Chapter 1
“Aren't you going home yet?” He says as he puts his hand out to catch the drops.
“I’ll wait and hope this rain will end after a few minutes. Then I’ll go home.” She replies.
“Don’t you have an umbrella?” He asks.
“I have.”
“Then why aren't you leaving?”
“Because I hate getting my shoes wet.”
He looks down to her feet.“They’d still get wet even if the rain stops though.”
“Not if I’m careful.”
“This sky might not calm down for a while, I guess.”
“I’ll just wait.”
“It’ll get really dark-”
“You know, you can go first.”
“Do you really want to stay here alone?”She looks behind and notices the room was bare.
“Fine.” She says. She opens up her bag and grabs her umbrella. She goes down the stairs and he hops down with her. She pops it open and looks at him for a moment.“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” She says and she plunges down with the drops.
She leaves him there, staring at her. He was right. Her shoes start to get damp despite carefully avoiding the puddles of mud. She feels the sound of splash behind her back. She knows in that instant he was catching up to her. She increases her pace, but he reaches her just before she arrives at the gate. He wriggles from her side and fits himself under her roof.
“Bummer. It’s small.” He has the nerve to complain.
“Wow! That’s quite a lovely move. I thought you had yours?!” She shrieks.
He ignores her question and covers her lips with his index finger. “Yes, I know, I know. I’ll hold it for you, anyway.”
Adjacency. On their second year, she is seated next to him. She had straight hair and a rather curvy attitude. He rolls his eyes to his side so he can see her without moving his head. He catches her looking at him, and his iris retreats back forward. He doesn't talk and she doesn't make a sound. He doesn't ask her what she was called, and she doesn't tell him her name. They were strangers, and they weren't doing anything to change that.
IDs. He gets close to her most of the time. He sees she had quite the interest plastered on her face. He drums the chairs with his hands, amidst the noise they have in background, but she tells him to stop after a while because he was out of tune. He just laughs.
“Wanna do something that doesn't have any sense and purpose at all?” His mouth rises on the corners.
Her brows scrunch for a moment, but she doesn't say a word. He moves one hand on the collar of his neck. He lifts up the cord over his head and it frees from it. His identity hangs on the far end of the loop and he puts it on her desk.
“Come on then, give me yours.” He says.
She rolls her eyes, but she takes off her ID. She watches as he puts it on him, then his friends call from behind. He flashes her a thumbs up before leaving. She looks at his picture on her desk. He was grinning there, like he always does.
Cards. They are playing cards. Her numbers are awful. She can tell the she will lose the current round again. He comes up behind her and his eyes scan her cards. She notices this, though she doesn't mind. She also notices how he went behind the other players, secretly looking up theirs. She reckons he must be really bored. It was her turn to throw something in. He comes back near her. He whispers something in her ear, but the others don’t notice. He keeps this routine until the game ends.
She didn't lose, at least for that round.
Bus Rides. They were having a field trip that day. When she enters the bus, the teacher was already pointing on seats where each student should sit on. The teacher looks at her blankly, then her finger points to the empty spot beside him. She witnesses his grin and she sits down next to him.
The drive was long and he was talking. His stories were ridiculous and she was laughing. She checks her bag and finds she forgot to bring her earphones. She looks at him.
“What?” He says.
“I forgot my earphones.” She says.
“Wanna share mine?” He invites.
“Your music choice is awful.” She judges. She takes the other piece on her ear, still.
He looks at her minutes later. It was her turn to say “what?”.
“If I hurl, what would you do?”
“Please don’t.” She says. “I’ll sit at the back or anywhere just not near here if you suddenly do that.”
“What if I really will?”
She grabs something from her bag and hands it to him. “You throw up in there and do it quietly.”
He laughs. “I’m just kidding.” He chuckles. “But could we exchange seats?”
So they exchange seats and the wind flaps on her hair. She opens her bag and she brings out her food. “Remember that time I saw you at the grocery store and you made me pick which tastes better?”
“Yeah.” He replies.
“The other one was actually better.”
“Yep. Figured that out when I got home. Thanks for that.” He says sarcastically.
“Do you have anything… not so salty?” She asks.
He rummages his bag.
“This is not so salty.” He pulls the chip out, while her eyes open with excitement.
“They still sell that? I haven’t tasted that for years! Can we swap? You can have this.”
“No.”
She frowns. “Come on.” She insists.
“You have anything chewy in there?” He asks.
“Yeah. A couple of candies.”
“Those candies and that food in your hand.” He says.
She rolls her eyes. “Deal.” They exchange food.
And when she opens up the chips, she realizes how stupid they were. “You know we can just share the food.” She says.
“I know.” He replies. “The exchange was kind of ridiculous.” He pauses. “But we can’t share the drinks, obviously.” He looks at her curiously. “You have apple juice?”
She looks through her bag.
