Hughie Biggs had always been the guy who could make anyone laugh. The easygoing flirt, the one who never took things too seriously—except when it came to you.

Not that you’d noticed.

He’d tried everything. Playful winks, offhanded compliments, an arm slung around your shoulder just a second too long. But every time, you just rolled your eyes, laughed, and called him ridiculous. And yeah, maybe he was, but not about this.

Not about you.

“So, when are we finally gonna go on that date, then?” he teased, leaning against the locker next to yours, watching as you barely even looked up from your book.

“Hughie, be serious.”

I am, he wanted to say. Instead, he smirked, masking the sting of your obliviousness with an easy grin. "Just sayin" he playfully shrugged.

You saw him as your friend—the one who cracked jokes, who never meant what he said. But he did. And he hoped that someday, maybe you’d finally see it, too