I was late to class today. Yesterday, I was enamored by the beauty of the building. I got to my class and I saw Mrs. White who was teaching the class how to write main characters. I sat next to Olivia. She was waiting for me to come to class.

“Where were you? I was waiting for you in front of the stairs.” She whispered to my ears.

“I was running late,” I told her. I did not want to lie to her but I did not want to mention that I was in therapy because I was traumatized by my parent’s experience.

The class ended. All of us were ready to leave for lunch. Since the room was crowded because the teachers gathered around Mrs. White to talk about something important, we couldn’t really move.

I was standing with Olivia and Ben in a line to get out of the room.

I heard somebody call my name. I couldn’t hear them clearly, but when I heard the voice again. I turned around to see who was calling me.

No one seemed to be calling me since I saw no one behind me. Everyone formed a small group and talked with themselves. Some people left the room as others just stood there talking. We lost interest in leaving the room as we decided to leave after everyone left.

“Radha, Radha” I heard the same husky voice which seemed familiar. I have not talked with everyone in the class so I did not know who specifically was calling me.

I turned around again to see whether someone was really calling me. Again no one was behind me.

I turned around and decided that I was not going to look back again because it seemed like someone was making fun of me. Being a new student was very hard. Especially when you join during your senior year of high school.

“Radha, do you know what? I think Krishna might have feelings for you. He is going to ask you out one day.” Olivia said this out of the blue.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

I still hear someone calling me. I ignored it.

“He could be in love with you. You have long hair and a great sense of dressing. He could probably follow you.” She stopped. She could see that I was getting angry. “I was kidding. I was thinking about you two as a couple and I found how odd it would be if both of you were a couple and went out.”

“Trust me. I do not want to date the class president,” we both laughed. I could not stop laughing when I took a step behind me. That was it.

I fell on someone’s shoulder. I did not know who’s shoulder it was. It felt soft and warm. I wanted to stay in their arms for a while. It felt welcoming and distancing at the same time. For a second, I did not want to get off their shoulders. Two hands from the back lifted me gently and had their hand on me until I got my grip. When I was standing on my foot, all of the nice feelings disappeared. I was angry and I wanted to yell at this person for not calling me. I won’t have fallen on their shoulders.

I turned around to see who was standing behind me. It was Krishna. I fell on Krishna’s shoulders! I can’t believe this.

What a coincidence. We were just talking about him and he was behind me.

We were standing so close that I could feel his breath on my face. He looked so tall, handsome, and gorgeous in close proximity. His black eyes were sparkling like blackberries. His body scent is divine. I told myself that I should not think about him in this way. I took a quick breath and started to yell at him.

“Sorry, I was the one who was calling you. You did not look behind you so I decided to walk by you and I thought we won’t bump into each other-” before Krishna could explain. I started to yell at him. “Dude, do you have any sense? Can’t you see that I am standing next to the door and you have to walk through me before exiting? Why would you make a nonsense decision to walk away?”

“Hey, do not raise your voice at me. I was calling you by your name but you did not even take a second to see who was behind you. Don’t talk to me like it is all my fault. You should know your surroundings” he explained back to me. At this point, I realized that he was correct. I did not see him. But I did turn around to see who was calling me. Even though it was not completely my fault. I shouldn’t have snapped at him before asking him what happened.

“Please leave” that is all I could say. I did not want to argue with him over a simple issue.

“Radha, I didn't mean to argue with you.” He said in a soft voice. He seemed to be concerned with my sudden change in tone, facial expression, and voice. “Just go,” I said again. He still seemed concerned. I did not make any eye contact. I let him pass by me.

I had mixed feelings about what just happened. Especially our last encounter. I never went from fantasizing about someone to hating him. All I could tell myself is that I did not like him enough to trust him at the same time I did like him to feel protected. His gentle gestures made me like him and hate him for yelling at me before my side of the story was told to him.

I did not know about these feelings but when he was walking away from the classroom, I caught his eyes, which were only looking at me. I was surprised to see how intense he was looking at me. So, I couldn’t keep my eyes off his beautiful face.

When I looked at Olivia. We could only both laugh at what just happened. We did not talk until we reached the cafeteria. It took us 10 minutes to get out of the classroom. There I saw him again looking at me…