23. Overwhelmed
She's drowning.
Rin once could easily stay afloat, ignoring the signs, playing off the visible signals her mind and body were giving her. It was so easy. It's not like he noticed. It's not like she had to point it out, right? If she ignored it, it would just go away, right?
But they kept growing. The emotions she was building up, towards banana-boy Len of all people, continued to increase, slowly smothering her and dragging her down below the waves until she could hardly breathe around him. Rin was suffocating because of him.
Soon, it was all piled atop her, and she was taken aback by just how far she fell for him. That dorky, weird, glasses-wearing A++ student she always sat next to in class. The boy who kindly helped pick up her books after she tripped over her own two feet. That boy who gave her a banana when she forgot her lunch at home. The blonde who always offered to walk her home with the nicest smile on his face.
Enough was enough. She couldn't hold back anymore.
It was too much, way too much, and she finally snapped.
Grabbing the back of his school uniform, heedless of the others around them, Rin was finally overwhelmed by her feelings. He started to turn to her and ask what was wrong, but she wouldn't dare let him see her like this.
The pressure that had built up finally exploded out in words she never thought she'd say.