Season of Love (Jewel Perez)

Chapter Three: The world pauses

Months has already passed and I have not made any contact with him yet. 

For the past months, just like any other girls, he became my crush. However, it wasn't the same as other girls who were chasing him around and admiring him. I'm just out of his range, sometimes I accidentally saw him through my usual walks in the school then I would look at him and that's it. 

Just admiring from afar.

There wasn't actually anything special. My feelings are so-so for a person like him since he looked like a playboy to me who likes to play around with women on their feelings. But I was wrong. 

That assumption of mine quickly erased when I caught Ace with another woman being gentle and kind and the girl couldn't contain but to blush at his kindness. Maybe he isn't a jerk, maybe he is. I don't really know him. Just a typical admiration for a person just for me. 

And it is the same as today. As I had my usual walk before and after launch and was coming from the bathroom, I saw Ace with a girl now having a picture with her. His smile looks awkward and shy, looking at it he looks like a good mama's boy without any knowing how harsh the world is. That made my heart skip a beat. 

He wasn't really my type, well I mean his features sure really look like those in the books that I've read but this? He looked cute and so innocent that maybe God loved this kid so much that He made him look like an angel. 

I laughed at that stupid thought of mine. 

"Jewel!" Someone shouted and suddenly jumped from behind me as I also jumped from shock. I turned around and looked at the only girl who would annoy me like that. 

"YES! I made her scared!" Alyssa said, my cousin and I just scoffed. 

"Can you please get off my back? You're annoying me, sneaking from behind. You're giving me a heart attack kiddo!" I said, annoyed and she just laughed. 

"Oh come on! You're no fun..." She said while pouting and starting to cling to me. 

"Hey now, don't pressure Jewel anymore," Mharj said as if acting like a mother between the two of us. And Sean who was quiet just waved her hand towards us, we waved back. 

"Who were you looking? Huh? Your crush? Who's your crush?" Alyssa keep asking me without even letting me answer first. 

"Ugh!! Get off from me!!" I finally shouted yet she still clings to me. 

That afternoon, it was chaotic and we all just laughed it all. We talk for a moment and then I head back to my classroom. I look back at the place where I saw Ace getting a picture with his crush - he's gone. 

As I went back to the classroom, there was still no classmates inside of it. I was surprised to see only me and Ace are in the room. I sat there quietly, get my earphones on and my book to read in peace. 

The wind suddenly gave our classroom a gentle breeze. I looked outside, amazed by how green the tree leaves were. I glanced at Ace who was sitting in the window too, looking outside with such a long gaze. I starts to admire his facial features especially his eyebrows that looks connected and so thick, his eyelashes too are thick, alongside his mysterious black eyes. These past few months I am able to quickly look away when he looked back at me, but now that he felt that I was staring at him and looking back at me, I did not look away. 

For a moment, my heart skipped a beat again. As the song continues to play in my phone and as I continuously look at him with such gaze, my world starts to slowly move. It is like a master pianist striking a single, perfect note that reverberates through a grand concert hall. In that instant, the world pauses, and the melody of life is forever changed by the beauty of a moment that needs no rehearsal.

All of a sudden, my classmates enter the classroom and I finally look away. When I realized what I just did, it made me feel embarrassed as my face flushed with such red. I secretly glanced at him again and noticed that he softly chuckled. My face flushes in red even more as I squeak inside of my head. 

Thankfully the teacher entered the classroom too and we began our lesson for the day.