It is the middle of the semester already. This is the time of the semester were school works and exams are piling up. Aside from tedious amount of work, it is also the time when storm starts visiting the country. It often rains and the road are always full of mud. It’s hard to walk to classes. Since I'm a sloppy walker, muds always spatter on my legs. But I don't hate the rain. In fact, I love it. I love the atmosphere and the smell of the surrounding when it rains. Somehow I always felt a sense of longing every time it rains. It was like there was a feeling inside of me that liked to burst. Inspirations always pop up my head while raining. But because of heavy load of work, I don’t have time for writing poems. I’m a graduating college student so there is no time to be distracted with other things.
“So nostalgic...” I blurted out while walking to my next class.
“What is so nostalgic, Sep?” asked my friend.
“I don’t know. I just always feel it when it rains.” I said.
“Well, we have no time for that since we’re going to be late. I really hated the rain. It makes us walk slowly. And my legs are all dirty now. Ugh!” She said as she starts to walk faster.
“You shouldn’t have wear micro mini shorts, Melissa. That way you wouldn’t feel the mud.” I said.
“But it would be easier to clean it since I only have to wash my legs. Not like you, you still have to wash your dirty pants.” She grunted.
“Hmm...You have a point.”
As we walk, we passed through 4 feet coconut bonsais beside the road.
“Hey, Sep! Greet your family and ancestors!” Melissa said jokingly while pointing to the coconut bonsais beside the road.
“Yeah, Right! I’m still 10 inches taller than them. And you are only 2 inches taller than me! Why are you always joking with my height?” I said with my discontented look.
“I’m just joking. You don’t have to take everything seriously. Just let it slide...haha.”
“Well, I don’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, you don’t have a choice since I’m your only friend.”
“Yeah, right!”
The class was already starting so Melissa and I hurriedly sit to our sit. The arrangement of our classroom is like that of a movie theater. The only difference is that there are tables in front of every sit. The lean of the front sit is the table of the sit at the back. Maybe it was for saving space. It is only a lecture class so our professor does not care wherever we sit. There is no sitting arrangement but no one ever sits on our sit so we just ended up at the same sit every time. We are a little late but there is one person later than us.
“Miho! Hurry up. You are late. You can sit here.” said one of my classmates while pointing to the sit in front of me. He saw him and walk towards the sit.
Melissa then whispered to me, “ Hey, Sep. Don’t you think he is cute? Lucky us to be closer to him. ”
This is the first time that the sit in front of us is filled. I don’t know Miho personally. I just know that Miho is just his nickname. Actually, I don’t even know the name of the classmate who called him. It is the only class when we are classmates and all we did in class is to listen to lectures so we don’t have time to talk and to know the information of our classmates. I don’t know if that is what college is or it is just me being unsociable.
Personally, I think he’s cute. He got a manly physique. He looks like he goes to gym frequently. He is also tall. But his physique is quite different from his face. I am always reminded of Kpop idols every time I see him. He always has an unruly style of hair. But what I like about him is when he smiles, his eyes disappear. I find his smile beautiful.
“Sep? What do you think? “ asked Melissa again.
“Hmmm...Let’s just listen to the lesson?” I said to divert her attention.
I feel kind of lazy today so I leaned a little closer to the table, placed my two arms on it and position my head to my arm. I was almost sleeping but then he leaned his back against the table. My head is practically two inches away from his nape. Of course, it startled me but I pretended to stay calm and just look in front as if I’m listening to the lecture. I think he noticed it since I saw his head tilt a little to my direction and back in front.
I was careful of my breathing because I don’t want him to feel my breath. But as I breathe, I can smell his cologne. It is the smell of oranges. I often hate the strong smell of perfume on boys but his smell is different. It was like its attracting me to get closer. But I can’t go any further than this. I have to snap out of my illusions so I returned to sitting straight and listened to my teacher. I saw his head tilt a little to my direction again and then he stands up to go to the washroom.
“Hey, why is your face flushed?” asked Melissa worriedly.
“Maybe because of sleepiness?”
He came back from the washroom and sits back to his seat. His friend nudges his shoulder and asked in a low voice, “It’s rare for you to go to the washroom before the class end. What’s the problem?”
“It’s none of your business, bro.”
“Ok. I’ll mind my own business. You stingy brat!”
I never went back to my position before as I tried to concentrate on our lesson. As if he is teasing me, he leaned back against my table and looked down. His smell still lingers on my senses. That sweet aroma that I have to resist, I can’t seem to forget it immediately. I guess it is thanks to him that I forgot my sleepiness and now I can concentrate on listening to the lesson.
Two hours of studying is finally done. Melissa and I stand up immediately after our professor adjourns the class. My class has ended and it was only 2 in the afternoon. I wonder where I will go.
“Sep, I still have class upstairs. Your class is done right? Where are you going next?”
“I’m still thinking. Maybe I will just go to music club’s place and spend my time there.”
“Ok. Goodbye.”
“Bye.”
I’m a member of the music club. I play the piano but I’m not very good at it. I just love the sound of the piano when I first played it. Melissa wanted me to start being sociable so she tricked me into joining the club alone. That is the reason she told me but I believe that she just doesn’t want to cling on her every time. Since I don’t have anywhere to go, I guess I’ll just past some time there.
I went to the music club’s place and as expected, there is no person there. I bet everyone is still in class. Though I’m not a sociable person, I hate being alone. Maybe that is one of the complications of my character. I don’t even understand myself.
“I guess I’ll just read my books.” While reading, it started raining. I also love the sound of the rain hitting the rooftop. I stopped reading for a while and looked outside from the two big windows. There is a big narra tree that is being swayed by the heavy rain. The colors of its leaves are very vibrant and beautiful. It stands out from the gloominess of the atmosphere. How long has it been since I just look at the trees leaves without worry? Sometimes it is good to take it slow. I’ve been busy these past few days that I forgot how wonderful this world is. I think I could spend an hour just looking at the leaves of that tree.
I guess I really can’t help but procrastinate whenever it rains. I just remembered what happened a while ago. Just remembering it makes my heart skip a beat. What does he think of me? I hope he didn’t notice that I was nervous. Ugh! Why am I even thinking about it? Let’s just erase what happened. After all, I didn’t even know his name.
I’m really sleepy. I guess I’ll just take a nap.
