You don't always realize when everything changes. Sometimes, it begins with a glance.Other times, it starts with losing something you thought you couldn't live without. For me, it was both.
--I met him on a regular school day—the kind that should've been forgettable.
He and his friends were just vibing, the usual boys laughing too loudly like they owned the moment. I was with my girls, walking past, trying to pretend I didn't notice him… even though I did.
Our eyes met for barely a second. It wasn't magic. Not yet. Just something that hung in the air like a spark refusing to die.
Later, his friend approached me.
"Are you a student here?"
It was so absurd I almost laughed. Like—you saw me in uniform, breathing the same school air, and that's the question you ask?
But I brushed it off. We walked away. It felt like nothing. Then my world cracked.
A stolen phone.
My lifeline.
Gone.
I don't remember how long I stood there when I found out. But I remember how it felt—like the air had been pulled out of my lungs. I ran home and Cried like it could reverse time. And just like that, everything stopped mattering.
Classes. Friends. Myself. He must've heard about it.
They all did.
Suddenly, he was at our apartment.
At first, I thought he was just tagging along to see his friend, Alex—the boy who lived in the same house. But he kept coming. Kept sitting longer. Kept stealing glances.
And I kept noticing.Despite myself. Despite the pride in his walk and the smugness in his smirk. He was annoying. Too cold. Too confident. But somehow, he made silence feel full
Then one evening, he asked me to stroll. I declined. Of course I did.
But he'd already planned everything.
My friend was whisked away by his boys, and suddenly it was just the two of us.
So I went. We didn't talk much at first. The quiet was thick.
But we walked. Step after step, into the kind of evening where the world feels slow and far away.
Then he started speaking—softly, calmly. About his friends. His life. Nothing deep, but it felt real.
We reached the end of the cement path, just before the trees.
A slim stream of water whispered nearby.
We sat at the edge, our feet hanging in the air. And he turned toward me.
That gaze...
It wasn't flirtatious. It wasn't rushed. It was searching. Deep. Bold. I couldn't hold it. I looked away.
He smiled.
"Why are you so quiet?" he asked.
"That's just how I am," I said. "Always been."
"I figured," he replied. "Even in school, you're like the stillness in a storm." I asked him why me. Out of all the loud, bold girls around him.
"Why chase me?" I said. "I'm not even... one of those types."
He looked at me like I was the only one in the world.
"There's something different about you," he said.
"I don't know what it is yet. But I want to find out." The way he said it… I wanted to believe him. That night, something shifted. The moon was low. The sky was endless.
And then his friends crashed the moment—laughing, teasing, screaming that "love is in the air!"
We laughed too.
Even though deep down…
Something inside me already knew this story wouldn't be simple.
Fast forward. The exam was over. Freedom tasted like music.
He came to drag us to the school's end-of-exam party. It was loud, chaotic, wild.
They handed us drinks—mixed, dangerous ones.
Everyone chanted.
"Drink! Drink! Drink!" I hesitated.
He took the cup from my hand. Drank it in one gulp.
Took my friend's. Did the same.
Then handed me a soft drink. Smiled.
Like he knew what I needed before I did. That night, he signaled his brother to dance with my friend—leaving me alone with him. We talked. I laughed. But I was watching them. Then his brother came for me too. Pulled me onto the dance floor. Held my waist. Raised my arms. But his eyes weren't kind. They were cruel. Judging Like I didn't belong.I smiled through it. But I couldn't fake it forever.
I left. He followed. Took me outside.
To a hotel. I sat on the bed. He came closer. Every inch between us shrinking. I shifted, unsure. He leaned in.
Whispered, "There's nowhere to run to."
His hand touched my thigh.
My heart thudded. His fingers were soft. Gentle.
He kissed my skin, slow like waves.
And I didn't stop him.
But I wished someone would.
A knock on the door.
His brother. My friend. Two others.
She saw me.
Ran to me.
Held me like salvation.
I whispered, "Thank God you came."
They begged us to stay the night.
We refused.
By the time we got home, it was 1:30 a.m.
We laughed with Alex, collapsed into sleep.
And just like that, it was the end.
Time to travel back home.
Of everything that came easy. We packed our bags.
At the park, he was there—Damien.
His brother too.- Richard
And two friends.
We said our goodbyes.
And I left.
But what I didn't realize was that part of me stayed behind.
With him.
In that walk.
That gaze.
That kiss that almost happened.
And now…
Whenever I think of love,
I think of the night I didn't run—
and how close I came to falling for him