Second Approach
650 Words
I saw her.
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Alone.
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Just her in the library.
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Perfect.
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I stood by the door for a moment.
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Thinking.
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What was I going to say?
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I tried forming something in my head.
A proper line.
Something clean.
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But then—
my mind drifted.
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Back to before.
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All the times I rehearsed what to say…
and still ended up saying the wrong thing.
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So I stopped trying.
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No plan.
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I walked in.
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I passed by her on purpose—
then slowed down.
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Stopped.
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Turned slightly.
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Our eyes met.
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She froze for a second…
then quickly looked down at her book.
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“I wasn’t expecting you to be here,” I said.
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She mumbled something.
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Too soft to hear.
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I stepped a bit closer.
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“Did you say something?”
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She shook her head quickly.
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“N-no.”
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A pause.
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Then I said casually—
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“You ran away from me during break.”
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She looked up again.
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Her fingers tightened slightly around her book.
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“I… I didn’t run,” she said softly.
“I just thought you… needed the space.”
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Her voice trailed off at the end.
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“And you’re in the library committee, right?” I added.
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She nodded.
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“Y-yeah.”
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Then I remembered the book I saw earlier.
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Come Sundown.
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A romcom.
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“I wanted to ask,” I said,
“do you have any good romcom recommendations?”
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Something changed.
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Not completely—
but enough.
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“Oh… um… yeah,” she said, adjusting her grip on the book.
“I-I can check.”
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She stood up.
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Still a bit unsure.
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We started walking through the shelves.
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At first, she was quiet.
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But once she started talking about books—
it was different.
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Her voice got a little stronger.
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She still stumbled over some words—
but she kept going.
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“This one is nice,” she said, pulling out a book.
“And… um… this one too. It’s more… slow, but it’s good.”
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She glanced at me briefly—
then looked away again.
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“You might like it,” she added.
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She was nervous.
That was obvious.
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But she was trying.
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And that made it easier.
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I didn’t say much.
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Just listened.
Nodded.
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Let her talk.
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Then suddenly—
someone called her name.
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She flinched slightly.
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Then turned and hurried toward the entrance.
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I followed behind.
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A girl was standing there, smiling.
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“Ohh… looks like you made a new friend,” she said.
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Roseline shook her head quickly.
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“N-no, it’s not like that—”
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“Aww,” I cut in lightly,
“aren’t we friends?”
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She froze again.
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Her eyes moved between us.
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“I… I mean… no—yes—I mean…”
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She couldn’t finish the sentence.
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The other girl laughed.
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“Just take his number,” she said.
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Roseline hesitated for a second—
then nodded slightly.
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“O-okay…”
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We exchanged numbers.
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Simple.
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After that—
I left.
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That was enough for today.
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As I walked home—
my thoughts weren’t as clear.
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For a moment, I hesitated.
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Maybe I should stop.
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She was nice.
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Different.
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It didn’t feel right.
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Maybe I could just leave all of this behind.
Start something new.
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But then—
that feeling came back.
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That night.
That pain.
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And just like that—
everything settled again.
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No.
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I wasn’t stopping.
- Writer
