Chapter two
My hearts go doki-doki when you're around.
It's a new day - with the night's dew still present this morning. cagallil woke up earlier than usual. She took a hot bath, wore her school uniform and fixed her bag. After doing so, she went downstairs and greeted her parents a wonderful morning. They have pancakes and apple juice for breakfast. After that scrumptious meal, cagalli brushed her teeth and fixed her hair in a loose bun with strands of hair cascading her face.
She bid her parents and her little sister goodbye and headed off to her school with her bike. After arriving at her school, she went directly to the left wing to park her bicycle where students' cars and other bicycles were parked. And when she footed her bike she took her bag from the basket and looked at her watch. She's about fifteen minutes early.
She walked through the open-walk towards the middle stairs when one of the cars' doors opened only to reveal the school's ultimate crush, Athrun Zala. Cagalli's tiny heart began to beat fast which almost hammered its way out of her chest. Is that normal? Seeing him would mean that that's normal. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she didn't know what to do. Should she approach him and say good morning? That would make her 'feeling close.' Should she smile, then? That would make her look like a maniac.
With her brain battling what to do, her body just moved on its own and slightly bowed towards his direction. And that earned her a nod. After the very second he gestured a small nod, cagalli quickly fastened her strides. When she has set foot on the school building, she ran her way upstairs and went inside her classroom on the third floor. She took her seat near the window which overlooks the soccer field - just the perfect view to stare at Athrun Zala playing. Geez.
cagalli inhaled to normalize her heart's beating. Oh, in how many ways athrun could make her heart abnormal. The morning classes flew by fast and it's now lunch break. Her classmates already went downstairs to have lunch at the cafeteria. Now she and her best friend milly were left coupled with average students just like them who couldn't afford a high-class meal.
After eating their packed lunch, the two best friends went out their room to breathe some fresh air in the school garden which was bordering the Soccer Field. When they arrived at the garden they sat at one of the wooden benches. They talked about their previous classes' lesson and some hobbies they shared. milly saw the people she wouldn't want to see and told calli that they'd better go back. When they passed by them, two girls held them back by their wrists. And the other girl who was in the middle walked close to them and scoffed.
"Yah, cagalli hibiki! Kneel down to us and beg for our forgiveness." Meer campbell commanded her.
"What? What did cagalli do?" miriallia tried to hold back her resentment towards these P-girls.
"Because of your homely best friend, we failed the exam. So it's only right for her to kneel down before us." meyrin cut in.
"I told you last night. If you would just listen to the lessons you wouldn't fail the exam. It's not my fault you received a failing mark." cagalli defended herself but in a calm manner than miriallia.
"You dare? It's your entire fault! You are such a stupid girl! Because of you we were dropped from the subject! Kneel now!" lunamaria shouted at her.
"I won't." cagalli said.
"Kneel now before we change our mind." meer walked closer and towered her.
"I told you, I won't kneel." cagalli looked up at her and battled meer eyes.
"Yah!" meer strongly pushed her.
cagalli lost her balance and waited for her to hit the ground but it didn't come. She looked at the hands holding both her arms. When she looked up at the person who held her, her heart began to race again - now even faster, almost Olympic-speed. Her lips dried. Her eyes blinked. Her breath caught.
"Aren't you past your age from pushing people?" The person who held cagalli by her arms helped her to her feet.
"Ath-Athrun-sama" So Ra uttered the name.
"That girl is a bitch! She purposely made us fail the make-up exams! You should tell her off and not meer!" lunamaria bravely defended her friend.
"She's not a bitch. I'd agree if you refer to yourselves. I believe that's she not the reason you failed the exam. You, three, were just busy talking non-stop about non-sense things. Cagalli hibiki is an intelligent student and it's impossible for the students she tutors to fail. Am I right, miriallia?" athrun zala looked at milly to gain a response.
"Y-Yes! YES! You're right!" milly glared at the three. "She's definitely not a bitch! She's my best friend! If you lay your hands on her I swear I'll kick your plastic-surgery-faces! AND HELL SHE'S PRETTY!"
"Aren't you going your way now?" Athrun Zala gestured backwards.
The three of them shuffled to their feet. One of them clicked her tongue. The other rolled her eyes and meer hissed to cagalli as she passed her by. "I'll get back at you."
When the three was out of sight, athrun zala turned to her and asked, "Are you alright?"
Cagalli was still in another world when miriallia nudged her. "Ah, Y-yes. I'm okay."
Miriallia slightly bowed to him to show her gratitude for helping them out but she's sure she could have handled them with her infamous spin-kick. "Thank you for helping us, Athrun Zala-sama."
"Thank you, too." Cagalli bowed to him the second time today.
"Don't mention it. Well, I'll be on my way to soccer practice. It's nice... talking to you." Athrun shifted to his right foot but stopped when cagalli opened her mouth to speak.
"P-Please do your best." She tried hard not to stutter but kind of failed.
"Thanks." And there goes the Hot Athrun Zala
Athrun jogged his way towards the field and left the two girls there standing beside each other.
"Things were going smoothly and you have your way ruining it,cagalli." Mirillia commented.
"Eh?"
"Way to go stuttering, I meant." Milly laughed and earned a playful punch from cagalli.
It's afternoon already and that means it's class-dismissed. Most students already left excited to go home while others had club activities. As for milly and cagalli, they have a short errand to do. And that was tending the flowers in the school garden. There was no gardening club they just felt taking care of the beautiful flowers and green plants. Call them nature-lovers. The administration doesn't have a word about it but words of gratitude.
"milly..." cagalli looked beside her while putting fertilizer on the soil with a little help from a small shovel.
"Hm? What is it calli?" milly asked without taking her eyes off the plants she was watering.
"Aboutathrun...-sama." She added the last word hesitantly.
"What about him?" milly turned to her.
"He knew me." cagalli stated.
"And?"
"He said my full name earlier. He knows me." cagalli said in a big-realization-revealed manner.
"Oh. Oh! H-He?" milly dropped the sprinkler.
"Yes! He knew my name! It's not a 99.99% assurance of not knowing me, milly!" cagalli was literally jumping for joy holding her best friend's hands.
"Wow! I didn't realize that. Then... Could that mean...?" milly started after holding cagalli by her shoulders to stop her from her joyous jumps.
"Could mean what?" cagalli's faced distorted with confusion.
"He knows that you exist! More than half of our school's population are females. And from what I have heard, he barely talks to his juniors especially female students. Meaning, you are an exception to that! He has acknowledged your presence here in school! That's a big deal already right?"
"Oh yes! You're totally right. Oh gosh, so many things happened today." Her face colored with red. She's blushing, alright.
"Come here, best friend." Milly motioned her for a hug. "Maybe average girls like us especially you have a chance. But promise me one thing, calli. Don't put too much hope with this one, okay? Issues of the heart are difficult to give solutions to."
"I promise, milly. I won't keep my hopes up." cagalli hugged her friend tighter. "He knowing I exist is already too much."