The Day I Met Him

"Rin? Rin? Wake up!" said my mom, waking me up.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the strand of light is coming through the clear glass windows of my room. The warmth of the summer sun hits differently. It feels like it's doing a warm and loving embrace to the people of the earth.

A smile drew unto my face as I look upon my mom.

"Good morning sweetheart!"

Those kind, warm words enveloped my heart. Through all these chaos in the world, one that erases it away is my family.

As soon as I rose from the bed, i immediately fixed my bed and went down straight to the kitchen.

The scent of freshly cooked bacon, the sound of the eggs sizzling in the frying pan made me hungry.

The laughter. The chatters. The conversations we exchanged with each other.

Each and every day was already perfect because of my family.

"Thank you for the breakfast mom! I'll get going now. Love you!" I shouted as I packed my lunch in my bag.

As I opened the front door, the cool summer breeze hits my face like the waves crashing the shore. The trees were dancing to the melodic winds and the clouds were puffed up in the blue summer skies.

I walked down the pavement like a zombie. Who would've known I would sleep late because of some goddamn project? I knew it was going to take long but I never expected I would never get enough sleep.

Summer. The forest floor is adorned by bilberries and chanterelles, finding sunshine. Summer's endless skies are buckled with clouds and when the mood takes them, they light up in a luminous, neon blue. Summer is the treasure trove of nature. Goldenrod-yellow flowers laden the fields and silver-washed fritillaries carefully bear their bushels of pollen.

Yet summer brings a bitter twist along with it. The nights are on each other closing in and the long days are faltering. Enjoy the beaches, the birds and the barbecues. In a few short months, everything is going to be cold.

As soon as I reached school, I entered the gate and swiped my I.D. card. All seems very fresh and new, like it was the first day of school.

As soon as I reached the classroom, both of my friends, Yelena and Andrea were chit chatting. My other classmates were answering their assignments, and the others were sleeping.

So I'm not the only one who is sleepy huh.

"Hey Rin! Have you finished your proje- Oh. Seems like you're already done. Lemme see it!"

I gave my sketch pad to show it to Yelena. I know they have high standards and won't compare mine to theirs.

"Woah. Great drawing Rin! I didn't know you were so good at drawing! What pencils did you use? What paper did you-

"I'm sorry Rin. Yelena's just acting like a three-year old. Anyways, nice drawing! I've already reserved a seat for you besides mine. Here. Here." said Andrea.

Andrea and Yelena are twins. We've met each other since elementary and they were already my circle of friends. They were the ones who've treated me like family. Unlike others, they would never bully me for being so skinny. Skinny, as in very skinny.

I brought out my breakfast which is just milk and rice crackers. It's just so comforting eating with someone else. My family's always been so busy, I never get to bond with them. They would prepare breakfast, eat and then rush to work. In the evening, I would wait for them till 11 P.M but they wouldn't come home early. My father is a Lawyer while my mom is a Doctor.

I did understand how busy they were with there work. But I wish they were not as busy so we could spend some time together.

As I finished my breakfast, I walked down towards the trash can and i saw a familiar face coming inside the room.

"Hello! Good morning Ms Sunshine!" said the boy.

My eyes widened when he told me that. I never knew we would meet again.

"Oh my God! Do you have a boyfriend Rin?" asked Yelena.

"No, no! I don-

"Of course! She has one. And it's me!"

I ran towards my chair in shame. All of my classmates were teasing me with that guy. What the frick.

"I never knew you had a boyfriend Rin. HAHAHA you never told me that you should share it with-

"I never had a boyfriend. I don't even know who that person is!"

I do have a hunch who that person is. I think I've met him before. The actions, the gestures. They were all familiar.

The boy sat right next to me. I moved my chair towards Andrea a little, so he could not recognize me as his seatmate.

"Arianna right?" the new boy said.

I just stared at him, like a puppy confused.

The teacher entered our classroom as a signal that our classes will already start.

"Good morning class. Take your seats. You would probably notice one bright face that you have never seen before. Uhm, new student, please come here in front. Oh and please introduce yourself."

New student huh?

“Hello everyone! Good morning! My name is Philip Simon de Leon. 15. You can call me Phil. From Nagoya University.”

“Phil is also the top student of his class in his old school. So Rin, don’t be pressured with it okay?”

Pressured? All I wanted to do in school is to have fun. My parents never expected much of me, so I am studying for the sake of passing and going to high school and college.

“No worries Mr. Fujimoto. Phil can take the valedictorian place in the rankings.”

Phil’s eyes widened in shock. Maybe it’s because of what I said earlier?

“Okay Mr de Leon, you may go back to your seat. So for today’s topic, we will only have a little introduction of ourselves as we have a new one joining our class. Rin, as the Class Representative, do the honors of introducing first.”

I totally forgot that I was elected for Class Rep. And as the Student Council Vice President! I can’t with the school duties!

“Uhm, my name is Arianna Marie Takahashi. Rin for short. 15.”

I guess that’s all I have to say?

“Uhm Ms Takahashi, please tell your classmates your position in the school student council.”

“I’m a class rep of Class A-4 and a Vice President of the student council.”

I faked a smile and took my seat. I fidgeted my fingers and look towards Phil, smirking at me. WTF? Is he a psychopath? A jerk?

“Huh?” I blurted out.

“Huh?” said Phil, mocking me.

What a jerk.

The bell rang and it was time for PE. All the girls went to their respective lockers to get their PE uniforms and change.

“Rin! Let’s go to the field together!” Yelena shouted.

I nodded.

Being the class rep, I am responsible for taking in the attendance every class. Except for homeroom because our homeroom advisor would do the job.

“Akagi, Amano, Aoyama, Chiba, Chinen, Date, De Leon.”

Where is he? Is he late? Well I got to check on him after I list all the present students here in the field.

15 minutes had passed and there is still no signs of Phil. What is this jerk doing?

“Ms. Takahashi, as the class representative, can you check up on Mr. De Leon? I hate doing classes without one student being missing.”

And as a former student of Mr. Kobayashi, I know he would be terrifying if one of his students would go missing, especially when he/she has no proper excuse. What could he be thinking? He’s new anyways, but why would he skip classes?

“Yes Mr. Kobayashi. I’m on it.”

Well, being the class rep sure is hard.

I stood up and searched for Phil. I first went into our classroom, hoping he would be there. But no signs of Phil.

Maybe he’s in the cafeteria? Is he slacking off of school?

Still, I ran into the cafeteria to find loads and loads of girls. Did they find a celebrity or something?

“Uhm, excuse me? Would you mind telling me why is there a commotion going on here?”

The girl turned around. As soon as our eyes met, she was terrified and told her friend something.

The girls whispered at each other and I was wondering why. All of them left the cafeteria.

Why would they be running off of their lives?

I searched the cafeteria and saw Phil, eating milk bread and some banana milk.

“Mr. Lazypants, why would you be here? You do know your schedule right? It’s PE time. You should be in the field and not in the cafeteria.”

“Im sorry. I got to eat breakfast first.”

What he said to me reminded me of myself. Just eating out because my parents were both busy. I was just like a little bird left by mother bird.

I sat down in front of him. I just realized how sad and lonely it was just to eat by yourself with the absence of the comfort of your family. I saw myself in him.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I was just a little bit too harsh. I was just mad, that one of my classmate wasn’t around during class. That thing pisses me off. As the class rep it is my duty to count and make sure every one of my classmates are present. I’m sorry.” I blurted out.

I saw that he was sincere and his eyes were sparkling. He probably knew that I was going through the same pain as he is having. The world’s still pretty big. There is a lot of people to meet.

“No, no. It’s okay! There is nothing to apologize for.” He said with a smile on his face.

His smile was a warm one. I never thought I would never feel this kind of warmth forever.

I could still remember the same warmth one has shared with me. The laughter’s we’ve had and the memories we made, they’re still in my head.

I’m still hoping you are here with me. Always.