the untitled story of someone unknown

She has been the apple of my eye since i started middle school. I couldn’t really say that i like or adore her- or something but there’s this thing that i couldn’t help but admire every time i see her.

Infatuation? Nah….

Admiration? More likely…

i don’t know her that much (except for her name), although we’re studying under the same roof, we’re sitting beside each other, and we usually talk-you know, school stuff. There was this sort of barrier between us. I don’t dislike her and she doesn’t dislike me either. Maybe that’s the barrier…we don’t dislike each other much, but we do talk-sometimes- at least.

Yes, we talk.

It was a sunny Monday (or was it Tuesday?). Our teacher instructed us to group ourselves into three for a miniature boat-building activity. The room shook as my classmates rushed and hold on to each other in threes. Coincidentally, she and I were the last ones left (we are 35 in our class). Because there are only 11 sets of materials (another coincidence-yeah right!), our teacher gave both of us a special job, to monitor our classmates while they construct their boats.

“Make sure they don’t copy each other’s boat designs,”our teacher firmly said,”I’m warning you, you are in charge. If there are copied designs…”, Miss Narumi stressed not finishing the last phrase so as to emphasize our poor fate.

And so, the poor little babies were left in the caring hands of me and her. For some unknown reason i felt kinda happy. Well i shouldn’t really be. Could it be because I’m with her?

Of course not!

i told myself that i was happy because I’m exempted from the activity. Heheheh. A devilish smile lightened my face.

“Why are you smiling?”she asked me and my sinister thoughts vanished into thin air. Her inquiring eyes perplexed me.

“Nothing”, I lied.

Then there was silence. The oh-so-familiar silence.

“I’m just happy that i’m exempted from the activity”, I added a few minutes later.

“Though…”, she couldn’t finish. She was obviously nervous about what might happen if we fail to meet Miss Narumi’s expectations.

I held her hand. She’s so fragile.

…..

“It’s gonna be okay”, I told her. For the first time in my life I felt an invisible connection towards someone. Her simple gestures: the way she brushes her bans away from her face; the way her mouth moves when she speaks;and the way her soulful eyes look at you when she speaks; all contribute to this Cloud 9 feeling I’m having.

We continued talking and then we stopped. We realized that we haven’t monitored our classmates. We laughed. Her eyes sparkled.

From that moment i realized that she’s someone special. She’s not the ordinary apple of my eye anymore. It’s like she’s someone i haven’t seen before.

She looks different now.

…..

it feels different now. It feels even better.

…..

☻☻☻