"What's real? What isn't? All I know is that I want to get out of here."
- Author

***

"Uhm. . ." Gwen's voice slowly faded away as she tried to speak, even though she was speechless.

She waited for Chris to flick her on the head again but instead, he shook his head, turned away, and sighed.

Then he trotted off back to his seat.

Gwen, who was about to faint, let out a breath of relief.

At least nothing had been ruined. Chris probably was thinking that she needed some sleep and a trip to the asylum. He was still her friend.

And she wanted to change that. To change everything, how he looked at her, how he thought of her, how he felt for her.

Wasn't that why she was somehow moved back through time? To make things right?

She shook her head. She needed to ignore those questions for now. Now, she had to focus. Today was a school day. And school days were not days for her to go head over heels for that boy in the classroom.

Focus, Gwen. Forget about him. Forget and focus, for Pete's sake!

And as she got her wits back to her, the teacher entered the classroom.

She settled back comfortably into being a student in no time. Listening to the teacher make her students sleep was much better than her brain doing cartwheels over a crush.

***

Chris stirred in his seat as he tried to sleep. The fear of being caught by the teacher wasn't what kept him awake. It was Gwen.

Funny, when he was younger, he was a student who worked hard and had high grades. Now he felt like something had left him, and it was replaced by anxiety and a burst of hormones. He'd already started doing things that he wouldn't tell his parents about.

He closed his eyes and tried to breathe normally. But he couldn't, not while his heart was beating faster than a racecar on an empty highway.

What had Gwen failed to tell him? Something important? It seemed like she was about to tell him something embarrassing. Maybe she was going to confess something. Or maybe, she wasn't.

No, not maybe, but really. Why would a girl even crush on him? Was he that cute? He slowly felt his face for more of those annoying pimples. They seemed to fade as he felt more confident in the possibility that Gwen had a crush on him, even though he knew that it was impossible. All of the other boys in the room could pass as better candidates for a girl's affection.

He let out a sigh as his heart stopped hammering itself against his chest. His brain, he felt, was exhausted from thinking about girls. They were always hard to understand.

His head dropped onto his seat, and he dozed off.

***

Gwen approached Chris as she got ready to buy lunch outside. "Wanna come with me?"

"Sure." Chris grabbed his wallet and they walked off to purchase some food. They looked like a couple, even though they were just friends walking side by side. Even though each one held feelings for the other, they seemed content to stay that way: friends.

Unknown to them, another girl was staring at Chris, stuck in a daydream. The girl imagined a scenario where they would have a romantic dinner by the sea, with a band playing love songs as they ate. She would leave a few crumbs on the sides of her mouth, and Chris would lean forward and then proceed to gently wipe the crumbs off her face like a true gentleman.

Unfortunately for her own wellbeing, she didn't really want to snap out of her fantasy. It wasn't really that she didn't want to. She didn't know that Chris had feelings for someone else.

After all, Yassi Cubelo was just an ordinary teenage girl easily starstruck by cute guys, just like all of her friends.

Well, the female ones, at least.

She was still staring at the spot where Chris had disappeared around the corner and daydreaming when her seatmate slapped her on the face.

"Ow!" Yassi held her cheek, even though the slap was just a bit stronger than a pat on the face. "What is wrong with you?"

The girl, who was also Yassi's closest friend, rolled her eyes. "Look, if you could just stop staring up into the ceiling and dreaming about Chris, I would gladly apologize for that slap."

Yassi answered with another eye roll. "Look, you have zero percent control over my love life, okay? It's not like it's my fault your crush has a crush on me, so stop it," she shot at her as she smirked.

The look of pure hatred on Lily's face quickly wiped off that smirk and replaced it with a sad look.

"Hey, look," Yassi leaned closer, "sorry. I...I really didn't watch my mouth at that time. I didn't mean it. Promise."

Lily looked away. "Look, Yassi. It's not like my weird ability to press down on my feelings makes me an emotional punching bag. I just press down on them, I don't make them go away. I can't make them go away."

Yassi looked down, ashamed. Was Lily going to stop being her friend now? It was always like this. First, things get smooth, both of them have fun, then suddenly, Yassi's stupid brain decides to go on an emotional rampage. And it just seems like it loves to step on her relationships. Especially the best ones.

She'd already ruined the thin bond she had with her parents. Why did another relationship have to be ruined now, in her despair?

No had known about it, and Yassi had intended to keep it that way. But then Lily came along. People kept on saying that she was fake, but Yassi saw something else. Lily was very mature for her age. Maybe that was why she was so good at bottling up her feelings.

And so Yassi decided to become friends with her. Lily turned out to be someone you could tell your feelings and problems to, without a word of judgment. This friendship was one of the few things in her life that she treasured.

"Lily, I'm sorry, I really am."

Lily turned back to her, but she instead of a glare, she had a smirk on her face. "Crybaby," she teased Yassi, who was crying.

Yassi, despite herself, laughed. "You stupid brat," she retorted.

Lily laughed too, and both of them didn't stop giggling, even though their classmates were staring at them.

***

"Wait, you aren't going home yet?" Gwen asked as she saw Chris sitting in his seat, staring out the windows of the room. She had bought something from the canteen and had planned to just sit down and eat until her father arrived to fetch her.

Chris didn't even glance at her as he looked at the sun slowly setting. Why was he here? He should have been home minutes ago.

"Ha, very funny. Look, Chris, no one's filming you. You can stop acting like an actor in a film now."

Chris finally looked at her, though he didn't make eye contact. He just looked at her feet.

"I have something to tell you," he said. He said the words like they were difficult to get out of his mouth.

"Well then," Gwen said as she plopped down on the seat next to his, "what is it? Spit it out."

Chris fidgeted with his hands and glanced at everything at the room; the board, the chairs, the lockers. Even if he hadn't said it yet, Gwen already knew what it was. Only three words would be embarrassing to tell to a close friend.

She took a deep breath. "Well, if it's that hard, we could say something at the same time. I was actually going to tell you something too."

He nodded reluctantly, and said, "on three, one...two...three."

"I like you," both of them said at the same time.

Immediately, both of them looked away. They were ready to run out, away from each other, away from this awkward situation. They didn't.

Chris was the one to make the first move. He pulled her closer, held her face, and kissed her.

Gwen knew she should have backed away, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the classroom. But she didn't hold back, and she felt like she was drawn to him like a fish to a hook.

She didn't want to, but she loved the way he tasted, how their lips slid smoothly over each other, and how their tongues touched. Slowly, all sense of time disappeared. All that existed was her, Chris, and the kiss.

Then, both of them pulled away. They sat there, panting, out of breath. Both of them wanted to do it again, to let it proceed into something more. But both knew that wasn't something that should happen.

Gwen stood up, got her bag, and walked away. It hurt, but she knew she had to. She had to get away from this before she could do something she would regret.

***

Unknown to both of them, Yassi was watching them from the door, her eyes blazing hatred as they kissed. She'd had enough of people being taken away from her. Chris was her property.

She glared at Gwen's back as the girl walked out the door, not even noticing her. If she was to have Chris, Gwen had to go. Forever.