Becoming Her Lover

Chapter 7

A Special Announcement

For the next couple of days, things were a little awkward between Kotori and Umi. They always said hi to each other and they always walked home together. It was just the conversation part of their encounters that were lacking. Kotori didn't know what to say to her since what she did last time kind of scarred Umi in an interesting way. On the other hand, Umi didn't really know how to handle something like this as a whole. So they mostly stayed quiet and gave each other a promising smile.

One day, the whole school was called into the auditorium for a special announcement from the student council. Everyone had a feeling what it would be about since their school was in danger of being shut down. They just took their seats and waited for what was to come.

"Good morning everyone. I hope you're all doing well today. The student council called this assembly in order to remind everyone of the status of our school. We're still at danger of being shut down so we've proposed an idea. Our school will hold a ball." Immediately, all of the girls started to chatter. "We are allowing anyone and everyone to come in order to show off of school. I know it sounds like a daring plan, but we think it can be a good turnout. The ball will be held next Friday at 7pm. More information will be given out during this next week. We hope to all see you there and thank you for your time." Everyone one stood up and bowed.

"Umi-chan! Uuuumii-chan!" Umi turned around to see Kotori running right at her. She leapt at her and nearly tackled her to the ground. "Did you hear? Did you?"

"Of course I heard. We were all at the assembly."

"Well, what do you think?"

"What do I think?" Umi's face suddenly turned red. "I don't know. I guess it's a good idea when you really think about it."

"That's not what I was asking. Do you wanna go with me?" Umi was frightened by her question that she nearly fell on her butt.

"Huh? Go? I wasn't planning on going." At that moment, Kotori's face immediately drooped.

"Oh, I see."

"I'm sorry, but you know I don't like things like that."

"Yeah, I know. It's just… I was hoping we… Never mind." Kotori turned around and headed back into the academic building.

On the other hand, Umi watched her leave in silence. It was so strange to see her like this since she was always so happy and so cheerful. She knew she was the one to make her sad, but still, Umi couldn't stand dances. There was so much going on and nothing for her to truly enjoy. One of the main things was that she couldn't dance. Yes, she practiced with Muse and they danced all of the time, but slow dancing is a lot different. Just the thought of slow dancing made Umi get all dizzy.

"Hey Umi-chan." She turned around to see Honoka waving at her.

"Oh, hey Honoka."

"Are you going to the ball?" She just had a feeling she would ask this question of her.

"No, probably not."

"Aw why not?"

"Honoka, you know I don't like these girly things like that."

"Yeah, but it'll be really fun. We'll hang out and have a good time." Umi turned her head.

"I'm sorry, but that's just not my thing."

"I understand. Well, are you going to do something that night then? You can't just stay home and do nothing."

"Um, who says I can't?"

"Uhh, you know, everyone says that." Umi gave Honoka a dirty look which caused her to retreat from the conversation. "Yeah, I gotta go. I'll see you later." After that, she stormed off as fast as she could in order to not get caught by Umi. Meanwhile, all of this talk about the ball was really starting to get to Umi.

For the rest of the day, she remained silent. Those reactions from both Kotori and Honoka really made her feel bad. She didn't intend to be mean, but it was all the truth. She didn't want to go to the ball and yet, she was starting to get the feeling that that was the only way to get things back to normal. Once school was over, she made her way to the front gate, but there was something that was a little off. Kotori wasn't with her. Normally, she would intercept before she would leave her classroom, but that wasn't the case. Umi looked around, but couldn't find her. She even asked around to see if anyone knew where she was. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found. She pulled out her phone and tried to call her to see where she was.

"Hi, this is Kotori. I can't get to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Umi hung up. It was strange that she wouldn't answer her call. The only thing left for her to do was go to her house and ask what was going on. When she got to Kotori's house, she knocked on her door, but her mother was the one who opened the door.

"Oh, hello Umi-chan. Long time no see."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Well, what brings you here today?"

"Um, I was wondering if Kotori was here. I didn't really get to see her for most of the day so I was wondering if you knew where she was."

"Actually, she went to her grandparent's house today. She won't be back for a few days."

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you anyone."

"Alright, bye. It was nice seeing you."

"You too." Umi turned around and headed back to her house. On the way there, she suddenly grew sad inside. The only thing she could think of was that Kotori was avoiding her because of what she said. She just couldn't believe that Kotori was taking this so hard. She must have really wanted to go to the ball if she's behaving like this.

When she got home, she immediately headed up to her room and laid down on her bed. At this point, she felt weird. Kotori's been over so many times that being by herself almost felt wrong. She grabbed her pillow and started to cuddle with it. Then, she grabbed her phone off of her desk and called Kotori once again. Unfortunately, she got that same message as before. However, this time, she left a message.

"Hi Kotori. I was just calling to see if you were alright. I didn't get to walk home with you today so things kind of felt a little weird. About today, I didn't really mean what I said. I was just being really sensitive about it. You know how girly things like that make me feel. I guess what I'm trying to say is…"

Beep beep. "Message time reached. To continue, redial the number." Umi looked at her phone and sighed. She hung up and fell back on her bed, throwing her arm over her eyes.

Why do I feel like this?

End of Chapter 7