"-I wrote this for my prettiest friend. But while trying not to prove that I care. I was trying not to make all my moves in one motion and scare her away. She can't see that she's making me crazy now. I don't believe that she knows she's amazing how she has me holding my breath, so I'd never guess that I'm a none such unsuitable, suited for her."

-Jason Mraz: Prettiest Friend

Pure opposites; both of them could have been very well the epitome of it.

They were such a mismatched pair. Anyone would have a hard time believing that they got along.

The first one was cold, steely, harsh, slow in movement, skeptical and composed; a living mannequin. The second one was warm, friendly, open, almost always bouncing off the walls, gullible and exaggerated; sunshine trapped in a bottle.

To him, she was a slow motion accident on repeat.

To her, he was a living doll wearing a frown who needed nothing more than a little love.

With him, he felt obliged to try and prevent her from falling into countless tragedies and mishaps time and time again.

With her, she felt obliged to try and get him to loosen up a little and stretch his limbs, kick back and enjoy the ride while throwing caution into the wind.

He wanted distance. She wanted to get closer.

He felt unsure about what he was doing. She enjoyed the uncertainty and followed its path like an excited adventurer.

He was confused about this growing bond. She hadn't felt more sure about something for such a long time.

Soon, he accepted her. Soon, she was more than glad to make him the highlight of her day, everyday.

One day passed, they were one boy and one girl. Two days passed, they were strangers. Three days passed and they were acquaintances. A week passed and they knew each others' names. One and a half months passed and they were frie-...

"Friendship is irrelevant." Near commented bluntly.

"...Did you even have a friend before?" Michelle frowned in disbelief. The weather was nice that day, and the two were sitting near the lake on a patch of dry grass, sharing a bag of bread to feed the fishes in the lake. White clouds drifted lazily in the blue sky, and for once, it didn't look like it was going to start thundering any second.

The reason why they always chose to come to the park more often than any other place was because of pure consideration other on Michelle's part. After spending more time around the socially-handicapped albino, she learned that if she wanted him outside, the only places he would agree to follow her to would be peaceful, quiet places where there was as little human life as possible.

Kids were riding their bikes or rollerblading, adults were having picnics on the fields and the elderly were bird-watching or chatting on wooden benches. On such a pleasant day, it wasn't a surprise that other people had the same idea of spending some time in the park, but the lighthearted atmosphere there was always so serene and relaxing, and therefore acceptable enough for Near to get comfortable.

"No... but I can safely say that I won't die without any." Near stated factually as he brushed off some loose grass blades sticking to the underside of his sleeve. "I have been living fifteen years without one and I am still alive and kicking, am I not?"

"...You have gotta be kidding me! So, what am I to you?" Michelle questioned and Near gave a light snort before shrugging once.

"I'm not very sure, actually. You're just... Michelle. The trouble-maker who declared herself a part of my life involuntarily."

"Oh, shut up, you."

"Hn, that wasn't very polite of you. Why are you always so rude?"

"Why are you always so critical about everything? What's wrong with you? Did someone break your heart or something?"

"I believe that that particular organ in my chest is still functioning with no problem."

"Haha, very funny. I can see why you're so popular now... women must looove you."

"Now, that's just being offensive and insulting... not to mention low. And contradictory since I believe someone- now, I'm not going to mention any names but I believe you know her very well, Michelle- tried so very hard to be my personal stalker. Have I mentioned that she failed miserably?"

"Be my friend, Near," Michelle deflected his sarcastic remark with a passionate request, scooting over to him comically. He leaned away with a look of discomfort and begun to play with his hair with a frown.

"No. I don't want to. I see no good reason to."

"To make a lovely, cute girl happy?"

"...What lovely, cu-"

"DON'T YOU EVEN GO THERE!"

Near had turn his face to the other side to hide his smirk as he twirled his hair more. The argument stubbornly continued.

"Be my friend."

"No."

"Be my friend!"

"No."

"Be my frienddddddd..."

"No."

"Please?"

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because friendship is irrelevant, I told you already. You really should listen more-"

"Then, let me be your irrelevant friend." Michelle interjected thoughtfully, crossing a leg over the other. "If you must believe that friendship is irrelevant, that's fine. But even if it's irrelevant, that doesn't mean you can't have it. A lot of people have a lot of things that they don't need."

Near sighed but kept his poker face straight, finding no point in arguing any more. "There's just no use in trying to talk you out of it, is there?"

"Nope." She threw a big piece of bread into the water and the surface broke into ripples as the fish swam around the food, nibbling at it eagerly.

"Why do you want to be my friend in the first place? Nobody really offered me such a proposal before..." he bent down to throw a handful of bread crumbs into the lake and watched as a school of small, colourful fishes gobbled them up hungrily.

"Maybe you should try and stop bashing people around with sarcastic, witty, smartass remarks and then see what happens. And talk more. And play with toys less. And smile more. And- no, I'm joking. I like you just the way you are." She chuckled when she spotted the scowl growing bigger and bigger on Near's face, just daring her to go any further.

"I really do like you." She told him honestly with an earnest smile, and made a bold move to sling her arm innocently around his small shoulders. "So will you be my friend?"

Near stiffened at her action, looking at her arm around him with slight panic. He did not go well with contact, and Michelle already knew that. He cursed her inside of his head when he saw her grinning away in another direction to avoid eye contact on purpose, probably having predicted what he would feel like.

His breathing slowed down from the foreign weight on his shoulders and he stared at her arm again like it was some bizarre creature going to eat him. Her arm felt heavy around him. But... it also felt... good?

What was this?

She hummed away in feign innocence and pretended to be interested in a drake waddling towards the lake on the other side. "Well, Near?"

The poor boy was at a small lost of what to do. He opened his mouth, intending to scold her, but the first word he tried to say was already hard to get out. He just couldn't think with her touching him like this. He was never good with physical interaction and this was very similar to a violation of personal space on his part. She was too close... so close...

When he didn't reply, Michelle grinned wickedly and pulled him in even closer, and he almost gasped when she let his head rest on her shoulder. She was so disturbingly close that he could have practically smelt her. His usually dull, uninterested eyes were now wide open in shock and tension, a blush making its merry way onto his pale face as he concentrated on the distracting physical contact. S-so... warm...

"Near?" she tried again, this time even daring to place a finger on his reddening cheek, trailing down his skin in a painfully slow fashion, causing goosebumps to crawl across his flesh. Her tone was playful. "Nearrrrr... Near-kun, I'm asking you a question~. It's rude to keep people hanging~. Will you be my friend or not?" Michelle sang.

"S-s-speak for yourself..." he finally found a way to talk, but his words were jittery, nervous, shaky and he could hardly recognize that the voice that was speaking was his own. What was wrong with him? What happened to his apathetic display that he had been practicing for all his life? It couldn't possibly have just dissolved into nothingness from a simple, mere touch of a single girl. What killed him even more was knowing that the deepest, smallest part of him was apparently enjoying this new sensation. "Y-you're the rude one, Michelle. Release me. You are molesting me."

"N-n-n-not until you a-answer me," she mocked and he twitched. Then pouted.

"Fine, f-fine! I'll be your friend. Just... get away from me," he spat at her and ripped away from her grasp, stumbling slightly in his escape. "And don't you dare do that ever again without my permission." He lectured, trying desperately to murder his blush, showing her a sharp look.

"You liked it," she teased and he would've kicked her if he hadn't enough self control. "But yay! That means I finally accomplished what I've been wanting to do since I first laid my eyes on you now!"

"What? Molest me?"

"No, stupid! I meant make a friend. You know, I was on a mission to make a friend that day I saw you, and when I did see you, I just knew that I had to be friends with you...You were perfect."

The blush came back and she flashed him a close-eyed smile before turning to watch the local family of ducks swimming pass across the body of water, the tiny, quaking ducklings forming a train behind their mother as usual. "Look, ducklings!"

Near rubbed his arm up and down and discovered back his indifference, his face morphing back to its usual look, the embarrassment and awkwardness gone now that he was free of her touch. He looked to the ducklings as well, one of them shaking their feathers dry, puffing up cutely.

"...They remind me of you." He commented randomly and didn't notice when Michelle tensed.

This time, it was her turn to go red.

"Sooooo close! Yet sooooo far! It's tearing me apart~! What I would do to be back with you~! I promiiiiiise! It's tearing me apaaaart! NO MATTER HOW FAR AWAY I GO, I'LL COME BACK FOR YOUU!"

"You're in a good mood today," eyed Rod suspiciously as Michelle spun pass him, singing along to the song that was playing on the radio.

"What are you talking about? I'm always in a good mood these days." she raised her eyebrow at him and continued to sing to herself, spinning around in dramatic circles. "What I would do... what I would do! What I would do to be there with you!"

"...Yes. But that's what I'm suspicious about!" He kept his eyes on her and suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her from moving. "You've been acting like you've won a million dollars ever since you met that boyfriend of yours-"

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" She reacted quickly in defense, skidding immediately to a stop, looking ready to argue his statement.

"YOU LIKE HIM. FACE IT. DON'T BE DIFFICULT. EMBRACE IT." Her boss boomed back with twice the influence, making her tilt back slightly and stare at him with big eyes. "Denial gets you nowhere!"

"...but I'm not denying anything..." she started off in a meek voice, honestly a little frightened. Who knew Rod could be so scary...? "...I-"

"You are denying everything! You are denying your feelings! You are denying love! LOVE, MICHELLE!" He let her go and dramatically pointed out, his hands swinging here and there to empathize his words.

"...But I-"

"Look, sweetheart, I know that it's tough. Everyone has their first crushes and they get all confused and scared to death and shit. But trust me! You'll get over the fear and sooner or later you'll be romancing more than how the people in Paris do it!"

"...Rod, I-"

"Look. It's clear that you like this guy very much, whoever he is. You were so infatuated that you started following him around wherever he went. You called him an 'Angel'. You got up at 7.30 in the morning for a week just to get him a toy as a gift when he was treating you like crap. You talk about him like, all the time! YOU EVEN DOODLE HIS NAME IN LITTLE HEARTS ON MY SONG SHEETS!" He accused, snatching up a few papers with Near's name written all over inside of pink and red hearts. Michelle hastily snatched said song sheets back, yelling, 'give me that, you freak!' as Rod stuck his nose up in the air unrelentingly. "You. Like. Him."

"..."

"Have I convinced you yet?"

"...Rod." Michelle pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head from side to side and sighed heavily like he was missing something really important. It was right there in his face. "...I already KNEW that I liked him from the very start, you idiot!"

"W-what..?"

"Seriously! I did! I knew I had a crush on him since he started talking to me. At first, I thought it was just excitement, but the thing is, it didn't wear off, so I guess I am crushing on him. And by the way, this isn't my first crush. I had crushes back in Singapore before... but they were all on girls."

Rod made a face. Michelle made a defensive one back.

"What! Facts are facts. That's what I get for studying in an all-girl's school all my life! I hardly had any male interaction, and you know, liking girls isn't all that bad... actually, did you know that a huge number of woman are actually Bi-curious at most?"

With a roll of his eyes, Rod knocked her playfully on the head with his knuckles and she yelped, looking at him menacingly. "Don't throw your random facts at me. Instead, how about we discuss this crush of yours, eh? What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

Rod looked skeptical at the answer which almost came too fast to sound genuine.
"Nothing?" he asked.

"Nothing." She confirmed with a big nod of her head. Michelle headed over to the coat hanger standing by the door of the store and grabbed her jacket in a haste to dodge the on-coming questions that were about to come from Rod. She could already sense it coming from the creases that were appearing on his forehead as he frowned at her suspiciously.

"I'll see you tomorrow, make sure you remember to turn the radio off," she told him, indicating that she was going to be leaving a little earlier today. She waved him goodbye without meeting his eye and walked out of the store shortly just as she slipped an arm into the sleeve of her jacket.

Nothing, the black-haired teen sighed inside of her head once she was walking down the streets leading the way to her apartment. There was an uneasy feeling rolling around in the pits of her belly. Truthfully, it was hard to do 'nothing' about her feelings. He drove her crazy and she was so bloody aware of it.

She had first noticed how strongly attracted she was to him when he finally started to speak to her properly and she got to know what kind of person he really was with the voice.

Michelle didn't know which part of him started this craze first. Was it that cocky attitude that she could never stayed irritated at even if she wanted to? Or perhaps it could have been that sharp tongue that lodged them both into debates that somehow always ended up in circles, thus defeating the point of a debate in the first place. Or could it be the way he was the exact opposite of her- so independent, confident, intelligent and always one step ahead of everybody? As weird as it was, Michelle knew she had an unexplainable attraction to it all. All the things that she was not. How is it even possible to have such a huge shitload of chemistry between two people who were different as night and day?

Michelle tried to fan away the thoughts. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad, yet, she told herself. Maybe her feelings would fade away once she didn't think so much about it.

I mean, come on..! The way her heart skipped a beat every time he smirked; it didn't mean a thing. It was also probably a coincidence that she got chills whenever he said her name in that smooth, smooth voice of his, as well. And so what if an image of Near appeared in her head unconsciously every two minutes? That was nothing! Bah. She was most likely just over-thinking, wasn't she?

Michelle eventually rode the lift up to her place and walked down the corridor to head to her door. Satisfied with her conclusion, she searched around for the house key and found it among some loose change in her pocket and poked it into the keyhole. The doorknob jangled nosily as she unlocked the door and took the first step into her apartment.

Just when she was about to saunter over and crash on the sofa, her cellphone started beeping away and like a fierce animal instinct, her mind screamed, 'Maybe it's Near!', and she scrambled to read the message. When she flipped open her phone, her wave of excitement died when she saw that it was just a message from Rod reminding her to be on time tomorrow.

...Shit. Fuck! Damn! That proved more than enough!

With a silent groan, she fell forward onto the sofa and buried her face into her arms at the realization of how bad her problem was. Even lying through her teeth wasn't going to cut it anymore. Let's face it, Michelle, you've got it bad... Really, really bad...

So, what do you do when you want someone so out of your league? Somehow, Michelle knew in her heart that the answer wasn't 'nothing'...

He didn't quite understand it.

Near was swimming in a cloud of his own perplexity back home. He furiously stacked dice as the wheels and gears in his head turned faster than ever.

His breathing never stopped that abruptly for anything before. He couldn't remember the last time he blushed that much. In fact, he wasn't even aware that he could blush. And what was that annoying sound that kept drumming in his ears?

Doki, doki, doki, doki...

...Wait a second. Was that his HEARTBEAT he was hearing?

He dropped the two dice he had in his right hand and placed it over his torso instead. He was alarmed when he realized that it was his heart that was the cause of that weird sound. The thing was pounding away powerfully, and it frightened him a little.

This cannot possibly be normal, can it? He thought, fingers gripping his blouse and crumpling it in panic. What's happening? All I did was think back to when Michelle touched me and...

It was probably her fault, he instantly concluded. If something bad was happening to him, Michelle was probably to blame. After all, she was the mother of all stuff-ups, and that wouldn't be much of a surprise.

What exactly did she do to him that was making him act this way? All she did was put her arm around him! Others have touched him before, but never once did he react like this. On what logic could he use to explain this phenomenon?

This had happened a few times already in the pass few weeks, but he never felt the need to acknowledge it until now. He started to recall those moments. Their hands had brushed together accidentally a few times and his heart thumped. Then, she had held his shoulder once, unexpectedly on purpose and it almost came leaping out of his chest.

He hated this. He hated not being able to figure out what was wrong, despite being a genius. This was madness. And madness itself was unexplainable and irrational. It was like some kind of disease or a curse. He should've known better than to hang around crazy people. Now the consequences were biting him back in the ass. He was pretty certain that he was going to go crazy as well.

"Michelle Chua, what have you done to me this time?" he hissed softly out loud and walls of dice crashed down as he knocked them over to get to his bed.

All he could do was try to sleep and pray that his heartbeat would return back to normal in the morning.

Sadly, the thumping organ inside of his chest did nothing but beat him senseless from the dead of the night to the early crack of dawn the following day.

Maybe it was time to face some very obvious facts;

"I want him," she admitted to herself and to no one else in particular. She plucked listlessly at the strings on her acoustic guitar. A reverberating melody hummed in the air. "...I want him, oh my God, I want him so much. I like Near. Kill me. Just kill me now."

This thing was getting harder and harder to handle. It was too much for her head, too much for her health, too much for her heart.

Shit. Mutha-fucking emotions. What do I do now?

His heart was beating, beating, beating inside of him mercilessly and he twitched at how it was affecting his breathing pattern.

This is impossible, I am only meeting her for some drinks, Near reasoned with himself, trying to calm down and not let it show. When he saw her waltzing up from afar, it felt like his own skin suddenly grew too tight for his insides and was slowly squeezing the life out of him. It was ten times worse than his heart problem, to his dismay. The urge to run away as fast as he could was now doubly as strong as the one before when he still saw her as a nuisance.

She smiled, and he felt his palms growing sweaty as he forced himself to nod back, suddenly too shy to speak. He was inwardly surprised when she told him to follow her away from the cafe and to the park instead.

When they reached there, she motioned for him to take a seat on the bench and he obeyed, twirling his hair as usual at her queer behavior. She stood in front of him without looking at him directly.

"What is it?" he asked and she didn't reply. She waited a few seconds before unexpectedly snapping her head up and looking him dead in the eye. He looked away too quickly.

"Near, the thing is, I have to tell you something..." her words were faint, barely even there, and for some reason, she sounded scared to death.

Did she have something to hide, after all? Is she going to confess to me and admit that she was in cahoots with Kira all along and that my heart is going to spontaneously combust in a super mega heart attack? Is that why it has been beating so hard?

"I-I don't know how you're going to react to this... and I don't really know where to start..."

Just get to the damn point woman, so I can arrest you already for doing such a despicable thing to me.

"I m-mean... I know we only knew each other for almost two months now, but I realized that I really liked spending time with you. Your company has been the only thing that makes me look forward to something every day, you know? I don't want anything bad to happen... I can't fuck this up... since I only have one shot at this..."

At this, I started preparing myself for the worst. I suppose, if I was going to die, at least I have it in my knowledge that she does appear to feel the slightest bit of remorse and guilt. I waited with bated breath for what was about to come next.

You know what sucks about falling for you?

That I probably don't stand that much of a chance, anyway. But...

The moment of truth arrived and Michelle sucked in as much air as she could, feeling a reckless pounding in both her ribcage and template. Her face was burning, her hands shook and her knees trembled weakly beneath her. This was it. The big turning point in their relationship. Here goes nothing...

"Near, I... I have feelings for you..!" she blurted the words out fast, like ripping off a band-aid. She squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment and awaited his response, but it never came. When she reopened her eyes, Near was staring at her blankly.

"...Pardon?" he questioned, eyebrows knitted together as if she had just confessed to him in Spanish.

Michelle blinked. Huh? He doesn't get it? I thought I was being really clear. Maybe I was too soft...

"I have feelings for you, Near." she repeated herself for the second time, this time in a louder, slightly more confident manner. "I just thought that I should let you know..."

He just stared at her and played with his hair, not getting it.

"...What kind of feelings do you speak of?" he finally asked stoically and Michelle's eyes almost grew to the size of dinner plates when she heard that.

...Are you FUCKING kidding me? The outraged girl shrieked in her head, feeling dreadfully cheated. I gathered up all my will power and passion and all that crap into confessing to him and he ASKS ME WHAT KIND OF FEELINGS I HAVE FOR HIM? OH MY WORD. NEAR, YOU ARE THE STUPIDEST GENIUS I HAVE EVER CAME ACROSS! EVER!

"Near, YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE! Honestly! Is there something wrong with the emotional part of your brain? Is that why you're like that?" She clung onto his shoulders and began shaking him a little in her fit. Near tore himself away feeling rather vexed at her roughness of handling him.

"Michelle. Please calm yourself and speak to me like a civilized person," the albino straightened out his blouse indifferently while he spoke. "It's not my fault you're not making yourself clear enough for me to understand what you're trying to get across."

She was seething now.

"You want... clearer?" She almost growled dangerously through clenched teeth.

Near was apathetic, unfazed by the display of her emotions. "I believe that would be ideal," he said coldly.

Okay, okay, okay. Calm down and try again. Don't blow it. Whatever you do...

Her left eye twitched and she grumbled, "Fine," before getting down on one knee in front of where he was sitting, ala traditional marriage proposal style, and forced herself to smile the widest she can up at him in spite of her exasperation. Near stared down at her warily, also a little worried, being quite sure that she had lost her head at last until she started speaking.

"Near, I've been superficially attracted to you since the first time I saw you sitting in that coffee shop all alone. You are single-handedly one of the most attractive guys I have ever had the pleasure of setting my eyes on. That superficial attraction grew and expanded into romantic feelings once I got to know you a little better- feelings that one wouldn't have for someone you would consider just a friend- and now, I'm here confessing that I have been head-over-heels crazy for you ever since I realized that. I like you. And I want to be more than friends. Have I made it crystal-clear enough for you?"

...DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-DOKI-

"N-Near..? What's wro- gah!" Michelle gasped as he suddenly shoved her backwards and she fell back onto her behind as he flew out of his seat.

He tripped over his own two feet in his rush and Michelle quickly got onto her knees in time to catch hold of the back of his blouse just in time to prevent him from falling over. Michelle felt very surprised, wondering what was up with that reaction.

"Be careful!" She cried, standing up to help hold him still, in a slightly scolding voice. "You can be so clums-" She was cut off before she could finish by having her hand slapped away harshly by Near. The abrupt move shocked her and made her freeze with her hand in mid-air. However, what he said next shocked her even more.

"Don't touch me," Near hissed poisonously, his words colder than ice and sharper than knives. Without turning his head back to look at her, it was obvious that there was a sure glare on his normally expressionless face. He begun stalking off, fists balled up at his sides, movement stiff and rigid as the gravel nosily crunched under his steps. Michelle did nothing to stop him, finding herself unable to do anything but kneel there helplessly and watch him go, slipping away so quickly and unexpectedly. Her hand stung from him slapping it away, but she could barely feel it. This... this was not... suppose to happen... what's... what's happening...?

At that very second, it was like witnessing something extremely valuable and so very fragile being purposely flung onto the ground and watching it shatter into a thousand, million unfixable pieces. Every single thing that existed between the two of them was starting to fall apart and both of them could already sense it with a tragic melancholy.

Even though she wasn't clear on why he was acting this way, it was almost painfully plain to see that Near was disgusted with her, for doing this, and he was disgusted with himself too, for allowing her to do it.

She didn't want to believe it, but it was still there. Her eyes felt a little damper, but she didn't cry. It stung.

"Near, I-" her weak-voiced attempt was so feeble and pathetic that it was crushed instantaneously before it was even completed by four simple words.

The last sentence from him were soaked with the kind of bitterness and hatred that came just a little short from leaving deep, scarring gashes and bloody claw marks on one's emotional being. Near hoped dearly that the words he left her with sank in good and firm; the message that came along with them as harsh as a cruel and merciless slap across the face.

"...Love is just hormones."