Fateful Encounter

The afternoon is nearly over, and I am so relieved. School has been such a drainer lately, and I just want to go home and sleep. I look at the clock. Ugh. 15 minutes left. It feels like the hands on the clock aren’t moving at all. I feel my phone vibrate twice, and I’m glad for the distraction. When the teacher turns to write on the board, I quickly check my phone.

hey hey it’s Friday! You know what that means.. we’re gonna get busyyyy ;))

Haha just kidding. I have a surprise for you. Meet me at the pond after school!

My heart beats faster reading his texts, and I feel giddy. Im curious about his surprise, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I just want to see his face, and to hug him.
The bell finally rings, and I gather my books and leave as fast as possible. I’ve never been a person who had any friends. It’s always been me, myself and I- until he came along.

~Flashback~
I sat under a tree as I at my lunch, and watched all the other students sitting in their groups and doing the same. I’ve been labeled as the ‘loner’ since the start, but I don’t mind too much. I finished my food, and was about to leave, when the tree’s branches started to shake. Before I could even get up, someone fell onto the ground next to me, laughing uncontrollably.
‘He doesn’t go here…’ was my first thought. It was true, too.
He looks up from his position on the ground, his brown eyes widened and he scrambled up.
“I’m sorry! Did I startle you?”
I was dumbfounded. He was much taller than I thought he would be.
“Oh, no. It’s ok. I was just leaving, anyway…” I mumble. ‘Damn it JJ, get yourself together! It’s not the first time you’ve spoken to a guy.’ My inner voice snapped.

“Great! Don’t tell anyone, ok?” He grinned, his teeth were white and his eyes sincere.
“Yeah. Sure I wont.”
“Thanks! We’ll just get going. We don’t want trouble.” We?? I look up into the tree’s foliage and see faces staring at me. I let out a startled yelp, and the all begin laughing. The guys start climbing down from the tree, and they the clamber over the fence. They wave to me, and then leave.

Of course, I would have been delusional to think that I would ever see them again, but I found myself wanting to be near them, and wishing I had had the courage to befriend them. It sucked that I let my shyness control me. Because of it, I missed out on so many great chances. Well, maybe it was fate, because the next week, as I sat down beneath the tree, the guy who had fallen from the tree climbed over the fence and sat down with his lunch.

“I like this spot.” He said cheerfully.
“Uhh..yeah..” I was in an odd predicament. I wanted desperately to make friends, but I would probably come off as creepy. So instead, I asked, “Uhh.. so… what school are you from?”
“The one down the road. There’s never anywhere quiet to eat, so I come over here sometimes. None of the teachers care if you leave, so why not, right?” He grinned, and I felt my stomach flip. “What about you? Why do you always seem to be by yourself?”
“Oh. I haven’t really made any friends. Too much trouble, haha..” I didn’t want him to keep going down this path, and thankfully, he realized this by changing the topic.

We chatted for the rest of lunchtime, and I felt like it was just us two in that corner of the school, in our own world. No one could ruin this. Of course, all good things must come to an end, and as I stood up to return to class and he clambered over the fence, we exchanged numbers.
“I’ll see you later, TJ.” He smiles.
“Yeah. See you…??” It struck me that I didn’t know his name, and I feel my cheeks redden.
“Kai.”
“Yeah. See you, Kai.”

Notes