I am waiting desperately for lunch. I check my watch. An hour to lunch. I don't want to wait for so long!! But I have to. Ms.Rosy, our English teacher, is saying something about how William shakespeare was such a great person that the period of his existence started being known as the 'shakesperean era.' That is pretty cool. I have always had a thing towards literature. I read a lot. I read the harry potter series, percy Jackson series, divergent series, GoT, Hunger games, and, well many more. I even tried writing a book when I was 14, but I eventually lost interest. I wonder if I do something like shakespeare my time will be known as, I don't know, rian era? That doesn't quite sound attractive.
Just as I am naming my version of the shakesperean era, ms.Rosy calls out my name. I stand up. "do you know the answer ria?" says ms.Rosy. I try to remember what she was talking about but I can only see one thing in my mind: rianice era. That's what I named my time. I try harder and I remember she was saying about how no one really knows exactly when William was born. So I say, including some facts that I read about shakespeare, " umm.. we actually do know when william shakespeare was born. We have evidence that he was baptised when he was three days old and through that we know it was on 24th of april that he was born on, according to the calendar during his time. But when we convert it to present calendar, it was around 3rd of march...maybe may, I'm not sure that he was born on."
Everyone looks stunned. After a 3 second stare, ms.Rosy says, "that was very good ria, sit down." thank shakespeare!! I didn't even know what the question was! I feel like the luckiest book lover on this planet. I spend the next half hour listening to the class. And finally, it is lunch time. 'yay!' I think and leave to the cafeteria. Once all have settled down with our food we start talking about our trip tonight. After we all are done eating and still have time to talk, Austin says, "I think ria should be kicked out of our group." Huh? "what? why?" I say. Everyone else looks stunned as well. "she is becoming such a nerd!" says Austin with a smile, "she answered like she was some sort of a scholar about the shakesperean era today. None of us knew the answer even if we were listening to the class while she was dreaming the whole time, and BAM! Knowledge spills everywhere." We all smile at him and I ask, "well Austin, how do you know that I was dreaming the whole time? Weren't you paying attention to the class?" the entire group goes "oohhhooo." Austin sinks back into his seat and blushes. BLUSHES! Does he have a crush on me? I remember once in 6th grade he said that he liked me. But does he still like me?
I don't know. I don't want to know.
"I don't know I think I like ria." Says Austin. His face is red. "she's really pretty." I stare at him, wide-eyed, with my mouth half open. Before I can say anything, the bell rings, a sign that our embarrassment can finally end. Or rather my embarrassment. Did he just say I am pretty? I have been told that before by a lot of guys. But when Austin says it, it is so awkward. I know I am not ugly, but not exactly pretty enough to have someone like me for 3 years. We all go back to our classes and I feel so weird, because Austin sits right next to me. All through math, I see him look at me in my periphery.
I can't even pay attention to the class. I am disturbed not because I know he likes me, but it is because I think I like him too. I mean, he is a very attractive person. SO DISTURBING. After math, I decide to tell him what I feel.
"hey Austin?" I say, just as he turns to the other side to take something from his bag.
"yeah?"
"I just wanted to tell you that I like you too."
"huh? What? you do?" he says, with the same expression I had in lunch. I say "yeah" and we smile at each other. A little too wide. The day goes by smooth. Austin and I talk almost non-stop to each other. Its all good, until it's the end of school and we all meet again and our friends see us holding hands and smiling stupidly. "what the hay!" says dev looking at us. We tell them whatever happened and they all start cheering. In the hallway. This is so so so embarrassing. We tell everyone to shut up and thankfully, they do.
We go out of the school and jerusha says, "so what do we plan for the trip?" we all have a mini debate about all the details and we finally make a plan. Uada is at the outskirts of San Jose. It is about 6 hours from here. So, we will start off at 3a.m. and reach there at around 9a.m. dev is arranging all the maps and compasses. Kayla is arranging all the trekking supplies we will need. Raj is taking care of food. we all will go in austin's car. Jerusha and I are absolutely jobless, except for having to go there. We all are super ready and go to our houses.
I decide to sleep early today. I tell my mom the plan. Well, not about uada obviously. I eat dinner and go to bed at 7:00 in the evening. Just before I go to bed, I get a text from Austin. I smile a little and open the notification. "good night 😊 sweet dreams, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite 😉" awwww. That's very sweet! "you too 😊 ❤" I reply and jump on to my bed. I pray that I shouldn't get any dreams today. I can't take it. Just as I close my eyes, I see Austin. WITHOUT HIS DAMN HAND. I move the picture away and fall asleep immediately.
