It was a hot sunny day in the morning when we had our fist flag ceremony of the year. The hotness of the sun burns right through my skin causing me to sweat more. I have been bored the entire time we were standing in the oval waiting for the ceremony to start. It has only been a four months since the classes started again. We were in the middle of the second quarter when both sets merged so there were a lot of new people’s faces in our class. Due to the pandemic that spread, our classes were divided by two sets but now that the cases lowered the government had allowed the school to push onto the new normal. Given that, I tried to be friendly with my other classmates but was also awkwardly trying to get along with them. There were two lines in every section. One for the girls and one for the boys. One of my guy classmate went to his way on the front and began talking to me. I’m kind of familiar with him since we’re on the same class. Thanks to him and his awful jokes, I didn’t have the time to

think how hot it was standing there in the oval. I suddenly thought of a joke and began smiling at him.

*“Can you loosen your tie?”* I asked him while eagerly smiling at him. “I know how to tie it, trust me.”

He smiled back and told me that I can loosen it myself. I lied. I actually don’t have an ounce of knowledge how to tie a tie. Instead, I tied it into a ribbon and laughed while telling him that he was cute.

He scratched his head while laughing and told me that I have now know how to tease people. I’m usually just silent in the room. I was either reading or eating so me teasing came out as new to him.

“Bomi!” one of my female classmate called me while pushing one of my classmate at the back. I wasn’t familiar with him since he came from the other set.

“Tie his tie into a ribbon too.” she said while laughing. I, of course who’s trying to be friendly with everyone went to him. His tie wasn’t the same ones. It was the kind of modern tie that has a zipper on it to make life easier. I looked up to him and told him that it would be hard to turn his tie into a ribbon. After a few minutes of thinking, I just decide to do it regardless of how it will come out. Once finished, it looked like a ribbon but a vertical one at that. Without even realizing it, the ceremony already ended. We all went back to our rooms with sweaty bodies. It was already hot enough and to add up to our misfortunes, our room was on the top floor. The 6th floor. We were assigned to our own seats. After that flag ceremony. The two of us did not talked to each other. (referring to the second guy who appeared).

That was until the 25th of January came.

It was around in the afternoon on the 25th of January. Our teacher gave his time for us to relax, allowing us to use phones. My seatmate back then was a really quiet and timid girl. Both of us were quiet so we never talked to each other. She was also from the other set so every time I try to talk to her I find her on the other side of the room talking with her close friends. It was at this time that I caught a glimpse of him. Arms crossed with his head resting on his arms. He was always in that position. Deep within myself, I really wanted to be friends with him. I don’t know what drew me to take interest in him (not in a romantic way) but I find myself curious about him. The first thought I had was to chat him upon seeing that his phone was on his desk. I don’t feel too awkward with him unlike with others given that one of my friends in class, Lee always brings him with us whenever we hang out in class. After minutes of debating with myself, I have decided to chat him. I was confident that he would see my message right away since I have already messaged him once during the opening of the classes. It was to add him in a group chat for one of our subjects.

Without giving a chance for myself to get cowardly, I messaged him. That was the beginning of a journey I never imagined would happen in the senior year of my high school.

The first time I messaged him was just to make fun of him (not in a bully way). I told him to look over in the window at his back wnd whenever he would, I would look at him. When he sees nothing, he would look at me and we would exchange glances. It was that time that I had fun teasing him that I started feeling more comfortable around him.

During this time, I joined the cheerdance team for our strand. Everyday afterclass, I would quickly get changed to attend practice. One of the places we would often use as a practice place is the cityhall’s park. It was wide and open for everyone. Given that, anyone can watch us. I joined there with a former guy friend thinking it would be fun. Hell no, it wasn’t. Every single day I was afraid for my life even though I was kind of suicidal. There was a time where we exchanged numbers for fun. It wa also the time when I was obsessed with eating ice cream everyday after practice.

I still remember the day when lee waited for me with him. It was already dark but they waited in the park until the end of our practice. The three of us went to get some ice cream in the convenience store and when we were about to go home, lee stopped before she crossed the road and said,

“Gosh, I’m the third wheel again aren’t I?” then proceeded to laugh. I had a clue of what she was trying to imply yet I acted as if I didn’t know just so we wouldn’t be awkward with each other’s company. He went and waited with me in front of a fastfood chain. No words spoken. Just two people eating ice cream. When my dad came, he suddenly vanished. I thought to myself that maybe he was shy and brushed it off as that.

After that night, waiting with me for my father had somewhat become his daily routine.