#romanceclass2016: Something To Say

Act 1. Chapter 3

After that mindless remark about her childhood dream, my interactions with Yasmin were limited to brief eye contacts along the hallway, at the canteen or basically anywhere on school grounds. Although there was a nagging feeling that I should clarify what I had blurted out back in third grade, I figured she didn't want anything to do with me.

Which was fine with me, really. Besides, she went out with the popular clique. She wouldn't want to be associated with a nobody. Especially with one who dissed her.

Even when Yasmin and I, once more, became classmates on our freshman year in high school, we didn't really talk. Thanks to the girl whose surname starts with a letter 'T' (unfortunately, nobody had a family name that started with 'U'), I didn't have to sit next to her, limiting the chances to make amends. There were several occasions that I could have sparked a conversation with her but she was never alone and I didn't want to approach her with so many witnesses either. I had heard about how her clique bullied the 'commoners'. I didn't want to volunteer as a target.

"You're Igo?"

I lifted my head just as three boys pulled chairs and sat around me. I was in the library, my other default go-to place aside from the canteen. I knew them to be varsity players since grade school and just like Yasmin, they were among the popular ones although I had not seen her with them. Nevertheless, I still put my defenses up in case I was the target that day. "Yeah?"

"Is it true that when Yasmin asked for a piece of bread, you wanted her to pay?" the one with a very wide grin he was flashing all his teeth, asked.

My eyebrows arched and carefully chose my words. "Wouldn't you?"

They all laughed so hard, Wide Grin even had tears in his eyes. We were admonished by the library assistant who blushed when he simply winked at her.

The other guy who had gelled his hair into spikes it had the potential to kill a rat, offered a high five which I returned though confused as to how they found out about it. "You're the only one who has the guts to do that. You're a legend man!"

What was legendary about selling a piece of bread to a popular girl? I didn't know. I just didn't care about unwritten rules—that when someone famous asked you for something, you are obliged to obey, no questions asked. That didn't work for me. If they have the means to buy it, they should pay, right?

The third guy who seemed to be studying me the moment they arrived finally spoke. "You're lucky you're still," he scanned me from head to foot, "...unscathed then."

At Observant Guy's statement, my eyebrows crashed, even more confused. "What do you mean?"

"Let's say, nobody stays untouched for such a long time especially if she seems to be holding a grudge against you."

It was a warning. For three boys to remind me of my comment many years ago, perhaps Yasmin was more offended than I thought that she sent these three to keep me behaved. I had never heard of her getting involved in bullying instances. But who knew? They normally had lackeys to do their bidding. This trio was hers, obviously.

At that time, I was worried that if I didn't play my cards right, sooner or later, these three boys would surround me. In a dark alley. Away from witnesses to hear how I could be beaten half to death. But then again, why would they? I already did my part in steering clear of her way. Besides, holding a grudge for a comment made by a kid? That was petty.

"You were right."

My jaw ticked. Here I was staying out of her sight and out of trouble but she seemed to be provoking me. I looked around just to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else. But she was already sitting on the chair next to mine, her body and her eyes unmistakably on me. Torn between pretending she wasn't there and finally acknowledging her presence, I kept scribbling on my notebook where I took notes of the total cash I had after selling pens and papers to my classmates (we had a surprise long quiz) to determine how much should go to each of my six money jars at home. "About what?"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw how she shrugged her shoulders. "That there are no princes here." I kept my mouth shut, reminding myself not to needlessly speak my mind, so she continued. "But, there are royal families in UK."

I really wanted to snort then. I mean, it took her years to figure that out? I feigned interest in the conversation that for me, was a long overdue continuation of her childhood dreams, and I finally turned to face her with a level stare. "So, you're to UK in the future?"

A small smile lined her face. "Of course, when I'm old enough."

She wasn't really giving me any concrete answers and my annoyance was growing by the second. Somehow, hearing about her dream made me immune to the vortex that she used to pull people in. My mind worked so fast thinking of an escape route that it forgot to filter my mouth. "I think you're old enough to stop reading stupid fairy tales."

I stopped short, knowing the gravity of what I had just said. Her eyebrows twitched and once more we were engaged in a stare down. Then the weirdest thing happened.

A corner of her lips pulled up, and a small dimple appeared on the right corner just below her lip. But it was brief because she lowered her lids again before returning to her original seat, leaving me to think I had just dug my grave deeper.

For days that turned to weeks, I was always on my guard. But Jude, DJ and Chino didn't ambush me. They did however, started sharing my table during lunch time.