Chapter 5
It Was Just Candy. Right?
There's a special kind of peace when you're alone in a classroom.
No shouting. No gossip. No Fatima trying to feed you half her lunch while ranting about the one boy who had the audacity to say she talks too much.
Just me, my desk, the sound of birds outside the window, and the fact that I was mentally preparing myself to jog in P.E. like I hadn't eaten two parathas this morning.
Everyone had already left. Even Fatima. I was just... being lazy. Sitting there like a potato, staring at the board and thinking about nothing in particular.
And then-
Footsteps.
I turned.
Keifer Watson. Walking toward me with the most unreadable expression on his face. Something between determined and deranged.
I blinked.
He didn't speak.
Just walked right up, dropped something on my desk, and said:
"This is for you."
I looked down.
A box of chocolates.
With. A. Tiny. Teddy. On. It.
My brain stopped.
"What is this?" I croaked.
"Chocolates," he said like I was the idiot. "And a teddy. For you."
"This isn't for me."
"Yes it is."
"No it isn't."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want it."
"You have to take it."
"I don't."
"Why not?"
"Why would I?"
"Because I gave it."
My cheeks were burning. My hands were doing this weird fidgety thing. My brain? Still frozen on the words for you.
"I'm not taking it," I said, shoving the box toward him.
"Too bad," he said, shoving it back.
"You're ridiculous."
"You're in denial."
"You're in my space."
We spent the next five minutes shoving the poor box at each other like it was cursed. Like whoever ended up with it would explode.
And just when I was about to shove it into his face, a teacher peeked into the room.
"Why are you two still here? Go to P.E. Now!"
We both froze.
Then scrambled.
I picked up my bag and ran for the door, but not before Keifer shoved the stupid box into my bag, flashed a smug little smirk, and sprinted out of the room.
Like he won.
But he didn't.
Because two can play this stupid game.
And while he was talking to Yuri at the lockers, I doubled back, unzipped his bag, and shoved the box inside without a word.
Take that, Watson.
P.E. was a blur.
We jogged. We stretched. We were made to run laps around the field like some kind of medieval punishment.
But the weirdest thing?
I couldn't stop smiling.
Like... giggling.
Me.
Jay Mariano. Hater of mornings. Cynical realist. No-nonsense queen.
And I was smiling because of a dumb teddy bear and chocolates I didn't even keep?
What was wrong with me?
Back in class, I finally broke and whispered everything to Fatima.
She gasped so hard she almost fell off her chair.
"He WHAT?! You better be joking-Jay I swear if you left that teddy-"
"I didn't take it."
"You're DUMB!"
"I panicked! I don't even like chocolates that much!"
"You don't like happiness either, apparently!"
Before I could defend myself, Keifer walked in and headed straight to the back of the room.
Not his seat.
Mine.
Well, technically, the empty desk beside mine.
He sat down and faced me like this was a business meeting.
"Please take it," he said quietly.
"No."
"Then take the teddy at least."
"Hell no."
"Please."
I stared at him.
His voice wasn't teasing now. His smile was a little softer. Not smug, just... hopeful?
"Fine," I mumbled. "I'll take one candy."
"One?" he repeated.
"Two. One for me, one for Fatima. That's it."
"Deal."
So there we were. Four teenagers - me, Keifer, Fatima, and Yuri - sitting in the back of the classroom, lowkey hiding from the teacher, unwrapping tiny chocolates and eating them like it wasn't the weirdest lunch we'd ever had.
Yuri kept whispering "romance is in the air" until I threatened to throw a pencil at his face.
Keifer just smiled.
And me?
I felt...
Weird.
Happy.
But also kind of... sad?
I couldn't explain it. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't keep the box. Or that I didn't say thank you. Or that for the first time in a long time, someone had done something just for me - and I pushed it away.
It was just candy.
Right?
So why did I feel like I was missing something I didn't know I wanted?
End of Chapter 5.
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When i think of this i want to cry.
-author ayesha
(A hint to the surprise revealed in the end)