This girl, raven black hair perched up on her head embedded with gaudy gems, wearing a pink lacy dress that was irritatingly short, was holding onto some freckled nobody. This girl, my childhood best friend, was on a date with another guy for the graduation dance.

Not that I cared, obviously. I couldn't give two craps about who she liked or flirted with. It was just annoying how she lied to my face, proudly declaring she would not attend this dance without even a flicker of guilt flitting across her face. Yet there she was, standing metres from me, shamelessly holding someone's arm, who wasn't even a quarter as handsome as me. What does she even see in this guy?

Kazuha's jade eyes met mine, widened, and her face twisted into one of shame. She awkwardly sidled towards me, past mingling couples moving about in the scorching violet light. I maintained my composure, plastered on an expression of clear displeasure in hopes of guilt-tripping her. Kazuha glanced at me, that remorseful look never shifting from her face.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

A little part of me wanted to just forgive her, whisk her away and run away together, escaping into the moonlit street with prospects of romance. But I quickly shadowed these desires with the anger and feeling of betrayal before I got too embarrassed. "You could have just told me the truth."

Kazuha gaped at me, all visible remnants of regret immediately vanishing. Her demeanour changed as quickly as hot metal hardened in frosty water. "As if you'd let me! You always shut down all my dates and scare them away from me. Stop acting like my father and just leave me alone." She snapped, and turned with a clickety-clack of her heels and a swish of loose dress fabric, haughtily walking back to her group of friends. Every ounce of shame she seemed to have disappeared out the window. And every ounce of sympathy I felt for her, all the mercy I was willing to grant her after she apologized, also disappeared.

The night dragged on like daylight on summer's eve, yet I could not ignore the bothersome thoughts of Kazuha getting intimate with someone else; it was like a beast prowling through the shadows of my mind, waiting for my fortress of pride to fall so it could attack when I was most vulnerable. Yet I adamantly avoided her, expressively displaying a mask of indifference whenever I felt her gaze. The flamboyant colours of the lights and cacophonous music could not drown out my irritation; prickly annoyance so concentrated that it was reaching the saturation point of full-on anxiety. Which further annoyed me because I did not want to think about her, much less care about her, not after she left me that way without a hint of remorse.

Later in the evening, I sauntered to the snack table. The heat of the party was getting to me; I could feel my peevishness increasing as more coloured corsages littered the floor and repulsive PDA filled the sidelines of the gymnasium. I scrutinized the gym for signs of that light pink or that bejewelled hair bun. I wanted to look at her from afar, to observe any Heiji Hattori withdrawal symptoms. Disco ball beams delayed examination, however, even after checking twice and thrice, I could not see her face anywhere. Good, I thought to myself, now I needn't worry about her.

I groaned audibly as I exited the gym. I couldn't help myself, I cared for her even as she treated me like gum on the sole of a shoe. It must be the result of spending so much time together, that I could spiritually sense something troubling her. Slowly, I walked around the empty hallways of yellowed paint and grimy lockers, my ears still ringing with discordant drums from the gym. Yet, in this contrasting environment-light and bright, quiet, eerily empty- I concentrated as hard as I could to hear any abnormal muffles of noise. I called out her name softly, attempting to convey my genuine concern. No sound was heard aside from the constant low hum of the fluorescent lights. A metal door stood ominously in front of me, and there was something alluring about it that made me believe she was there.

Pushing against the steel bar, the fire exit door emitted a creak that abruptly interrupted the silence and replaced it with the sound of quiet sobbing. I looked down and there she was, tear-stained dress and all, weeping into her knees as she hugged them tight. Her delicate dress that blanketed the floor juxtaposed the hard grating cement she was sitting on. I sat down, not speaking a word, and glanced furtively at her, half-expecting a glaring face. Instead, she continued silently crying, her loose bun spilling tangles of hair across moonlit arms. Kazuha's face was not visible to me, so thankfully, I didn't need to see any painful expressions. I placed my hand on her head, carefully, stroking over her ruined hairdo with care, to reassure her.

One green eye peeked from the fold of her arm. Dried remnants of an inky black substance stained her flushed cheeks, like a river of despair which I assumed was clouding her mind. "You must think I'm so stupid," she whispered.

I held in the urge to say yes. I wanted to lecture her on how my protectiveness obviously had a reason, and it was for this reason precisely that I acted rude to all her boyfriend prospects. But now was not the time. "Boys are jerks," I replied instead.

She quietly chuckled. "That includes you."

I rolled my eyes, but inwardly, relief showered me. For her to be making jokes like this, she must be recovering from the depression. I wanted to ask her what happened, but realizing it would only make her madder if I pried, I bit my tongue. We sat together for a while, letting the night air envelope us. Her weeping stopped, and then we just sat together in silence, her body still hunched together but less tense. It was a comfortable type of silence, the kind where you are in your own two worlds but together, each acutely aware of the other's presence, but remaining silent because it just felt right. The moon was glowing brightly. It was nearly a full moon, but a sliver of shadow was still present, distorting the perfect spherical shape. It was almost a circle, nearly to completion, and if one were to give it a bit of time and patience it would soar above us in a geometrically flawless circle, basking us both in transcendent light. The brilliant beams still shone, revitalizing me enough to make my next move.

"Kazuha, do you want to come to my house?"