Scarred Heart

Chapter 1: The Day I Met Her

On the first day of Secondary School, I made my way there feeling anxious as I did not know what awaited me in this foreign-looking compound. I made my way to the school hall and scanned around for the class I was assigned to. In the process, I spotted some familier faces there too. I went to the sign that read 1E1 with my parents and we sat down on the seats provided for us at the hall. We waited for about 15 minutes before a person walked out from behind the stage. We later realised that he was the discipline master. He started briefing us about what we were going to do later.

After his short briefing, we were escorted by one of our seniors going by the name of Cynthia to our classroom. Cynthia maintained silence in the class for a short while and after that our form teacher and co-form teacher came in to take over, they introduced themselves before asking us to introduce ourselves one by one. We started our introduction by saying our name, then our birthdays and then the primary school that we came from. After that, the orientation camp started. We did some fun activities with the other classes and I learnt that the the orientation camp was to help us bond together as a level. We did some activities and before I knew it, it was recess. I bought my food and sat down with my friends on the bench right beside the drinks stall and then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pretty girl sitting adjacent to our table. She had hazel brown eyes, her hair was long and black and her smile was surprisingly attractive. I fell for her instantly, it was like love at first sight.

I thought to myself "I would love to have a girlfriend like her." After that, I decided to tell one of my close friends from Primary School and his name was Francis. I told him all about recess and he decided to help me out in this situation. He had some BGR experience. After a while, she noticed me staring at her. Awkwardness flooded in as we smiled at each other. My cheeks turned red and I couldn't stop smiling. It was as if someone had taken over my feelings.

  "Dude, approach her. Make the first move." Francis winked as he pushed me to her table. I instantly looked back at him and gave him the what-the-fuck face. "Just do it!"

  I guess it didn't hurt to try. Like, nothing's wrong right? I'm just introducing myself to her. I slowly inched closer to her, blushing even more harder as I did. "Uhh... hi?" I stuttered uncontrollably. "Javier." I reached out my hand and shook her hand. "I'm Amber."

  I couldn't help but stare into her eyes intensely. "Are you alright?" She asked. "You look a bit sick. Do you need water?" Shaking my head, I tried to change the topic. "Er, how's secondary school so far?"

  "Oh! Kinda intimidating, especially when you meet seniors. It's also kind of hard adaping to the new environment. You?"

  "It's fine I guess."

  "Hey, um, Javier? How about exploring the school? Together? To familiarize ourselves to the premises."

  Oh crap. A walk? Together? I was instantly struck by awe when I first saw her, and her personality... just makes me like her more...

  "Uhh..." I stuttered. I didn't know what to do. I was nothing but nervous. "I mean, it's okay if you mind."

  "Can I go, uh, somewhere first? I promise it'll only take a minute."

  I sprinted back to where Francis sat.

  "Go for it."

  I found myself walking through the hallway, which was lined with beautiful paintings. With Amber. I simply couldn't stop looking at her. Eventually, we settled down at what looked like the school pond. Plants and trees were scattered all over the pond. "So... uh, tell me more about yourself." I needed to gain information about her. I want to know her background. Most of all, I wanted to court her. I know, it's only been fifteen minutes since we met but it doesn't hurt to try, right?

  "I'm actually half-French. My dad came all the way from Bordeaux, a town from southern France. I love Italian food, and I'm a huge fan of Skittles." She laughed, accompanied with a smile.

  "I also love watching and sometimes playing soccer." She beamed

  Surprised, I hastily rushed into my introduction. "There's nothing special about me though," I chuckled. "I love pizza and Skittles, and soccer."

  "Woah woah! You sound like my future best friend, eh?"

  We laughed and continued to chat a bit more before the recess ended. On the way back, I felt someone touching my shoulder. "Sooooo... how was it?" It's Francis.

  "I'm really falling for her." I blushed.

  "Heh... good luck!"

  I didn't really look around my class that much, so I spent some time walking around to get to know some people. Wait, what? Is that?

  "Amber?"

  The girl looked up and waved. "Javier! Hi! I didn't know you were in the same class as me!"

  "Same here!"

  Soon, our teacher walked into the class. "Class, I'm going to assign your seating positions. This will be your seating arrangement for the first term." She pointed to the screen. After a while, I spotted my name. And the person who sat beside me. Amber?!