"Valerie—"
"Wait!" Lukas was startled by Valerie's sudden outburst.
"What part of me don't you like?"
"What part of me do you want me to change?"
"I can change it. I can change it, please."
"Just give me a chance."
Valerie kept rambling so fast that even Lukas couldn't understand her because of how quickly she was speaking.
"Sorry, Valerie—"
Valerie stopped him before he could continue. She felt like everything was hopeless at that moment.
"Let's talk about this next time…"
"But—" Valerie thought that maybe, someday, Lukas might fall for her. She began sobbing as she ran downstairs. She sped away so quickly that Lukas could tell she was moving like a marathon runner.
"Wait—"
Elliene saw Valerie running downstairs. She wanted to ask what had happened. As soon as she got close enough, she tried to call out to her.
"Oh, Valerie—"
But Valerie was running too fast, and Elliene's words were lost in the commotion.
As Valerie hurried away, tears streamed down her face. Her friends noticed her in their peripheral vision and quickly followed.
"Valerie, what happened?"
"Is it about Lukas?" her friends asked.
"It's none of your business!" she snapped. Everything happening was too much for her to comprehend. She kept running as the bell rang. Her friends decided to leave her alone for a while so she could calm down.
Meanwhile, Lukas was still dumbfounded by the way Valerie had run off. He guessed that she must really love him and needed time to accept the rejection.
Lukas stayed on the rooftop, enjoying the view to breathe, rethink, and process everything that had happened. After a few minutes of staring at the horizon with a confused expression, Elliene eventually came up to the rooftop and tapped Lukas on the shoulder.
"Hey, idiot."
Lukas just stared at her.
Elliene seemed to understand what had happened. "I didn't teach you to make a girl cry, did I?" she said with a small sigh.
Lukas looked down, feeling under the weather.
"But we can't help it. We all have our own lives, choices, and love," Elliene added with a slight smile. "Right?"
Lukas turned around to face her, his face on the verge of tears. He hugged her tightly.
"Hnggghh…" Lukas cried into Elliene's shoulder.
Elliene patted his back to comfort him. "Now, now. You're becoming more like a baby."
Minutes passed.
"Let's go back. The bell already rang."
Lukas and Elliene started walking down the stairs.
Elliene hoped that the next day, everything would be cleared up and finally settled.
The next day, the sun was shining, and the birds were singing. Some would say it was a good omen to start the day. But Lukas and Valerie didn't even want to get up, knowing what awaited them at school—where they would meet again and talk about "the thing."
Valerie arrived at school feeling anxious for the first time in forever. Her hands were sweating. She tried to avoid her friends to get some alone time, but she immediately failed as she was pulled into the girls' restroom.
Cornered, she realized it was her friends, all looking dead serious.
"What really happened on the rooftop yesterday?"
Valerie went quiet.
They didn't even need her answer to know what had happened. But eventually, Valerie began explaining everything that took place on the rooftop.
There were occasional gasps and "What?!" as Valerie told the story as if it were apocalyptic news. After finishing, she asked them for advice on how to make Lukas fall for her.
"Now I don't even know what to do…" Valerie said in a tense voice.
After a few moments of silence, they began talking again—or rather, planning.
"Let's make a plan," one of Valerie's friends suggested.
"What if you spend more time with Lukas? He'll start to feel closer to you, and it might improve your relationship."
"Yeah… time is the key to a door we don't even know what's behind."
All of her friends agreed. So did Valerie, who really liked the idea.
But little did they know, a girl with long, ebony-black hair had been listening to them all along.