It was way past afternoon, and I had already finished my lunch. The sun was shining relentlessly. The heat was scorching, but still most of my classmates still played outside.
Since it's a hot and windless afternoon, I just stayed inside our classroom. I was reading a book when I saw him through my peripheral vision. I stopped reading for a moment to gaze at him secretly. He gave his mischievous grin as he scored against the other team.
"Awesome! You are really good with anything you do, Dave!", exclaimed one of my classmates. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head in a seemingly shy manner.
"No, I just play a lot, so by now I get used to it...", he answered sheepishly.
His playmates laughed in unison as they heard his answer.
"Now, now... Don't be spoilsport! Just accept your awesome, bro!"
I smiled while staring at his beaming face. He was really the opposite of me because he's like a sun radiating with so much energy.
'He's so unlike me...', I thought dismally.
Ever since I started my elementary days, I gradually became aloof. My mother enrolled us at the school from our place—far from my childhood friends. As we gradually discovered the world beyond the playing fields, we drifted away from each other. I became a loner—a stranger in the sea of children who didn't know and understand me. Everything became bleak for me, not until I met him.
But certainly there are some people that are better to watch from afar.
And he's one of them.
"I wish handsome boys fell down from heaven!", my classmate squealed in delight as they talked about a famous soap opera they watched yesterday night.
I scoffed and almost snorted when I heard what she said.
'She sounds so stupid!', I thought harshly while resting my head on my palm.
Handsome boys have been a hot topic lately, and unfortunately, my girl classmates have been incessantly discussing them non-stop since the time they finished their lunches.
They squealed again as they discussed and looked at the printed pictures of the famous actors they admired.
Like any other afternoon, most of my girl classmates stayed inside the classroom to gossip or talk about handsome actors and their crushes. The boys on the other hand were playing outside our classroom—playing as if the heat of the blazing sun didn't bothered them.
As usual, he's outside our classroom, playing actively with our classmates. I was still gazing in his direction when I noticed someone.
It was his mother!
I was quite puzzled at that time because his mother usually doesn't come to school during lunch breaks. His mother immediately found him, and then she grabbed him by the collar. Their game was instantly stopped.
"You hardheaded kid! Didn't I tell you not to go out?", she asked irritatedly.
He looked down and nodded. I frowned when I saw some of my classmates snickering as if what they're seeing was entertaining.
She reprimanded him further on a lot of things, which I had naturally forgotten by now because I was just focused on how he reacted that time. Even with his apparent dislike for what was happening to him, he just continued bowing his head and staying silent that time. After his mother left, I thought he would go back to his playmates to play, but he immediately went inside our classroom and sat on his chair. He rested his head on his bended arms above the table and pretended to sleep, but somehow I knew he wasn't really sleeping.
I felt sympathy for him. What I did next was something I didn't expect myself that I would do, but it seems I was away with the fairies that time, so without feeling an ounce of embarrassment, I decided to approach him.
I sat down beside his chair and carefully peeked between the spaces of his fingers to get a glimpse of his face that he was hiding inside his bended arms.
'Are you okay?', I asked cautiously.
I know he heard me because he hid his face further inside his bended arms. He didn't answer, and foolishly, I began to talk to him again.
"I know what you experienced was quite embarrassing, but for me..."
I continued rambling for a few more moments. I'm not sure, but I was certain he was listening to me. However, he seemed to realize something, and when he did, he fisted his hands. Without raising his head, he lashed out to me.
"I didn't ask your opinion... So stop talking nonsense and go away! Go... Just go away!" he spat angrily.
The moment I heard him, I was shocked, but a few seconds later, I snapped out of my foolishness. I immediately stood up and made my way back to my seat. I was both disappointed and embarrassed—both in him and myself.
That was really so unlikely of me to meddle in someone else's life. I know I really liked him that time. I didn't have any ill intention when I tried to talk to him, but still, I know I somehow went overboard—and so did he.
'He should have turned me down nicely—same as how he usually acts towards my other classmates,' I pondered silently.
My young mind didn't understand immediately what happened that day. I was more affected by how he spoke to me harshly and the way he turned down my concerns easily, than the possible other reasons why he acted that way. But now I know that there's certainly more to it.
What my girl classmates have said was indeed true; handsome boys don't fall down from heaven—and so do the kind ones.
And if they really do fall, I'm sure he's not one of them.