Another Sad Love Story

~Chapter 1~

   It began like any other ordinary day. I dragged myself out of bed, took a shower and got dressed.
"Serayah," my dad called, "Don't forget to drop off the papers. You don't want to miss the the deadline."
   Ah the papers. It had been the third time that week that I had postponed handing in my documents. I had to put together my results and recommendation letters to hand in at the local social welfare offices. I, just like most high school graduates, was applying for a scholarship to go to one of our country's government universities.
   It was a Friday and I knew that if I didn't hand them in that very day, I would be behind schedule so I gathered everything I needed, put them into my backpack and went straight to the offices.
   When I got there, I looked around and there weren't any familiar faces. Well, except one. Aaron. Aaron Young. I always knew him as the guy from the class next to mine. I had a little crush on him in the tenth grade but it was nothing serious. We never really spoke to each other in high school but he was the only person there I was familiar with and so I sat next to him as I waited in line to hand in my papers.
   "Hey." I said as an attempt to start a conversation with him.
   "Hey.",He responded as he looked up at me, "I like your hair."
   "Thanks." I responded trying to pretend I wasn't completely flattered. I wore my hair in a curly afro and I was just trying some thing new as opposed to my usual bun.
   "So..uhm.. What are you doing here?" I asked stupidly as if I didn't already know that we were there for the same reasons.
   "The same thing you're doing here." He said making me feel twice as dumb as I already felt.
   The conversation was taking an awkward turn really fast. Lucky for me, it was my turn to go in and hand in my papers so I got up and followed the man who came out to call for me.
   I was asked a couple of questions and I arranged my papers according to which department they were being taken to. Before I knew it, it was over.
   As I walked out, I went over to Aaron. "I'm leaving now." I said to him. I didn't need to say anything to him but I felt like it would've been awkward if I walked past him like I didn't just sit next to him for ten minutes.
   "You should get me some ice-cream." He suggested confidently.
    Honestly, I found it amusing that he had the audacity to tell me to get him ice-cream.
   "And why would I do that?" I asked waiting to hear what clever thing he'd say next.
   "Well, you get me ice-cream today and next time, it'll be on me."
   Suddenly, getting him ice-cream didn't seem like such a bad idea.
   "How is there going to be a next time?", I asked, "we don't have each other's phone numbers.".
   He then pulled put his phone and handed it to me, gesturing me to put my number. I did as he bid. I then handed him a notepad from my bag and he wrote his down.
   We went out in search for ice-cream but couldn't find any café nearby so we settled for drinks. I gave him the money and he returned with two sodas in his hands.
   "Thanks but I don't take carbonated drinks.", I said as he handed one to me,"I'll just give it away."
    I placed the drink in the side of my backpack and we head out.
   "I like your hair.", he said again, "You should do this to mine some time.". He played with it and honestly it felt good.
   "She's a good one. Keep her safe." Said some guy we ran into on the street.
   I stood there puzzled wondering who he was but clearly Aaron knew him. It was his brother's friend. They exchanged greetings and he said the same thing to him again.
   I was flattered but it made things slightly awkward that his brother's friend thought we were together.
   He then walked me to a nearby taxi rank and I found a free cab. As we bid farewell, something in me felt like our goodbye deserved more than just a wave but I ignored it.
   Hours after I got home, i received a text from him.
   "I don't really have anything to do tomorrow. Would you like to go somewhere with me?" he asked.
   "I'd love to." I replied.
   "How's 5pm?" He asked.
   "5pm sounds fine."
   On the outside I just smiled and put my phone down but on the inside, my subconscious was dancing around in a party hat blowing whistles.
   I had a date with Aaron Young and I couldn't wait.