I don't love you • Perhaps I need you

He hurriedly goes to the bathroom to take a shower, “Shaun hurry up”, his mom shouted while preparing for breakfast “why you always woke up so late, you know you’re already in college” his dad said then sip into his coffee He waits for the bus to arrive, the bus driver looks at him like he’s been a disaster “man, what happened to you?”, Steve said in disbelief looking at Shaun’s sleepless eyes The bus move into the direction of an alley, all of the boys at the back are talking about some kind of boy conversations. He got up and go straight to his class, it’s the engineering class, as usual he goes like he’s not interested, it’s his dad’s idea that he should take an engineering course not mentioning that his grandparents are also engineers. He sat at the middle so he won’t get notice and also he could hear the lesson while minding his own business “I don’t want to welcome you all here, engineering like everybody hates” his professor shouted like his eardrums are almost deranged “oh of course everybody hates boring classes, so let’s try to be less boring” he proudly said The knocking on the door broke the prof’s voice, “is this some kind of joke?” he sarcastically said “I hate people who always shows up late, go on we are almost to start” his face turn like it was judging the girl in buggy clothes and tangled hair Shaun tries not to make an eye contact so that the girl won’t sit next to him “Sit… right there, at Mr. Manson…” his professor said like his eyes almost didn’t felt like closing anymore She sits next to him quietly, she don’t want to make any noise that sure will make the situation even worst, she scoots back to her chair to make herself comfortable. He’s trying not to make any kind of interaction like eye contact or a some kind of small talk He does not want her to make any interaction with him too After the class he goes to the next one He saw Steve at the hallway with bunch of girls around him, he wave at Shaun then goes directly to him “That girl next to you at the engineering class is kinda weird” he whispered like a criminal passing a secret with a policeman “I don’t wanna talk about it” he whisper back He walk out like some kind of pissed off grandpa or a punched boxer but in the chest He’s walking into the library when he bump into that weird girl he met at the engineering class She look more disastrous than him, she’s not making any eye contact because Shaun looks like he is ready to cuss into her Gosh why is she looking like that, he thought looking into her face She is about to burst into tears with all of the eyes looking at her, especially the eyes of Shaun “I’m sorry…” Shaun said softly while trying not to look more awkward around her Continue The girl calms down and wipes her tears away, “It’s okay, I just had a really bad day”. She smiled a little at Shaun and moved away to find her books. Shaun watched her go, feeling guilty for making her upset. He went to his own books, deep in thought. He had judged her without even knowing her. He knows that everyone has their own struggles and he was ashamed of his earlier reaction. For the rest of the day, Shaun kept an eye out for her, ready to make amends if he saw her again. At the end of the day, she appears again in the library, alone. He walks up to her and shyly clears his throat. She looks up and he gestures for her to sit with him. He apologized and told her he was sorry for being such an ass earlier. She smiled and said, “It’s alright. I understand.” He asked her about her day and she tells him how she had lost her job earlier in the day. Shaun empathized with her struggles and offered to take her out for coffee so they could talk and get to know each continue other better. She gladly accepted and they both went for coffee to talk about her situation. Shaun offered to help her look for new job opportunities and also ways to cope with the stress she was facing. She was really touched by this gesture and they two have grown a strong bond since then. She visits Shaun often and they talk about her job hunt, her feelings and life in general. Shaun learned an important lesson that day; don’t judge people based on the way they look or the circumstances they find themselves in. There is always an opportunity to understand someone better and create a meaningful connection. As for the girl, she has managed to land a job a few weeks later and her life took a turn for the better. She still looks back to her first meeting with Shaun and is thankful for his kindness and willingness to listen. The two have become close friends ever since and support each other through their respective struggles. What started out as a not-so-pleasant encounter in the library has blossomed into a beautiful friendship.