30 Days

X.

"Do you think we should tell them?" Ashe asked Blanche. The two of them were sitting side by side on a bench in the park, her head on his shoulder and the school cat that he had adopted in her arms.

"Tell them that we were on to them all along?" Blanche muttered.

Ashe's hand moved up to stroke the cat's fur. "Not all along. Just the last two weeks."

"I still can't believe Finn and Jill planned this."

His lips twitched. "And I still can't believe Finn noticed how I felt about you."

Blanche lifted her head up and looked at him.

Then she smiled and his heart just melted at the sight.

He first noticed her back in middle school. She was always drawing outside the pavilion whenever he passed to get to the tennis courts. It may sound shallow but he first noticed her face and liked the way she looked, liked the way her pretty face lit up with a smile as she drew on her sketchbook. Still, girls were a pain to deal with so he tried not to dwell on thoughts of her anymore.

Ashe didn't tell anyone but his knee had begun hurting terribly after practice. He'd seen a doctor and told him that he had tendinitis and had to take a break from the sport. So when high school came, he quit tennis and opted to enrol in the art program. He was not bad at drawing, quite liked it in fact, and he never even regretted his decision because he'd always thought playing tennis was a literal pain. Also, he'd rather draw than sweat under the sun.

But, he would later admit it to himself that he chose to do art rather than being in the academic track because of Blanche.

Ashe had been content to see her in class or just know she was in the same room as he was. He'd never made the effort to know her knowing she'd never like him back anyway. He knew his faults and number one was his laziness. But it seemed Finn noticed his interest and got frustrated with his unwillingness to actually pursue her, hence the bet. And unwittingly, Ashe agreed to the bet because of a momentary weakness, Finn wouldn't stop bugging him, and unwittingly, he lost.

"You still haven't told me you loved me," Blanche reminded him.

He smirked. "I'll tell you when you tell me first."

**********

So this was how it was going to be.

Her first love finally realized and yet her boyfriend wouldn't tell her those special three words.

Blanche swatted him on the chest. "Did you just turn our relationship into a game?"

"I don't like losing," Ashe quipped.

"Neither do I," she admitted.

Ashe laughed and her heart squeezed at the sight.

She never expected that she'd ever find herself next to him. She'd liked looking at him from afar, liked to see his paintings attached to the walls of their school's art gallery. Admiration was the first name she'd given to this feeling before the bet but who knew that this admiration would turn to love before she'd even realized it.

No one, well, except for Jill.

Even though she disliked Jill's underhandedness, she was glad her best friend had done it. But Blanche wouldn't admit it to Jill anytime soon. It didn't change the fact that she was a meddler. She may have had good intentions, Finn too, but they still meddled. And Ashe was in complete agreement with her about torturing their respective best friends for a little while more.

"Tell me," Ashe began. "What bet did you lose with Jill?"

Blanche started to laugh. "Exploding Kittens. We were playing Exploding Kittens when we made the bet. How about you?"

Ashe smirked. "Long jump during PE class."

Blanche laughed harder. "Then there's no doubt you'd have lost."

"Wait! Will you please just wait?"

The familiar voice made Blanche look over her shoulder. Emmy was running after a blonde boy in a hooded jacket who was walking away from her.

"Will you please stop and talk to me?" Emmy begged as she tried to catch up to him. "Please!"

But he kept ignoring her no matter how much she shouted for him. Blanche frowned as she stared at them.

Wasn't that Emmy's brother?

"So when are you going to tell me you love me?" Ashe asked her and Blanche focused on him again.

She laughed at the lazy smile on his face.

Then she said, "I'll tell you when you tell me too.

End.