Kristina left the restaurant without finishing the parfait. It was probably fully melted at this point.
She sighed to herself as she walked home, only to receive another message from the same number.
"Jena..."
She quietly said her friend's name.
Opening her lock screen, she read the message.
[Meet me at the Park in front of your house! I wanna hear all about it!]
Kristina gripped her phone harder. She was tired and wasn't in the mood, but she had no choice. She doesn't want to get into Jena's bad side or else not just her, but everyone of her friends would be mad at her.
[Okay~!]
She sighed before pressing send.
________________________________________
"So, how was it?"
Kristina's friend, Jena asked her with a smug grin on her face.
They were both at a park. The usual one where most of the kids from Kristina's neighborhood played at. There were monkey bars, a see saw, a sanbox, and a small colorful castle that doubled as a slide.
Jena was sitting on a swing set as she talked, illuminated by the flickering streetlight.
"It was okay, I guess…" she said, her voice soft. Her eyes, though, were somewhere else — distant, clouded.
Jena giggled. "Pfft! I still can't believe that loser actually showed up! Haha! You're such a trooper, Kris — seriously. I owe you for forcing yourself."
She stood from the swing with a clink of the chains, brushing invisible dust off her skirt.
Kristina didn't say anything.
"So? C'mon. Give me all the juicy details!" Jena leaned in with a sparkle of mischief in her eyes. "What'd you two doooo?"
"Well he..."
Kristina talked about the date. How he was fidgeting all over the place, the arcade and the movie.
However, she warped the details of what happened after the movie. About what they did in the restaurant.
Jena laughed, clutching her stomach. "Oh my God, he's such a creep!"
Kristina laughed too, hollow and thin.
"Yeah… haha…"
"I mean, seriously! He planned all that just for a first date? He didn't even know who he was going out with! How desperate can a guy get?!"
Jena doubled over in laughter, her voice echoing through the park.
Kristina smiled.
But her fingers were curled tightly at her sides
Jena wiped a tear from her eye, still grinning.
"I swear, he might as well have brought a ring or something! Ugh, imagine if he actually thought this meant anything?"
Kristina tried to laugh.
It came out brittle.
"I mean, you were nice to him, right? Bet he's already naming your imaginary future kids or something. Gosh, these loner types get so attached."
Kristina's fingers twitched around her skirt.
She closed her eyes, thinking about Aran's face. What he said earlier.
(I really was excited to get it...)
Her throat tightened.
Jena kept going, twirling on one foot. "Honestly, part of me thought he'd chicken out. But nooope! He showed up, dressed all neat like it was something special. I give him props for effort at least."
"...Can we not?" Kristina said quietly.
Jena blinked. "Huh?"
Kristina hesitated.
"It's just… he wasn't that bad," she mumbled. "Like. I dunno. You don't have to keep calling him stuff."
Jena raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Don't tell me you actually felt sorry for him?"
Kristina gave a small, uncertain shrug. "Maybe a little."
"Oh my God, Kris."
Jena groaned like she'd just tasted something rotten. "You are so soft. That's why we love you, but seriously — don't start pity-dating freaks. That's not a good look."
Kristina flinched — but didn't respond.
Jena didn't notice. She had already moved to the monkey bars, climbing halfway up like she was still twelve.
"So? You done being all moody now? What're we doing tomorrow — round two? Or are we ditching him and going somewhere fun for real?"
Kristina stayed seated on the swing, her legs still, the chain creaking softly with the night breeze.
She didn't answer right away.
Inside her chest, her feelings churned. Guilt, confusion, a strange ache that hadn't gone away since the restaurant.
She opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then forced a smile.
"I'll let you know."
________________________________________
That night, Kristina lay in bed with the lights off, the soft hum of her fan the only sound in the room.
Her phone screen dimmed beside her pillow, unread messages from the group chat piling up.
More jokes.
More comments.
Another meme someone made of Aran's haircut.
A sticker of a cartoon girl barfing.
Her name tagged with laughing images.
She turned the phone over, face-down.
Staring up at the ceiling, her chest felt tight.
She had said all the right things. Laughed at the right times. Played the part. So why did it feel like something was wrong?
It wasn't supposed to matter. It was just a dumb punishment game.
A joke.
It didn't mean anything.
And yet… she couldn't stop thinking about that look on his face. The way he'd smiled, awkward and sincere. The way he listened — really listened — like what she said actually mattered.
How warm his voice had been when he said:
(Please treat yourself more kindly)
Her chest felt heavy.
That wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to feel anything.
She turned onto her side, clutching the edge of her blanket.
He should've been mad. Or annoyed. Or at least a little smug for figuring it out. But he wasn't. He was just… kind.
Stupidly, unfairly kind.
And when she'd yelled at him, when she broke down in front of him — he didn't laugh. He didn't mock her. He just sat there and tried to understand.
He didn't call her pathetic.
Didn't call her fake.
Didn't even flinch.
And somewhere in that mess of thoughts — the guilt, the pressure, the lies — something small surfaced.
A quiet truth.
She did have fun.
She'd laughed, even if she tried to hold it in. She got caught up in the movie. She liked the games. She liked talking to him.
It all felt genuine...
Kristina sat on the edge of her bed, still wearing the same clothes from earlier, the faint stickiness of melted parfait lingering on her fingers like a quiet reminder. The room around her was still, but her heart wasn't.
It beat with uncertainty… and something else. A kind of resolve.
She picked up her phone. Notifications buzzed from the group chat again.
[KRISSSS!!! WHERE R U AT]
[So you just left? Girl, you good?]
[Was he that lame?? ]
Her fingers hovered for a moment.
She could say nothing. Just let it fade. Go back to pretending.
But no — she was tired of it all.
She tapped into the chat. Read the words again. Felt the subtle jabs in their tone. And for once, she didn't just swallow it.
Her thumbs moved.
[Just stop it.]
The chat stopped. Typing indicators blinked on, then off.
[???]
[Uhhh what??]
Kristina's hands trembled slightly as she kept typing.
[I didn't hate today.]
[I actually… had fun.]
[And I don't think it's funny anymore.]
Silence in the group.
She stared at the screen, heart pounding, but she wasn't done.
[He doesn't deserve to be laughed at. None of this was fair to him. Or to me.]
A beat.
[You all say it's a joke, but it didn't feel like one when I was the one stuck in it.]
Now the typing stopped completely.
She exhaled slowly.
Then, after a moment of quiet bravery, she added:
[I'm leaving this group.]
[Please don't message me again.]
And with that, she tapped the following buttons with no hesitation.
Leave Group Chat?
Confirm.
The screen dimmed. The silence deepened.
And after that… Kristina felt lighter.
She placed the phone down beside her, lay back on her bed, and let out a long, shaky breath.
Whatever happened next, at least this part — this decision — was hers.
Looking at her purse that was placed on top of her night stand, she opened it and took something out.
It was the pictures she took with Aran inside the photobooth. They weren't flattering at all and the angles looked weird, making her sigh.
"This isn't my best look... But..."
She smiled.
"I like it..."
________________________________________
[ARAN]
I stepped out of the restaurant, hands buried deep in my pockets.
Welp. Guess the date was a bust.
It felt like things were going okay for a while. We laughed, shared a moment or two… But a prank date's still a prank date. Doesn't matter how hard you try — it's like answering a trick question seriously. You already lost the moment you played along.
"That's life," I muttered to no one in particular.
I exhaled, my breath coming out just a little heavier than I wanted to admit. Did I say too much back there? I really hope I didn't make Kristina uncomfortable… I just couldn't stay quiet after seeing how much it was eating her up.
I kicked the toe of my shoe against the sidewalk, sending up a little puff of dust that scattered on the breeze.
Well… plenty of fish in the sea, right?
I let out a dry chuckle.
Then, I cleared my throat and closed my eyes.
"Alright, Elio. You can come out now."
Immediately, the bush a few meters away rustled violently, like something inside it had just gotten caught with its pants down. I didn't even need to look.
A few seconds later, Elio awkwardly emerged from behind the bush, brushing off leaves from his clothes like he hadn't just spent the last hour stalking me.
"Man," he groaned, "how'd you know I was in there?"
I gave him a side glance. "You've been tailing us since the theater."
"Hey, I was subtle!"
"I heard thunder rumbling nearby this morning. And your binoculars were reflecting sunlight like a disco ball. I don't know how Kristina didn't notice you..."
"…Okay. Mostly subtle."
"Ugh..."
I grumbled, upset.
"So what happened?" He asked me.
Needing someone to talk about my day with is comforting. I decided to tell him about how the date was just a punishment game between Kristina and her friends and how I probably said too much.
Elio walked up beside me, unusually quiet. For a moment, the only sound was the wind and the faint hum of a street lamp flickering behind us.
Then he sighed — long, dramatic, full of secondhand embarrassment.
"Man… that sucks."
I chuckled under my breath. "Yeah. Thanks for the in-depth analysis, genius."
"I mean it," he said, nudging me lightly with his elbow. "That looked rough. Like... getting-kicked down-a-moving-escaltor kind of rough. You okay?"
"To be honest... I don't know..."
I answered honestly. This is the first time I've ever been tricked by a girl. Sure, I've been made fun of by girls before, but this one actually felt a bit worse...
Elio took a deep breath.
"Well uh... Y'know what they say about the sea and the fish...?"
"Pfft— I already thought about that, idiot!"
I playfully punched his shoulder.
"Ow!"
________________________________________