Accept your feelings

The next day, Max woke up from his sleep. He took out his phone and looked at the photo of the thugs he took yesterday. A slight smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.

"For a first fight, it's not bad, but I hope the next opponent is a little stronger so I can get used to my body's strength," he thought.

It was Monday, and he had to go to school. "Thinking of school, I hope that kid is okay," he said, not realizing he was a school kid himself.

He stretched his body and got ready for school. After eating breakfast, he went to the train station and boarded his usual train to school. There, he saw Cedric, who was playing with his phone.

"Morning, bro," Max said. Hearing a familiar voice, Cedric looked up from his phone.

"Hey, Max, morning. How's it going with... you know..?"

"What?" Max asked, confused.

"You know what I'm talking about. It's Gwen."

"What about her?"

"I'll ask you straight: do you like her?"

"Well, I guess I do."

"Wait, bro, really?"

"Yeah, but don't tell her yet. I want to tell her myself," Max said.

"Damn, bro, I thought you'd be shy or shocked by the question. I never thought you'd be so open and confident about it. You've really changed, huh?"

"You could say I had a revelation when I was in a coma," Max said with a smile as if it were a joke.

Cedric treated it as a joke too. "Anyway, when are you going to tell her?"

"Soon," Max said, shocking Cedric.

As they chatted, they reached their stop and started walking toward the school. After getting to their class, Max and Cedric were talking when they saw Gwen entering the room.

Cedric was the first to greet her. "Hey, Gwen, good morning."

"Yeah, morning," she said, greeting Cedric. She saw Max looking intently at her, which made her freeze in place.

"Good morning, Gwen," Max said. Realizing she was standing still, Max's words woke her up.

"Y-yeah, morning," she said shyly, remembering what happened the day before.

Max smiled lightly, thinking Gwen's shyness was cute.

Gwen usually ate with friends from another class at lunchtime, but today she came to eat with Cedric and Max. As they started to eat, Cedric noticed Gwen blushing and keeping her head down, not wanting to make eye contact with Max. Max was staring at her without looking away.

"Sure enough, I have to find myself a girlfriend soon. It feels like I'm the third wheel here," Cedric said.

"Why? Are you feeling lonely?" Max asked.

"Well, whatever. I'll leave you lovebirds alone," Cedric said. Finishing his lunch, he thought it would be a good idea to give them some time alone.

"H-hey, wait," Gwen said, not knowing what to say. It felt awkward.

She lifted her head to see Max's reaction. Seeing his attention focused entirely on her, she blushed red, her heart beating fast.

She asked in confusion, "W-what?"

"No, nothing. It's just that you're so cute," he said.

Hearing this, Gwen didn't know what to say but to blush. The lunch break went by just like that.