It was a normal Tuesday morning when I first saw you. You had your earphones on, and I was walking peacefully like I always do during an ordinary day. We passed by each other, and I found myself looking at you while you were humming to the beat of whatever song you were listening to. I watched you until I couldn’t see you anymore, and wondered if we would see each other again.

 

I had doubts, but the universe found its way to make our paths cross again.

 

~*~

 

Six months passed by like a blur, but still, there was no sign of you. I already knew that it was close to impossible to even see you again. But I was wrong.

 

I walked into the big lecture hall, looking for empty seats. As my eyes scanned the hall, my gaze landed upon a familiar chestnut brown hair. I slowly made my way towards the guy who owned that awfully familiar hair, while telling myself not to get my hopes up too high. My heart was pounding so hard, I thought it would come right off my chest. The professor suddenly told everyone to sit down, so I just went for the nearest seat. While she was introducing the course, I was looking at the boy. I wanted to know who he was, but I could not see his face. I prayed that he would at least look behind, because I just need to see a glimpse of his face.

 

My prayer was answered almost immediately when he looked at the large clock at the back of the lecture hall. My world stopped for a moment.

 

It was you.

 

I spent the rest of the session looking at you, and thanking the heavens for letting us meet again.

 

***

 

I sat down in front of the lecture hall, waiting for the doors to be opened. I plugged in my earphones, and closed my eyes. I felt someone sitting beside me. I thought it was a friend, but much to my surprise, it was you. You were doing something on your laptop while wearing headphones. You didn’t seem to notice that I was looking at you intently, wondering how I’d talk to you. I wanted to befriend you, yet I didn’t know how because I was too shy.

 

The doors suddenly opened, and you stood up to go inside. I sighed and mentally slapped myself for being so timid.

 

***

 

It was a late Wednesday morning when I finally knew your name. I was sitting on the stairs, browsing through my notes, when I saw you walking towards me.

 

Or the stairs.

 

You didn’t look at me, but then again, you never did.

 

I tried asking someone I know if she was on the same class as you. She said yes. She also told me your name and the degree program you were taking up, much to my delight. We were under the same college, only different departments. I felt you getting closer to me.

 

That same day, I found out that we had the same 7AM classes, just different rooms. I was at Rm. 110, while you were at Rm. 109.

 

You became even closer to me, but you were still out of my reach.

 

***

 

I spent the whole weekend thinking how to approach you. I didn’t know how you would react if a stranger walked up to you all of a sudden and talked to you. The fact that we had different nationalities scared me even more. But my desire to befriend you was greater. So I planned, and thought about every detail thoroughly.

 

Wednesday morning. Our professor didn’t show up because of stomach flu, so it was a free cut. I stayed inside the building and read a book while waiting for you. An hour passed, and one by one, your classmates left. I saw you going out, so I fixed my things and stood up. You went through, and I followed you. I took a deep breath, gathered all my courage, and approached you.

 

When you looked at me, my heart was in a state of panic. You had such beautiful eyes, and your smile was brighter than the sun. I told you we were on the same Math class and asked for your name, although I already know it. You told me you remember me, and that was enough to make my heart leap. I asked for your help in translating some phrases with a shaky voice. Luckily, you said yes. You even asked for my name, and we walked together to our next class.

 

And at that moment, I liked my name a bit more.

 

I took a quiz that time, but I could not remember anything because your face and voice kept on flashing into my mind. I found myself smiling while looking at the questionnaire. I never thought you’d have this kind of effect on me.

 

The second time we had a conversation was while waiting for our Math class. You waved at me, and I sat beside you. We talked casually, like we knew each other for quite some time already. Believe it or not, I wanted time to stop. I could sit on the steps and have a conversation with you forever. I could listen to your laugh and never get used to it.

 

But of course, it doesn’t work that way. The professor made us go inside, much to my disappointment, but we exchanged numbers before going to the opposite corners of the hall.

 

Meeting you was so enchanting.

 

***

 

A day went by and I still didn’t know how to text you without looking too easy. I was about to type a simple “Hi” when my phone beeped. You texted me first. I replied almost immediately, and before I knew it, our thread was so long even though only an hour had passed since you first texted me. I felt closer to you.

 

That night, we bumped into each other, and you decided that we’d eat dinner together. I agreed, not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to spend some alone time with you. I was worried that our meal would be awkward and silent as I don’t know how to keep a conversation going. But you were good at that, much to my relief. You had me laughing at every story of yours. I didn’t even notice that it was already past 10PM. You walked me home, and made me go inside before leaving. As soon as you were out of sight, we started texting each other again.

 

And for a moment, I felt like I could actually reach you.

 

Please don’t be in love with someone else.

 

***

 

The next day wasn’t as happy as the previous ones. I saw you walking across the field with a pretty girl who had the same race as you. The two of you were chatting happily, using a language I barely understood. Then it hit me. We were completely different. We had a language barrier separating us. Sure, we both know how to speak in English but our mother tongues were different. We could not fully express ourselves. We’ve just known each other for two days, but I felt a tinge of pain poking my heart. Then I realized. I liked you.

 

I liked you the first time I saw you.

 

And I liked you even more when we started talking to each other.

 

I liked you more and more every single day.

 

You passed by me, and you didn’t even spare a glance. You looked at her like she’s the only one you see. I was jealous, but then who was I? No one. Just a girl you felt obliged to talk to. I smiled bitterly, and walked to my next class.

 

I was sitting in front of the lecture hall when you approached me. You noticed that I was kind of feeling down, so you asked me why. Of course I couldn’t tell you that I was jealous, so I said I was just experiencing a headache. You nodded, and busied yourself with your phone. I wanted to stay away from you but I could not bring myself to stand up and sit somewhere else. That was probably the longest fifteen minutes of my life.

 

***

 

I ignored your texts, and whenever you’d approach me, I pretended to talk with my friend so that you would go away. You noticed that and asked me why, but I always said I was busy. You stopped approaching me, stopped texting me, and I felt our gap getting bigger and bigger. Ignoring you hurt so bad, staying away from you was killing me. As much as I want to talk to you again, I didn’t. I was starting to get used to your presence. I was falling, and I knew that you had no plans of catching me.

 

Prevention is better than cure, after all.

 

 

 

~*~

 

I was walking from my 7AM class when I saw her, rummaging through her bag for her something. She was wearing a plain white shirt, skinny jeans, and black rubber shoes, but she looked so feminine. Her hair was tied into a bun, and her brows were scrunched together. Suddenly, her face lit up while taking out her iPod and earphones. I looked away, pretending to be immersed into the music. I continued to walk straight, resisting the urge to look back.

 

I thought about her the whole day, thinking if it was even possible to meet her again.

 

~*~

 

Months went by, and I was starting to give up on searching for her. The campus was too large, and for some reason I could not find anyone who knows her. I had seen her only once, but I remembered her features well, enough for me to be able to draw her.

 

That Wednesday, I told myself I was going to stop looking for her. The professor was saying nonsense things in front, and I was so bored so I decided to look at the large clock at the back.

 

That is when I saw her. Her perfectly braided hair was sitting on her right shoulder, and she was writing something on her notebook. I continued staring at her, until she looked at my way. I panicked and looked in front, hoping that she didn’t see me staring at her.

 

***

 

I love the way my name sounds when she says it. It sounded right. And when she told me her name, saying it felt like I’ve known her name for decades already. It was like my lips were used to uttering her name, although it was the first time I heard it.

 

I had always been awkward when meeting new people, but somehow, talking to her was so comfortable. Her laugh was that of an angel’s, and her eyes twinkled every now and then. I was surprised knowing that she can speak a bit of my mother tongue, and I loved it when a blush crept onto her cheeks when I praised her.

 

I love how her hair falls onto her face, and even more when she adorably tries to tuck it behind her ear. I love the way she covers when she’s laughing. I love the way she bites her lip occasionally, like it had become her habit. She had this kind of effect on me, and though I don’t know why, I love it.

***

 

We exchanged a lot of text messages, and though we’ve only met for two days, it felt like I had grown closer to her already. I told my friend about her, and she noticed that I have been smiling a lot lately.

 

I thought everything was going well, when she stopped talking to me. At first, she said it was just a headache, but then she started ignoring me. She never replied to any of my messages, she never looked at me again, and she just walks away whenever I try to approach her. I knew that something was wrong, but I didn’t know what it was. Not talking to her felt like I was being stabbed by a knife repeatedly, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

 

I asked my friend for help. She tried to think of possible reasons why, but none of them made sense. The only option was to ask her herself. But I didn’t know how. She acted like I don’t exist.

 

So I made up my mind. I had to know what was going on. I wasn’t going to stop until she tells me why.

 

***

 

I went to the place where she always eats her lunch. She was surprised to see me, and like what I expected, she wanted to get out. But I stopped her. She told me to go away, and of course I asked her what was going on. I looked into her eyes, and I saw sorrow. She smiled sadly, and said, “Prevention is better than cure.” She walked away, leaving me with my mouth hanging.

 

I consulted my friend and told her what my special girl told me. She looked at me for about a minute, smiled sheepishly, and patted me on the back. I didn’t understand anything, but she just stood there, smiling like an idiot. I asked her what that means but I got no answer. All I got was a place, and she told me to go there at sunset.

 

Albeit confused, I did what she told me. I went to that place, not knowing what was waiting for me there. After a few minutes, my special someone appeared alone, so I hid. She put her bag down and sat on one of the benches. She looked so down; I wanted to comfort her badly. I slowly walked towards her. She looked up, and gasped. She asked me what I was doing there. I said nothing and sat beside her. She sighed helplessly. We stared at the horizon for a few minutes. Then she heaved a big sigh and apologized for ignoring me. I wanted to ask her what she told me earlier actually means, but I stopped myself.

 

That was when she started to tell me a certain story, which sounded awfully familiar. At first, I didn’t know where I heard it, but then as soon as she finished telling the story, it dawned upon me.

 

It was our story, only from her perspective.

 

“Prevention is better than cure” suddenly made sense.

 

I looked at her as she stared into the distance.

 

“What if he likes you, too?” I asked.

 

She looked at me like I said something weird, and then laughed bitterly. “I saw how he looked at the girl. He would never like me. That’s impossible.”

 

“Says who?” I smiled, held her hand, and gazed at the clouds which were slowly turning orange.

 

I heard her gasp, so I held her hand tightly. From my peripheral vision, I saw her smile. Together, we stared as the sun starts to set.

 

“Enchanting,” she said breathlessly.

 

“Yeah,” I chuckled.

 

But at that moment, I could not think of anything more enchanting than meeting her.

 

 

 

 

 

End.

 

~*~

 

Title: Enchanted [One-shot]

 

Author: cjhzzx

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2016. All Rights Reserved.