崖の上のポニョ · Ponyo

Dir. by Miyazaki Hayao, 2008

The raindrops were tears too. The whole world was crying.

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒐

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒐

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) dir. Miloš Forman

“Which one of you nuts has got any guts?”

• you thought i wasn’t looking
  

you had always watched billy from afar. you had a few of the same classes, but were never sat near each other. if there was partner work, you were partnered with friends, and if you ever had a chance to speak to him, you minded your own business and stayed quiet. he skipped often and when he wasn’t in a class, you felt a pang of sadness. he was more interesting than a lot of the curriculum.

as the second semester came along, everyone got new schedules. and as you looked over your new classes, you wondered if billy would be in any of them. neither of you were in ap or special placement classes, so it was likely. but as the first day back went on, you were sad to realize that you didn’t share one class with him. it wasn’t like you were friends or that you had even talked, but you secretly liked having him around. he was funny, nice to look at and sometimes even had interesting things to contribute to class discussions. there was a little part of you, a part that you were too embarrassed to admit to anyone, that wistfully thought maybe billy felt the same about you. the girl who shared all his classes, who he enjoyed looking at when the day got slow. you thought maybe that was your only shot with him, that he noticed you in the quiet moments you barely shared.

little did you know that he did do the same thing. he often saw you out of the corner of his eye. the heel of your hand pushing your cheek up to look adorable as you would look at him. he would always sit up a bit straighter and flex his muscles when he noticed you.

as your last class finally came, you took a seat in the back. it was on the other side of the campus from you history class, so the remaining desks were slim. in a ditch effort, you scanned the room for billy. he wasn’t there. it was home ecc., you wouldn’t really expect him to take this class. right as the bell rang, the door was thrown open and billy sauntered over the threshold.

“so glad you could join us, mr. hargrove.” mrs. hayward said sarcastically.

billy sent her a smirk and looked around for a seat.

sure, you had wanted him to notice you since the second you saw him, but now knowing that the only open seat was next to you made you feel sick. you wanted to disappear. why did billy have to have this class?!

“this seat taken?” a voice drawled above you.

you looked sheepishly up at billy and nodded, moving your backpack so he could sit.

“thanks, gorgeous.” billy added, tapping his hands on the desk.

the rest of the class you sat rigidly next to him. you swore billy knew how nervous you were and would purposely stretch his arms, one falling on the back of your chair and brushing your back. he would lean towards you his forearm touching your own and fiddle with your pencil on the table top.  

billy did know exactly what he was doing and he was loving watching you squirm. he loved it almost as much as staring at you up close.

as time went on, your nerves wore off. billy would make little observations and jokes to you and you would giggle. you would partner up for projects and worksheets. and you made casual conversations when the class would lull. as you and billy’s relationship developed from strangers to friends, your crush only intensified.

a few weeks later, the cooking portion of the class started. since you and billy were sat at the same table, you were going to be partners in the kitchen. and you two were having a ball, flirting the whole time. billy flirted with everyone, but with you it seemed a little more genuine. maybe you were just being naive, but you did feel like it was different with you.

one day, you came in to class, billy in tow because he now insisted on the two of you walking to home ecc. together, to find out that the task was the make chocolate chip cookies from scratch.

“seems easy enough.” you shrugged, leaning against the small counter of your little cooking station while handing billy the recipe.

“psh,” billy rolled his eyes, throwing the recipe to the side, “can she give us a real challenge?”

“i think this will be challenge enough for us.” you replied.

you and billy had a tendency to screw up every recipe. billy would make you flustered by placing a hand on the small of your back or pulling you flush to him as he stirred something. he claimed it helped him constintatre better. and you wouldn’t separate until ms. hayward would yell at you to so. and billy would lose track of time by finding ways to fluster you, just to see you blush and bite you lip. somehow the stupid rinky dink class had become his favorite. he never missed it. he lied to his friends and said that if he kept ditching his dad would have his ass, but that wasn’t the case. billy didn’t want to miss a second with you.

billy gathered the ingredients as you set the oven and got all the utensils needed. when he came back, billy insisted on measuring everything out.

“these are my cookies, gorgeous. this time, i’m going to kill it.” he boasted as he poured flour into the bowl you had gotten.

“oh i’m sure.” you rolled your eyes with a knowing smile.

“just you wait and see.” he looked over to you, flashing you a grin and a wink.

while he cooked, you distracted him like he always did to you. trapped him to the counter between your arms, peeking over his shoulder and asking about every step he did. sticking your finger in the bowl and taste testing the dough constantly. you stood next to him, leaning your weight into him and dramatically sighing.

“you are so god damn annoying.” billy groaned, doing his best to stir while you leaned on his right arm.

“you’re doing my job so i’m doing yours.” you said, leaning your cheek on his bicep.

billy felt your eyelashes flutter against his skin and he tensed. you noticed and smiled.

soon, billy put his cookies in the oven. they were in unattractive lumps and you told him to space them out more, but he didn’t listen. they were his cookies after all.

after he shut the oven, billy turned to you and placed his hands on your waist, something that shocked you. he picked you up and sat you on the counter, something ms. hayward hated. he wanted to part your legs and stand between them, resting his hands on your body while he laid kissed all over your skin. but he restrained himself by leaning his hip next to your dangling shin.

“how you feeling about those, betty crocker?” you mused.

“pretty good, thanks.” he drawled.

you giggled and lulled your head to the side, your hair falling from behind your shoulder and fanning out messily. one of billy’s weakness.

as billy reached out and mixed your hair, his hand brushing the skin of your neck as he did, the entire class, including ms. hayward made a collective eye roll. they were all so sick of watching you two flirt. unluckily for them, your flirting continued until the oven dinged, signalling that the cookies were done.

“ready to see this shit?” billy said proudly, opening the oven for you both to look inside.

this dark brown- almost black edges, all the cookies that morphed into one big blob.

“they’re shit, alright.” you said with raised eyebrows.

“fuck you.” he grumbled.

billy took out the pan and set it on the stove top.

“what do you think, c?” he asked, staring down at his food abomination.

“c+, they might taste amazing.” you shrugged.

“yeah maybe.”

they did not. when ms. hayward came around to look at everyone’s final product and taste them, she scowled at yours and billy’s crumbled up cookies. she looked between your bright smiling faces and the plate. she ended up taking a tiny bite of one of the cookies and swiftly walking away.

“i’m thinking a c. maybe even a d.” billy commented as ms. hayward walked away.

“they taste good! c+!” you said, placing a reassuring hand on his arm.

you reached forward and took a cookie from the plate shoving the whole thing your mouth, making mmm noises and giving him a thumbs up. billy bit back a smile at your effort to make you feel better, than took the plate away to throw away the rest of the cookies. once he turned his back, you spit the uneaten cookie into the sink. they didn’t taste good, they were disgusting. definitely a c.

as you gathered your things, billy waited for you by the door.

“i saw you, you know.” he said with a smirk as you walked out the door, him following.

“saw what?” you asked.

“you spit out my c+ cookie. you thought i wasn’t looking, but you were wrong, (y/l/n).” billy stepped in your way, standing almost chest to chest with you.

“not my fault you were staring at me, hargrove. get a hobby or something, and maybe you won’t get your feelings hurt.” you snarked.

“oh, sweetheart, you know i can’t stop staring at you.” billy rasped, brushing the back of his hand up and down the exposed skin of your arm.

your mind went blank and your heart sped up. you stammered for something to respond as billy smirk down at you. he could of kissed you, and he was pretty sure you would have kissed him back. but instead he decided to wait. he liked the dance you two were engaged in. he wanted it to go on a little bit longer before he made his first move. you were a lot of fun, and he didn’t want to ruin anything.

“lemme give you a ride home, babe. i’m sick of being here.” billy said, moving to stand next to you and sling his arm over your shoulder. and you let him, because you mind was still spinning.