Chapter 2 : The Stage

Time has a strange way of moving.

Some days it felt like the hours dragged endlessly, and other days, weeks slipped by before I even realized. After that first Instagram message, life slowly went back to its rhythm. The excitement of Adrian replying to me, of our small conversations, became part of my nights. But as the months passed, something else started pulling me in.

Exams.

The word itself was enough to make my stomach twist. Everyone around me was buried in books, trading notes, whispering formulas in the corridors. The pressure was heavier than ever. For once, I forced myself to focus. I thought, maybe if I worked hard enough, maybe if I distracted myself, I could stop thinking about him all the time.

And so I did.

Days turned into nights spent over textbooks. My room became a battlefield — notebooks stacked high, pens scattered across the desk, half-finished coffee mugs lined like soldiers. I memorized pages until my eyelids grew heavy, solved equations until the numbers blurred. I wasn’t the smartest girl in class, but I had something sharper: determination.

Every time I felt like giving up, I whispered to myself, “Scarlett, just one more page. Just one more night.”

And soon, the exams came and went.

I walked out of the last hall with shaky legs and ink-stained fingers, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. It was over. The wait began.

When the results were pinned to the notice board, the hallway turned into chaos. Students pushing, whispering, screaming, some crying, some celebrating. My heart pounded as I searched for my name.

And then… there it was.

Scarlett Morgan — 2nd Highest.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

I blinked once, twice, just to make sure it was real. My name wasn’t at the bottom, wasn’t hidden in the middle. It was right there at the top, shining like a star I never thought I could touch.

My hands trembled as I pressed them against my mouth. I did it. After months of sleepless nights, after every doubt that ate me alive… I actually did it.

“Scarlett!” My friend Lila grabbed my arm, shaking me. “You’re second highest! I’m so proud of you!”

I laughed, half in disbelief, half in relief. “I… I can’t believe it.”

The announcement came the next morning during assembly. The principal’s voice echoed through the mic.

“This year’s academic achievers… Scarlett Morgan, please step forward.”

My knees went weak. My legs carried me toward the stage as if in a dream. Hundreds of eyes followed me. Teachers smiled, students clapped, but everything blurred around me.

Until I saw him.

Adrian.

He was sitting at the back, surrounded by his usual group. He leaned casually in his chair, one arm draped over the desk. And when my name was called, when I walked up the steps and stood under the harsh stage lights — his lips curved into a smile.

Not just any smile. A genuine one.

My heart lurched violently, thundering in my chest. That single curve of his lips shattered every wall I had built over the past months. My hands shook as the principal handed me the certificate, and for a terrifying second, I thought I might drop it.

But I didn’t. I clutched it tight, smiling for the cameras, though my eyes kept slipping back to the only face that mattered.

Adrian’s smile.

It was too much. Too powerful. Too dangerous.

When the assembly ended, my friends cheered, hugging me, clapping me on the back. “Scarlett, you were amazing! Second highest, wow!”

I smiled, nodded, laughed… but inside, all I could think was how fast my heart had raced when I caught his eyes.

That night, lying in bed with the certificate by my side, I whispered to myself.

“This isn’t just a crush anymore.”

I’d thought of him as nothing more than a senior I admired, someone out of reach. But now… now it was different. It felt deeper.

The way his smile lit something inside me, the way my entire world stopped for just one second — it wasn’t just infatuation.

It was my first love.

And I knew it.

The realization left me breathless, terrified, yet strangely warm.

Adrian had become more than just a boy I liked. He had become the reason my heart skipped, the reason my dreams felt brighter, the reason even the longest nights of studying felt worth it.

He didn’t know it. He didn’t have to. But inside me, it was written clearly, loudly, endlessly.

My first love had a name.

And it was Adrian.

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