Repeated apology...

(Ally's POV)

It was the second week of school; Chloe and I were on a stroll during lunch break. We were so engrossed in our conversation that I bumped into someone. I looked up and saw a stern-looking guy. He looked quite scary but at the same time, he was pleasing to look out. A few seconds later I realized that I had been staring and I immediately apologized for bumping into him. He looked at me with an uninterested look and walked away. I watched as he walked away, and Chloe brought me back to reality. "His name is Mike; he took a year off from school and he's now in our year. I heard that he's really scary and no one ever associates with him. There's a rumour about him that he was bullied back in elementary school, but now he beats up anyone who tries to approach him with evil intentions. We'd better stay away from him". These were the words Chloe told me. Honestly, I could see in his eyes that he had a dark past, but I also thought that he looked a bit lonely. When the break was over, we returned back to class and I happened to see Mike talking to that boy, "I still don't know his name." It had been a week, and no one had asked for his name. He never spoke to anyone except the teacher so we couldn't ask for his name. I was surprised to see him talking to someone, and not just anybody, it had to be Mike. They looked so engrossed in their conversation, and I happened to see him smile. He looked even more handsome with a smile on his face. 

I stared at them for quite a while and just like before, I was caught staring, not just by one of them, but the both of them. I felt awkward and quickly looked away in order to hide my embarrassment. I heard footsteps heading towards me and then I looked up. It was Mike. He was right in front of me, I didn't know whether I should have been afraid or not. I immediately apologized for staring and as I did so, I heard him laughing. I was caught off guard. "Why was he laughing?". "Why do you apologize every time we meet? My name is Mike, by the way, I thought you looked really cute, so I decided to come and talk to you, and my friend over there said Hi. His name is Zack. He's quite shy so I relayed his message to you". Those were the words he said to me before walking away. I didn't even get to say anything. Actually, I had no words to say. Who would have thought that a so-called scary and violent guy would walk up to me and tell me that I was cute? It was then that I just remembered something, I had gotten his name. I felt joyful deep down and I was glad that he noticed me. "So, he was actually too shy to talk to others, that's so cute" Those were my thoughts. 

The day ended smoothly, and it was time to head home. I had a lot to do before leaving so I was one of the last people to leave the classroom. On my way out, I noticed Zack was still seated. His head was placed on the table, and he was asleep. I wanted to walk up to him to wake him up, but I hesitated. A few seconds later he lifted his head and looked around before getting up. When I saw this, I ran away so that he wouldn't see me. I didn't want him to think that I was staring again.

I watched him from a distance as he left the school gates, then I saw him enter a really expensive car. I was in awe, "He must be really rich to afford one of those". Honestly, from the moment I met him, I had the feeling that he gave off a rich kid vibe. But, if he was rich, why would he attend a school like this? Maybe he was like me who didn't want to go to a school full of rich kids and just enjoy the life of an average kid. 

Every day after that, I stayed behind late after school and always watched him leave in his expensive car. I thought to myself that maybe he leaves late so as not to attract attention with his car. It made a lot of sense if I thought of it that way. I still didn't have the courage to speak to anyone aside from Chloe, I would rather just observe. Chloe was already a handful, so I preferred to just hang out with her. Occasionally, Mike would pass by and tell me Hi, but that was it, nothing more, nothing less. I always wondered why he did that. I would also see him and Zack talking to one another during lunch break, so I assumed they had become close friends. This daily routine of mine went on and on till it was the test period. This was my first time participating in such a thing, so I had prepared quite well for this. Chloe and I had studied on and on for countless nights in order to get really high scores. Chloe had been at this school for quite a while, so she knew how things worked. Since it was my first time, I gave it my all.