INTO YOUR ARMS

2. RED ROSE

DJ

On my way to school this morning, I made sure to stop by a flower shop and bought a fresh red rose. A real one. Not something plucked from the bushes behind the gym like yesterday. I even took a taxi just so Ravi wouldn't be in my ear the entire ride, teasing me about 'my mystery crush'. I didn't mind his jokes on most days, but today, I needed the quiet. I needed space to breathe, to think, to not talk myself out of this. I was sitting alone in the cafeteria, an empty tray infront of me, my friends long gone to their next class. The rose was resting on the table beside my phone, half hidden under my palm so I wouldn't look like a complete idiot holding a flower at lunchtime.

Kaito was at his usual table across the room with his friends, laughing at something one of them said. Same oversized hoodie. He was sitting like he always did, shoulders slightly hunched. But today, something was different. Every few minutes, I could feel him looking at me. And every time I glanced up, I caught him. Just for a second. Eyes wide. Then immediately snapping away like he wasn't staring at me at all.

He did it again.

And again.

Each time it hit me like a spark. That quick flicker of his gaze, only for him to whip his head toward his friends as if nothing happened. Like he was scared to be caught but couldn't help it.

My heart was beating way too fast now for someone who was just sitting at a lunch table.

I didn't know what it meant. Maybe he was curious.

Maybe he was confused.

Maybe he was annoyed but trying to understand why I approached him.

Or maybe, and this is the one I probably shouldn't hope for. Maybe he wanted me to try again.

He stole one more glance, his eyes darting to the side where I was sitting. This time, he didn't look away fast enough. Not before our eyes met. Not before I saw the way he froze like I'd caught him doing something forbidden.

My fingers tightened around the stem of the rose. Maybe today, I could try one more time.

Maybe he was wondering how insane I was. Every time our eyes met, I couldn't read a damn thing on his face. It's like he kept switching through emotions too fast for me to catch any of them. First he looked startled, like he didn't expect me to actually look back. Then the corners of his mouth tightened like he was annoyed. Or irritated. Or trying to pretend he didn't care.

But one second later, there was something else entirely. Something softer, confusion maybe, before he looked down at his hands and started messing with the strap of his backpack.

Disgust? I don't know.

I'd like to say no, that he was not disgusted, but I'd never done this before. I'd never pursued a guy, and he had probably never been approached by one. For all I knew, he was sitting there trying to figure out how to get rid of me without causing a scene.

I hated that thought, but I couldn't shake it.

Still, every time he looked away, he looked back again a minute later. Almost like he was checking if I was still there. Still watching. Still holding the rose.

He was confusing me.

I was confusing him.

We were both confused.

He shifted from looking irritated, to looking uncomfortable. To looking angry at me and himself.

What was I even doing?

Why was I doing this?

Did he think I was a joke?

Was I pushing something that he hated?