I live in a densely populated province where competition for the college entrance examination is extremely fierce. Luochuan High School is the best key high school in the province, producing dozens of students who get admitted to Tsinghua and Peking Universities every year. Getting into Luochuan High School is like having one foot in the door of a prestigious university. Although I was considered a smart student in our town, at Luochuan High School, I might just be another ordinary student.
For most students, attending the opening ceremony is probably boring. The amiable class teacher was enthusiastically saying, "Dear students of Class 7, I hope today you take pride in Luochuan High School, and tomorrow Luochuan High School takes pride in you..." While he was speaking animatedly on the podium, I was dozing off. It was drizzling outside, the kind of weather perfect for sleeping. My drowsy gaze wandered until it landed on a girl in a white dress, sitting by the classroom window in the front row.
The rain created a hazy white mist on the glass. The girl was drawing random lines on the glass, which looked like willow branches swaying in the breeze or the most beautiful waves on a beach. The rain kept hitting the glass, turning it misty again. As she drew and erased, the lines seemed like poems written by a fairy's wand in the air, visible only to the lucky or unlucky ones.I couldn't tell if it was the girl's carefree demeanor or her serene contentment that attracted me, but I was mesmerized, watching her intently.
Gradually, I couldn't hear the teacher's speech anymore, nor the patter of the rain outside. The world was so quiet; it felt like the whole classroom only had her and me. I stared at her freely, unable to look away, as if my gaze couldn't exist without her face.
"Hey, buddy, what are you staring at?" Suddenly, a pair of big eyes appeared from my side.
"Nothing, nothing, just watching the rain," I stammered, trying to cover my tracks.
"Tsk tsk, you were almost drooling. Forget about her, she's my middle school classmate, the school beauty, and a pack of wolves are eyeing her," he said, winking at me.
"I'm Superman," he patted my shoulder. "Matt Damon."
"You're pretty tall, play basketball?" This guy seemed very bored. Reluctantly, I brought my gaze back. "I used to play forward." Superman seemed excited. "Haha, after our military training ends, there's a freshman basketball tournament. If we can get a good ranking, it might help you with the girls." "Really?" My eyes suddenly lit up.
As soon as the class teacher finished speaking, Superman dragged me to experience Luochuan High School's basketball court. As I passed by her, I took a serious look at her profile, trying to remember her face, but only remembered the delicate dimple at the corner of her mouth.
The day after the opening ceremony, all freshmen were taken to a military training base in the suburbs of Luochuan for a two-week training camp. The boys in our class quickly bonded; there's probably no place like a military camp to forge friendships among boys. Everyone knew about the basketball tournament a month later. The boys agreed to go to the basketball court after training that day to form a team and discuss training.
There were over twenty boys in the class, and about seven or eight of them were good at basketball and had decent physical fitness. After training ended that day, a group of us excitedly headed to the basketball court.