“I hope you continue to smile… Cause your smile makes others smile, too”

Tracy was walking down the corridor of the second floor of the building, familiarizing herself with the surroundings. The building was open; a cool breeze blowing through it. She walked towards the most open space in the building, suddenly wanting to feel more of the breeze. It was a veranda like space where more air enter the building, making you feel as if you’re free. She let out a sigh and nonchalantly looked around her. Somehow, her location gave the best view possible. The trees outside were swaying with the breeze, and the sun was complementing the blue sky. Students outside are all walking busily, not even noticing how great the day was. She might’ve thought, ‘Is everyone here like this?’, intending to stop her observation, when something rather interesting caught her attention. A seemingly naïve boy, holding his backpack, is looking at the sky with that weird smile etched on his face.

‘He’s looks so weird with that smile of his,’ Tracy thought, ‘but he looked kind of cute...’, giggling at her own thought. Unconsciously, she also started smiling. A simple smile – an expression that can brighten up someone’s day.  She suddenly had this urge to know him, to talk to him, and watch him smile some more.  But she can’t find the courage to do that and she thought it would be strange.  She just couldn’t make up her mind, so Tracy just watched as the boy went his way. Contrary to her belief, her day went well, as if the boy’s smile was a charm that casted out the misfortunes in her way.

Fate must have been good to her. Once in a week, in the same veranda where she first saw him, she would see him walking in the corridor, wearing the same smile that made her notice him. Unknowingly, it became her habit. The urge to know him came back, and this time stronger. She felt like must do something.

She began to write a note to him. Contemplating…Thinking…Trying to find the right words to say to a complete stranger. Draft after draft; Crumpling sheets of paper one after the other. She knows what she wants to say but the words are swimming in her head, very difficult to organize. It feels as though they’re not enough to convey her feelings wholly.

“Don’t over think, Tracy”, she said to herself, “you can do this.”

She continued writing, all of a sudden feeling energized. His smile - one thought and it made her think straight, made her write what she wants to tell him as if the organization of words doesn’t matter and the ideas came flooding. Words she thought were hard to string are flowing like a stream; And she thought of the perfect words to say to him.

October 26, 2012, Wednesday

HELLO! :D

- T

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Earlier than usual, she went to her spot.  She wanted to have time to prepare for the crazy thing she was about to do. “Giving a note to a stranger? Who does that?”, she murmured to herself. But she wanted to try her luck. For once in her life, she wanted to be brave, to do something out of her comfort zone. Her heart was racing; her hands were cold because of nervousness. Despite it, she tried to smile, feeling the breeze blowing from outside the building just like the first time she saw him.

At that moment, the classes for the period ended. Students started rushing to their next classes. Tracy’s eyes scanned every student who passed by, knowing that any moment he will pass by her favourite spot to go to his next class. As expected, the boy came, and of course with that usual smile of his. She gathered up all the courage she could possibly get and walked up to him to give him a note. She blocked his way, smiled to him and said, “Hi. Someone wanted to give you this.” He smiled back, accepting the note, and they both walked away.

She watched him from afar, trying to guess what he will do next. She actually thought that he will throw away the small piece of paper given to him by a stranger. But to her relief, he read it as he walked to his next class. He read it with the usual smile he wears, as if overwhelmed and taken aback by a stranger’s unexpected gesture. Tracy watched him as he seems to be reading the note a little too long. With only a word written on that note, she was thinking why he was staring at it. The boy then scratched the back of his head and smiled. He then looked back, trying to see if the girl who gave him the note was still there, but he could not find her. Tracy was hiding, surprised by the thing she actually did. The good thing was that she saw everything. She noticed that his smile got brighter, if that’s even possible. Tracy sighed and smiled to herself. She somehow felt relieved that she succeeded with her crazy plan.