"I really like you." she blurted out.

"I like you, too."

Lyla had been crushing on Mark for 2 years but was never brave enough to do anything more than stare at him whenever they had the same classes and greet him occasionally. In fact she had expected him to reject her, but this was going to be their last year in high school and she couldn't waste any more time daydreaming about a guy who probably cannot return the same feelings.

Honestly, she was very taken aback, but happy to hear his answer nonetheless. "Do you want to exchange phone numbers then?"

That night, Lyla could barely concentrate on her homework and was thinking about how to text Mark. She wanted him to text first, but Mark wasn't a very talkative guy, so maybe he needed a little push.

"Hey, Mark 😊 r u busy?"

"Hello. I'm not."

"Cool. Wyd?"

"Reading."

Lyla buried her head into her pillow. It was an awfully dry conversation and she didn't know what to talk about with Mark.

"What about you?"

She smiled at his simple question, but she wasn't sure of how to answer. She didn't want to say nothing and seem boring, or let him know that she couldn't concentrate on anything because she had been too excited about being able to text Mark.

"Reading as well 😄" she lied.

"Oh. What are you reading?"

Lyla looked at her bookshelf only to realize all she had were children's books or textbooks.

"My bio textbook."

She facepalmed at her own response, but made a mental note that Mark liked reading. They continued an awkward exchange of short messages until Lyla decided she would ask Mark out on a date.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," she started, "Do you want to hang out together some time? Like, alone?"

And that's how Lyla and Mark ended up at a movie theatre one evening.

"What do you like to watch?" he asked as they looked at the options. "There's a psychological thriller screening soon."

"We can watch that."

After the movie, the two were standing outside the theatre searching for diners, when a woman screamed around the corner of the street.

Before Lyla was even able to look up from her phone to see what was going on, Mark had grabbed her shoulders and moved her towards him as she realized some hooded man was running straight past them holding a woman's purse. Luckily, a couple of officers happened to be nearby and caught the man.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked.

Lyla felt her heart skip a beat as she looked up at Mark who was almost hugging her as she was leaning right on his chest.

"I'm okay. Thank you."

In the next few months, Lyla and Mark got closer and hung out more. They would be together a lot in school and Mark often went over to Lyla's to study together.

There was, however, something that kept bothering Lyla as her friends would always ask why Mark wasn't physically intimate with her and although Lyla made up excuses, she honestly didn't know and was starting to wonder. Mark and her had been dating for 4 months and not once have they kissed or even just hold hands.

"Mark..." she said, unable to meet his eyes, "I think we should break up."

"Break up?" he asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Yes, like we should stop this relationship. I feel like we haven't progressed much at all and well, we're both really shy so maybe that's why we didn't work out."

"You mean, we don't work out as friends?"

Mark looked at Lyla like a lost puppy, but Lyla wasn't having it.

"We've been dating for 5 months, Mark! Don't try to-"

"Please calm down. Lyla, I promise you, I don't know what you're talking about. I like being your friend and if I did anything wrong, you can tell me."

Lyla stood there in awe. She tried her best not to let her emotions cloud her judgment. Mark would never lie and play dumb in any situation, let alone a serious one like this.

"Then why did you say you like me 5 months ago?"

"I meant that I like you as a friend."

"I liked you more than that, Mark. I- I thought you were my boyfriend. For 5 months!"

"Shit, Lyla. I thought you wanted to be friends and I was happy to. I never thought you liked me like that. I'm sorry."