1. A look back
If I had known how much that day would matter, I would’ve paid more attention.
I would’ve remembered the exact moment I first saw him.
I would’ve listened more carefully when Sally said his name.
Maybe I would’ve noticed the way he kept his notebook close to him, as if there were things inside it he wasn’t ready to share with anyone.
But I didn’t know any of that then.
To me, it was just the first day of school.
A new classroom.
A new timetable.
A hallway full of unfamiliar faces.
And me, standing in the middle of all of it, wondering how long it would take before this place stopped feeling like somewhere I didn’t belong.
I didn’t know that somewhere in that ordinary morning, I was about to meet someone who would become one of the most important people in my life.
I didn’t know we’d become best friends.
I didn’t know I’d eventually know his silences as well as his words.
I didn’t know I’d spend years wishing I could go back to that first day and change something.
Because that’s the cruel thing about beginnings.
You never know you’re standing at one until it’s already become a memory.
And sometimes, by the time you understand what something meant to you, it’s already too late.
That morning, though, I knew none of that.
I was just alone.
Until Sally spoke to me.
