But I have to now, I think.
That I did it all for him.
I wanted him to notice it, in case I ran into him again.
And now that he has, I don’t know what to do.
I don’t know what to say except, “And don’t call me that.”
“It’s either Strawberries or Bubblegum.” His eyes gleam and he slowly shakes his head. “Don’t like strawberries.”
“How about just using my name?”
The one that I’ve been hearing in his voice for the past year.
Not that I’m going to tell him that.
Because as I said, this is crazy.
All of this is crazy.
The fact that I’m here, wearing pink, and he’s here, calling me BubblegumbecauseI’m wearing pink, and we’re seeing each other after exactly a year.
But something occurs to me.
“You do know… As in, you dorememberwhat my name is, don’t you?”
Because what if he doesn’t?
There’s a possibility of that, right?
Just because I’m crazy doesn’t mean he is too. And yes, from the looks of it he does seem to remember a lot of things from that night, but maybe he… forgot?
This one little thing.
My question turns his smirk into a smile. A very tiny one.
Actually it’s not even a smile per se. It’s more like a twitching of his lips.
“Yeah,” he replies, still studying me intensely.
Feeling a blush come onto my cheeks, I tuck a wayward strand back and push, “Well, what is it?”
At this, his smile widens.
As if I said something amusing.
As if me asking him whether or not he remembers my name is such a funny thing.
And you know what, despite constantly thinking about that night all year long, I’d forgotten one little thing too. I’dforgottenhow angry he made me last time.
How arrogant he was and how easily he ruffled my feathers.
“Your name, huh? Well, let’s see…” He squints his eyes as if thinking and gosh, I’m this close to strangling him. “From what Iremember, your name is also known as reverberation, reflection and resounding. Isn’t it,” he pauses before adding, “Echo?”
Oh.
Okay.