I can’t remember when this started but I began to notice Lucy more. Besides her fierce self in the newsroom, she seemed very sophisticated. Other than that weird umbrella she brought around, she had good fashion sense. She dressed well all the time. She was fairly tall for a girl. She carried herself well and never hunched or slouched even once.

I never noticed how pretty she looked, especially since she was always the only person I stayed in the newsroom with. Her bob hairstyle bounced whenever she moved around. Her rosy cheeks made her look radiant all the time. Her brown eyes pierced everything she looked at. never failed to curl up in a smile. She was nice to everyone. Except in the newsroom…

“Everyone, please. Let’s make things more organised. Stop messing up the place! I’m the editor. Not the cleaning manager. We’ve already asked for permission to have the janitor not clean our newsroom because we didn’t want to lose anymore documents like the last time. But this means WE have to do it OURSELVES. Please, let’s coorperate! Stop leaving papers around, stop leaving the computers on, switch off the printers, and stop leaving your used coffee cups here!”

Since when did everyone else come in? Why does Lucy look exceptionally attractive despite her shouting at us like this? I’ve never felt this way before. This is weird. Believe me. Besides her feisty self whenever she dealt with the campus newspaper, she was usually pretty cute. 

After a heavy rain, I walked past the newsroom and saw her sitting on her desk. I walked in. The squeaks coming from my soaking wet sneakers frightened her as she turned around almost too quickly. She took one look at me and shouted, “OH MY GOD GHOST!”.

Ghost? Did she mean me?

I glanced at her and quietly walked to the desk next to her and sat down. 

“Hey! Why didn’t you knock before coming in? Look at you all soaking wet. I thought you were some water spirit!”, she shrugged.

“Right now your voice can be heard throughout the hallway. I really can’t tell that you were frightened”, I joked.

“Wow… looks like not only can you talk, you can talk back too!” 

Talking back? Did I just do that?

“Here’s a tissue. Please clean yourself up. Seeing you soaking wet is really uncomfortable.” She handed a pack of tissue to me. I looked at the packet and looked back at her. I smiled and took it from her hands.

“Why… Why didn’t you go home?” I stuttered. It had been quite a while since classes had ended. What is this girl doing here alone in the newsroom so late in the evening?

“I’m just rushing some last minute deadlines. Ellie forgot to send next month’s issue to the publishers. She had to rush off because she wasn’t feeling well. Since it’s raining heavily outside, I can’t get out anyway.” 

That’s weird. What happened to her teddy bear umbrella?

She cleared her desk and stood up, “I can go home now. Goodbye!” She grabbed her laptop and bag, smiling as she waved goodbye and left the newsroom. 

Although I’ve been in the same room with her many times, right here in this tiny corner, I’ve never seen her smile so warmly at me. The newsroom almost seemed brighter when she did. Oddly, I think I felt my heart beat increasing its pace when she smiled at me minutes ago. 

What does this mean?