BROKEN PROMISE

If someone had told me that one innocent "hi" would cause this much trouble, I'd have laughed and called them dramatic. But now, looking back, I realize that's where everything started - a single greeting that lit the fuse.

It began on one of those lazy school afternoons, the kind where the sun hit the classroom windows just right, and everyone was counting down the minutes to knock off. My brother's friend, Mark - quiet, confident, and two grades ahead of me - had walked me home like he usually did. Everything was normal until he suddenly said, "Hey, Jacob, say hi to Mercy for me."

Mercy. My classmate. My friend. The girl who always had that calm smile and a brain sharper than any teacher's chalk.

At first, I thought he was joking. Mark never asked me to pass greetings to any girl. Ever. So when I teased him about it, he tried to brush it off. But I saw it - the way his voice wavered, the way he avoided my eyes. That was the moment I knew: my cool, composed brother's friend had a crush.

And that's when my curiosity got the better of me.

See, I wasn't planning to play matchmaker. But something about it felt too perfect, too entertaining to ignore. So the next day at school, I decided to test a theory - and just like that, I started a game I didn't fully understand.

I told Mercy that Mark said hi. She smiled... and blushed. That tiny reaction was all the encouragement I needed.

From there, things moved faster than I expected. One lie turned into another, one "message" became a promise, and before I knew it, I had set up a meeting between the two - without asking either of them first.

Now, as I look back, I realize that day changed everything. For me. For Mark. For Mercy.

It was the day I learned that sometimes, playing cupid is easy - until real hearts get involved.

And trust me, once they did, none of us were ever the same again.