One week before the prom. 

Raisa 

The end of semester appoached swiftly, and after a week of rigorous studying, headache, tensed back, and sore neck (for some cheating cheaters), the juniors were having the reason to do celebration. Although the final results were to wait. Its their senior's prom in a week, and a grand preparation is to be made around the school. 

In the middle of all that, was Raisa, feeling uncharacteristically restless than anyone. 

"Cha, Senior Dendi is about to graduate next week. How..do you feel ?," she said tentatively to one of her girl gang, during the recess. 

They were eating together at the school's canteen, munching on noodles and meatballs while gossiping about school life. 

"Me? Well..., its bound to happen anyway. And its not like we are separated forever, " her friend replied, shrugging. 

"Really? You arent sad at all?," she continued curiously. 

"Of course, but its no use, and he promises to see me often since he is entering a uni here in this town," 

"Oh..but..what makes you so sure...," her mumbling got her raised eyebrows from her friends. 

"Whats wrong with you Ya? You aren't even dating anyone, let alone a senior right, " Lita, her other bestie, said quizzically. 

At that remark, Raisa gulped and her cheeks turned red incontrollably. Aish! 

"No..its just..," 

"Eeeii........," Ani turned her head to her, raising her voice, "dont tell me you ARE dating A SENIOR now!," 

The other girls giggled and in no time, while she did her best to refute their assumption. 

" No, no, its not itt!, " she shouted fruitlessly. 

The little ruckus attracted the attention of the students around the canteen. 

"Tell me, do you finally accept Aldi's confession?", Chacha smirked, putting her fork suggestively. 

"It must be Leon! I know it!," 

"But Leon is not senior, you fool. It must be Zain!,"

"Zain? Senior Zain from science club? Aww.... I dont know he confessed to you too, Ya, " 

"I said its not it, sillies, " Raisa tried to cover her embarassment. Out of her instinct, she furtively glanced around just in case that dimpled senior came by. 

"Whatever. I'm just curious and thats it," 

"Come on Ya...tell us..., its not like dating is a sin..," Elsa pleaded. 

"There is nothing to tell! And I have to meet Mrs Ima for choir task, so..so long!," she raised from the bench and quickly walked over to the seller to pay. 

"Escaping....escaping...,"chanted the girls, before bursting into another round of teasing. She rolled her eyes on them. 

"Here is your change, Missy," said the middle aged man who sold the meatballs. 

"Thanks Uncle," she smiled at him then turned to go, towards the choir club room. 

But just before she left the door, she came face to face with that dimpled senior, who were sandwiched between his two friends. He looked annoyed, but his friends were far from it, hooking their arms around his neck and messing with his hair. 

Her steps halted in mild surprise. 

But the boys were too busy to notice until they almost bump to her, and she was forced to the side to avoid them. The curly one was the first to realize they almost collided with her. 

"Ah, sorry, sorry, " he said, shoving his friends forcefully away, hitting the door frame. 

"Its alright, seniors," she replied almost apologetically, but her eyes darting here and there. 

The dimpled boy finally looked at her, and there goes her heart again, racing. Ever so slightly, his stares dimmed and he said a barely audible, 

"Sorry," 

His voice! It was soft, and husky. 

She shook her head. 

"Are you okay?," its his other friend who spoke, and she tried to smile to mask her nervousness upon hearing his voice for the first time. She saw that he was wearing one earbud from his metallic blue ipod, and recalled that he have that earbud too the day they met. 

"Its alright senior..," 

"Okay, this is this jerk fault, wooing a girl without telling us..," the curly one pointed to his friend, whose eyes widened in an instant. 

"Hey, hey, shut up !," the dimpled boy shut his friend's mouth literally, and dragged him away, mumbling a little "sorry" to her while going, avoiding her eyes. 

"Hey wait," their friend chased them, leaving her in a daze. 

A girl? So he is currently liking another girl? 

She glanced towards the boys once again, then left the canteen without words. 

She didnt know why, but the transition of her racing heart to this dampen twitch left her feeling uneasy. So uneasy. 

-- 

Afgan 

As the hazel eyed girl disappeared behind the walls of canteen, he plopped down on one of the bench, hand still on his friend's mouth. 

"Mmpf...," that friend, Ben, peeled of that hand of his mouth, glaring at his friend. 

"What..," he said tauntingly, "its not that she will know what we're talking about!,"

"Just shut your mouth, dont blabber things that arent yours to just any..body!," Afgan hissed back. He almost choked when Ben blurted his secret earlier right in front of the girl herself! He couldn't even dare to look at her because of the heat that he felt rushing to his face, and the uncontrollable beat of his beart, betraying his feeling. 

That girl, Raisa, would never know him, let alone care about his life. Not after what happened at the hall the other day...

Or..would she?

"She is not just anybody though," Rafi, the third of them, finally sat down with them, grinning, "she is cute. Her smile is cute," 

Ben scrunch up his nose, 

"Don't tell me you too harbor a crush on her," he said sarcastically. 

"Like....you?!,"  retorted Rafi.

"Oh, please..," Ben snorted, "I know she is pretty and cute, but she isn't my type," 

Rafi clicked his tongue, but he chose not to argue at their current place as he eyed some of Raisa's friends who were still there. 

"Whatever suits you. Uncle, three noodles, please, " he shouted to the meatballs seller who nodded with smile to them. 

Afgan, meanwhile, blared the sound of his ipod, drowning his friends' voices. Many thoughts came to his mind as he listened to the song lists numbly. 

I hope she didn't take the words seriously, he sighed internally. 

He recalled her face earlier, how she smiled at them. How cute. That made him smile too. How good it is if that smile is directed only to him...

"GAN! WOI!," Rafi shouted to his ears, making him wince, cutting his imagination short. 

"What...," he replied, squinting in displease. 

"I was asking you what do you think about her, " 

"Who?,"

"Raisa," 

"Rai..sa?," 

Oh my God!  he squealed internally, finally able to say her name out loud. It was a strange feeling. He didnt know mentioning a mere name can make him feel so giddy and nervous at the same time. What the...

"Yes, and don't tell me you don't know her only because you just back from abroad," 

"Oh..that Raisa..," 

The second time, her name still sounded very nice to utter. Raisa...Raisa...Raisa...

"Yes, one that rejected many boys of our school, setting a record," Ben interjected. 

"What do you think, she is pretty, isnt she?," 

Ben rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Hmm?," Rafi nudged him mercilessly. 

"I think...," Afgan swallowed a little hard, " her voice is pretty." 

"Only her voice ??," another voice suddenly chimed in, and they all turned to the source. 

Its Elsa, Raisa's friend who was unwittingly eavesdropped on them, and now she clamped , having blurted her mind out loud. 

"Sorry senior, I was just...I didn't mean to eavesdrop..," she squirmed, asking for help from her equally mortified gang. Ben and Rafi, on the other hand, felt embarrassed too, since they didn't mean to be so loudly.  But they played cool to hide it.

"Oh..sure, next time behave you girl, and mind your own business," quipped Ben, as Rafi nodded along with him, then turned their back on the girls.

The girls sighed in relief, then hurriedly leave to pay and go back to their class. Except for Lita, who stole glances towards the boys. She recognized them from the other day around the corridor, and she eyed the middle one in particular. 

She happened to see Raisa's expression during both of the encounters, and she was curious for some reason. He was not really prominent at the first sight, but when he smiles, he indeed looked very cute. And he was a senior....

Lita's eyes opened wide in shock. Raisa's smile upon seeing him. Her distracted demeanor. Her visibly changed face when he walked away from her. Her questions earlier. 

"Could it be....," her brows furrowed as she scrutinized that indifferent senior, "...she liked him? For real??," 

~~

Raisa 

When the bell for the next hour rang, she returned to her class, and the first thing she noticed was her gang's huddling together. 

"What now?," she joined them while taking her seat. 

"OHH YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW..," Chacha exclaimed in exaggerated manner, flailing her hands back and forth. 

The other just nodded, the same expression on their face telling that it wasn't a pleasant story. 

Elsa in particular looked as if she wanted to cry. 

"I didnt mean it...gosh why did I do it..," she drowned her head in her heads and let out a muffled scream. 

"What did you do? Did you just confess to anyone?," Raisa craned her neck at her friend. 

"Worse," 

"Kinda," 

"She was caught red handed eavesdropping on some seniors..,"

"Boys!," 

"Rudely interrupting...,"

"You must look at their displeased faces,"

"Seniors? When?," she straightened her posture. 

"At the canteen. Ones that almost bumped onto you, " 

Her eyes changed and she leaned towards their friends attentively. 

"Whaaat...tell me, what happened..," 

"So, they were.....,"

All those while, Lita kept her silence, intently observing her friend from the side. So far her guess has been correct. She somewhat have interest in those boys. But which one? Is it romantically? 

"...and that one, the bespectacled senior, answered, that YOUR VOICE is pretty..,"

She looked aghast, "What?,"

The others nodded enthusiastically, 

"See? Thats why I cant help but blurting out, is it only YOUR VOICE that pretty ??!! What a weird answer, I mean we all know you sound very good but...," 

Too bad for them, Raisa didnt pay attention to the rest of their words anymore. Her heart was racing again at the notion that the boy knew her! He has listened to her! 

Oh God, which song that he has heard? I wish I perform well...if not...

"The teacher is coming!!," shouted the class president and they reluctantly dispersed. 

Raisa tried to focus on the teacher's words before her, but all she could hear was his voice, as she imagined he said that her voice was pretty with that husky voice of his, along with his sweet dimpled smile. 

Oh..no...I'm falling....., she groaned internally, what am I supposed to do now...I can't stop thinking of him...

At that time, a tap on shoulder surprised her. Lita, who sat behind her, handed her a small ripped paper. She took it. 

What? She mouthed to her friend, but she just pointed at the folded paper with a suppressed grin.

So she opened the paper after making sure the teacher wasn't looking at her. 

His name is Afgan. (A picture of a boy's face with spectacles and dimples on his cheeks, giving her a V sign). 

She turned her head in flash, to her now fully grinning friend. 

"I think you want to know," she whispered conspiratorially. 

After going past her first shocked, Raisa finally found her smile. 

"Thanks," she whispered back shyly, pocketing the paper as if it was a most precious thing in this world. 

~~ 

Afgan 

As he trudged towards the front gate, ipod blaring, he suddenly remembered something. 

Sighing, he retraced to the hall, circling the park and using the short cut towards it. 

As soon as he reached the hall side, he asked immediately for Aldi and Ditto. They supposed to discuss about their class' performance together. 

"No one see them yet?," 

The two juniors he asked shook their heads, then continued on their own. He craned his neck left and right, reluctant to enter the hall lest he met her again. He was still traumatized. 

But time was moving, so he decided to turn back home afterall. 

"I'll just call them later, " he muttered to himself. 

However, his steps halted when he saw a pair of girl shoes in front of him. At that, he finally raised his sight. 

Raisa was there. 

And this time she clearly noticed him first. 

For a brief second, she looked at him, then smiled. A real, shy smile. Then her face turned red. Very red. 

She must realized his dumbstruck face because almost immediately, she bowed her head and walked on, getting faster by seconds. She almost ran past him as she headed towards the hall. 

He was still rooted at his place, blinking. Processing.

Did she just..smile at him? Did she just...blush ?? Does that mean......, 

Then he swallowed hard, and his own smile came across his face. A large part of himself tried to be rational by saying that she must be just very courteous, but not a small part of his heart was swelling with hope. Now he had the urge to go back to the hall but too nervous to do so. 

 

~~