2007. 

Corridor to school’s canteen. 

“I can’t believe you are allowed to graduate this year when you barely attended the classes!,” a boy with curly, dark black hair said incredulously to his friend. The said friend, a bespectacled boy who was busy reading his note book while leisurely leaned his back against the white wall behind him, just grinned cheekily at his book, ignoring the protest. 

“To put it that way isn’t fair though, “ commented the third of them, another boy with ed uniform, showing his red tee beneath it, “ He didn’t attend most of the regular classes, but he returned in time to catch all the lessons he missed AND he passed the horrible one week tests before taking the national exam! Which, we all know, he passed with flying colors, this jerk,” 

He ended his mocking-praises with a soft punch to his grinning friend’s shoulder, and the latter finally closed his book and surrendered to the warm camaraderie. 

“That’s where life isn’t fair though, I WENT TO ALL CLASSES AND MY GRADES WERE BENEATH THIS POMPOUS, LUCKY, NERD..” the first boy playfully grabbed his friend’s collar but he only met a short snort in return, 

“You know LUCKY wins over HARD WORK anytime man,” the other two dissolved into snickers and he sulkily threw his friend away. 

“There..there…,” the red tee boy patted his friend on the back, only to burst into thunderous laughter after that, and finally all of them laughed in unison. 

But their fun was cut short when the bell rang, and the other two boys groaned, while the bespectacled one held back the last of his smile, reveling in the presence of his best friends after some times away from them, from their home land. 

Hurried steps accompanied by female chattering came from behind them, and reflexively, the bespectacled boy turned to the source of the sound, with the ghost of a smile lingering on his lips and his deep dimples. Then his smile froze.....

…when his eyes met a pair of hazel eyes…., 

and both stops for some milliseconds, acknowledging the other’s presence…..

…

The unseen  link was broken when the hazel eyes shyly looked down, and the boy was somewhat snapped out of the momentary spell. Now he can see their surrounding more clearly.

Three  girls were walking towards them, on the higher concrete, heading to the steps that descended to the corridor where he stood. His eyes met those belongs to the tall girl in the middle, whose long black hair fell to the sides of her oval face effortlessly. 

He couldn’t tell himself to stop looking at her, and to his inner delight, she was stealing second glances at him too. That’s  when he realized she has the most beautiful smile, although she tried her best to hide it, which only accentuate the redness that creeped to her cheeks. 

He was mesmerized. 

She can’t forget his calm, deep stares, and his sweet, dimpled smiles. 

“How pretty..,” his soul whispered.

“How adorable….,” her soul giggled. 

……

"She is getting closer..", he gulped nervously.

"What to do…I’ll pass in front of him in two steps..", she fretted, as each seconds closed the gaps between them..

…….. Tap..tap...

..Tap...

..Tap...

"Should I say somet..,"

“Oy, lets go back to class now, or we’ll have to endure the scolding of Mrs Teach, “ the curly boy shouted to his frozen friend, oblivious to his friend's inner struggle to muster his courage. Without warning, he dragged the poor boy away from the girls, to their class, at the further corner of the school. 

“Ah..wait..,” the boy tried to protest, but his friends were having none of it, jokingly shoving and pulling him away thus he was forced to follow them, turning away from the object that held his eyes still. 

The girl almost stopped in her track in surprise when she realized that he was drifting away, as her eyes followed the boys helplessly. 

“Lets get back too, the next lesson is math, right, “ her friend nudged her gently. 

“I’m so envious to those seniors, they don’t have to study like hell anymore, “ her other friend sighed jealously, turning her head towards the back of the boys that kept getting smaller as they moved farther. 

“So…he is a senior…,” the long haired girl muttered to herself quietly, 

“Yes, the prom is in two weeks too, how great, “ chimed the first girl, and they looked at one another at the word “prom”, before giggling teasingly at each other, wondering who would be asked by who to be the prom partner. However, the long haired girl felt conflicted now. She glanced towards the direction where the  boys went once again, but they were nowhere to be seen anymore. 

Little that she knew, some seconds before that, the bespectacled boy threw his last glance at her, hoping to see her face once again, to no avail, and he was forced to enter his class, lost among his enthusiastic peers. 

Neither knew who the other was, but each was hoping, with trembling excitement, to meet again. Soon. 

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