“I like you!”

The boy was trembling in nervousness as he confessed and handed over a daisy to a girl in front of him. His friends hide all around the park to see the outcome. The girl reached out for the flower, looking at it for a few seconds before turning to the boy. Her face expressed uncertainty, but the boy was still hopeful. They had been close for the past year, and the boy believed that speaking out his feelings would be the right thing to do. So naive, so innocent, such was the mind of a child. The girl clutched the flower tight to her chest, looking down. The boy’s heart was beating harder with every second passed. The girl lifted her head before turning around and running away.

“Wait!”

The boy called for her, but she kept running and never came back. His small hand that tried to reach her slowly dropped to his side. Every ounce of strength was leaving his body. He fell to his knees. His friends came out of the hiding one by one, slowly approaching him. They all looked at each other, not knowing what to say or do. One of them tried to reach him, but as she put her hand on his shoulder, he angrily slapped it away making the girl yelp and fall. The other two were shocked by his behavior.

“Yuki...-chan?”

In disbelief, she looked at the boy who was holding his tears in rage.

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“Hey, what are you doing!?”

Another girl with glasses yelled at him.

“Don’t touch me!”

The boy raged back at the glasses girl who didn’t fancy his act just now. The girl who fell started crying as she clutched her dress. She got up and ran away screaming,

“Yuki-chan, you idiot!”

The boy looked hopelessly at the girl running with tears falling out of her usually bright eyes. The next thing he saw was the ground as a loud smack landed on his right cheek.

“She was just concerned about you! Why are you acting like a kid?”

“But we ARE kids Aya-chan! Wait no! I...I didn’t mean to…”

“Was the push necessary? I thought you were better than this.”

“Shut up Aya-chan! You don’t know what I am feeling right now!”

The girl flinched at his response. She clutched her right arm and trembled holding back emotions.

“I don’t...but hurting your friend...OUR friend...is unforgivable!”

She turned around and then walked away without saying another word. Now left only with just one more person, the boy got up but was unable to look in the eyes of the last person.

“Yuki…”

Without responding to him being called, the boy walked past the person leaving the park, closing a chapter of a childhood friendship with bitterness and regrets that would carry on for years.