Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 25: Confessions

Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past

Bold - sign language

After Marali kissed Neteyam, she told him that they needed to talk. She was going to confess her feelings for him, but she was also going to confront him about his behavior, past and present.

Marali truly had feelings for Neteyam, but she wouldn't allow him to ignore her anytime she pissed him off. Not only was it extremely immature, but it made her feel lonely, weak, and unwanted.

The girl continued to walk further and further away from the clan to ensure that she wouldn't be disturbed or heard when she talked to Neteyam. Usually, they would go to the forest, but she didn't want to take the chance of someone eavesdropping on the conversation.

Once Marali felt that she was far enough away, she turned around and looked at Neteyam. He had the biggest smile on his face as he looked down at Marali.

"What did you want to talk about?" Neteyam asked.

"Well, you gave me two days to tell you how I felt, and it's been more than two days because someone would ignore me anytime I tried to talk to him," Marali said.

Neteyam nervously laughed before he uttered an apology to the girl. "I'm sorry." He said.

Marali sighed and looked at Neteyam. For a few minutes, the two teens sat in a moment of silence while Marali decided if Neteyam was being genuine in his apology. As she looked into his eyes, she saw that he genuinely felt guilty, but she wouldn't forgive him so easily.

He needed to know that it hurt her when he ignored her and that it wasn't okay to do so when she said something he didn't like.

Neteyam patiently waited for the girl to tell him the words he desperately wanted to hear. She had to like him, right? Why would she kiss him if she didn't reciprocate his feelings? Marali would never kiss someone unless she had feelings for them.

"I like you," She started, and Neteyam held his breath. "As more than a friend." Neteyam let out a sigh of relief once she said those words.

"But we can't be together right now," Marali said, and Neteyam looked at her confused. "If we like each other, why can't we be together?" He asked.

If Marali were being honest with herself, she would have gotten together with him as soon as he confessed to her. She'd dreamed of that moment since she was a little girl, but they had only recently started being friends again, and they still had things they needed to talk about and work on.

They were both young, and had all the time in the world to get together.

So, why not spend some much-needed time relearning things about each other?

"Because, Neteyam, we only recently became friends," Marali sighed. "And I can't ignore how you've treated me in the past. I mean, one minute you hate me, and the next you're confessing your feelings for me? It doesn't make sense." She scoffed.

The boy knew that the day he would have to tell her the truth would come, but he wasn't expecting that day to be today.

He walked over to Marali and sat down, signaling her to sit as well.

When she finally sat beside him and looked at him with hopeful eyes, he grabbed her hand and anxiously played with her fingers. It was a tick he had for when he was nervous, or when he didn't want to do something.

It was quiet for a moment while Neteyam built up the courage to speak, but when he did, his words surprised Marali. "I never hated you." He said as he looked at the girl beside him.