You walked past him in the hallway today, and he smiled. The same stupid question went through your head.
Why doesn't he love me?
You had been through so much with Isaac. You had taken down a kanima, stopped Jennifer, and so much more. But it always seemed like you two had been on different ends. You were in the same pack, yet you felt farther from him than anyone else. That's what made your love for him so strange.
You started noticing it about six months ago, while Jennifer was still alive. You would always find yourself asking the pack where he was, and what he was doing. You began wishing you could see him when he wasn't in your direct line of sight. You became angry every time you saw him with Allison.
You wished you could get more than "hey" when you saw him.
At first, you passed it off as a crush. It was understandable. You mean, he was hot, undeniably. Everyone in the school had at least a little crush on Isaac. Even Scott had a small man crush.
But it was starting to last too long. Crushes are supposed to fade. And you noticed yourself starting to care a little too much about him. And the pack was starting to notice as well.
Why are you always asking me about Isaac? What, are you in love with him or something?
"Hey," you saw Kira at her locker.
"Hey," she said. "I need to run to the economics class really fast and hand something in to Coach, and then I'll be ready to go."
"Okay, I'll go with-"
You turned around and bumped into the gorgeous creature behind you.
"Sorry," you said quickly, feeling red in the face.
"It's okay," Isaac replied. "Uh, I was just wondering if you took chemistry notes."
"Oh, yeah. I have them right here," you said, swinging your backpack around and grabbing your binder. "Here you go."
"Thanks," he said, snapping a picture.
You expected him to step away, but he lingered awkwardly, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"Uh, like I said, I've got to run to economics," Kira spoke up, leaving you alone with Isaac.
"So," he said. "I was also wondering if...maybe you could help me study for the test on Friday."
"Oh, sure. We can just meet in the library after school."
"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of meeting at a restaurant."
"Like, a date?"
"No! I mean- well, yeah. I guess you could call it a date. I mean, if you wanted it to be. Do you want it to be?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Then I guess it's a date. I'll pick you up around six."
"Sounds good."
Isaac nodded, and started down the hallway just as Kira appeared. You were able to maintain your composure for about half a second longer before squealing, "Isaac just asked me out."
And that was the moment that Kira divulged a secret. A very big secret that she had wanted to tell you so many times, but didn't for Isaac's sake.
"Really? He finally did? Scott told me that he's loved you since freshman year."
