"Ienakatta
1000 no kotoba wo
Haruka na
Kimi no senaka ni okuru yo
Tsubasa ni kaete" – 1000 words by Koda Kumi

Translation:

"Though a thousand words
Have never been spoken
They'll fly to you
Crossing over the time
And distance holding you, suspended on silver wings" – 1000 words by Jade

"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous." - Ingrid Bergman

She had no idea why she'd done it. She just had. She hadn't been thinking she hadn't been panicking. She'd just done it.

It wasn't her usual show of affection- even though, now, it was certainly preferred. It was just something that happened.

And he didn't look happy about it.

Well, that's not to say he looked particularly… displeased so-to-speak.

He just sat there, back pressed up against the wall, butt against the floor as he blinked and stared directly ahead. She had taken him sliding down the wall as a bad sign but briefly pushed it aside to realize exactly what it is she'd done.

That, and to reap the benefits of it, which currently only seemed to be the metaphorical butterflies doing backflips in the deepest, darkest crevices of her stomach.

Dana and Myron had become a tiny crowd, watching the interaction between the two as what had happened took its toll on their friends.

Maurecia slowly turned her head to meet eye-to-eye with Dana, who looked back at her and winced uncomfortably, shrugging her shoulders as if to say she had no idea what to do- and she probably didn't. It was then that the impact of her actions hit her.

She'd actually kissed Todd.

The young boy sat there, staring off into space, blinking and saying nothing.

The small group was getting a few stares here and there from the other inhabitants of the cafeteria.

It wasn't a whole lot of attention. Weird things happened at Wayside every day. This was just another nickel in the water fountain.

When Todd finally gained his bearings, he stood and wiped himself clear of the dirt that was possibly on the ground, then turned his head is her direction. "Maurecia…"

Something clicked at the sound of her name, snapping her brain back into gear and she bolted- straight for the door.

No thinking. No speaking- just running.

There was really no reason for her to run. Had she stayed he probably would have repeated the same thing she'd heard millions of times about just being friends. But she shook the thought from her head and concentrated on carrying one leg passed the other. So what if it was the same thing? So what if she'd heard every word- every syllable- before? She didn't want to hear it anymore. Knowing it was coming never made it any better.

Todd glanced to his left from his desk, eyes scanning the room. The day was normal- for everybody else. The classroom was as crazy as ever.

There was just something missing, like how loud they were.

His eyes landed on the girl with the roller-blades who sat there scribbling away on a piece of paper. She wasn't using markers or anything like that, nor were there any hearts he could see in the patterns she drew. There were just words… notes. Notes weren't something Maurecia ever took.

He frowned and leaned back in his seat, facing the front of the room to watch his teacher. Ms. Jewels stood at the front of the classroom, lecturing about pineapples or gum- something that most teachers would get fired for wasting an entire class period on. But not at Wayside. Their principal could come flying in through the window and everybody would consider it normal. In fact, it'd happened a few times before in the past.

One time he'd even hit Todd on his way in and sent them both crashing against the opposing wall. He vaguely remembered seeing a few stars circling his head like a mobile. Maurecia had jumped out of her seat, heaved the dazed principal off of him, and pulled him into her arms. She had been calling his name multiple times before she drew her fist back and brought it down upon his arm. He'd snapped out of it real quick.

The boy smiled at the memory, looking back over at her again. She was sitting the same way, concentrated eyes plastered to the paper in front of her. Not once did she look over at him or try to steal a glance when she thought he wasn't looking. Slowly, he frowned again, slumping even further into his seat and fighting back a heavy sigh that wanted desperately to escape from his lips. He'd always known that she liked him. It was obvious in the way she spoke, the things she drew and the punches she threw. It wasn't like she had ever made an effort to hide it! Sure, the kiss was different for the two of them, (and it wasn't nearly as painful as her other routes of affection. He'd even dared to think it enjoyable) but it still didn't change that he already knew she liked him and that she already denied the truth that he wasn't interested. There was no reason for her to have run the other direction or for her to have been avoiding him. He wracked his brain but there was no solution that made sense. If he was a bad kisser, she wouldn't have cared. In fact, she would have teased him about it. If she had realized she didn't like him as much as she thought she did (at the thought of this his frown deepened and his eyes narrowed), then she wouldn't have run. She would have told him right up front that it wasn't what she was looking for.

What was she looking for?

His breath hitched and the frown turned into a nervous smile as she finally risked a look his way. Her eyes met his and it seemed she had the same reaction he did to their first contact of the week- only she had no nervous smile. Instead, she gave him some frown hidden behind an upwards curve of her lips. He watched that smile- memorized it- and stored it in his head.

That was a sad smile.

Maurecia was sad.

Todd grimaced and sipped on his mug of hot chocolate. The steam passed over his face but did nothing to calm him like it usually did. Kids passed the window, throwing snowballs at each-other.

It had been months since Maurecia had spoken to him.

Every chance she got to come over and talk to him she shot down, deciding to, instead, spend it playing with Fluffy and Jenny. What did he do?

There were a thousands- MILLIONS of different things he wanted to say to her- to ask her.

Why did you run?

Why are you avoiding me?

Please stop this, Maurecia.

Why did you stop punching me?

I miss you.

There were plenty of times where the two had established eye contact, all of which ended without so much as a sound to each-other, leaving her with that sad smile on her face and him with a painfully rapid heartbeat that warmed his cheeks even in the cool of December.

There had been no reason to kiss him that day.

She'd just grabbed him by the collar, pushed him against the closest wall, and smooched.

It hadn't even been a bad kiss. She'd tasted of all of those different flavors of ice-cream she loved, and though she was (he assumed) a beginning kisser, her "technique" hadn't been predominantly lacking.

But still she ran from him like the plague, using every resource in her power to ensure minimum interaction between the two of them. He didn't understand it, and with every look the two passed at each-other, he'd tried to communicate that without words because- heaven knows- she wouldn't listen.

It was then that he heard the knocking on his door.

It could have been anybody with the principal running around calling him by his address all the time. He exhaled and set his mug down, stalking over to the door and opening it.

"H-Hello, um… is Todd… home? I'd… like to speak with him… please."

He could have sworn his heart had been attempting escape from his chest. She stood there, eyes casted at the floor, not daring to move upwards even if it meant freezing in place. She was dressed in a warm jacket and mittens to match.

"Speaking." He didn't know how he got it out. He just knew he did.

Surprised, her eyes ran up to meet his, and again she smiled sadly.

But this time she took a deep breath, standing up straight as her hands fisted by her sides.

"Look, Todd, I'm ready to hear it."

"You're ready to hear what?"

"Your sentence."

"What sentence?"

"The 'let's be friends' sentence!" She explained, arms spread wide for exclamation. "I've been trying so hard to avoid hearing it but… but I have to. It's not fair to you or to me if I keep reading between lines that aren't there." She pouted and for a few seconds she looked like one of the kindergarteners he had to ride home with every day. Maurecia crossed her arms over her chest and eyed him angrily. "So come on. Let me hear you say it, Todd."

He said nothing.

He just looked her in the eyes, blinked, and started smiling, shaking his head.

Maurecia knew then and there she wasn't getting what she came for.

Instead, Todd reached out and wrapped both arms around her, pulling her close before she had a word of choice in the matter.

Then he kissed her.

He didn't care about the warm air slowly creeping from his open house doors and flying away in the icy wind.

He did not think.

He just did.

That was worth every word the two had wanted to say for the excruciatingly long months they'd spent apart.