For the weather glowed on that morning and the birds chattered on the little road that led me away from home. The trees didn’t shade the way of the sun as it lit me up and filled my body with butterflies. My favorite smell of magnolias and the morning grass permeated through the air and I had the biggest of grins on my face. 

Then like usual, I took the small alleyway that cut through the main blocks. When I finally came out from the other side, the sky was no longer nice. The smell of cigarettes and garbage carried throughout and even when back out into the sunlight, nothing could take that smell away. Trying to get rid of it, I put on some perfume. 

I slowed down my pace as soon as I entered the classroom. Cali called my name from the corner of the classroom. I walked quickly towards her with a grin on my face. 

“Reina! How’s your weekend been?” 

“Good-” 

“A new student is coming today,” my friend Cali said excitedly, cutting me off. I raised my eyebrows and the corners of my lips tilted upwards. I thought back to all the teen romance books I read during the long weekend break. 

“How come? Why now?” I asked.

Cali shrugged, “dunno, but I hope he’s hot.” I let out a laugh and raised my eyebrows dramatically. I shook my head. 

Then a knock sounded at the door, I turned around sharply. 

“Hello? Is this Junior Biology B?” He walked through the door. I didn’t know if he just happened to stand under the sunlight, but as he walked in, he was shining as if he was a fairy, glowing with pixie dust. My movements slowed and my eyes were fixated on him. In my mind, I had already taken a million snapshots. 

He grinned and waved. I didn’t know who it was but someone next to the door had responded to him. Walking towards me, my heartbeat leaped and the center of my palm had begun to sweat. Unluckily for my previous blood pressure, he chose to sit right in front of me. 

The boy was a transfer from a school I had never heard of, but according to Cali was from the west side of the city. If he was from the west of the town, he must be pretty rich then. The west side was filled with extravagant hotels and skyscrapers and mansions that gazed majestically over. He must have been from a family as such.  

Suddenly, he turned around. My heart thumped. I could see his thick eyelashes and the abyss-like pair of black eyes. I gulped and took a small breath in before giving him a composed smile. Thank god I washed my hair that morning.

“Hey, can I please borrow a pen? Thank you!” He almost assured me my response before I’d answered.

I nodded and unzipped my pencil case, handing over my favorite pen. I gave him a shy grin and waited for him to ask for my name. But before he could, the teacher entered through the door, and he just nodded courteously before turning back around to face the front. 

A small smile appeared on my face. 

As the teacher moved on to the lecture, I found myself unable to hear a single word. All my attention was fixated on the boy in front of me. The pen in my hand began to move. I started with the tip of his hair. It was messy, but the messiness gave such a perfectly youthful aura that I found hard to depict. Then the perfect neckline that led onto his body. His shirt was plain white, yet it hugged his body perfectly. I made sure each curve looked exactly the same as the figure that stood in front of me. Each strand of hair had to be in the right place. I don’t remember the last time I was so fixated on an activity or an artwork. On my page, he was flawless-looking, and the snapshots of his face in my mind were ever so lucid. I smiled to myself and closed my notebook. 

It was just a crush at first, leaving as quickly as it came. For some reason, he stopped showing up to Biology; other than that, we had no classes together, so naturally, I wasn’t reminded of him again until Cali pointed him out a week later.

“Look!”

 “Like it’s not for it-”

 “Look! It’s him.” 

“Which one?” 

“Him! The new transfer? He was in Bio but he switched it into Physics. I don’t think he’s into the whole excursions every week thing. I wouldn’t blame him, it’s super expensive and a waste of time. For him, it’s probably a lot more of the reason, afterall, I heard he lives in the west side of the city.” 

I followed her gaze. 

There he stood. I couldn’t help but let my eyes rest on him if only for a few extra seconds. In his white polo, he threw his head back as he laughed. I made myself look away and turned my attention back to Cali.

“Do you like him?”

“Yeah, I do,” I surprised myself with the firmness of my words. 

“Well, I do too.”

Cheekily, she laughed, “well, who doesn’t like a good looking boy? I’m joking, you could take him if you want.” Then she pulled on my hand and led me into the salad section. I knew exactly what she was thinking. Biting my lips, I followed her. As she proceeded to talk, I nodded even though I couldn’t hear a single word she was saying.

Suddenly, I felt Cali push against me, it was light, but due to my lack of attention, I stumbled, and just as I found balance again, my books dropped to the ground. Feeling my cheeks flame, I bent down to grab my books only to bash my head against someone else. I looked up and our eyes met. The light dawned onto his face, and at that moment, he glowed iridescently. There were no other words to describe it. 

The feeling was ineffable. There was light and heat and my heartbeat accelerated to a speed I could barely fathom. I tried to control my breathing. 

Before I could take another look, he bent down again to gather my books. I stood frozen for a second before muttering, “thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks.”

He laughed and said, “you’re welcome. I’m Tom. You’re?”

“I’m Reina,” I smile before taking the books from him. I thanked him again before watching him move away with his friends. My cheeks were completely red and I buried my face into Cali’s shoulder. 

We didn’t have any interactions again until the very end of the term until curiosity finally got the best of me. Although we didn’t talk, I seemed to see him everywhere. I saw him chatting with the school gate guard, picking up trash after the middle school kids at the end of lunch, and I saw his name plastered on the model history essay that was shown to the class. Every time I saw him, it seemed as if he had taken away another part of my heart. It was an infatuation so intense.

That one afternoon when Cali once again repeated her question, I told her, ‘I would love him no matter what. I would love him even if he’s poor and he’s family dislikes me. I would love him just for the pure hearted person he is. How could a person ever look at him with anything but affection?’ She laughed and pursed her lips, ‘you are really in on this one.’

That day, at six pm in the afternoon, I was left alone in my school after my private parent-teacher conference, my heart was heavy. My parents were on a business trip when the rest of the grade had their parent-teacher. So instead, we had to have a private meet-up with the teacher. As usual, I haven’t exactly been doing well. Everyone knew I was one of the richer kids they accepted so they can constantly ask my parents for more donations. 

Then suddenly, I saw him. As if seeing a lighthouse in the middle of stranded waters, I sailed after it desperately. 

I followed after him—street after street, street after street. The sky began to darken, and the roads became thinner. The apartment houses were cramped on top of each other, the window bars were rusted, and cigarette butts were all over the tainted pedestrian paths. 

He finally stopped before a building. I look up. It was a short run-down concrete building, hidden behind two even taller apartments. There was no sunlight, and even the gate seemed quite broken. I waited. Maybe he was here to do charity? No way he would live there. 

As I watched from behind, he hesitated before going inside. The gate creaked as he pushed it, and his student id fell behind him, but he didn’t seem to notice. Slowly he knocked. At first, there was no response except a crashing sound. He waited patiently, and the door opened after a few minutes. A short woman opened the door and slammed it shut as soon as his body was through the door. I frowned. 

There was bound to be more. 

Hesitantly, I walked forwards and approached the gates. Like Tom, I opened the door. Suddenly, a banging sound came, and I flinched. I looked up immediately. Through the cracked window, I could see shards of glass on the ground. My heartbeat pounded. I bent down and grabbed his id. Then another sound came through, more bits of glass appeared on the ground. 

Suddenly the door opened. I crouched behind the bushes next to the gate but no one came out. 

“Get out! Get out. This is none of your business!” A man’s voice shouted. Whoever he was talking to didn’t respond. “Don’t protect this b*****!”

Then my heart skipped a beat. Thud! A woman screamed. Thud! Thud! I recognized the sound of a punch. I couldn’t help but look up from my spot behind the bush. Through the crack, I could see Tom, and behind him a woman. I couldn’t hear anything anymore. But I saw him shout, “stop it! Stop it please!” 

My hands shook. 

Another thud. This time it landed on Tom’s shoulder. Thud. This time it was his neck. Another beer bottle smashed. I widened my eyes. The luminescent green bottle turned into broken shards on Tom’s shirt, and at first, there was a short-lived silence. Then red spots began to appear. Tom didn’t seem bothered, but the woman began to wail. She knelt to the ground and screamed. The man shut the door again. I could no longer hear anything. But the woman’s scream still filled my ears, and I could still see the red on his white shirt. 

I couldn’t move for a long while. I didn’t know when, but it was completely dark by the time I was able to stand up. And I ran into the west. I ran as fast as I could and for as long as I could. The way to my house had never seemed so far, and the run-down apartment buildings had never seemed so menacing. 

When I finally got to my house, my parents were already home. They fussed over how late I was and the sweat all over my body. For the first time, I felt like the luckiest person in the world to have my parents, and I would not wish for anything else. I forced a smile onto my face and said, “just running. I’m going to go upstairs.” As quickly as I  could, I rushed up the stairs, locked my door, and knelt to the ground. 

The next day, I arrived at school an hour early and left the id I had been clutching onto his desk. I didn’t leave him my name. 

At lunch, I saw him. Like usual, Cali gushed over him. But somehow, he was no longer the same in my eyes. I looked to the spot where the glass bottle had hit him yesterday to look for any traces of the events from the previous day. There was none except for the bruise on his neck that was left uncovered by his shirt. I heard him say, “it’s fine, just hit something by accident.” One of his friends shook his head and commented, “probably by his one million dollar steinway.”

“Rich people problems,” Cali said before tilting her head, noticing my silence. Her eyes spoke, they asked, “well?” 

I hesitated before agreeing, “just another rich kid from the west side.” It was the least I could do for him. 

Again, I passed by him. 

For the first time, I smelt beer on his shirt and wrinkled my nose in distaste.