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Chapter 1

~~June 14, 2012 [THURS] // 3:23 pm~~

 

o   Dante

 

I flipped over the questionnaire of the Religious Studies 25 final exam, stretched my arms out with a yawn, and surveyed the room.

Not very far to my left, Mr. Oliver was at his desk, using his laptop. Most of the students looked as though they had finished the exam as well.

Pulling out my new Android phone, I checked my contacts list, noticing how few my contacts were. Then, I remembered Carol’s number and realized that I should probably let her know I had a phone now.

So I touched the messaging icon and after inputting her number, composed the following message:

“Hey, Carolynn. Guess who. :P”

Putting my phone on my desk, I waited for a reply. In less than two minutes, one came.

Carol had replied: “dante is that you?”

Leaning back, I sent back: “yep. how’s ELA?”

I waited about two minutes before my phone vibrated again. I opened Carol’s next message:

“dante I love you. :* ”

Freezing, I blinked, expecting the words before my eyes to disappear or change or rearrange themselves in such a way that the idea would make sense.

A little numbly, I replied: “um. :O carol is that you?”

I just couldn’t get over how unreal this message was. How could Carol just say something like that at random? What had happened to “I don’t feel the same way for you”?

In what seemed like seconds, Carol’s reply came:

“yes it’s me. I love you dante. :* ”

My mind was torn between confusion and overwhelming happiness at this.

In an instant, my stomach felt like it was filled with dozens of butterflies. My heart kept skipping. My breaths got caught in my throat.

Struggling to suppress the shaking in my hands, I sent her my response:

“I love you too.”

The bell rang not too long after, and as I headed for my locker in the D2 hallway, I could feel the spring in each step I took. My heart was swelling in my chest. I could not wipe the smile from my face. I must’ve looked like an idiot, smiling to myself like this.

But I didn’t care; I was on top of the world. What other people thought of me right now didn’t matter. All I wanted to do was go upstairs and see Carol. My stomach flipped at the thought of her smiling at me, rushing into my arms, and telling me in person what she had just texted.

I stowed my Biology and Religion textbooks into my locker and rather hastily made my way to the tables between A3 and B3 hallways. On the way, I toyed around with trying to guess what made Carol eventually change her mind. Did she realize how long I’d waited? Was it in how I held on despite all the disappointments?

When I got upstairs, I was still walking several inches off the ground. Martin and Dash were already there.

Dropping my backpack onto the floor, I gave the both of them a broad grin. “How’re you guys doing?”

The two of them looked a little perplexed, not used to seeing me this cheery.

“We’re good,” Martin answered with a scrutinizing look at me, “How ‘bout you?”