He keeps asking
She keeps saying no.
But love doesn't disappear just because refuse to name it.
The first time Ethan Cole asked Maya Bennett out, he was fourteen and sweating through his uniform.
He didn't ask her himself.
He sent Daniel.
"Just tell her I like her. Don't make it dramatic."
Daniel came back five minutes later, grinning too wide.
"She said no."
Ethan nodded like that was expected.
Like it didn't matter.
Like he hadn't spent three weeks rehearsing how to say her name without stuttering.
Across the courtyard, Maya laughed with her friends.
But when she turned away from them, her smile faded slightly.
She didn't know why