Aloha. Welcome to another chapter of Pen Pals. As always, thank you for the support. Well, on with the chapter! Enjoy.

Chapter Written By: August Passion.

3.15.14

Pen Pals (5)

Red Thoughts

"Ever since I met you, I dream in red."

"Cheer up, Mikan-chan." Anna smiles brightly at her.

She sighs, "I don't know Anna. This just sucks."

"What does?"

"It's just, well the things I want the most, I'm always longing for them." A dreamy gaze overtook her eyes. Anna gently giggled at her.

"Well, Mikan-chan. Stop longing and start getting what you want." She smiled, "Life's short you know?"

Mikan looked up at the clouds drifting in the sky, "Yeah, I think you're right Anna."

They both smiled at each other. Today was a bright and breezy Saturday. Sunlight drifted down on the campus with a lazy smile. Grass swayed back and forth in the wind with a small wave. White puffy clouds danced across the skies around them. Mikan was carrying her favorite kind of Frozen Yogurt; the strawberry and chocolate kind. Anna and her decided they should go out for some Fro-yo when she noticed how down Mikan was. Besides, it was a perfect day to get out and smell the roses. Literally, the rose garden on campus was amazing. Both of them loved it, the garden was just so peaceful. Especially the other flowers and Sakura trees that surround the main rose bed.

How romantic. Mikan thought while staring at the red roses.

"So, did you make up with Hotaru?" Anna asked.

"Yup! Hotaru was so understanding."

"That's good."

"Yeah, it is." Mikan said lightly.

The tall brown door was extremely intimidating. There was no way she could do this! But, she has to! This is for friendship! The brunette gulped loudly and reached her hand out. A golden door knob shined brightly at her. Heck, she had to do this. Might as well get it over with. With a twist of the knob she was ready to face everything. No more lies, no more secrets, just complete honesty. Surprisingly, the door remained shut. Mikan groaned and tugged at the door knob again. Nothing happened. Great, that was just her luck. Now she had to knock on the door and pray that her best friend would open the door.

With a soundly gulp she knocked, "Hotaru, its me." Everything was silent in the room. Mikan raised an eyebrow; what the heck? She knew Hotaru was there in her room. There was nowhere else she could be on a Saturday! A sudden rustle in the room caught her attention. Mikan pressed her ear up to the door to hear what was going on. Something like a book fell on the ground; from what she could tell.

"Use the window." An icy voice whispered.

"Hotaru! Are you insane? You live on the third story!" An older male voice sounded painstaking.

"Get out of here," Her voice was stern, "now!"

Mikan peeled herself away from the door, "Uh, Hotaru, if your busy I'll just stop by later."

Finally the familiar voice rang out, "Shut up, I'll be there in a second."

A harsh whispered pierced the air, "Fine, just hide than, you idiot." Mikan tried her best not to giggle. Her best friend had snuck a boy into her dorm! Oh joy, so exciting. I wonder what they were doing? Mikan thought for a moment before a blush appeared on her cheeks. Getting her mind out of the gutter, she patiently waited in front of the door. More things fell over in the room; which the brunette tried to ignore. Finally, the familiar clicking of the door sounded through the hallway.

A girl with raven haired appeared in the doorway. For some reason her hair was slightly messy. Mikan smiled at her and strolled into the huge dorm. A figure standing behind the curtain caught her gaze. Of course, she only noticed the figure because of the shadow behind the white curtain. "Hotaru, I think there's a robber behind your curtain."

Hotaru glared in the direction of the curtain and face-palmed. "Nice going, idiot. If Mikan could even spot you..." She huffed, "Whatever. Just get out of here before anyone else sees you."

The blonde poked his head around the curtain with a small smile, "Er, Hi, Mikan."

Mikan gasped, "Ruka-pyon?" There was a laugh, "What-what's going on?"

"We're dating." Hotaru said naturally while shoving Ruka out her door. She slammed it for good measure.

"What? Why didn't you tell me!"

"Same reason you didn't tell me about your phone buddy."

"Huh? How did you know about that?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "I have my ways."

"Okay, Hotaru." Mikan smiled sadly, "I'm really sorry about lying to you. I was just scared of what you would think of me. You mean a lot to me, Hotaru."

The raven haired girl raised her hand to silence her, "I get it. Look, let's make a deal. You tell me about your phone buddy and I'll tell you about Ruka and me." Hotaru shook her head, "And, I'll forgive you if you promise to never lie to me again."

"Oh, Hotaru! I promise! I'm sorry!" Mikan jumped towards her and bear hugged the girl.

"Get off of me, you're getting snot on my shirt."

Mikan laughed, "Love you too, Hotaru."

Okay, maybe she was wrong. Today was so boring in the end. It's a Saturday and she's stuck in her dorm. Totally, normal for a college student. Not. All of her friends were busy with their usual studying or shopping. Mikan didn't have any money to shop and she didn't have any homework tonight. Too bad everyone was so busy; she wanted to hang out with the gang like old times. She missed hanging out with everyone at once. Ugh, she wished it was Monday again. At least then she would have something to do again. The weekends should be fun! Not as boring as paint drying on a wall.

Mikan perked up when her phone started flashing. A wide smile over took her features when the name: Natsume (: flashed across the screen. He had been so busy lately that he didn't even have time to text her. For some reason it kind of felt like weird not being able to talk to someone you want to talk to. What made it really weird was that she didn't even know what he looked like! Wait, he didn't know what she looked like! What if he thought she was ugly? That would ruin everything, absolutely everything in this little fantasy.

Hey.

Mikan smiled and quickly typed back.

Hello! (:

Within a few moments another text came through.

I have a question for you.

Her heart quickened.

Shoot. (:

The next text flashed across the screen.

What day do you take Performing Arts?

She twisted her features.

Usually Thursdays, sometimes Fridays. Why?

Yeah, why in the heck was he asking her that?

You'll see. I gtg, call later tonight?

Mikan's face gently turned red. He wanted her to call?

Um, sure! Eight?

The phone flashed once again.

Yeah. See ya.

That was the end of their texts. Mikan felt pretty happy for some reason. What did he mean by 'You'll see'? What a weird conversation! Though, he always found a way to surprise her in the end.

Hopefully, you guys liked this chapter. It's a bit short, but heck, didn't want to spoil anything for future chapters. More background on certain topics will be provided in future chapters. c: Anyway, thank for the support as always! Leave a review, maybe? (:

Until next time,

August Passion. (: