A dramatic one. I couldn't resist. Named after a song by The Academy Is...

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CLASSIFIEDS.

It started out with a haircut.

"Hi," Emi said, and sidled up to him. His name was Dexter; she thought it was the most ridiculous name she'd ever heard. They'd vaguely known each other since first grade. He used to be some guy with shaggy hair, just another face in the crowd. The summer before the start of high school, he'd gotten most of his hair in the back chopped off. The rest was stuck up in spikes.

It was so shallow, but Emi had a thing for spiky hair. And for once in eight years, she could see his eyes clearly, and they were a beautiful shade of green, like freshly cut grass or old emeralds.

"Hi," Dexter said back, and raised his brows. "What's up?"

"You have pretty eyes," Emi tried weakly. It was the truth.

He asked bluntly, as if he had no idea who she was, "Are you a new student?"

She punched him in the face and broke his jaw.

***

On a violence-free and more uneventful day, Emi and Dexter were paired for an English project. It was simple, just a short story with tons of dialogue between two people who were arguing about something. Dexter wanted to make the characters debate over which type of cheese was the best, and Emi wanted to make them discuss famous works of literature. She hoped to gain extra points with the teacher if they wrote the paper on classic literature; Emi had been scraping a B average and desperately wanted an A.

Dexter and Emi never stopped fighting over which topic to choose, and their project was a long-winded chaotic mess featuring brie and Austen and mozzarella and Thoreau.

They failed, unsurprisingly. It was Emi's first F.

After that, they quarreled some more about dairy products, and Emi threw a book at Dexter's head.

After that, they officially became friends.

***

A month later, Dexter died in his sleep.

***

Of course, a little while before that, they managed to prank every house in the neighborhood. Emi discovered that she lived on the same street as Dexter, and she hadn't realized it the entire time. He took her out the night before Halloween and they sprayed shaving cream everywhere, toilet paper flying.

There city had been paranoid for a while, and nobody dared to go out at night after a shooting that had happened in the next town over a few years ago. The kids never bothered to go out for Mischief Night, because their parents wouldn't let them go out and throwing TP in broad daylight would simply get them caught more easily. Halloween ended by four o'clock every year, regardless if the holiday was on a weekday or weekend.

Anyway. So Dexter snuck out with Emi, and they painted the town with shaving cream and flung toilet paper rolls everywhere.

They ran home laughing.

***

Two weeks before Dexter's death, Emi dared him to take a spoonful of cinnamon. He complied, and she burst into laughter when he choked, cinnamon spewing out of his mouth, his face a bright cherry red.

"I can't believe you actually did it," she sputtered between giggles, as he stuck his head under the kitchen sink tap and chugged down deep gulps of water.

"Well, anything to please you, my dear," Dexter said with a grin, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Agh, I feel like I just licked burning sand."

"How does it taste?" Emi asked, curious and amused.

"Wanna see for yourself?" He leaned forward, as if he was about to jump out and kiss her.

"Uh, Dexter…" she stepped back, mortified and uncomfortable.

He read her expression and tried to hide his disappointment, stepping back. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

***

A week before Dexter's death, he stopped spiking his hair with gel. Emi asked him why, and his reply was a simple shrug and a huff of breath that sent strands flying from his forehead.

"But your hair looked so cute that way," Emi said, blushing a bit. "And now I can't see your pretty eyes."

He smiled and said, "Then maybe you should care less about appearance and more about personality."

She didn't know how to respond.

***

The day before Dexter's death, Emi kissed him.

"What was that for?" He asked, looking stunned.

Her lips tingled and she stated sheepishly, "I like you."

"Really?"

"Really."

Dexter softened. "I like you too, Emi."

"Cool."

"Cool."

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist and said softly, "And if I die in my sleep, are you still willing to be everything you promised to be?"

Emi paused, then pulled back slightly and accused him, "You stole that from a song." She grinned. "I don't know the name, but I remember that line."

"Old song. Never liked it much." He laughed and kissed her again.

***

Then Dexter died, and that was that.

***

When Emi finally got the guts to visit his grave, she was a senior, and was skipping prom. She wore a plain white dress and sneakers and had a lump of spicy cinnamon burning a hole in her mouth. She swallowed it and, while her tongue burned, she sang and danced until the pain finally subdued.

And then she said goodbye, and told him she would be everything she promised to be.