69 Short Stories

Part 32: Two-Metre Radius (Six Feet Apart) (1706 words)

Context: This is written during the COVID-19 time of 2020. My condolences go out to anyone who has been personally affected by this, and if you think this could offend you personally, please, skip this chapter. For best effect, listen to "Six Feet Apart" by Alec Benjamin while reading it. I discovered this musician in 2020 and was immediately hooked by his talent. This song really spoke to me and I think it would help you comprehend this story better as well. Enjoy!

Two-Metre Radius (Six Feet Apart)

I looked out the window in front of my study desk. I watched the frangipani leaves fall and land with a crackle, the flowers were softer and tenderer. 

Ocean is coming to visit tomorrow. He had left for uni last year, before I was able to confirm my feelings for him. At the time, I had thought, that it was typically desired to not be in a relationship when you enter university - to keep your options open, so out of some strange magnanimous reason, I did not tell him. 

Plus, it was only two months after we got to know each other. 

The rattle of a mouse speeding over the edge of the fence startled me from my thoughts. I turned to watch it. Its small body, robust and agile, its tail slender, legs muscular and hands intricate. Well, I've met a few people in my life whose favourite animal is the mouse. In a blink, it had disappeared into my neighbour's backyard. 

Ocean adores maths and science. His passion for it spreads an aura of enthusiasm around him, encouraging everyone near him to attempt a maths problem they were initially uninterested in. He had that effect on people. 

I was one of the ones he influenced. He dragged me deeper into the whirlpool of mathematics, and though I'm not as in love with it as he is, I am more engaged than before. I smiled at the thought, remembering the many others from our school he had inspired during his years there. I glanced down at my whiteboard calendar, on it were big blue letters marking the date of his lecture as a guest presenter - tomorrow.

It's going to be on graph theory, a fascinating field of mathematics often left unexplored in high school. I tightened my lips and took out a maths book, putting on my headphones and began reading it. 

"Ocean!" I greeted enthusiastically. We're friends, and it took me a few months to notice that I had wanted more than that. "You're here!"

"Hi!" He greeted back, a wide grin. "Good to see you! What have you been up to?"

"Ah, just busy with school, you know, tests," I replied, noticing the increase in my heart rate as the distance between us decreased, which stopped at a constant. "And, of course, some maths."

"Great! You'll definitely like this one, then." He gestured towards the PowerPoint shown on the screen of the lecture theatre. Indeed, I thought. I nodded energetically. As I opened my mouth to ask him about how his life was going, another student, from the year above, greeted him from the other side of the hallway. Ocean turned speedily and after a quick exchange of waves and an apologetic smile at me, turned to walk towards him.

The presentation was a blast, though rather small in audience size, they were all engaged and hooked by the possibilities of graph theory. I smiled at the enlightened expressions on some of the younger years' faces. This is what it feels to be like a 'senpai', hey? I looked over at Ocean, who was answering someone's question near the lecture desk. I slowly stood up and picked up my chair. I edged towards the back of the room with the rest of the packing crowd and stacked my chair onto the top of another. I gave Ocean one last glance as I hesitated on whether I should leave and wait for him in the refractory, where breakfast will be served, or to approach him and perhaps engage with the discussion he's having. I chose the former.