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12: Twin Sister

The way Oliver yelled my name that day easily scared five years off of my life. Maybe it was because I was still dazed from sitting with Kaito and talking to him. He smiled at me! Again! And then he had left. He really seemed to like ice cream, I noted.

"Gumi!" Oliver practically roared my name, making me jolt and turn around. He looked at me, exasperated. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Really?" I blinked, catching a glimpse of Len hurrying down the hall, towards me and Oliver.

"Yes, really!" Oliver shook his head. "First we went to your locker, then out to the field, then to the classroom where the other girls are. They said you were looking for Len!"

"And I was looking for you!" Len said, panting and stopping in front of me.

"They told us to hang out with you, you know," Oliver smirked at me.

"I was going to hang out with this little gumdrop anyway," Len tousled my hair and grinned. I cringed at the nickname he had used. "Seriously though, Gumi. We ran all around the school looking for you."

"And then Gakupo was trying to find Kaito so we decided to work together," Oliver said.

"And here you are!" Len smacked my back. "Come on, let's go somewhere. You don't like being with those girls, right?"

"I just..." I frowned, walking down the hall with him and Oliver. "They're always talking about the same thing. And they bug me..."

"It'll be fine," Len assured. We started to walk down the halls. "Did Miku tell you?"

"Yeah, she..." I looked up at Len. "I was going to call you last night! The only reason I didn't was that I didn't want to bother you or your sister. If I had known, I..."

"It's fine, Gumi, no big deal," Len interrupted. "You're coming on Saturday, right?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I'm coming."

"Quit being so gloomy," he said. "Yesterday it was me. Today, it's you. Come on, smile. Please? You still mean a lot to me, you know. It's not like you said you'd call me or something."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Huh?" Len blinked. "What?"

"You said I mean a lot to you."

Oliver snickered.

"Shut up," Len kicked Oliver's leg, making him yelp. Then, he turned to look at me. "You know what I mean. Anyway, let's go outside, alright?"

I nodded silently.

The rest of the week passed by quickly. Len and Oliver had told me that day that the girls had told them to hang out with me. Of course, the guys obliged, but I knew that the girls just didn't want me seeing Kaito as often. Len and Oliver hung out with Kaito but not as often as Gakupo or some of the other guys, so as a result, I didn't see Kaito very much for the rest of the week.

Still, I treasured the moments I did get to spend with him. Whenever we saw each other in the halls, we waved. And of course, we still saw each other after school, in the bus, where we talked sometimes. I felt like I was getting to know him, actually getting to know him.

The weekend was here before I knew it. It was Saturday morning and I was stuffing my backpack with various things that I might need while at Len's place. I kept a bag of carrots and some socks, a notebook, pens and pencils, and a few other little things.

"If you stuff that thing too much, it'll be hard for you in the buses and trains," my mom drawled. She was leaning against the doorway, peering into my room, watching, amused, as I packed my things. "Are you going to wear that dress?"