May 17th.
It was that time of year again. No, it wasn't spring cleaning. In fact, Lukas enjoyed that day; though he would never let his obnoxious friend Matthias know that.
It was Lukas's birthday.
He was used to the usual celebratory ritual; Mathias would barge into his room at exactly 12AM in the morning singing a slurred version – due to his alcohol intoxication – of happy birthday to him, Emil's pet Mr. Puffin would come in and pull at Lukas's curl in attempt to rip the strand of hair out as a sign of 'affection,' Emil would charge in after Mr. Puffin to recapture the wild bird, Tino would skip into his room and insist that he open his birthday present wrapped in Christmas patterned wrap, and then Berwald would finally come in and provide everyone with an icy glare that made everyone return to bed and wait until sunrise to pester the Norwegian.
For his most of his entire life, Lukas could say that he had all he ever wanted (except for sleep on the morning of his birthday); Emil even whispered 'good morning, brother dear' to him on his birthday mornings.
Except every year since grade eight had ended.
There was this girl who had the same lunch period as him and was in his grade 12 Home Economics class; the last period of the day. Her beautiful (e/c) eyes and flowing (h/c) hair captured his heart as soon as he laid eyes on her. But he had known her even before high school started, and they were definitely closer back in elementary school. Her name was (Name), and she was what Lukas wanted most.
But he knew after what had happened in grade eight, that was definitely not going to happen.
--Flashback: 8th grade--
"Hey, Lukas!" (Name) came skipping around a corner and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist. The last bell of the day had just rung and school was finally over. (Name) had been waiting for this moment, wanting to ask Lukas something really important. In fact, she was waiting for this precise moment in her life for three years and counting.
"(Name)," Lukas almost smiled as he said her name, and had to force himself not to blush.
"Did you know that the graduation dance is coming up?"
A nod.
"So who are you going to ask?" (Name)'s eyes sparkled with hope and screamed 'say my name!', but Lukas didn't notice because he knew he couldn't hold back a blush if he met the beautiful girl's gaze.
"..." No reply. But inside, Lukas wanted to ask, 'Who else?' If (Name) didn't notice how much he really liked her by now, she must have been really distracted by someone else she likes... right?
"Lukas?"
"... I'm not going; there isn't anyone I want to go with." Lies.
"Oh." (Name)'s face dropped. She wanted to go so badly with the prince charming of her dreams, but Lukas's monotonous reply knocked her back into reality. Of course he wouldn't like such a plain girl like her, and after all, they were only friends.
But (Name) had liked him since grade 5; it began as a little crush but soon grew to an almost overwhelming feeling of love for him in grade 8. He was so graceful in everything he did, and his kind personality that only she experienced drew her in over the years. (Name) absolutely loved him for everything; from the hidden emotions in his deep blue eyes to his secret love for butter.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" (Name) managed to speak in a normal tone, although her heart felt like it was shattered.
"Right, see you (Name)," the blonde boy waved and walked off to catch up with his younger brother, Emil.
