Nia

We started sharing looks during class. I was taking strict pains to ensure no one suspected a thing. At this point, the least we needed was anyone trying to cause trouble. I observed her when she looked away. Her face was radiant; there was a smile there I hadn’t noticed, in all the time I had been crushing on her. These days I was noticing the efforts she was making to look nicer. Her short curls were brushed into waves, and I thought I noticed a hint of gloss on those lips. She turned back to give a wink, Mr Darko was shouting – the man was ballistic, someone had forgotten to write their index number on a test sheet again. When the bell went for breakfast she made a show of arranging her books. From the corner of my eye I could see as she packed and unpacked her books thrice. When Harry tapped my back, I cocked my head in her direction.  He understood immediately, then pointed to his shoelaces. “This will give you a better excuse.” I went ahead to unclasp, and

  Carol. She was light. She was fire and ice. She was sweet and spice... Harry looked up from the poem he was writing at a squinting Teejay. The guy was hovering over him like a cloud. These days it seemed he had something to share, but the moment Harry gave him his attention, he would lose all his nerve and walk away - mumbling some silly explanation. Harry cleared his throat. "Ehem…" He cocked an eyebrow at Teejay. "Y'know, you can tell me. If it's something bad I won't rat you out - well, it depends on how bad..." Harry saw he was rambling. "Look, tell me already! I'm your friend, and you don't see me hiding stuff from you?" The boy sighed, hoisted himself onto the bunk bed, then started. "I'm in love with Esinam"... ♡♡♡ The siren blared for the second time that day. One more lesson before breakfast. Carol was in a bubble. Last night at prep,

Teejay was on cloud nine. Esinam had cornered him after prep last night. And as always, she had been brutally direct - something he admired her greatly for. Talking to her had been a problem because you see, Esinam was "hard". Really hard. And it didn't help that she was one of the best students in class. *After prep* His Gateway to English 1 was missing. Flustered, he waved his friends away, they could take the lead, he'll come by later. When he finally found the cursed book, it was wedged between his seat and Harry's. Good grief. He didn't notice her until she was right in front of him. "So you told Melanie to do *'betweener' for you eh?" She laughed that cute laugh. She realized how her laugh had echoed and looked around for any passers-by who might've overheard her. "Is it true what she said though?" – There was a long hiatus during which she lowered her head.