A curious girl in a summer dress, hands behind her back, skips towards me. “You caught my eye.” She smiles as she sticks out an open hand towards me to shake. “The name‘s Aria!” I hesitated for a moment. Then I shook her hand.

“Tetsu…” Her hands were soft but her grip was firm. “If you’re trying to take a pass at me you gotta be a little smoother than that.” She laughed.

“Ahaha! I guess I do. Though...” She looked at me up and down then grinned. “... you seem like a really reliable guy with a lot of troubles.” She spun on her heel and looked back towards me. “Wanna grab a coffee?”

“I refuse. Just had coffee.” I started to walk away. She sounds like trouble. “Take care Aria!”

“Waiiiiit!” She jumped towards me while grabbing my hand to hold me back. “Two days from now. Tuesday! Come with me to the movies! I got tickets to a free diner and a movie.” Wow… trying hard aren’t we? I stopped for a moment and turned towards her again. She was kinda cute and I wouldn’t be opposed to it normally. However…

A picture of a girl holding out her hand to me flashed in my mind. A soft smile

“Aria… you’re a really cute girl and would I normally accept. But I have someone I like at the moment.” Her eyes widened.

“Do you… plan on asking her out?” She asked slowly.

“Yes… tomorrow…” Aria put her hands on her head and grimaced. Then she paused for a moment. Then turned to me with a serious face.

“Fine! If you get rejected by her then go out with me!” She pouted. “I’m not very happy about it but I’ll play ‘Backup Girl’ this one time.” She folded her arms. “You promise?” I looked at her for a bit.

“Why don’t you go with one of your friends?” She looked away in silence. Wait… no… It can’t be.

“They’re… busy.” She looked down as she spoke. At that moment I wanted to hug her. I took a breath to collect myself and resist the temptation.

“Okay okay… If my crush says no I’ll go out with you.” Aria let out a sigh of relief. Relief?

“Thanks Tetsu!” She smiled. “I’m glad I didn’t have to go too fa-” She covered her mouth. “Father… he bought me these tickets. Yeah...” Aria spoke in pieces of sentences. “He’s going to… get mad if I don’t use these tickets! Yeah! They come with popcorn and drinks for two. They’re super expensive! Right!” She smiled.

“I still have to ask my crush out.” I stated plainly.

“Oh… well I’ll have to take my chances then.” She paced playfully around with her hands behind her back. Aria walked towards me and put a piece of paper in my hand. “Here is my number! Call me to let me know how it goes!” She smiled and then slowly walked away. “Talk to you later!”

“See you Aria!” I waved. I took out my cell phone and started to put her number in my phone. Man did she seem sure of herself.

★★★

“Yeah! Time to dig in!” My excited friend Colin spoke up as he held his lunchbox in his hand.

“Mmmm! So good!” My other friend Haruka said still with her food in her mouth.

“Whoa! People! We got time okay?” I said trying to slow my friends down. I was eating my lunch on the school rooftop with my friends. Colin is an energetic guy but with a surprisingly good head on his shoulder. An honours student. Haruka is an old friend of mine and we go way back. Honors student and also a trickster at times.

“Sooo Tetsu… I hear you’re going to ask out Sapphire after school!” Haruka asked with a grin.

“Yeah man! Totally go for it!” Colin cheered. “Fortune favours the bold!”

“From what I heard… Sapphire is super kind and always listens to others in need.” Haruka smiled. “Listened to my problems too. But tends to do too much for others. Sometimes I feel bad for her.” Haruka stopped smiling for a second. Then she turned to me and grinned with up-turned eyes. “Maybe… you can sweep her off her feet then.”

“Woo! You can be her princely hero!” Colin shook his hand. “I can feel the sizzling romance start to bloom already.”

“Naw… me? A hero? Don’t be silly!” Lie through my teeth! Lie through my teeth! Must keep secret identity a secret! I put my hand behind my head. “How could that be even possible?”

“Heeey! Can someone open the door?” A familiar voice came from behind the door to the rooftop entrance. “My hands are full holding this solar panel!” Wait… that voice is… Sapphire?!

“Oh Sapphire?” Haruka called out as she looked at me with a smile. Colin looked at me with a grin of a monkey. “TETSU says he’ll get the door!”

“Wow… such a gentlemen! I could learn a lot from him!” Colin spoke loudly.

"Really? Thanks Tetsu!" Sapphire called out. I started walking towards the door giving my "friends" the evil eye. You guys are so dead meat after this is over.