Was it the best day of her life or a huge mistake?
Asmara was unable to make up her mind.
All she could say was that it was very unusual indeed.
"May I know your location? ", she typed as she walked past the park's front gate.
The scenery bathed beautifully in the sun's dazzling gaze as Asmara used her hands to shed some sunlight.
She detested the heat.
After a brief pause, the girl received a message.
"Near the lake."
Asmara flashed a smile as it was her favorite area of the park.
She then checked her fringe in the front camera for the twentieth time that day.
Thankfully, the weather wasn't particularly windy, or she wouldn't have been able to feel as confident as she did.
She liked wind, but unfortunately, it was a one sided-love.
Like always...
"Ok," she mumbled, drawing closer and closer by the second.
The soothing ambiance of nature made the location the ideal summer getaway.
Sadly, Asmara wasn't so certain about this getaway.
Did she make the wrong decision?
Did she?
The girl inhaled deeply, gave her hair one last look, and then started to type.
She was already there. There was no going back. She wasn't a coward, was she?
No...right?
"'I am here'... no, 'look up'... too weird... argh, why am I so...", she mumbled with frustration as her fingers tapped on the screen.
She was still struggling when she noticed Shayne waving at her from a distance.
He was seated on a bench with his backpack resting on his lap, not far away.
Asmara exhaled, rolled her eyes, and walked over, cursing at her past stupidity.
"It's just a guy after all...", she muttered to herself as she took off her backpack and sat down next to him.
"Hi.", he started.
"Hi..."
There was then an awkward pause before Shayne started laughing.
Asmara made an effort to compose herself.
"Emm... anyhow...", she started, embarrassed.
The girl kept her eyes of an icy gaze out of reflex.
"Yeah, anyhow. So... You said you wanted me to tutor you in math?", the boy answered, regaining his composure.
"Maybe. I mean, yes."
"Okay! Why are you wearing a mas-"
"Let's just study, please."
They then pulled out their notebooks and got to work.
It was more interesting than Asmara thought it would be.
Shayne was actually quite bright and nice to be around.
Not that he changed much from the Shayne she knew from school.
It was just that, here, she didn't need to care.
She didn't need to be 'Asmara Flores'.
That's why time passed without her knowing it.
"So... the formula for (a+b+c)2 is...", started the girl, thinking that maybe math wasn't all that difficult.
"a2+b2+c2+2ab+2bc+2ca because (a+b+c)2 can be written as (a+b+c)∗(a+b+c). Therefore, (a+b+c)2=(a+b+c)∗(a+b+c) =a(a+b+c)+b(a+b+c)+c(a+b+c)=a2+ab+ca+ab+b2+bc+ca+bc+c2 =a2+b2+c2+ab+ab+bc+bc+ca+ca =a2+b2+c2+2ab+2bc+2ca(a+b+c)∗(a+b+c)."
"And... I didn't get it."
Or maybe it was.
She sighed.
"But you did get that super hard chemistry one that I totally missed today...", suddenly said her... friend...?
"You mean... K4[Fe(SCN)6] + K2Cr2O7 + H2SO4 → Fe2(SO4)3 + Cr2(SO4)3 + CO2 + H2O + K2SO4 + KNO3?"
"Whatever you just said.", he chuckled.
Her hazel eyes lit up.
"Well, we know that it has 8 atoms: K, Fe, S, C, N, Cr, O and H. We start with Method 1. Start with K since it's the first atom you'll encounter from the left. Then count the number of Ks, we have 6 Ks here. Ok...now on with the right. Looks like a total of 3 K on the right. The first question to ask yourself is, how should you balance K? You'll need to "double" the K counts on the right, but then which term should you start with – K2SO4 or KNO3? We'll leave K for now. Then Fe, that seems easier. You have 1 on the left and 2 on the right. Right? You can do this....add a "2" on the left, in front of K4[Fe(SCN)6], so now you should have: 2 K4[Fe(SCN)6] + K2Cr2O7 + H2SO4 → Fe2(SO4)3 + Cr2(SO4)3 + CO2 + H2O + K2SO4 + KNO3. Fe is balanced, for now. 7 more atoms to go... So...", explained Asmara as she scribbled on a small piece of paper that she had torn from her notebook.
And the explanation went on.
During the entire time, her companion was staring at her the same way she had been staring at him just a while earlier.
A blend of admiration and amazement.
"So that's why it's 6 K4[Fe(SCN)6] + 97 K2Cr2O7 + 355 H2SO4 → 3 Fe2(SO4)3 + 97 Cr2(SO4)3 + 36 CO2 + 355 H2O + 91 K2SO4 + 36 KNO3.", she finished.
Asmara's whole features had softened up.
Her big doe eyes had dilated into a pure Caribbean green like they always did under the sunlight.
She looked more... like herself.
She wasn't aware of that, though, but then that was the whole point.
"So, it's like that?", lastly asked the boy, scribbling a formula on his hand.
"More like this...", corrected Asmara as she added a pair of parentheses.
There was a short silence in which Shayne studied the result.
"I think I got it!"
A small smile crept up the girl's face.
"We still didn't finish the math though...", she remarked.
"Oh, yeah, the math!"
They then went on to discuss the challenging topic again.
A topic that was both vast, difficult and mysterious, just like Asmara both loved and hated.
"So, is it like that?", she asked after a while.
"Yeah, you got it now! After three hou-"
Three hours?
Asmara suddenly jumped up, her books tumbling to the floor.
"It took three hours? It's five PM?", she asked, startled.
Shayne glanced at her, amused.
"You're the one who has a wat-"
"Yeah, okay, thanks, sorry, bye!", cried the girl as she frantically picked up her belongings.
She then ran off, leaving the boy dumbfounded.
He chuckled.
"Hopefully my parents aren't home yet-", Asmara thought, her jet-black hair blowing in the wind.
A sigh was let out.
She was afraid to even consider what might occur if they were.
She wasn't really sure, but... what if...
There were so many what-ifs in her life... Why couldn't she just turn the voice off?
That very thought propelled her, doubling her speed, hence making her arrive in no time.
At that point, she couldn't quite breathe properly.
Asmara heavily inhaled, then looked up.
The alleyway was clear. There was still hope.
She prayed silently as she took out her keys.
Was it worth it?
What if...
"No more what-ifs."
She needed to make a change.
Stop stressing over small pebbles when she still had mountains to carry.
Despite thinking 'positively', her hand was still shaking as the key was inserted.
At this point, sweat was dripping down her forehead.
Asmara inhaled deeply, assembled all of her courage, then finally opened the door.
She was met with utter silence.
The brunette groaned and collapsed to the ground.
Another one of her unneeded anxiety attacks, if you could call that feeling that.
Yet she was used to it.
What she wasn't used too, though, was something else.
The question kept popping in her head when she felt the cold temperature of the marble floor send a shiver up her spine.
How could time possibly fly by so quickly?
She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
It felt like 3 minutes, not 3 hours...
Why did everything suddenly seem so simple?
Why did she feel so...
...Free?