Mr. Moon accompanied Liam going to his new school. It will be his first day of class in this school. The vicinity seems okay but it’s far different from the school he used to go to when he was in Korea. Everyone who passes through him looked at him intently. It’s as if it was their first time seeing a foreign-looking guy like him. As he was busy looking around, Mr. Moon called out for him so he walked immediately towards the room, it’s the Principal’s office to be exact.

Mrs. Madrigal, the principal, offered a shake hands so he accepted it. She was a good friend of Mr. Moon so he doesn’t have to worry.

“If there’s anything you need, you can go straight here in my office.” She said and smiled at her.

She looked so kind and friendly but Liam knows she was offered a generous amount of money to keep the real story why he’s here right now.

A fine woman who looks around mid-thirties enters the room. She was introduced as Mrs. Bella who would be Liam’s class advisor. She looks at him from head to toe as if she’s scanning him. The conversation ends and Mr. Moon leaves Liam to Mrs. Bella. They walked out of the principal’s office.

Mrs. Bella took her stuff from her table in the Faculty Room and they both went upstairs. Liam’s designated classroom is on the fourth floor. It seems like Liam has to do a little bit of exercise while walking towards the class.

As they enter the class, the students were all over the place, doing a lot of playful and silly stuff with their group of friends. And they are quite noisy, really. Liam sighed and hopes he could easily adapt in this kind of set-up. In a tropical country like this, all they have is a pair of ceiling fan. No aircon at all. It really feels so hot inside the classroom.

“Okay, class. Though it’s the third quarter of the school year, a new friend will join your class starting today. Kindly introduce yourself.” Mrs. Bella instructed.

Since he’s not in Korea, he doesn’t have to bow before introducing himself. Maybe raising his palm into the air will do.

“Hi. I am Liam Shin. I am from Korea but I can speak your language fluently. Nice to meet you all.” He looked back at Mrs. Bella and she pointed at the chair in the front row.

So he just sits on it immediately and crossed his legs or else the left shin of his leg will bump into the teacher’s table. This room is quite small for the number of students, he thought. But he has no choice. Besides, he’ll just have to deal with it for a few months. You can do it, Liam.

The students around him start murmuring and giggling as soon as he sits down. Is he just being paranoid or is it really because of him? Were they laughing at him? He wonders. But as soon as the buzzing turns louder, a girl hushed her classmates, the class president whom Mrs. Bella has mentioned a while ago. He looked at the back and saw a summer-tanned girl with a black silky long hair, busy writing something on her desk. As soon as their teacher left the room after giving them an instruction of doing some self-study for that certain class period, he immediately stood up and everyone was shocked as he walks towards the last row. He approaches towards Aliah and extends his hand with a poker face which makes the young girl shocked and quite nervous.

“I am Liam. Nice meeting you.” Aliah was in awe. She has no choice but to accept his kind gesture though it’s unusual for them to do such. She just smiled awkwardly at him.

Everyone’s looking at them. What’s wrong with introducing yourself to someone, he thought. The guy sitting right next to her butted in and took his hand as he introduced himself as well. Aliah and the girl right next to her laugh together which made Liam puzzled. And seeing him acting that way made them stop from laughing. They thought they offended him, somehow.

He asks for Aliah’s assistance if she could help him have a tour around the campus and she agreed immediately to do it after class. She looks so kind and approachable. It seems like they can easily click with each other. Liam smirked as he thanks her.

=====

Aliah and Liam were strolling around the campus as they are having the tour and get familiar with it. They were walking side by side and the awkwardness was killing them both so Liam decided to initiate some conversation. He learned that the guy next to her was her boyfriend and plays drum in a band. And the girl who she laughs with is her best friend since she was in elementary. He suddenly felt envy of Aliah for having a friend like Zaine for the longest time because he couldn’t have one. Most of the people who want to get close with him have some hidden agenda.

“So you have a girlfriend in Korea?” That question brings him back to reality.

Liam suddenly changes his gaze and Aliah noticed it. She knew by that look in the eyes that there must be some sad story about that topic. It must be a sore spot for Liam, she thought.

“I used to.” He mumbled while looking down, avoiding their eyes to meet. He feels like Aliah caught him and his wound that no one else knows.

Aliah just nodded and leaves no word regarding his answer. That’s her way of being respectful towards Liam’s untold story. She knows it will be difficult for him to share about that since boys are not into sharing such kind of drama.

They continuously walk towards the covered court which serves as their auditorium slash stadium slash practice area for different sports and extracurricular activities. As they slowly approaches towards the center stage, Liam’s eyes suddenly widen and he puts his hand on his left chest. He feels like something’s squeezing his heart and couldn’t believe what’s in front of him. His steps became swift but heavy. His excitement to confirm what he’s seeing right now was being overpowered by the fear that he maybe just seeing things.

Aliah is kind of puzzled with the way Liam acts. She doesn’t understand why he suddenly acts that way so she traces Liam’s gaze to where it leads. And she is quite confused with the emotional gaze he displays as he walks towards the center stage. His footsteps were getting heavy as if he’s hesitating to take another one. She wanted to ask what’s going on but his eyes, his gaze, tells them all. Longing. He’s longing for someone. But to who, to who is he looking for? That’s what she wants to know but never dared to ask.

Liam stops taking another step the moment this girl with a long black straight silky hair with a petite and tall physique, starts to face towards them. The girl saw them from afar and starts waving her hand as she greets Aliah. Liam stops and dazed. As if the world crushes down again even though he knows that the chances of seeing her in this school is very thin. He was longing for her. Still longing for her.