Ten Years Later, Still Falling - Chapter 9: Chapter 9
You are reading Ten Years Later, Still Falling, Chapter 9: Chapter 9. Read more chapters of Ten Years Later, Still Falling.
My body went rigid, my eyes instinctively darting to Edward—only to find him looking even more flustered than I was. "It's not what you think..."
"Edward, why are you getting so defensive?" Rachel's daughter, Emma Rich, didn't skip a beat, launching into an animated speech like she'd been waiting years to say this.
"Yuna, let me spell it out for you—Edward's had a crush on you since freshman year! Like, full-on pining. And you? Completely oblivious. The boy was dropping hints left and right, but they all sailed right over your head. Drove me crazy watching it. All these years, he never moved on. My mom even tried setting him up, but he turned down every girl because he was waiting for you."
"Okay, enough!"
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks.
I pointed at myself, mouth hanging open. "Wait... Edward liked me?"
"But..." My voice came out shaky. "He always said we were just friends?"
Emma rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. "Oh please, Yuna! What 'just friends' guy goes to those lengths? Seriously, what dude researches every member of your favorite boyband unless he's crazy about you?"
The realization slammed into me.
She was right.
Back in high school, when I was obsessed with that K-pop group, I'd desperately wanted a limited-edition poster of my bias. Couldn't get it anywhere. Edward skipped part of class, fought through a mob of screaming fangirls, and got it for me.
Not only that—he memorized each member's birthday, position, even their stupid inside jokes. Sat through all those cringey dramas I loved, nodding along like he cared about which lead character got amnesia this time.
I'd thought we just had weirdly similar tastes. Never occurred to me he was doing it all for me.
While Emma kept ranting, Edward had turned beet red, looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
"Yuna, I swear," Emma continued, hands flying dramatically, "my whole friend group was shipping you two so hard! You were like our real-life slow-burn romance—all that tension! Then when I heard you started dating someone else? Devastated. Like my favorite book got canceled mid-series."
The memory came rushing back.
Back when MSN Messenger was everything, Edward and I would chat for hours.
It happened right after finals. I'd just calculated my (probably decent) score and was buzzing with adrenaline when I just... blurted it out.
And then... radio silence.
At first I figured maybe his internet died. I waited, refreshing the screen every thirty seconds from 7 PM until midnight.
Nothing.
I went from nervously pacing my room to ugly-crying into my pillow.
Next day? Still nothing.
So I did what any humiliated teenager would do—sent a follow-up claiming it was just Truth or Dare. Ha-ha, funny joke, don't mind me.
Crickets.
By day three, my pride couldn't take it. In a rage, I fired off one last message—something about how I'd never like someone like him, how arrogant he must be to ignore me—then blocked him so fast my mouse practically smoked.
"Edward, why are you getting so defensive?" Rachel's daughter, Emma Rich, didn't skip a beat, launching into an animated speech like she'd been waiting years to say this.
"Yuna, let me spell it out for you—Edward's had a crush on you since freshman year! Like, full-on pining. And you? Completely oblivious. The boy was dropping hints left and right, but they all sailed right over your head. Drove me crazy watching it. All these years, he never moved on. My mom even tried setting him up, but he turned down every girl because he was waiting for you."
"Okay, enough!"
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks.
I pointed at myself, mouth hanging open. "Wait... Edward liked me?"
"But..." My voice came out shaky. "He always said we were just friends?"
Emma rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. "Oh please, Yuna! What 'just friends' guy goes to those lengths? Seriously, what dude researches every member of your favorite boyband unless he's crazy about you?"
The realization slammed into me.
She was right.
Back in high school, when I was obsessed with that K-pop group, I'd desperately wanted a limited-edition poster of my bias. Couldn't get it anywhere. Edward skipped part of class, fought through a mob of screaming fangirls, and got it for me.
Not only that—he memorized each member's birthday, position, even their stupid inside jokes. Sat through all those cringey dramas I loved, nodding along like he cared about which lead character got amnesia this time.
I'd thought we just had weirdly similar tastes. Never occurred to me he was doing it all for me.
While Emma kept ranting, Edward had turned beet red, looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
"Yuna, I swear," Emma continued, hands flying dramatically, "my whole friend group was shipping you two so hard! You were like our real-life slow-burn romance—all that tension! Then when I heard you started dating someone else? Devastated. Like my favorite book got canceled mid-series."
The memory came rushing back.
Back when MSN Messenger was everything, Edward and I would chat for hours.
It happened right after finals. I'd just calculated my (probably decent) score and was buzzing with adrenaline when I just... blurted it out.
And then... radio silence.
At first I figured maybe his internet died. I waited, refreshing the screen every thirty seconds from 7 PM until midnight.
Nothing.
I went from nervously pacing my room to ugly-crying into my pillow.
Next day? Still nothing.
So I did what any humiliated teenager would do—sent a follow-up claiming it was just Truth or Dare. Ha-ha, funny joke, don't mind me.
Crickets.
By day three, my pride couldn't take it. In a rage, I fired off one last message—something about how I'd never like someone like him, how arrogant he must be to ignore me—then blocked him so fast my mouse practically smoked.
End of Ten Years Later, Still Falling Chapter 9. Continue reading Chapter 10 or return to Ten Years Later, Still Falling book page.