“I do like you,” Jiko admits quietly, almost against his better judgment. “But I’m not ready for something like this. I’m still figuring things out—myself, everything around me. I ’t give you what you want right now.”

  Julie’s eyes search his face, her brow furrowed in fusion and sadness. “But why not?” she asks softly, almost pleading. “Why ’t you just… give it a ce?”

  Jiko swallows hard, his mind rag. He knows that if he lets this go any further, it could spiral into something much more plicated than he’s ready for. His thoughts are ed with what’s supposed to happen—Julie should end up with Tito. They’ll grow into their roles as family, sharing a future tied together by more than friendship. They’ll find happiogether.

  And that future feels tile to promise.

  “It’s not you, Julie,” Jiko says, choosing his words carefully. “It’s just—there’s something I o figure out first. I’m not in the right pce right now.”

  Julie’s face falls, her shoulders slumping as she stares down at the ground. Her voice shakes as she speaks again, her disappoi evident. “So, you’re just going to push me away? Just like that?”

  Jiko feels a pang in his chest, seeing her like this—the hurt and fusion in her eyes. He wants to say something more, to fort her, but his mind keeps cirg back to what he knows is iable. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

  “I’m not pushing you away,” he insists softly, though it sounds hollow even to his own ears. “I just ime. I o figure things out. For myself.”

  Julie looks up at him again, her eyes searg his face, as if she’s trying to find a different answer—something, anything, that will make sense of what’s happeniween them. But when she doesn’t find it, she sighs deeply and shakes her head.

  “Time… for what?” she murmurs, almost to herself.

  Jiko doesn’t have an answer. He knows he ’t expiure to her—not without sounding ridiculous, not without making her question things that haven’t even happened yet. So, instead, he stands there, awkward and unsure, feeling the weight of what’s unfolding.

  “I’m sorry,” he says again, his voice thick with regret. “I just ’t do this right now.”

  Julie’s eyes glisten with uears, though she blinks them back, refusing to let them fall. She looks at him o time—her expression a mix of sadness and quiet frustration. “I hope you realize what yiving up,” she says quietly before turning away.

  Jiko watches her go, his chest ag. He knows what she means, and it stings more than he expected. But he ’t bring himself to follow after her, not when he knows this is for the best—at least, for the greater good.

  And as she walks away, leaving him standing there alone, he feels something slip away—something precious, something that could have been—just out of his reach.

  The days following Julie’s fessio like walking a tightrope—every gnce, every word stretched with meaning, but never fully spoken aloud. At school, Julie tried to act as though nothing had ged, though Jiko could see it in the way she looked at him—lingering just a little longer, her eyes searg his whehey crossed paths. But he kept his distance, unsure of what more he could give her, knowing hile their friendship already was.

  At first, she approached him casually, slipping into their usual routialking during lunch, walking alongside him between csses. But Jiko began to notice a shift—small moments where Julie’s curiosity wasn’t just friendly anymore, but something deeper, more iional. Her questions weren’t just about homework or school events; they were about him—his personal belongings, his thoughts, the little things he enjoyed. And Jiko couldn’t ighe way her gaze followed him, the subtle touches she let linger just a bit too long.

  Oernoon, as they walked to the school gates, Jiko felt the familiar weight of someone falling into step beside him—his best friend, Rizvan.

  “Yo, Jiko!” Rizvaed, nudging him pyfully. “What’s up with you tely? You’ve been ag weird.”

  Jiko g Rizvan, shaking his head slightly, trying to keep his expressioral. “What do you mean?”

  Rizvan raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got this whole different vibe going on. Ever since—” he paused, tilting his head in thought, “—ever sihat new girl started hanging around.”

  Jiko tensed slightly. “What new girl?” he asked, trying to sound casual, though his mind immediately went to Julie.

  Rizvan snorted. “You know, the one who’s been all over you. Julie, or whatever her name is. I’ve seen the way she’s been ag around you. She’s practically following you everywhere.”

  Jiko ched his jaw slightly, trying to remain posed. “It’s nothing. She just needs help with some stuff.”

  Rizvan scoffs. “Help? Yeah, right. I’m telling you, man, she’s into you.”

  Jiko sighed, trying to brush it off, but the truth weighed on him—how Julie’s attention had shifted from friendly to something more. He knew Rizvan didn’t have the full story, but it wasn’t easy to ighe subtle tensioween them.

  Rizvan leaned closer, l his voice. “So, what’s going on? Is something actually happeniween you two?”

  Jiko felt his palms begin to sweat slightly. He shifted unfortably. “It’s plicated.”

  Rizvan’s smirk widened. “plicated? e on, bro. That girl clearly likes you. And you’re just letting it slide?”

  “I’m not letting anything slide,” Jiko muttered. “It’s just… it’s not as simple as it looks.”

  Rizvan shrugged, unvinced. “Sure, whatever you say. But you better watch yourself. Girls like Julie don’t just go after ahey’re out to get what they want.”

  Jiko ched his fists slightly, his mind rag. He didn’t know what to make of Rizvan’s words. Julie, sweet and genuine in her own way, didn’t seem like the kind of person to py games.

  That night, as Jiko y awake in bed, his mind spun with Rizvan’s words. He repyed their versation over and over, trying to uand it—what Rizva, what Julie’s as really meant. He knew Rizvan wasirely wrong—Julie’s behavior had shifted, and it wasn’t purely tal. The subtle touches, the lingering gnces—he felt the weight of it all, even if part of him wao believe she was just being friendly.