I Think...

"How long will you keep standing there? Are you that lost because the boy left?" And here Saki was brought back by a familiar voice.

"M-Mom!! Wait when?" It was none other than Saki's mother, but that wasn't the main point right now.

She was confused at what happened, her mind just blanked all of a sudden like it went into sleep mode, and then she found herself here. So, currently, nothing made sense to her.

"So, who was that? hmm~~, Your boyfriend? I'd have to say you found a real good one," It was just that, her mother wouldn't let her think about anything else as she was more interested in talking about what she didn't know.

"N-No, he is my friend!!" Saki spoke quickly, almost biting her tongue in the process.

"Ohhh? Friend is it? So, young people spend the entire days on their Graduation and holidays with their friends, and become so sad that they look like they lost their soul when the friend leaves?" Her mother smirked in response to the plethora of emotions painting Saki's face—she could read her daughter like an open book, truthfully anyone could.

"I-I-It's not like that!!" Saki rushed past her mother with her flushed face, being teased like this wasn't something she expected and it certainly wasn't something she was ready for.

"I see I see, it is not like that, huh?" The mother smiled seeing Saki rush to her room, she had more questions but decided to let it be for now.

"Seriously what is she thinking?!" Saki on the other hand huffed, closing the door behind her with a bang.

If anyone saw Adam and her, there was no way they would reach that conclusion, after all, they were just friends and they didn't act any differently.

"There's no… way…" Saki's words trailed off, she had remembered some of the instances that could be misunderstood.

Especially when he patted her head to reassure her, and most importantly the compliment that caused her to space out just a little while ago.

"Argh!!! There is nothing like that!" Saki jumped into the bed to get the thought out of her mind.

"It was just a friendly compliment… yeah that was all…" A blush painted her face as she tried to justify it.

But it all seemed futile…

"Why did… she have to say that…?" After her mother's teasing remarks, and how her heart pounded while remembering the moment.

"Why am I thinking of it?" Saki buried her face into the pillow, she didn't want to view their relationship like that. After all, Adam had acted like a proper friend to her, and he didn't do anything wrong so it wouldn't be good if she went thinking like that.

"She didn't talk to him that way, did she?" For a second, Saki felt her heart drop. The possibility of her mother talking about that topic with Adam was high, and given that she wasn't thinking straight at the time. There was no way of knowing what happened, and more importantly, she had no idea what Adam thought of that.

"I have to tell him that she was joking!" Saki quickly stood up, and quickly searched for her phone by overturning her purse on its head.

"How do I talk about that?" But as soon as she opened the messenger on the phone, her fingers froze in an instant.

-Hello Adam, I am writing this message to tell you, to not take what my mother said about us seriously

"There is no way I can say that!" Saki immediately discarded it.

"Wouldn't I look like a fool, if she didn't say anything like that? And why do I sound so arrogant!" Saki felt like tearing her hair out, messaging someone normally was too much for her, but with the topic in hand, it was even worse.

And above all, to think something like this with Adam, even if her mother had said something like that to him…

"Yeah… someone like me… shouldn't think that way…" Saki caught at her reflection in the window glass and calmed down.

"Even if mom said it, he wouldn't take it seriously…" She smiled slightly, somehow that made her feel at ease, but also made her heart tighten slightly.

'I am not someone like him would look at that way...' But she knew that it was the truth, no matter how much she thought about it. There was no chance of it being otherwise.

"Yeah… I should be glad that he became my friend…" Saki hugged the Doraemon plushie lying on the bed, "I am happy with just this…"

RING*

But her phone rang in the next instant, and it was a message from Adam.

Adam—My phone won't be available for a few days.

"Another text without any context!" Saki didn't understand why this guy just got to the point so quickly, because her heart couldn't take these sudden messages that left so much room for interpretation.

'It is making me anxious because of what happened with Mom,' That is why she decided to bite her tongue and ask him directly.

—What happened?

Well, not directly, but it worked.

Adam—I have to go away for some urgent work, I'll be back quickly.

"Looks like it doesn't have anything to do with Mom," Saki felt a huge burden being lifted off her shoulders with that, but another thing was bugging her now.

And after much deliberation, she decided to just continue with her questions.

—When will you come back?

Adam—Hmm, I should be back in a month at most

'It must be something important…' Saki understood but it was still not a good feeling. And the next message just increased that…

Adam—You gonna miss me or something?

The red on Saki's face deepened when she saw that, and it got worse when she saw what she had nearly sent on impulse.

'Yes' That is what she wrote on her own, but thankfully she noticed before sending it and quickly rewrote it.

—I was just asking

Adam—Bummer

'Did he expect me to miss him? No way... but why would he say that?' Saki's heartbeat quickened but she calmed herself down forcefully.

"He must be joking, yeah that's it…" She shook her head to get the thought out by being rational, and she even tried to derail the conversation from this topic by starting another.

—Did you do the thing you wanted to do today?

It was certainly late as this work should've been completed in the morning, but that didn't happen.

'Hopefully, he didn't miss his work because of me…' Saki knew that this wouldn't have happened if she wasn't in the way, so it was another of the things that weighed on her mind.

Adam—Yeah, I finished that, it wasn't a problem so don't worry

—I am not worried

Adam—Suuuuure

—What's that supposed to mean?

Saki pouted, it wasn't a nice feeling that he saw through her that easily.

'But I dunno, I feel at ease that he knows…' She couldn't say why, but it was just a feeling.

Adam—Nothing really, then bye, take care of yourself and remember what I said

—Yes Bye, you take care as well, Insert Cat Wave emoji*

Adam—I will

After seeing that message, Saki kept staring at the screen for a few minutes even if she knew that no new messages would come for a while.

"Remember what I said..." She knew what he was talking about, "How will I ever forget that? There is no way I can…" That was the first time someone made her feel that secure, it was something that gave her so much courage.

'Will he really come if I think about it? Isn't that just an exaggerated sentence?' It was normal to think that way, but somehow Saki felt like it wasn't a lie.

When she heard those words, it was the most comforting feeling ever, and no matter how exaggerated they may seem.

"I feel like he will really come to save me, if I am in danger," She didn't know why, but she decided to trust his words after all those words did save her once.

"No, I think I know…" Saki held the plushie in a tight hug, feeling the heat take over her face along with an unrestrained heartbeat, "I think… I like him…" It was a vague feeling, and that is why she wasn't sure about it.

"But someone like me..." Regardless, her lackluster appearance only dampened her confidence.

"What do I do?" and it only served to confuse her further, because even if she liked him.

"There is just… no way…"