Attention?

The atmosphere of school was much stranger than usual. I started to miss being ignored. While walking through the halls many people looked at me strange or had to take a double take to see if what they were seeing was real. It could have been the fact that Hannya was clinging to my arm.

"You know you can let go right?" I mumbled to her with an awkward tone in my voice. "It's a bit embarrassing."

"I don't want to." She inched closer to me.

We entered first perIod chemistry and I saw one of Hannya's friends noticeably confused. "Wha-What's with this?" The girl asked, pointing to me.

"Oh, Caleb is my boyfriend now." She smiled. I was a bit uncomfortable, I had barely thought about what we would do for the one week before Winter break. I didn't even agree to have this whole ordeal public.

One of the girls broke the silence, "Well I'm surprised you even know his name." A few of the girls giggled. Laughter was a natural reaction to something so strange and surprising. I was a nobody. She was the new pretty girl. She could get any guy so it was only natural for everyone to be in such disbelief.

"Class is gonna start soon." I whispered to Hannya. She finally let go of my arm and I scurried to my seat. She smiled to me across the desks, it was a stark contrast from the looks everyone else had been giving me. Many of the boys looked at me in what almost looked to be horror. There was a good chance a handful of the boys had a crush on her. The pretty new girl was single until she was grabbed by the nobody. I would be frustrated too.

Even Ms. Torske looked a bit jarred at me. The rest of the period went on as normal besides the constant glares at me and the smiling whenever I turned to look at Hannya. Every time I turned to her she would give me a smile. It made me wonder if she looked at me all period.

I tried rushing out of class to avoid further embarrassment from my peers but Hannya grabbed my hand. "I'll walk with you."

"Isn't your class on the other side of campus? You'll be late." Besides, I wanted to avoid any more glares.

"It's fine! I'll just rush after I walk with you."

I nodded and the two of us started walking to my class. I looked back to see Hannya's friends trading concerned glances with each other. I bet they were wondering if I black mailed her. We entered the hallway to English and she squeezed my arm to let me know she was going.

"I'll see you after school." I told her. She gave one last smile an a nod and rushed off to her second period. Like it was breaking news, it seemed that it had gotten word that I was dating Hannya. I doubt they would believe it without asking me.

"Hey uh Caleb, right?" Huh seems someone remembered my name. A boy slightly taller than me approached my desk while I had my head down.

"Yeah?"

"Is it true that you're dating Hannya, that new girl? Or is it one of those rental girlfriend apps?" A few chuckles could be heard from behind him, ouch.

"Yeah, we're... dating." No point in hiding it. Ugh why did Hannya have to do this? I would have preferred to keep this to ourselves.

"Look I'ma be real with you, I don't believe you." More giggles.

"Ok. I don't care if you don't believe me. I'm not lying."

"Why would she date you? She's hot and you're... kinda irrelevant?" He scratched his head.

I clenched my fist below my desk. I was gonna have a talk with Hannya after school. I put on a smile and shot back. "What, are you jealous?"

He clenched his teeth and I thought he was gonna beat the pulp out of me but he took a glance at Ms Dodd and sat back down after cracking one last joke. "Maybe I'll ask what her rates are."

I held my fist like that for the rest of class, I couldn't concentrate on my work because of how frustrated I was. Ms. Dodd made no hesitation to pester me when I got off track. I hate this school.

My third period was art. The only reason I took it was because it was an an easy-A that didn't give me much stress. The teacher told us about our next project. Some stupid painting. Also she assigned partners,ugh. Seems I'll have to communicate.

"Uh how about you do the sketch and I'll color. It's an easy project." My partner was some girl, I didn't know her.

"Hm." We worked silently until she asked me the dreaded question. "So, are you really uh going out with Hannya? It's kinda popular news."

"Mm, yeah. It's true." I kept staring at the painting, I guess one of the few times I was on task. Can't everyone just forget this all?

"Yeah sorry for asking, was just curious."

"It's fine. I don't really care." I shrugged.

"So how long have you been dating?" She asked.

"Really, since last weekend only." I lifted my eyes from the canvas.

"That's nice."

We worked together on the project for the rest of class, we made small talk here and there but that's about it. The rest of my periods were filled with more pesky questions, none were all too nice to me as the girl. At least she had the courtesy to not insult me.

I slammed my backpack to the side of my room. I felt like throwing something.

"Hey what the hell are you making a ruckus for!?" Jonah shouted up to my room, the volume on his video game was much too loud. I could barely hear him over it.

"I thought you were going to stay with your girlfriend?" I hollered back down, annoyed. Ugh I could really use the house to myself right now.

"Yeah I forgot some stuff. I'm leaving after I complete this round."

"Just hurry up I'm expecting som-" and just like that the door rang.

"I got it!" Jonah yelled. Shit. Did she even go to her house or come straight here? It's right after school, I thought.

He opened the door right when I rushed down the stairs. "Hello, is Caleb here?" She saw me and gave me a smile.

"Dude..." Jonah gave me a wide-eyed look, probably something along the lines of 'How the hell??'

"Hey can you go now...?" I mumbled to Jonah. He shrugged and grabbed his bag.

"Alright play nice kids." He snickered.

"I'm only a year younger than you."

"Hmm I wonder if I should tell mom." Jonah pondered. He soon left. Asshole.

"So that must have been your brother?" Hannya asked while sitting on the sofa.

I didn't answer her question, instead I got straight to the point. "Do you really have to tell everyone about us?"

"Well of course I did, Caleb. After all, you're my boyfriend. Why should I keep it a secret when I love you?"

"Uhuh, did you ever think about how that would make me feel?"

"What? Are people being mean to you?" She clenched her palms and looked down. Ugh, how do I explain my frustration without getting anyone hurt? Being with Hannya is like walking on broken egg shells.

"It's just... I don't know if I'm ready for people to know. I wish you just told me. I'm kinda mad at you." I tried wording it vaguely in the hope Hannya wouldn't be upset. That failed. I tried angling my head to see her face, it was covered by her hair because she was looking down. Was Hannya crying?

She lifted her head a bit slightly and mumbled, "I'm sorry I was just really excited I should have asked."

"Hey no need to cry, I was just a bit frustrated. Some kid was being mean an-"

"What's their name?" Hannya sat straight up and wiped her tears away.

Oh great, I let something slip. "It-it doesn't matter."

"It does to me, who is it?" She placed her hand over mine and started staring.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you about it. You'll end up getting into trouble."

"I need to protect you." Hannya traced circles with her finger on the back of my hand.

"It's unnecessary. If you hurt anyone I'll have no choice but to..." I trailed off. Mentioning a break up would definitely set her off.

"If they bother you again and you don't tell me I'll get mad. It's not right."

"Maybe it would be better if we didn't see each other during school?"

"No, that's not an option. I'll miss you. Please don't avoid me."

"Ok well I'll just have to deal with it then. Maybe it'll blow over."

Hannya smiled and laid her head to rest on my lap. Seems I diffused the situation. Good. The rest of the night will be peaceful, I thought.

"Oh I almost forgot," Hannah lifted her head up and pushed a strand of black hair from her face. "I heard you were getting friendly with a girl in your art class. I hope you aren't mad enough to do anything... I wouldnt like."

"Huh?" How the hell did she find out? We weren't even that friendly- she was just curious. "What do you mean? She just asked me if I was dating you."

Hannya grabbed onto my tie lightly, though it did make me flinch. "I don't want you to talk to her again, please Caleb."

"Do you feel threatened by her? That she'll steal me. That girl doesn't have any interest in me. Hell, I don't even know her name." I knew pressing her could get me in deeper trouble but I had to defend myself.

"Well how do I know you don't have any feelings for her? You never show any feelings to me! You could hate me and I wouldn't know. I've never once heard you say 'I love you'. You say I'm scared she might steal you but are you even mine if you won't say that?" She Nearly yelled in my face, I think I saw tears start to collect in her eyelids. "You want me to say... that?" Hannya nodded. "Isn't that a little," I swallowed hard, "early?"

"I say it to you all the time. I love you, I love you, I love you! See?"

"Well that's because you're..." I mumbled. Cmon just say it, it's three words. You don't even have to mean it. I exhaled and looked at the floor. "I love you."

Hannya's face turned red and she grinned. "Say it again so I know you're telling the truth," she squealed.

"I love you." I said, more blunt this time. It's just a few words, you don't have to mean it. Even still, I was probably blushing.

Hannya stood up from the couch and scurried to the kitchen. "I'm sorry for not trusting you, Caleb. I'll make something good to eat."

"You don't have to cook, you came from school just like me. Shouldn't you be a bit tired?"

"You're worrying about me..." Hannya giggled. "It's fine, just do your homework. You don't want to fall behind."

"Oh you're right. Almost forgot."

The rest of the night was peaceful, I finished whatever work I had, ate and escorted Hannya out. "I'll see you tomorrow if you still want to see me in school," She told me.

"Well-" I began to say. Hannya kissed me, which was a surprise. I didn't have any time to compose myself like the last time. I just stood there with the door open, letting the flies into my house.

Hannya giggled, "I hope that helped make up your mind." She turned around and left. I still held the door open. Huh. I'll have to sleep on that decision, I thought.