even know that my feet were moving until I was kneeling next to him. He was gone. His eyes were all glazed over. There was no way that he could've survived something like that. I cried, and cried, because I just didn't know what else I could do.

Sho Minamimoto was really, really gone. Forever.