You Don't Even Know Her

Chapter 5

It was getting late, but we were all still at the library.

Our math teacher insisted that with this specific chapter of the curriculum, we needed a study group to help us prepare for the test. Luckily, I was placed in the same group as her.

Most of our group already left. The rest were about to leave, except for me and her; our rides still weren't here.

"It's fine if we go now, right?" One of the group members asked me.

"Yeah, it's fine. See ya."

They all left, and I was alone in the empty room with her.

How cliché, I thought. This may not have been a common scenario, but it sure felt like one.

Then she asked me what answers I got for some of the practice problems. We ended up staying at the library until we discussed them all.

"Yeah, I can see why that's the answer," I said as we were finishing the last problem.

I glanced at her for a moment. She was leaning toward my paper and writing on it as she was explaining the answer.

She looked very pretty.

Then, as she finished explaining, she glanced back at me. Our eyes met, and stayed locked for a while.

She's so pretty.

We both realized what was happening, and we both looked away. It was a very awkward situation to be in. Then she started to speak.

"Hey, Aditya? If I liked someone who I didn't really know, what would I do?"

She likes someone?

"Depends on the guy...or girl, whatever your preference is."

She laughed loudly at that, but then she stopped.

"But I'm serious. There's this guy that I like, but I barely know him. He seems really nice and looks really handsome."

Each word she spoke made my heart sink more and more. She likes someone, definitely someone that isn't me.

But why was she asking me for advice? She barely even knows me, and I don't even know her.

Wait...someone she barely knows, and she barely knows me...Is it possible that...

I dismissed the thought and gave her my response.

"You should go with what your heart tells you. If you love someone, you should go for him...or her, dep..."

"Depending on my preference, I know," she replied with a smile.

"Right."

The thoughts came back. Someone she barely knows...I have to know who it is.

"May I ask who this person is that you like?" I asked her.

She was silent for a few long seconds, and then she looked right at me.

"It's you."

It was as if my mind was struck by lightning and was trying to reboot itself. Me? She likes me? There's no way.

"Sorry! This must be very awkward!" She leaned away from me and hid her face in embarrassment.

I leaned a little closer in my own seat. "It's okay," I said. "It's true that you don't even know me and I don't even know you."

She looked very upset, as if she messed up the simplest of math questions.

"But I worry about the same things too," I continued.

She uncovered her face and looked at me again. "What?"

I thought carefully about what I would say next, and then I said it.

"I feel the same way. I barely even know you, but I like you for the same reasons why you like me."

She looked shocked. "You're serious?"

"Yeah."

We both sat in silence for a while, looking at each other. It was as if we were having a staring contest, or as if we were peering into each other's souls.

And then we both leaned forward slowly and steadily...

...the distance was closing...

...my heart rate was increasing...

...her face was centimeters away...

...my eyes closed themselves...

...and then our lips touched.

It felt sudden, yet it felt natural. We both stayed in the kiss for a long time, but then the thoughts entered my brain once more. Although, they didn't feel negative.

You don't even know her.

I don't care.

You don't even know her.

I don't mind.

You don't even know her.

But I like her.

You don't even know her.

I...

*RING RING RING RING RING RING*

My eyes that were shut whilst kissing her were suddenly open.

She wasn't in front of me anymore...

...I wasn't in the library anymore...

...I was in my bedroom.

The alarm was still blaring loudly. I reached for it, and looked at the time.

6:00 A.M., the time that I normally wake up. Why did it have to be like this?

It was all a dream.