honey [on hold]

1.1 - innocence

she met love when she was twelve.

the realisation had not yet unraveled for her. for he was just a stranger, stumbling into her life like a fallen leaf floating through autumn air. small and fleeting, quickly forgotten. 

how wrong she had been.

—

you see, the boy was quite welcomed amongst the crowd. 

he was a new pupil. had foreign blood. was a year above. the attraction came with the mystery of it- the mystery of him. what was his life like? where did he come from? who was he?

she had no interest in him whatsoever. 

had no reason to cross paths. 

but the universe decided to match them together like pieces of a puzzle.

because in her class of sixteen, the boy was designated to be her seat mate- and that was when the stranger became someone she'd always start her day with. she thought nothing of it, or wondered why she was picked to sit next to the boy who held everyone's attention. 

but it was proof that mere coincidences could shape one's fate. 

it certainly did, to hers and his.

as much as a twelve-year-old's fate was destined, anyway.

so, almost like clockwork, she started as a nuance to the boy- curiosity on the tip of her tongue as she pestered him if he returned the feelings of a friend she cared for. as she constantly broke into his personal space. the boy just wanted no trouble, but here she was, a girl who seemed intent on making his life a living hell.

and one day, when she was particularly eager to break down his walls, he surrendered- he told her a secret only she knew.

as cheeky his smile was and posture confident... 

he felt alone.

alone for having left his country, alone for leaving his previous school, alone for having moved to different places at such a young age that he lost the concept of what a constant was.

of course, as an adolescent, emotions were difficult to verbalise well. but the things he shared with her spoke what his eyes were actually saying: see me. understand me. 

she did.

so the girl, upon being his seat mate for an entire year, saw him with opened eyes. and to consolidate this new found friendship, he begrudgingly accepted the eraser she offered when she saw him furiously rubbing on his paper. after weeks of ignoring her existence.

that was what their friendship started to be- a helping hand, a friendly neighbour, a secret-keeper.

it was innocence in flushed cheeks.

pure in all of its naivety.

they did not know what was about to come.