Hilary hadn't taken a single bite of the sandwich that was put on her plate ten minutes ago. She swallowed, trying desperately to moisten her dry throat. It didn't help. She poked at the white bread of her sandwich and her finger left an imprint. She opened her sandwich and looked at the gooey cheese and glistening lettuce. This would usually be appealing, but today...

She couldn't take it and glanced up. Tyson Granger was still staring at her. His glistening auburn eyes were fixed on her face, and his mouth was curved up into a slight grin. Hilary shuddered. What was his problem?

"Hilary, you haven't eaten yet. Don't you like it?" Kenny observed, pointing at her sandwich. He dusted the bread crumbs in his hands off, wiping them off on his shorts after.

Hilary stretched out her long pale legs and wiggled her feet. "I'm just...not very hungry." She could feel Tyson's eyes boring into her face. She felt like she would need to take a long hot shower to get rid of the marks his gaze had left on her.

"Not hungry?" Kenny ran a hand though his wavy cocoa hair. "I haven't had anything else packed, really. And the immediate store is at least 3 miles away." He added. "Let me check if we have some fruit or something…"

Hilary snuck a peek at Tyson. Maybe he had stopped—

No, he was still staring. Hilary glared at him. Over the last few days, he had been looking at her constantly. At first she thought it was because she had a pimple or something, which she didn't. Then she thought he was doing it as a joke. That was what she still thought, although he was seriously freaking her out now.

"I'm going for a walk," Hilary blurted. She stood up and left the sandwich behind on the log she had been sitting on.

"But your sandwich—"

"I don't give a damn about the sandwich!" Hilary growled as she stalked past Kenny. She felt a twinge of guilt at being so rude, but she couldn't take Tyson's eyes on her for an instant longer. She walked past Tyson, deliberately avoiding his gaze.

"Well that's a first!" Kenny pouted, obviously insulted.

The second she reached the path leading into the woods, she ran. Her hair was loose and it flew behind her as she darted down the trail. With each step, she felt better. She was getting further away from the source of all her problems and it felt great. But Hilary should have known that you can't run from your problems; eventually they catch up with you...

Tyson watched Hilary speed walk past him and his heart jumped. Her skin practically glowed in the afternoon sunlight, and her hair fluttered in the wind. He willed her to look at him; he wanted to see those gorgeous ruby jewels that were her eyes. But it was as if she sensed him thinking this and deliberately avoided his gaze.

He sighed, drooping his shoulders, "What should I do?"

Tyson stared into the distance; Hilary was just a tiny speck. But still, she was beautiful. He had come to realize that over the past few days. Before he had thought of her as a friend; sure she was a girl, but she was a girl who was tough and supported them hard. He never thought of her as more than that.

But exactly three days ago that had all changed. He had awoken from sleep to see Hilary swimming in the lake by their campground. The sky was filled with stars which were reflected back into the water. When Hilary's head broke the surface, she looked like a Goddess. Tyson's heart had begun pounding with new feelings that moment and had never stopped since. Ever since that moment, he couldn't take her eyes off her.

"...Tyson? Tyson!"

Tyson snapped out of his trance and saw Kenny standing over him. "Yeah?"

Kenny took a seat beside him on the grassy ground. "You zoned out. What were you thinking about?"

Tyson's face flamed with sudden heat and he muttered, "N-Nothing."

He was too embarrassed to let Kenny know how he felt about Hilary.

"You're thinking about a girl, aren't you?" Kenny laughed at the shock on Tyson's face. "You can't fool me, buddy. I wear that look all the time, so I would know."

Tyson was about to protest, but released a heavy breath instead. "Okay, I'll admit it." He pulled his hat down to cover his eyes. It felt pretty good to tell someone the truth.

"So which girl is it?" Kenny rubbed his hands together gleefully. "I remember the face of every girl we've ever met, you know!"

Tyson slowly turned to stare at Kenny. "That's kind of creepy."

"Why?" Kenny asked, oblivious.

"Never mind." Tyson hugged his knees to his chest, "I can't believe you don't know who it is."

"Is it supposed to be obvious?"

Tyson sighed. Kenny was clueless. "Yeah. Just think of the most obvious person I could like."

Kenny was silent for a second, biting his lip. He turned to Tyson with a sudden flash of inspiration in his narrow eyes.

"It's that girl we met on April 22nd. That crazy fangirl!" Kenny declared. "She was wearing a purple skirt and white top—"

"It's Hilary, you idiot," Tyson interrupted. He immediately felt his cheeks heat up again and he buried his face in his knees.

There was silence for a long moment.

Kenny finally spoke up. "It's...our Hilary?" His face wore a puzzled expression, as if there were millions of girls named Hilary running around Tokyo.

Tyson grunted an affirmative response. Kenny stared at him, shaking his head from side to side as if to make water get out of his ears.

"But that can't be."

Tyson pulled his face away from his knees and looked questioningly at Kenny. "Why not?"

"Because, I—"Kenny pulled himself to his feet and gazed at the clear blue sky. "Because I like Hilary too!"

Tyson felt a trickle of sweat slide down his back and his hands lost all feeling. "W-what?" he stuttered, praying he had heard incorrectly. "Y-you like her too?"

Kenny burst out laughing and doubled over. Tyson blinked as he watched tears stream down Kenny's face. Kenny rubbed the droplets of moisture away from his eyes, shoulders still trembling with laughter.

"God, Tyson," he panted, "Don't ever say stuff like that around me, okay? You could kill me, I swear." He snorted. "Liking Hilary? That's a good one."

Tyson let out a forced chuckle. His heart thudded crazily as he realized that Kenny didn't like Hilary; he was just kidding about that. But Kenny also believed that Tyson was joking about his feelings for Hilary, which was the furthest thing from the truth.

"Yeah, it's pretty dumb," Ask laughed weakly. "Like I would ever feel—"

"What so funny?" demanded a feminine voice.

Tyson immediately stopped his false laughter and gawked at Hilary. Her creamy cheeks were flushed pink and sweat clung to her brown strands of hair. She looked even prettier after exercise. She seemed to wince when her eyes met his and she immediately looked at Kenny.

"Are you okay? You're not having a heart attack, are you?" she asked, nudging Kenny with the tip of her white sandal.

"No." Kenny grinned widely at her. "Good to see you...H-Hilary." He sputtered the last word through his new spasm of guffaws.

Hilary shoved his shoulder. "You're an idiot."

"Why are you being mean to me? Tyson started all this," Kenny whined as Hilary pinched him. "You should ask him to tell you what he told me. It's hilarious."

Hilary shot daggers at Tyson, but he didn't feel afraid at all. She was just so pretty, and smart, and perfect in every way. How could he ever get her to like him? All he could do was stare at her like a fool!

"Ugh!" Hilary scowled at him. "You're so weird, Tyson. Like I would ever want to know what you told our insane friend Kenny." She turned her back on the boys and marched away.

Tyson stared after her longingly.

Hilary...