Every love has a story. How you first met. Who said the first word.
Even mine does.
Seven o'clock is not the time anyone will think of falling in love. But as our worlds collided, we did just that. In a moment...
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Chapter 22
We wore dark red shirts that day. It had the school logo printed on the front and the word SENIOR on the back. Only the colors had changed over the years, but the design remained the same. It was like a souvenir after four years of attending this school. This was our final one.
When I observed the field, I saw that there were girls who had rolled up the sleeves of their shirts, like Ariel and Jane. I was wearing it like usual, letting it hang loose. It was a little big for my size, because I ended up putting medium size after my name when they passed around the order form. I'd probably fit in a small-sized shirt, but I always hesitated to get one, thinking of all the drawbacks if it would be too small for me. You could fix a loose shirt, but there was nothing much to be done about a small one.
It was Thursday, the first day of our Sports Festival. Brooks and I were hiding from the sun, choosing a shaded spot beside the basketball goal. The Sports Festival committee decided to use the outdoor court for the games today, because they were setting up the gym for the board games that were scheduled for the afternoon.
The team captains were called by the referee to play toss coin. We couldn't see what side landed on the referee's hand. But after a beat, the freshmen's team captain held her hand up in a fist, indicating that the ball was theirs.
"I hope we win, Ela," Brooks said, clasping her hands in nervousness.
I nodded.
A long whistle started the first quarter. Brooks and I watched in anticipation as the game unfolded in front of us. Ariel was sitting on the bench for the first half, but you could tell that she was just as tense as her teammates. Jane was able to score four points during the first quarter, but it didn't get them the lead.
Everyone in our class had gathered around this side of the court, together with the other seniors from each section, since we were all on the same team. The court was packed with people, but it didn't miss the corner of my eyes when they passed by. Perhaps one could call it intuition. After all, it had become a habit that I would look for him first thing each morning.
When he had appeared, despite the crowd, I saw him arrive. He took a seat on the right side of the court, near the scorer's table. He was wearing a black baseball cap and his jersey, since he was going to play the men's basketball game later.
I didn't know what he had been doing for the last two days. We'd lost track of each other's whereabouts, because we had no more reason to be curious about what the other person was doing. I only saw him whenever we were hanging out in a group during lunch.
"Is that..." It only took a while before Brooks also saw them sitting on the bench beside the scoreboard.
I couldn't answer at first. There were no words that could describe how hard it hit me. When I saw them talking, laughing at some joke shared between the two of them, I turned my head and looked away.
