“H-hey,” stammered Damian, entering my room “Are you okay Jon?”
“Oh hey Day,” I grinned, “I’m fine thanks. You?”
He blushed and fidgeted nervously. “I’m sorry,” he squeaked, looking down at the ground “I’m sorry I got you hurt.”
I sighed. “I can’t accept that apology,” I said shaking my head gently. He cringed and I reached out to pat his hand “I can’t accept it because you didn’t get me hurt.” His head shot up in confusion. “I got hurt because Biff and Steve are jerks, not because of anything you did.” Seeing tears welling up in his eyes I smiled and motioned for him to sit down on my desk chair. Even then he had trouble looking me in the eye and blushed some more.
“You must think me such a crybaby,” he said, drying his eyes with the ball of his hand.
“I prefer kindhearted and sensitive,” I replied, giving his hand a friendly squeeze “I think it’s kinda sweet actually.” This time he looked me in the eye but was clearly not expecting such a positive comment from anyone. “To be honest,” I continued “It makes me feel kinda bad that I haven’t gotten to know you better.”
“I can’t blame you. You’re already kinder to me than I deserve.”
“Please don’t talk like that, you don’t give yourself enough credit. It’s entirely my fault for not making the effort. To be honest, part of the reason is because I’ve been worried about hurting you.”
Again he looked at me in shock. “W-why? I-I mean how? I-I mean-“
“I know you have a crush on me,” I interrupted “And I’ve always been worried that if I couldn’t reciprocate you’d be heartbroken.”
He shook his head “Y-you’ve always been out of my league. I-I’ve never dreamed you could say anything but no to me.” Tears started to well up.
“You need better dreams then,” I smiled, again squeezing his hand. “I’m saying yes now if you want to ask the question.”
He stared at me dumbfounded, mouth hanging open in shock and eyes glazing over slightly; if he’d been a robot, then I’d just pulled a Kirk on him. It was my turn to blush.
“Day, I think you’re cute. I have for a long time, I’ve just been scared of accepting my feelings. And I’ve already gone over how great I think you are. So if you want me to go on a date with you some time, then it’d make me really happy to.”
He swallowed and said “I’d like that. W-would you like to get a drink after school tomorrow maybe?”
“I’ve been suspended for the rest of this week, but I’d love to meet you at the gates when you finish tomorrow.”
We sat there holding hands in silence for a minute before I said “There’s something else you should know. After Hadashi-Sensei got me to the infirmary, he checked me out and made a surprise discovery.”
“W-what? I hope it’s nothing serious!”
I smiled and gently took his hands, placing them on my head. “Feel those? Well turns out I’m a late bloomer.”
His face lit up and he asked “Any idea what animal you are?”
I paused wondering if I should reveal my family secret, but decided against it. “Don’t know for sure, but my dad says he thinks I have some fox in my family line, so best bet is that.”
The fox boy grinned at the sound of that and I grinned back.
“Fox huh?” said a voice from my bedroom door, “Dang I was hoping for wolf.”
The two of us turned to see...
