Lance's POV:
[FLASHBACK]
(1 year ago)
I'm a Grade 9 student this year... Just one more year and I will graduate from Junior High School. Before I think about what's going to happen to me in the future, I need to focus on the present.
After I entered the school gate, I headed towards the bulletin board where the students are crowding together desperately looking for their names.
Where is it? Where is my name?
I squinted my eyes to be able to see the small letters clearly when someone suddenly called me.
"Hey Lance!" My friend Janella greeted me.
"Oh, hi Janella! Where's Paul?"
"I'm here bro!" Paul showed up from the crowd.
As expected, they are really together. Paul and Janella are my best friends ever since Grade 7. The two of them are also a couple.
"Good morning Paul and Janella! Do you already know what classroom are you two in?"
"Good news, bro! Janella and I are classmates again this year. We're in Section 4. We've been classmates for 3 consecutive years! Can you believe that?!" Paul answered cheerfully while smiling blissfully.
"Yes, yes. Good for you! It's like even destiny wants you two to be together always."
"How about you Lance? Did you already find your name on the class lists?" Janella asked.
"Nope, not yet. Can I ask the two of you the favor of helping me to look for it?"
"Of course!" Paul agreed.
The three of us looked for my name and not too long, I saw it.
"There it is! I'm in Section 1. Awww. It's such a shame that I'm not together with you guys." I said dissapointedly.
"What are you talking about, bro?! If anything, you're much more lucky because the three Goddesses of this school will be your classmates."
"What? Three Goddesses?"
"Haven't you heard of them before? As expected of a person that doesn't care a thing about rumors. They're famous because aside from being the top three rankers in our school, they are also known as the 'Three Goddesses' of our school. Not only are they smart but also beautiful. It's such a shame that none of them have boyfriend. I think all of the students already know about them except for you, Lance." Paul said sarcastically.
"That's right! Not just male students but also female students look up to them. Do you know that every girl's dream here in Glistening High is to become as perfect as those three?" Janella added.
"Ahhh... Is that so? I'm sorry but I never really heard about them before."
"You're really oblivious in many things, Lance. That's the reason why up until now, you've never had a girlfriend. You should already know how to love by this time." Paul advised me.
"Ok, let's stop chatting now. We should go to our classroom soon before we become late. Then, I'll see you again Lance! Good luck!" Janella cheered on me.
"Yeah! See you around!"
I looked for a classroom with a sign '9-1' above the door. And when I saw it, I immediately entered and glanced at the seats with names on it. I am walking towards my assigned seat when shrieking sounds were heard outside the classroom.
Our classmates surrounded the three girls the moment they entered the classroom. I already knew that those three are the famous girls that Janella and Paul are talking about earlier when I saw how the people around them reacted.
"Good morning, Sophia! How did your vacation with Elaine and Janna went?" One of the flocking girls said.
"It's alright. It's really fun since we went to beach this year. What about you, Leanne? How is it going with your boyfriend?"
"We also went on a beach together. It's really hard to convince my parents to go with him on a beach in the neigboring city for 4 days and 3 nights but fortunately, they agreed eventually. Here are some chocolates for the three of you. It's a new product so you probably haven't tasted it before."
"Thank you! You really know me. You even bought me chocolate that I really love."
"You're welcome! I'm glad that it made you really happy. Anyway, your seat is on the back row while Elaine and Janna are seating beside each other in front."
"Thank you for informing us, Leanne. We'll go to my seat now. We'll talk later."
"Yeah!"
I listened to their conversation and I heard that one of the famous girls have her assigned seat on the back. I already had a hunch that she'll sit beside me because I saw her heading towards me. And my hunch was never wrong... She really is my seatmate.
"Hey! It's the first time that became classmates, right? Can we be friends? It's only natural for seatmates to be friends since we'll be taking care of each other for this whole school year, right? My name's Sophia Bailey. I'm looking forward to working with you." She initiated the conversation.
"Aahh! Yes! I'm Lance! Lance Ford! It's an honor to be your friend. Please take care of me this year!"
We became close friends naturally afterwards since we're helping each other whenever someone needs help on school works and on top of that, the two of us are always being paired up whenever there are pair activities.
~End of Flashback~
Since then, we've became good friends. It's sad to say that we're not seatmates this year anymore but it's a good thing that we're still classmates. We've been together for 2 years and I already saw her different faces: being happy, excited, angry, flustered, sad, scared, surprised and upset. I find all of her reactions very charming. I've also seen how kind-hearted and humble she is despite being the top placer throughout the whole school. I love everything about her. But I have no intention of letting her know about this feelings of mine for now, because I know that she's still not ready to love. She's always surrounded by people whom she treats as friends that's why I don't think she's even aware on what 'Love' is all about. I don't want to ruin our friendship that's why I'll wait no matter how long it takes for her to become ready in 'Love'.