The door opened. I held my breath and waited to see who it was.
"Jina," I heard a familiar voice.
The door opened and out stepped Julie and Grace. I was relieved and came out of my hiding place as well. For the rest of the hour, the three of us sat in the doctor's office until the bell rang.
The hours passed more leisurely, with me still hiding in the classroom during breaks and during class time being so quiet that it was as if I didn't exist.
The days went by without anything special happening. I hid inside the school, my friends covered for me and he hasn't seen me since that day, during gym time.
But that didn't last long.
Two weeks later.
Like every day, I was the last one to enter the classroom that day.
Not because I was late, but because it was the only way to prevent someone from coming to talk to me. So I went unnoticed.
The hours went by as usual with no change in the daily routine. During recess I would go to the library with Julie and Grace and during class time I would sit quietly at my desk. And finally it was time to school was over.
This time of the day, every time, I made sure I was the first to leave. But that day I didn't make it.
Because on my way out, I noticed someone else coming out with me. He was running right behind me.
I was running as fast as I could to get to the entrance gate when I heard someone calling me.
"Jina! Jina, wait a minute!"
I didn't stop. I was too scared to stop. But this someone kept following me.
"Jina," came the voice again, "wait, I want to talk to you."
I yelled in surprise without looking to see who it was.
"No, don't follow me."
"But I want to tell you something."
"Stop following me, I can't talk to you, I'm in a hurry."
I kept running with all my strength when I felt a hand grab my shoulder.
We both stopped, running out of breath from all the running. We had already come out of the school gate and were now on the street.
"What do you want anyw--" I turned to look at who stopped me and was surprised to see the boy I liked standing in front of me.
"I wanted to talk to you. Why didn't you stop when I called out to you?"
"And why didn't you stop when I told you to?"
"Why should I stop? You were running without looking back."
"I was in a hurry. And what do you want, anyway?"
He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then said, "Where do you live? I'm walking you home."
"'Why? I can go by myself."
"I'll go with you there."
"Don't you dare follow me again."
"But... but there's something I want to tell you"
I thought about it for a while. No matter how shy I felt, I didn't have to refuse. Besides, it wouldn't
be polite.
"All right then."
We walked together and my heart was beating very fast. My home was neither too close nor too far away.
The minutes ticked by and he hadn't said a word. So I decided to break the ice.
"How do you know my name? I don't remember us ever being introduced or talking."
"Oh, I'm Alex. I asked your friends while you were in the doctor's office the day your stomach hurt and they told me your name."
"Julie and Grace? They didn't tell me."
"I told them not to tell you. I was going to come in the next day to ask you if you were okay, but you seem to be avoiding me."
"No...I wasn't avoiding you. I've just been very busy this week."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Why would I be avoiding you? I don't know you."
"Right, maybe I misunderstood."
"That's what happened, you misunderstood me. But don't worry, everything's fine."
"I'm glad everything's okay. The truth is I didn't know why you were acting like that and I was worried that you were mad at me for some reason. That day when your stomach hurt and I took you to the doctor's office I wanted to sit with you to keep you company, but the school doctor wouldn't let me"
I was surprised. I had no idea it was him.
"Was it you? I didn't know and I didn't thank you."
Alex smiled.
"You don't have to thank me. When I saw you suddenly fall down, it was the only thing I could think of to help you."
"Anyway, thank you so much for that day."
I felt really bad, like I was cheating on him. But I couldn't tell him the truth, that I was lying to avoid him. That would have been even worse.
We finally got home. But I wanted time to stop, to be with him for a little while longer. To walk, to talk together. But that was impossible. I waved goodbye to him and went inside the house. I was overjoyed, my dreams had come true.
His name is Alex. He has the most beautiful name I've ever heard. Why didn't I think to find out his name earlier? Do you think we'll be friends now? What a beautiful day today! There is no better feeling than the one I felt today while talking to Alex. I was thinking.