Yes or No

Chapter 2: The Boy With Pink Hair

(The attached picture is how I imagine their dance outfits. I don't know what it's from. It's not mine.)

Rin

The dance was held in the school gym and I spent the first half of it standing alone against the bleachers. Kaito had said hello to me when I came in, and he complimented my dress, but then he ended up off with Miku, Neru, and some other friends and ignored me. I wanted to follow him, but I felt like I'd be annoying if I did without being directly told to. He never asked why I wasn't with them when I should've been, so I felt more comfortable alone. Instead I watched Len and Gumi hanging out; they seemed to be having a good time, laughing and talking together. I thought about going to talk to them, but I decided against it. After awhile of standing alone someone came over and stood by me: the boy from class with the pink hair.

"Hey, I'm Yuma. You're Rin, right?" He said. "I saw you in class. You must be smart, being able to skip a year. That's cool."

"Oh, th-thank you.... I don't really consider myself to be that smart... Besides, you seem pretty smart too! People are always asking you for help," I said.

"True. Honestly, it gets kind of annoying. Anyway, how do you like the dance?"

"It's...not so great."

"Yeah? Dances seem fun and you get all excited, but then you get there and realize it's no fun if you don't have friends. Plus, no matter how many times you request it they don't play the song you like. Then you get bored and want to go home, but you can't drive just yet and your mom won't pick you up 'cause she wants you to socialize...." I laughed when I heard that.

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

"Are you here alone then?"

"Um...yeah, I guess so. I was supposed to be with Kaito, but he's kinda ignoring me."

"That awful, sorry to hear that. It's how Kaito is, I think. He's pretty popular and girls tell him they like him all the time. He doesn't really know how to respond. He wants to be nice, but he doesn't realize it'd be better to just reject them. Do you not have any other friends to hang out with?"

"I could be with my brother, Len, and Gumi, but they seemed to be having such a good time together I thought I'd leave them alone. What about you?"

"I don't really have any friends. Miku and Neru try to talk to me, but I'm pretty sure they're just trying to get me to do their homework."

"That's tough..." I said, looking nervously to the ground. Though I did feel bad for him, I was unsure how I should respond. I hope I don't come off as rude. I wish I was better at conversations.

"Kinda, I don't mind being alone though. So, you and Len, he's a freshmen and you skipped so that means you're twins, right? Do you have any other siblings?"

"Oh, no, I don't. Do you have any?"

"I have an older sister. She just started university. She's studying abroad in Japan. I want to do that too, when I'm older."

"Really? That's so cool! I actually wanted to do the same thing," I spoke more quickly, and had to focus on slowing down. I wish this wouldn't happen when I get excited about things. I hope he didn't notice.

"Yeah? I just realized, we take Japanese together don't we? I saw you in class, but I never thought about it before. We should study together sometime."

"Sure! That sounds fun," I said. I still focused on trying to speak at a normal speed, but I was very happy someone seemed to notice me.

As I finished my sentence I heard the DJ say, "Alright everyone, let's slow things down."

The music got a lot softer and calmer. I watched as Len dragged Gumi out to the middle of the room to dance and she tried to hide her embarrassed face. They would make a cute couple.

"You wanna dance?" Yuma said, holding his hand out to me.

"Y-you want to dance with me?" I said, surprised. I could feel myself blushing.

"Who else would I be talking to?" He teased.

"R-right. Sure."

I slowly took his hand and he pulled me out to the middle of the room.

"You can lean against me, if you want. Pretend I'm Kaito, hmm?"

"That would be embarrassing..." I mumbled.

I looked away to hide my red face, but suddenly he pulled me close causing me to yelp in surprise. After a minute or two Len and Gumi ended up near us.

"May I dance with my sister?" Len asked.

"No," Yuma said, he smirked and pulled me to the side, "I'd like to keep her."

"What? Rin?"

After a minute or two of Len playfully whining, Gumi laughing at the scene, and me being too embarrassed to know what to do, Len got me away from Yuma. I was much more comfortable held close in Len's arms and laid my head on his shoulder.

"So, you come in with one guy and you'll leave with another?" He said jokingly.

"I came in with you and I'm leaving with you," I said, annoyed.

"Rin, don't make it sound like we're sleeping together. That's weird."

"What? I didn't! If anything you did!" He laughed.

"Why aren't you with Kaito, though?"

"Well..." I explained what happened and what Yuma had told me about Kaito.

"I'm so sorry, Rin.... It's my fault; I pushed you towards him too fast."

"I don't blame you. It's fine. It's really my fault for falling for him so fast. I still barely know him. It was just a silly crush." 

"So, who's this Yuma person anyway?"

"He's in a lot of my classes, but we haven't really talked till today. His personality is surprising. He normally seems really shy in class."

"Maybe he doesn't like people very much? You have that problem but you're also shy and that's why you have a hard time making friends."

"Jerk...that's why I have you. You make friends for me. Like Gumi."

"Oh, yeah, speaking of her! Wanna know something cool? She's my girlfriend now."

"Well, no one saw that coming," I said, sarcastically. "I'm happy for you guys."