Day 22: Confessions

It was just a regular spring day, nothing much was special about it. The sun shone bright, there were chirping birds and the skies were blue. Arturia would have thought nothing much of it, it was an average day in the life of a high school student.

The only thing peculiar about this day was, of course, the small letter that fell from her locker door as she opened it in the morning. The envelope had dropped to the floor but its sound went unheard due to the loud chattering of the students who'd just arrived. It was only when she bent down to pick up her outdoor shoes that she actually caught sight of the mint green envelope.

Arturia, the envelope read, giving her no doubt it was directed to her.

She picked it up, analyzed it and then started to open the soft papered envelope; tugging at the sealed flap gently.

Arturia was just about to slip out the letter when an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Cap!"

She swayed as the boy clung to her. Arturia groaned and rolled her eyes, lowering the letter slightly. "Lance, I told you I don't like it when you surprise me like that," she growled.

Lancelot sighed and pulled away from her. "What's that?" He asked, catching a glimpse of the letter in her hand. A sly smile tugged on his lips and he leaned towards the envelope.

"Nothing," she deadpanned as she opened her bag, ready to slip the note inside.

Before she knew it, Lancelot took the note from her hand. "You're not the type to carry empty papers about, so what is it?"

"Lancelot," she hissed, "give it back." Her voice was stern and grave. "It isn't yours."

Intrigued by her reaction, Lancelot lifted the paper above him as she tried to reach for it. "Only if you can get it." He challenged.

Arturia jumped for it, reaching her hand as far as she could but it was no match for Lancelot's height.

"Give it back or I'll kick you out of tomorrow's practice," she threatened. Her lips pursed into a straight line as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Lancelot lowered his hand, knowing much too well she wasn't bluffing. "Aw, I was just messing with you."

"Well, I don't appreciate it, okay?"

"What's this?" Another boy came, snatching the letter from Lancelot's hand.

"Gilgamesh." Both Arturia and Lancelot hissed.

Gilgamesh grinned. "Prez, you can't be hiding things from me. I should know everything there is to know about you."

"Shut up and give it back!"

"What mutt thought it was a good idea to give you a love letter, huh?" He opened the letter, already knowing the contents once he held it. "Don't they know you already belong to me?"

Arturia glared at him and was able to snatch the letter from him, not without tearing a piece. "Stop dreaming, I still don't like you and I won't if you keep acting like a jerk. I don't think the letter was addressed to you, was it? No, so you shouldn't be reading it."

Gilgamesh frowned, his brows knitted in anger. He rolled his tongue against his cheek. He looked down at the piece that had torn off. There was a time. 4:00 p.m. but the location was cut off. He hadn't caught who'd written it. "Looks like you won't be able to meet him." He waved the slip of paper in front of her. "You can't just skip class all day."

Arturia looked at the paper. Logically, her mysterious admirer wouldn't ask to meet her during class, so there were only two time slots he'd be able to meet her; lunchtime and after school.

"You're a coward," Arturia spat.

"Me?" Gilgamesh drew a hand to his chest as he gasped. "Really? I'm the coward? Not the mutt that sent you a letter? C'mon! He can't even show his face to you, and I'm the coward?"

Arturia ignored him. She pushed past him, hitting his shoulder with hers and heading off to class. She hadn't read the whole letter yet, and so, once she'd arrived at her classroom. She sat down at her desk and dug into her bag one more for the letter.

Before she could open it, Gilgamesh walked by her, shooting her a death glare and taking his rightful seat at the back of the classroom.

Now that the paper was crumpled, it made a noise while opening it. But there it was, the letter. Written in nice, clean black ink. The handwriting wasn't the best, it wasn't really neat, but it made her heart skip a beat.

Dear Arturia,

How are you? I mean, I hope you're fine. I've wanted to say this for a while now, for a really long while. I want to tell you in person. Meet me in the rooftop —

Yours truly,

D.

Her cheeks flushed and she shut her eyes. It probably wasn't even a confession! She'd never really gotten a lettered confession before, and it didn't even say anything about feelings. If anything it could be about how much she sucked, or it could even be a duel proposition.

She looked at the D, furrowing her brows. She mouthed the letter and the image of her crush popped up. She was probably beet red now, oh god, if only it were her crush.

She hadn't noticed when she'd started liking the class vice-president. It'd been somewhere along the way of doing class duties together or something. Maybe after he'd laughed after one of her jokes, or after he'd given her a boost to get to the top shelf in the library. Or that time they hid in the utility closet after they'd nearly gotten caught sneaking into the cafeteria. She really couldn't pinpoint when her heart would start to burst when he'd inch closer. She just remembered realizing a little too late.

Of course, she'd never show her interest. They'd have friendly banter and he'd compliment her, but she only gave curt nods and distant responses. She'd shot her feelings down too much, no one would ever think she liked him.

But how odd were the chances that he was the one sending her the letter? Realistically, there was no way he liked her back. There were more girls better fit for his kind bubbly personality than her boring, basic self.

She scanned her class, skimming over all the students. Then a thought struck her, what if this was all just a prank?

—•—•—

The day couldn't have gone any slower. Diarmuid sat at his desk, stealing glances at Arturia every now and then. It didn't seem like she suspected him, she never even looked at him the entire day.

He'd seen her going to the rooftop during lunch and it seemed like she spent it all there because she even got back to class a bit late; he had to do some acting-president duties in her stead.

The final bell had rung and he watched as Arturia gathered her things. He didn't know why she rushed out of the classroom, asking Lancelot to take her clean-up turn on the way out, promising him some snacks. She still had an hour before he'd meet her there.

Lancelot grumbled under his breath but didn't leave.

Diarmuid gathered his things and prepared to meet up with Jeanne, who promised to help him practice. Luckily, she was right outside the classroom waiting for him, her long hair done in its usual braid.

"You ready to practice?" She asked, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"I guess."

"So." She began walking down the hall. "Have you thought about how you're gonna say it?"

Diarmuid's heart had already begun to speed up, chills were running down his spine and he felt like his stomach was dropping from a 500-meter height. He was awfully anxious.

He sighed. "I don't know!" He hung his head. "I almost feel like not going."

"What? Why?" Jeanne gasped. "You already gave her the letter, you can't back out now!"

"What if she doesn't like me back?" Diarmuid finally felt the reality of what he was about to do. "What if she thinks I'm creepy?"

"You? Creepy? Really?" Jeanne lifted a brow as she scoffed. "As if! You're the Diarmuid! You're the prince of the school, why on earth would she find you creepy? If anything, choosing from school royalty, Gilgamesh is the creepy one!"

Diarmuid chuckled but quickly let his laugh subside. "What do you suggest I say?"

"The truth," Jeanne deadpanned. "Tell her when you started liking her and why. Girls love that kind of stuff."

"But there's no way I could say that without becoming a fumbling mess. You know me," he whined, "I'm just a loser."

Jeanne rolled her eyes. "Please, you're far from a loser."

"You're right, I'm an idiot."

Jeanne laughed. "Okay, enough self-deprecation. Let's run this over at least once before you have to head up."

Diarmuid whined again, but he gave in reluctantly.

—•—•—

Arturia sat silently on one of the rooftop's benches. She stared at the door, anticipating the mysterious author of the letter. She'd seen a couple of people come and go but none of them made their way to her.

She pulled out her phone from her bag and checked the time. It was a quarter to four and she didn't know how long to wait, she needed to be home in about an hour and if she missed her bus, she wouldn't be able to make it for dinner.

The creak of the door caught her attention, and she snapped her eyes towards it. The heavy metal door swung open and out stepped Diarmuid.

Arturia's heart caught in her throat and she felt short of breath. It couldn't possibly be him. She told herself he'd come for another reason.

He looked around and waved at her after spotting her. He stepped towards her and her grip tightened on her cellphone. She felt like she wanted to vanish.

"Arturia?" He tilted his head. He looked down at his watch and then back up at her. "What are you doing here?"

Arturia smiled. "I could ask you the same thing."

He gave a cheeky chuckle.

"I was called up." She gave him a glimpse of the letter. "Someone wants to tell me something." Then she put the letter back into her backpack. "What about you? Did someone call you up here too? Are you meeting a girl?"

A blush bloomed on his face and he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. "Something like that."

"Ooh," she cooed, "did you get a letter too?"

Diarmuid shook his head.

"Wanna sit?" She scooched over to give him some space. "I still don't know when the person meeting me is coming. For all I know they could've asked me to come tomorrow."

Diarmuid's eyes grew as he sat down next to her. "He didn't write a time?"

"I'm sure he did, but Gilgamesh," she all but hissed the name, "tried to take the letter from me and he ripped it in the process."

"Oh…"

Arturia pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. "What about you? Do you know who you're meeting?"

He nodded.

"What time is she supposed to be here at?" Arturia tried not to think about it too much. Of course, he had admirers, he was handsome and kind. He could also be quite flirty and charming. What was there not to like about him?

"Four," Diarmuid replied and looked at his watch again.

"What are you gonna say to her?" She fidgeted with the case of her phone.

He shrugged. "Well… that I like her."

"You like her?" Arturia blinked. Of course, she'd had no chance.

"Yeah...that I've liked her ever since she asked to borrow my pencil in freshman year."

"That long?" Arturia forced a smile. "You've liked her for years now. Wait, are you the one confessing your feelings?"

"Yes." His smile flickered as the blush overtook his entire face. "And I'll also tell her that I've been meaning to tell her ever since we were in the utility closet and all she could do was hold back her giggles so we wouldn't get caught sneaking into the cafeteria."

Arturia remembered the scene. Diarmuid had bumped into a mop and bucket, causing a ruckus, and they immediately rushed into a closet upon hearing a cafeteria staff coming to see what was happening. She had wanted to laugh at the situation but she covered her mouth trying to go unheard.

"Dia," she laughed, "do you sneak into the cafeteria with every girl? Are they feeding you at home?"

Diarmuid smiled. "I've only snuck in once." He straightened his pose. "With you."

Arturia's face lit up with colour and covered her cheeks. "Woah, you better be careful there, Dia. I might just think you're saying you like me."

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Arturia fell into a coughing fit and she had to strike her chest a couple of times to calm herself. "Wait, wait, wait. Actually?"

Diarmuid nodded. "Yes. I like you."

"So, you're the one who gave me the letter?"

"Yes" He breathed and then he gave a rushed statement. "You don't have to give me an answer. I just really needed to get it off my chest."

Arturia had to hold back her smile and she immediately withdrew her gaze from him and fixed it on a pebble on the floor. "Well," she mumbled, "I like you very much."

"Really?"

Her heart was ready to burst as she nodded and looked at him. His hand was gripping the seat of the bench tightly, his cheeks red.

Arturia reached out towards him, landing her hand on his. "So, do you want to be my boyfriend? Is that how these things work?"

Diarmuid was a blushing mess by now, and all he could do was nod and cover his face with his arm.