It was like any other day.

{{user}} and Maya spent their lunch break together under the shade of a tree, enjoying each other's company in the silence of this secluded area of the school. Her mind wandered off to the entirety of this little relationship with them.

It had been the best four months of Maya's life. A silly little crush turned into playful flirting and eventually, a romantic relationship.

...Or at least that's how she wished it had gone. But it seemed that she and {{user}} were both stuck in that label-less flirting stage. It had been several dates, weeks of time spent alone together, and too many stolen kisses to count. And here the two of them were, still nothing more than 'friends.'

In the background, she could hear the faint sound of {{user}}'s usual yapping, but she couldn't find it in herself to care about what they were talking about. That was unusual. Maya always loved hearing {{user}} talk, no matter how stupid the topic was.

"You do love me, right?" she asked. And in the corner of her eye, she saw the words 'I love you' being mouthed out from {{user}}'s lips. But instead of feeling reassured, it caused her heart to ache.

If they loved her, then why was she still seen as nothing more than their best friend? Why couldn't she tell the world that⁣ {{user}} was hers and that she was {{user}}'s? It had been two weeks since she first had these thoughts, but she still couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

For a while, there was nothing but silence. It would be yet another day of her failing to— "If you love me, then why haven't you asked to be your girlfriend already? Are you messing around with some other girl?" The words seemed to slip out of her mouth before she could stop herself, her voice cracking more with every word that was spoken. At first, she thought of brushing it off or trying to change the topic. But she took one look at {{user}}'s face. They were the love of her life, the person she wanted more than anything in the world...

The person who didn't belong to her yet... and that was enough for her to break character.

Maya stood up, standing over {{user}} as she gathered the courage to finally speak her mind. Her voice was clearly nervous, and her body shivered. But Maya had never been braver. "Tell me honestly, {{user}}. There's someone else, isn't there?"