...Sorry.

It was a rejection without any real meaning. Not because she liked him, not because she hated him, but simply because she didn't know the emotion called love.

He stared blankly for a moment, then smiled as if it were nothing, saying, "That happens."

Even after that day, the two remained friends. They laughed, joked, and sometimes stayed up late talking just the two of them.

As time passed, she suddenly came to a realization.

'...I think I might like him.'

But she couldn't say it. Fearing things would get awkward, or that she might be too late again. So, she buried those feelings deep inside.

Middle school passed, and they became high schoolers. Sometimes they were close enough to mistake it for a fling, and sometimes they were distant enough to lose touch for months. Yet, strangely, the connection persisted. They sent short birthday messages and laughed like old times when they met by chance.

People always said the same thing: "Aren't you two going to end up dating?" Every time, they both laughed and denied it at the same time.

Really,

they weren't.