Spring in Paris, year 2001
My hair had always been short.
One day in senior high, I was chatting with two of my friends- Lucille and Renée. It was not hard to spot me because among the three of us, I'm the only one with short hair.
The rest have beautiful long tresses: Lucille has wonderful golden locks and Renée has her glorious brunette waves.
I don't envy their hair, it's just that even I couldn't imagine myself having, let alone inherit such beauty they can rely on to enhance their looks and make them beautiful.
But it's not their looks that made me hang out with them. It's just that we clicked and been friends ever since we first saw each other.
That fortunate day we were hanging out at a known café, where we frequent from time to time.
Having fun relaxing over cakes and preferred coffee drinks, discussing our school day, I felt like someone's eyes were on me.
When I looked around, I saw him.
A fair man with prince-like beauty, seemingly glowing in that white polo as he silently sipped tea with his fellow schoolmates.
Before he could catch me staring, I quickly looked away. My friends caught him too, leaning to whisper close to my ear.
"I don't like him. People say he's a trickster, stealing people's money while performing street magic."
"Don't get close to him, I heard he plays with innocent girls' hearts..."
I did the most logical thing then: ignored him as we continued to chat on other matters, eventually standing up to take our leave.