Day Three
1374 Words
Later on, I realized something. He was doing it on purpose.
Not the talking, I had already accepted that as part of who he was. It was everything else. The timing. The way he just happened to be outside my classroom after lectures. The way he matched my pace without asking where I was going. The way he acted like none of it was intentional.
Like it was all just… coincidence. It wasn’t.
I noticed it when I stepped out of class that afternoon and saw him leaning casually against the wall, scrolling through his phone like he had been there for a while.
I paused.
He looked up almost immediately. “Hey,” he said, like that was normal.
I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Do you have a class here?”
“No.”
“…Then why are you here?”
He pushed himself off the wall, slipping his phone into his pocket.
“I was passing by.”
I stared at him. “Passing by?”
“Yeah.”
“This is the second floor.”
“Exactly.”
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
He smiled completely unbothered. “You ask too many questions.”
“You don’t answer them properly.”
“That’s because you already know the answer.”
I crossed my arms slightly. “Do I?”
“Yeah,” he said easily. “I was waiting for you.”
There it was.
Just like that.
No hesitation. No embarrassment. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I blinked. “You could’ve just said that.”
“I did.”
“…Eventually.”
He laughed softly and started walking not even checking if I would follow.
I stood there for half a second.
Then without thinking too much about it, I did.
We walked down the stairs together the noise of other students filling the space around us. He didn’t say anything for a moment, which was unusual enough to make me glance at him.
“You’re quiet,” I said.
He looked at me, clearly amused. “That’s my line.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
I huffed lightly and looked ahead again.
For a few steps, we just walked like that side by side, not saying anything but not uncomfortable either.
It was strange how quickly that had changed.
A few days ago silence felt heavy.
Now it just… existed.
“You didn’t bring your book today,” he said suddenly.
I blinked. “What?”
“The one you were reading yesterday,” he clarified. “You always have it.”
I looked down at my hands like I might have forgotten it there somehow.
“I finished it.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
He stopped walking.
I took two steps before realizing he wasn’t beside me anymore.
When I turned back, he was just standing there looking at me like I had said something unbelievable.
“You finished a whole book in one night?”
“…Yes?”
He shook his head slowly a small smile forming.
“That’s kind of impressive.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It is to me,” he said catching up to me again. “I’ve been reading the one you told me about.”
My steps faltered slightly.
“You started it?”
“Yeah.”
I tried to keep my voice neutral. “And?”
He shrugged. “It’s sad.”
“That’s the point.”
“I’m not at the end yet,” he added glancing at me. “But I have a feeling it’s going to hurt.”
“It will.”
“Great,” he muttered. “I trusted your recommendation.”
“You asked for it.”
“I did,” he admitted. “Still blaming you when I cry.”
I looked at him, trying to figure out if he was joking.
He looked completely serious.
“…You’re not going to cry.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“You’re very confident.”
“I’m realistic.”
He smiled again and something about it made me look away quickly.
By the time we reached the courtyard the crowd had thinned a little. Students were scattered around in small groups talking, laughing, existing in ways that always felt just slightly out of reach for me.
I instinctively slowed down.
He noticed.
“Do you always do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Walk like you’re trying to disappear.”
I frowned slightly. “I’m not trying to disappear.”
“You kind of are.”
“I’m not.”
“You are,” he said gently not teasing this time. “But it’s okay.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. So I didn’t.
We kept walking until we reached a quieter part of the school grounds, near a tree that cast just enough shade to make it comfortable.
He dropped his bag on the ground and sat down like he had done this a hundred times before.
I hesitated.
Then slowly, I sat down too leaving a small space between us.
Not too close.
Not too far.
“Do you always sit here?” I asked.
“Sometimes.”
“With other people?”
He glanced at me, then shook his head. “Not really.”
I nodded not sure why that mattered.
We sat there for a moment, the soft breeze moving through the leaves above us.
It was… calm.
“You know,” he said after a while lying back slightly and looking up at the sky “you’re different from what I expected.”
I stiffened slightly. “What does that mean?”
“I thought you’d be harder to talk to.”
“I am.”
He turned his head to look at me. “Not really.”
“You talk enough for both of us.”
“That’s true,” he admitted. “But you still answer.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It kind of does.”
I picked at the edge of my sleeve avoiding his gaze.
“…You’re weird.”
“I’ve been told,” he said lightly.
Silence settled again.
But this time it felt… warmer.
“You didn’t ask me anything today,” he said.
I looked at him. “I did.”
“One question.”
“That’s enough.”
“It’s not.”
I sighed quietly. “Why do you care?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead he sat up slightly, resting his arms on his knees as he looked at me.
“I just do,” he said.
That was it. No explanation. No joke.
Just… that.
I held his gaze for a second longer than I meant to. Then I looked away.
“…Fine.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Fine?”
“I’ll ask you something.”
His smile came back instantly. “Okay.”
I hesitated trying to think of something that didn’t feel too personal… but also not completely meaningless.
Then....
“Do you treat everyone like this?”
The question slipped out before I could rethink it. He didn’t answer right away. And for the first time since I met him he actually looked like he was thinking carefully about what to say.
“No,” he said finally.
I blinked.
“No?”
“No.”
“…Why not?”
He tilted his head slightly studying me in that quiet, curious way again.
Then he smiled, smaller this time, softer.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I just don’t.”
That answer should’ve been frustrating. It should’ve made me roll my eyes or walk away or tell him to stop being vague. But it didn’t.
Instead, it left something else behind. Something light, Something confusing, Something I didn’t quite understand yet. I looked down trying to ignore the way my chest felt just a little too full.
“…You’re really strange,” I muttered.
He laughed softly.
“Yeah,” he said. “But you’re still sitting here.”
I didn’t respond.Because he wasn’t wrong.
And that might’ve been the strangest part of all.
- Writer
