Our beloved youth

1: First Kiss

__________________________

-8 Years Back: Elina's Youth-

__________________________

"Elina, you are going to get late again!!!" called Mrs. Charles from downstairs, preparing breakfast. With no response, she shouted again, "Elina, get rea—" Her words were cut off by a loud thud.

Elina, being her usual clumsy self, had tripped. Mrs. Charles, expecting this, came out of the kitchen to see her daughter sprawled near the stairs.

"Oh my God, dear, are you okay?" said Mr. Charles, panic etched on his face despite this being a regular occurrence.

Elina slowly got up, smiling awkwardly. "I'm fine, Dad. Thanks."

"It's o—" his words trailed off as his wife interrupted, starting her lecture.

"Why are you so clumsy, Elina?? Now you're a high school senior—"

"What's going on?" asked her elder sister Sia, descending the stairs, while their mother continued.

"Look at your sister, how disciplined she is. I never had to say anything to her when she was in high school."

"Mom, let it be, it's okay. Let her go, or she'll be late for her new school," Sia said, winking at Elina to distract their mother.

"By the way, Mother, you know..."

Elina mouthed a thank you to her sister and slipped away with her father following her.

"Elina, here, have this while going, and—" he looked at his daughter and patted her head, "take care and study well."

Elina smiled cheekily. "Yes, Da—"

"How dare she go like that without listening! I am sure her dad helped her! Firstly, he brought us back to this old place and now—"

"I will get going, Dad. Bye!" Elina said, waving as Mr. Charles sighed and headed back inside, thinking about the day he told his wife about his transfer back. "Now I've got to cool her," he sighed. 

"Honey~"

__________________________

Elina finally reached school, but saw something odd.

"Why the hell is he kissing a wall?" she wondered, looking at a boy trying to climb the school fence even though the gates were open.

"Oh no, he isn't kissing—he is climbing the fence even when the gates are open? Weirdo~" She shook her head, deciding to ignore him on her first day of school.

-Time skip-

"Okay, students! Today we have a new student among us. Please introduce yourself," the teacher asked.

Elina gulped, tugging her hair behind her ears. "Hello everyone, I'm Elina Charles. I hope we can spend a good year together," she said, giving a small smile.

"Welcome to Stipanovich High School, Elina. I'm Mr. Herriot, your homeroom teacher. You may sit beside, um, Jiya. Jiya, please raise your hand," he said.

As Jiya raised her hand, Elina squinted, then widened her eyes in surprise. It was her childhood best friend.

She quickly approached her bench. "Jiz?"

"Excuse me?" Jiya asked, confused.

"It's me! Elina! Elina Charles!" Elina exclaimed.

"Oh my goodness! Are you Elina? That Elina Charles?!" Jiya said excitedly.

"Yes, I am that Elina!" Elina replied with a huge smile.

"I couldn't even recognize you; you've become prettier and taller!" Jiya exclaimed. Elina chuckled and took a seat beside her as the teacher cleared his throat.

"Okay, students, enough with introductions. Today we will start with the poem 'The Spring Flower.' Turn to page 52. So, when the first spring..."

__________________________

Time skip; During Break

"I never thought we would meet again," Jiya said, looking at her old friend.

"Me neither! I missed you so much," Elina pouted.

"Last time you left so suddenly with your family!" Jiya said, upset.

"I am sorry about that...," Elina apologized.

"Let's promise we won't lose contact next time, even if we are far apart!" Jiya said, extending her pinky finger.

"Promise," they said, sealing their vow.

"Hey Jiya, who is she?" asked a voice.

Elina Pov

"Hey Jiya, who's she?" asked a familiar-looking guy from behind me. I turned to see him just as Jiya responded.

"Oh! Ross, meet Elina, my childhood friend I've told you about. And Elina, this is Ross, my boyfriend," she introduced. As I looked at Ross, something clicked in my mind.

"Wait, you're that fence-climbing guy, right?" I asked, and Ross covered his mouth with his hand.

"Oh my goodness, did you actually see it?" he exclaimed.

I laughed awkwardly. "Yeah..."

"I was just seeing how to climb the fence," he shrugged.

Jiya, as if reading my mind, immediately asked, "But why?"

I thought, like, for real dude? 

Are you sick or something that you want to climb the fence early in the morning?

Third Person POV

Elina's thoughts were interrupted by Ross's explanation. "Actually, you know Jason? He is always late and comes to school by climbing the fence, so I was just wondering how he does it."

"He's a nuisance, and you're more of an idiot," Jiya said, face-palming.

Elina looked at Jiya, not knowing who they were talking about.

"He's my friend and also one of our classmates this year," Ross added with a shrug.

What's with that look?

Elina's eyes widened. "You must be wondering what's with that look," Jiya said, as if she could read Elina's thoughts. Elina nodded, amazed.

"Actually, he's a complete nuisance. He does all kinds of weird stuff and gets detentions. But he's another Greek god of our school because of his visuals," Jiya stated making Elina wonder by herself.

Another? What does she mean- 

She then shrugged her shoulders and said jokingly, "Looks like he is an interesting person."

Jiya and Ross immediately began making teasing looks, saying, "Woah~"

"Just shut up, you both," Elina said, walking towards the corridor.

"Even if he is a nuisance, I wonder how you both would look together! Elina and Jason," Jiya said, with Ross joining in, chanting "Elson" as they laughed and followed her.

Elina tried to walk away from them in another direction, but unfortunately, she slipped and fell on top of someone. She felt a hard body and something soft near her lips, that is when she realised

"Oh no—It was my first kiss!!!"

-To be continued