Slap! A little blush and a lot of embarrassment. Laughter from the stupid high school kids around and a poor boy holding his hand where he was slapped and looking into the eyes of the girl he loves.
His name is Lucian. But don't worry about him. He gets slapped almost every week by the girl he's desperately in love with and chasing. I don't blame him for never giving up trying, even though he's a pathetic, perverted loser. Love is not a game for the faint-hearted.
But every man has his limits. This time the slap must have been too much for Lucian and a tear or two falls from his eyes as he is ashamed of being slapped once again after years of pain and labour.
Lucian thought for a moment, "Why do these bad things always happen to me? I wonder if I'm cursed with a bad curse or something. I've tried everything. I've suffered for years without getting her. What did I do to deserve this?"
Many unanswered questions were coming to his mind one after another. However, he did not have the courage to tell these questions to the face of the girl he loved.
As he stared into her eyes as if mesmerised, he was awakened by Larissa's voice.
"Aren't you ashamed to follow me around secretly? How many times have I warned you that I don't want to, that there can't be anything between us! Why don't you get that through your thick head?"
Lucian continued to stare at Larissa, who was shouting at him in anger. Oh my God, how could someone be so sweet even when she was shouting? At that moment, he felt that all the things he had done and the slaps he had received had not been in vain.
In fact, Lucian was more obsessed with being with Larissa than with love. He wanted her desperately, no matter what. He wanted her even in her ugliest and most neglected state.
Seeing that Lucian, who was still looking at her face like an idiot, did not react, Larissa became even more angry at his lack of reaction. As she was preparing for a second slap, the French teacher entered the classroom.
Larissa gritted her teeth. This idiot wasn't worth a warning.
Everyone took their seats. Lucian was still in the centre of the class. The teacher was not surprised by this. The whole school knew that Lucian had a strange personality.
He came up to him and said, "Lucian, are you from outer space? Why are you standing in the middle of the class and acting so weird?
The joke at school was that Lucian was supposed to be an alien from outer space, disguised as a human being. But an alien who was still learning human behaviour. Lucian, who was awakened by the teacher's voice and the mocking laughter of the other children in the class, rushed to his seat.
During the lesson, Lucian occasionally turned his eyes in the direction where Larissa was sitting and was always met with her terrifying stare. Frankly, he was getting scared of this situation. He was sure that Larissa would come for him as soon as the lesson was over and the teacher left the classroom.
While he was thinking about all this and secretly watching Larissa in the meantime, a hand touched his arm.
This was the hand of Caius, the best and only friend he ever had.
Caius told him, "Don't look that way any more, it will only make things harder for us."
Caius was the best friend a man could have. He was calm and intelligent and at the same time a successful student. Because of his cold-bloodedness, he was indifferent to all the events that happened to his friend Lucian today and was content to just watch. But as always, he had a plan, a solution for all this.
Lucian's best chance might have been to have a friend like Caius. These two friends, who had been inseparable since childhood, were the opposite of each other. Lucian was impatient and foolish, but he could also make bold moves. Caius, as if to balance him out, was a very calm, planned and conciliatory person.
Everyone around, including the other children and even the teacher, noticed the tension. Everyone was waiting for the bell to ring and the fun to start again. As soon as the teacher left the classroom.
And when the bell rang and the teacher left the classroom, Larissa got up from her seat and was walking towards Lucian with quick steps when something happened that no one expected.
Caius was in front of Larissa. Everyone was surprised, including Larissa. It wasn't like Caius to get involved in this sort of thing, but now it was done. Caius and Larissa found themselves facing each other, staring into each other's faces.
Larissa made a move and wanted to pass Caius, but Caius took another step and faced her again. This time Larissa could not remain unresponsive to this situation;
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get out of my way now! You don't want to get involved in the mess your stupid mate made, do you?"
Caius replied confidently and with a slight smile;
"Believe me, I don't think what he did was right, and I want you to know that I agree with you. Can you talk to me about it outside, just this once?"
Caius had made his usual gentlemanly and confident move. His strategic move had prevented Lucian from being slapped again and even embarrassed in front of the whole class.
Larissa took one last look at Lucian before going out with Caius. It was a look that summarised what he had yet to do. They went out together and were not seen for a long time.
When school was over, there was still no sign of them. The important thing for Lucian was that the day had somehow been saved by Caius. He was walking home with his school bag in his hand, whistling slowly. All the way he thought about what happened to him during the day. But after a while he didn't care. Someone had saved the day again instead of him anyway.
He came to the apartment block where he lived. He lived on the 4th floor. When he came home, he pressed the bell. His mother Elena opened the door. She said "welcome" to her son and let him in. Lucian lived with his mother Elena and his grandmother Matilda. His father worked for a company abroad. In general, they were a well-educated and beautiful family. Their financial situation was not bad either. Lucian could buy almost everything he wanted.
That evening Lucian retired to his room a little earlier. He switched off the lights and opened his window, and the room lit up again with the full moonlight pouring in. He wondered if Caius had managed to sort it out. He picked up the phone, but for some reason he didn't want to call. When he looked out of the window, he could already see where they both lived.
Yes, that's right. Caius and Larissa lived in neighbouring apartments in the same neighbourhood. When he looked in front of his window, he could see Larissa's window on the 4th floor and Caius' window on the 2nd floor of the apartment next to hers.
And yes, as he expected, that evening Larissa and some of her friends were sitting on the balcony talking. This was Lucian's favourite view of home. Watching her from the window for hours, waiting for her to arrive. It had been his favourite activity for the last two years.
Without showing himself too much, he put a chair behind the window. He picked up the night-vision binoculars he had specially bought to watch her. He started to watch her.
Oh my God! There was only one person as beautiful as her in this life, but he had last seen her when he was about 8 years old. Somewhere in that park. Now he was only 17 years old. But the intervening years couldn't make him forget her face. He remembered that moment like it was yesterday.
Lucian sighed. Crossed legs, coffee in one hand and that beautiful face. She was wearing short shorts and a simple nightdress. Her long red hair waved as the light spring wind blew. Big green eyes, tiny nose and lips. The girl, who was full of hate in the morning, was now happy and spending quite pleasant moments with her friends. She was happy. Without Lucian in her life.
Unlike Larissa, Lucian didn't want to spend a moment without her. He watched them until they came in, pessimistic and longing. Tomorrow was a new day, a new beginning.
He lay down on his bed, wondering if he could try new tricks and have the opportunity to talk to her again.
He looked at the moonlight coming from the window. Then a new hope blossomed in him.
"Why not? Why can't we be together?"
He had to sleep as soon as possible to see her in the morning. In the morning the sun would rise again for her, just like the moon was shining for her now.