Unbelievable Feelings

The First Encounter

He checked his phone to see that he got a text from an unknown number.

It read, "Hey Antonio! This is Victoria. Just wanted to say thank you again for being so nice today. You're a really great guy and I'm glad we're friends. If you ever need anything, just let me know! ☺ - Viki"

Antonio smiled and texted her, "Hey. Thanks for everything, Viki!" Viki read his message immediately and texted back. "Of course!"

They texted back and forth for a while, getting to know each other better. The next day, Antonio's mom dropped him off. He went inside, feeling optimistic. However, he didn't know what was in store for him.

The first class was English. He saw Viki enter the class and was lucky to know that he shared English with her. Also, Tristyn and his friends weren't in English with him. He smiled and waved at Viki, and they both sat together. Viki nudged Antonio, and he turned his attention to her. She whispered, "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday, about us being friends. It's really nice to finally have a friend here after being a total loner." Antonio smiled at her. "Same here."

The teacher, Mrs. Johnson, was a kind woman. She welcomed the students to the class and assigned them a group project. Antonio and Viki were in the same group, which made them both happy. They worked together on the project, discussing their ideas and sharing their thoughts. Antonio found himself enjoying her company, and the time flew by.

However, now it was time for the physics class. Antonio stepped in early, and sat at the front desk. Students started filling the classroom, and it was not long before Tristyn and his friends entered the class. Tristyn spotted Antonio and gave him a look of disgust. He started to make his way to the back of the classroom, and on the way, ran his hand through Antonio's desk, making his books and pens scatter on the floor.

Antonio froze, not knowing how to react. He decided to shrug it off and picked up his things. At the back, Tristyn and his entourage could be heard giggling and whispering amongst themselves. Their hushed whispers came to an end when Mr. Harris entered the room.

Mr. Harris started the lesson. "Okay, everyone. So, yesterday we had started with Kinematics. Let's recapitulate what we learnt yesterday with a viva." He looked at Annie, a snobby-looking girl from Tristyn's group. "Annie? Define displacement, and is it the same thing as distance?"

Antonio felt himself tensing up. He couldn't help but glance at Annie out of the corner of his eye. She cleared her throat and began, "Displacement is the distance between two
points....?" Mr. Harris shook his head. "Not quite, Annie." He then turned to Antonio.
"Antonio?"

Antonio nervously got up. He always had a hard time answering in class due to his anxiety. Mr. Harris seemed to notice his nervousness and said, "It's okay, Antonio. Take a deep breath, and speak whatever comes to mind."

Antonio took a deep breath and answered, "S-s-so, um, d-di-displacement is the
shortest distance between the initial point of an object and, uh, its final point. It's, uh- it's, um, different from distance because distance is the, um, total length of the path that the object travels, while, um, displacement only considers the change in position. Also, displacement is a vector quantity, whereas distance is a scalar quantity."

Mr. Harris seemed impressed. "Very well done, Antonio. That's a clear and concise explanation. It looks like you've been studying." Antonio smiled, feeling a little relieved. Mr. Harris continued, "Now, can someone tell me the difference between a scalar and a vector quantity?"

Only one student raised a hand. Mr. Harris was disappointed. "Seriously, class? Why can't you revise your lessons? Physics is not an easy subject and requires constant revision." He turned to the hand that was raised. "Yes, Tristyn. Go ahead."

Tristyn cleared his throat and began, "A scalar quantity is a quantity that has only magnitude but no direction. Examples include temperature, mass, and speed. On the other hand, a vector quantity is a quantity that has both magnitude and

direction. Examples include displacement, force, and velocity." Mr. Harris nodded. "That's correct, Tristyn. Well done."

Mr. Harris sighed. "So it seems only Antonio and Tristyn have been taking their revision seriously. No problem. Guys, please make sure to revise everything we've done in class for at least 10 minutes a day."

Antonio turned behind and looked at Tristyn, who seemed quite confident and happy with himself. Tristyn caught his eye and gave him a smug smile. Antonio kept staring, which made Tristyn's smile grow wider. Suddenly, Mr. Harris interrupted their silent exchange by asking them to get out their textbooks and begin working on a problem.

The problem was about calculating the acceleration of an object using the kinematics equations. Antonio worked on it silently, trying to ignore Tristyn and his friends, who were talking and goofing around at the back of the class.

After a while, Mr. Harris walked around the classroom, checking their work. He stopped at Antonio's desk. "Antonio, can I see your work?" Mr. Harris asked. Antonio handed him his paper, feeling nervous but confident in his solution. Mr. Harris glanced at it and nodded. "Very good, Antonio. You've done an excellent job. You've clearly understood the concept. Now, Tristyn, what's your answer?"

Tristyn looked up from his desk, a surprised expression on his face. He showed his work to Mr. Harris, who scrutinized it for a few seconds. "Hmm, Tristyn. While your answer is correct, it seems you've made a careless mistake in your calculation. You forgot to convert the units properly. Antonio, do you want to help Tristyn with that?"

Antonio hesitated for a moment, unsure of how Tristyn would react. But he decided to help him out, remembering how Mr. Harris had praised his work earlier. As he walked towards Tristyn, he bent over, and pointed towards the units. He nervously said, "Um, the unit here will be meters per second square, not meters per second."

Tristyn glared at him, clearly unhappy that Antonio was pointing out his mistake. He mumbled something under his breath and quickly made the correction. As Mr. Harris walked away, Antonio felt a knot in his stomach. He couldn't help but wonder if Tristyn would hold a grudge against him. Antonio quickly went back to his desk.

The rest of the class passed without any further incidents. As they were packing up their things, Mr. Harris announced that there would be a ten minute viva everyday at the start of the lesson. Antonio gathered his books and started to leave, trying to avoid making eye contact with Tristyn. He tried to leave the classroom as quick as possible, but was stopped by a gentle tug on his hand.

"Hey, Antonio," Tristyn said. "Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I really appreciate it." Antonio felt a flush of embarrassment
creep up his neck. "I just wanted to help, Tristyn," he said, trying to sound sincere. Tristyn sighed, "You know, I think I judged you too quick. You seem to be a pretty cool guy." Antonio smiled cautiously. "Thanks, Tristyn. I appreciate that." They continued to walk side by side, heading towards the next classroom.

"Listen, about earlier... I was kind of a jerk. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time. I hope we can be friends." Antonio hesitated for a moment, but before he could speak, Tristyn gasped. "Oh, shoot. I totally forgot. I have to collect some notebooks from the staff room and distribute them. Can you accompany me? I need help carrying them?"

Antonio nodded. "Sure, I can help." They went towards the staff room, but suddenly, Antonio was dragged into an dark, cold, janitor's closet. He was thrown into the corner of the closet, his body slamming against the walls hard.

He heard the sound of the door lock, and turned around to see Tristyn with a sinister grin on his face. "You thought I was going to let it slide, did you?"