Maybe at some point in my life, I thought that I was special, gifted. But as I got older, I slowly realised how normal I was. Some may call this the curse of the ordinary, forever stuck being another unimportant person in this world. But maybe being normal wasn't such a bad thing after all. After all, having an ordinary life is already a blessed one.
Slowly trudging to my classroom in the early morning, I readjusted the strap of my schoolbag to a more comfortable position. It was 6:30am, no one else was in school this early, I mean who in their right mind would be? JC was very rigorous, students were often deprived of sleep, and would most certainly jump at the opportunity to have a bit more rest. As I reached my classroom, I quickly set my stuff down, before departing on a journey to a place many would call "The Haven". It was on the top floor of a block we call "Oldham Wing". At first, it just seems like an isolated place for students to study. But it was at times like this, when the cool morning breeze caresses your face and the sunlight from the rising sun slowly illuminating the landscape that laid before you. It may not have been a spectacularly beautiful sight, but it was one that reminded one that even during the tough times in JC, there were still good things in life.
I took a few minutes to bask in the sunlight as it came to shine upon me. The warmth was gentle, not too hot that it was uncomfortable nor too weak that it was cold, it was just right. Taking out my kitkat chunky bar, I tore open the wrapping and was ready to take my first bite, when I heard a voice. "Snacking this early in the morning? Without me of all people? What happened to sharing with your best friend?" I turned around to see a playful smile stretching across her face, eyes twinkling in amusement. The look on her face never wavered as she slowly walked up to me, before leaning in a taking a huge bite out of my chocolate bar.
"Hey!" She promptly ignored me as she happily chewed the chocolate, savouring the taste. The same feeling sprouted up in my chest again, and a small but genuine smile appeared on my face. It was at times like this I wished time would stop and I could enjoy this moment forever. We stood there in comfortable silence for a few more moments, enjoying each other's company. But it was over all too soon and before we knew it, assembly was already about to start. She hurried back ahead of me as I slowly strolled back to class. After all, it would seem kind of suspicious if we went back together. No one else knew we were best friends, it was something we decided to keep private.
I only entered the classroom after the National Anthem finished playing. My form teacher started glaring at me, "You're late!"
"Sorry madam, I lost track of time, it won't happen again," before quickly hurrying back to my seat. Thankfully, she decided not to reprimand me and let it slide. Perks of being an attentive and active student in class I suppose. I didn't need to look behind to know she was smirking at me. The rest of the day was rather uneventful, we didn't exchange any words, with almost no eye contact. To everyone else, they wouldn't bat an eyelash at this, and just think we were strangers.
Before we realised it, it was already the end of the last period, and everyone was already starting to head home. She went on ahead with her volleyball friends, while I stayed back in class for a bit, alone. I was in economics society so I didn't have CCA today, while more like I didn't really have CCA at all. So I would usually use this time to study a bit and take some time for myself to reflect on what's been going on in my life.
I finished up my chemistry and math homework, before completing my GP essay. When I looked up at the time, it had been almost 2 full hours, it was almost 7pm. While it was time I called it a day and started to pack up. I arranged all my homework neatly before putting it in school bag along with my pencil case. I slung my schoolbag on my shoulder and made my way out of the classroom, making sure to switch off the lights and the fans on my way out.
As I strolled past the bleachers on my way to the main gate, I took a moment to look at the volleyball team. It seemed like the boys team was practicing drills while part of the girls team was playing a 6v6 match and the remainder of the girls team stood at the sidelines watching. It looks like it was her turn to serve, I squinted my eyes to try and have a clearer look. The volleyball coach, who was acting as the referee, blew the whistle, signalling she could now serve. She stood there for a few moments, making full use of the 8 seconds as if savouring the opportunity to serve, before throwing the ball about 3 meters high, taking a few steps forward and hitting the ball, performing a jump floater. At first it looked like she hit the ball too hard and it was going to flew out of bounds, but right at the last moment, the ball suddenly dipped and landed just within the court.
Even from all the way over here, I could hear the loud cheers and screams of the girls volleyball team as they witnessed her graceful jump float serve. It truly was impressive. She returned to her previous position, preparing to deliver another deadly serve. The coach blew the whistle, she repeated the process again, but this time, the opposing girls team's libero quickly stepped forward, ready to perform an overhead receive. But right as the libero was about to make the receive, the ball suddenly floated to the left a bit, bouncing right off the libero's fingertips and out of bounds. The volleyball team once again erupted into cheers at the amazing serve.
I took a seat at the bleachers and just continued to watch her score ace after ace. "She's amazing isn't she?" I turned to the direction of the voice to see Jeremy, another one of my best friends and classmate of mine. He took a seat next to me and passed me a Milo packet. I accepted his gift but ignored his question.
"Aren't you supposed to be training right now? The other volleyball guys are doing drills," I questioned.
"The coach gave me a break since I just recovered from my injury, didn't want me to push myself too hard. Still though, when no one else is around, you look at her like some love sick puppy, go talk to her, you guys are like total strangers." I merely grunted in response and took a sip of the Milo. We talked for a while more before Jeremy left to go back to training.
I watched her play for a while more before deciding to start heading home. Every time I watched her, I would reminded how amazing she really was, and how she was out of my reach. But there's no harm in trying right? Well no, our friendship could be at risk. Guess I have to take things one step at a time. Famous last words...
The next day was quick to come. And before I knew it, I was walking up the stairs to "The Haven" once again. However, the only difference this time was that she was walking up together with me. No words needed to be exchanged between us, we just enjoyed each other's presence. We quickly sat down and relaxed once we reached our destination. We merely observed the sunrise in silence, until she decided to break it. "You know, there's something I wanted to talk to you about for a while, I just didn't know how to bring it up until now."
A puzzled look crosses my face as I turn to face her, "what do you want to talk about?"
Her unwavering gaze never once left the sunrise in front of us as she continued to speak, "I don't want to beat around the bush, so I'll get straight to the point. I know you like me."
I was too astounded to speak, my mouth gaping like a fish as I could not find the words. I eventually regained my composure and asked, "how long have you known? And why bring it up now?"
"I have always known, from how you silently observed me from a distance, to how you would give small smiles whenever we did things together. I just didn't know how to bring it up, so I kept silent, but I wanted to know the most is why? What do you even like about me?"
I remained silent for a few moments, before replying, "I liked everything about you, from your weird habits when you are studying, how selfless you are when you are helping others, how you like to make sarcastic quips in the weirdest moments, how you can keep on procrastinating about everything but still get the job done, how you aren't afraid to voice out your selfish desires when others are, how you are insecure about the tiniest things. I may not know everything about you, but I want to learn even more about you! I-I-I..."
I didn't even realise how much I was rambling as I listed everything about her in my head, but it all left my mind as soon as I looked up, staring directly into her eyes. A small but genuine smile appeared on her face and I sat there staring for who knows how long. "I actually thought you were a weird creepy nerd when I first met you. But now, I think you are actually a pretty nice guy, how you act so indifferent but care so much about others, how you dedicate and obsess over a job to see it through, how you aren't afraid to offer aid or to seek others help when you know you need it, how self-conscious you can be at times and how you recognise your own flaws and actively try to work on them. W-Which is why I can say now, with all my confidence, I like you as well!"
The huge bright smile she gave after her speech, left my heart beating a hundred miles an hour, my brain was slowly turning into a puddle. I just sat there, staring at her in shock, unable to properly react. She then stood up, and walked over to me, before giving me a chaste kiss on the cheek and spoke softly, "class is about to start, I will head back first okay?" With that, she returned to class as I sat there trying to process what just happened.
It was then I realised that I didn't need to particularly stand out, I didn't need to be some honour roll student or some professional athlete, just having an ordinary JC life with the girl I like was truly a blessed one indeed.