“Sooo….”
You glance at your (rather annoying) best friend. “Yes, Aren?”
He plants his elbow on the desk and leans obnoxiously on his hand, grinning at you. “There’s been rumours about you and Sana.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
You dismiss him, turning back to your work. You need to get this speech written by tomorrow.
“Aww, come on, Kei,” Aren whines. “Everybody’s dying to know what’s up with you two. And it sure does seem like love from where I’m standing. I just wanna help my best friend through their first crush!”
You glance up from your work at that. “Love her? No, Aren. The bond we share is so much deeper than mere love. We are rivals. And I am going to win.” You put your head back down and refocus on your speech. You have a debate against Sana tomorrow, and it needs to be perfect.
“Huh. Wow, there really is no love in your debate-obsessed little heart, huh. So cold~” You ignore Aren’s continued fussing. He’ll calm down eventually. He was like this over the gender reveal, too.
“But no really, I guess it makes a lot of sense that the only person to really catch your attention is someone as uninterested in love as you are. You’re a perfect match still, hmm? Just not in what people think you are.” You hide a smile at Aren’s speculation. He’s not wrong.
He nudges you then, smudging the next line you were about to write. You fix him with a glare, and he holds up his hands in surrender. “Hey, hey, chill, Kei.” Then he switches modes instantly, leaning close and grinning at you. “But hey, not loving her doesn’t mean I’m not gonna be here for advice for my bestie, yeah? She’s still your first something, right?”
You sigh disgustedly, annoyed at how it only makes his smug grin get wider. “You’re insufferable,” you inform him.
“You know you adore me, Kei,” he sing-songs right back.
“Fine, then,” you acquiesce graciously. “Since you’re so insistent. You can help me do research. And maybe I’ll reward you by telling the many and varied ways she is important to me. Maybe.”
Aren droops. “You’re a cruel, cruel, person, Kei. But damn do you use good bait. Fine! I’’ll help. But you better keep your word, okay?”
“Yes, yes. Fine. Now go get me the books on this list.” You shove the list at him. This’ll save you at least fifteen minutes that you can instead dedicate to utterly perfecting this speech.
You truly cannot wait to see Sana’s reaction.
