Who Are You Again?

The One I'm Seeking...

He lifted his gaze up from the ground and felt his breathe hitch as he saw him…

And once, like countless of time before, everything seemed to wash away from his senses. Things got blurry from his vision leaving the only scenery clear that was in front of him. His palms got quite sweaty as he shyly rubbed them together and his books… Well, they were long forgotten on the ground. Poor Books!!

He so out of it that he didn’t even realise that the person in front of him has already picked up the books and handed them over to his friend who nudged her corner in his side to get him out of the trance.

“Yeah, what!?”, Oliver mumbled completely dumbfounded.

“He said sorry, you dumbfuck.”, Mia grunted in his ear making his eyes go wide from surprise. He was met with those beautiful and stunning pair of eyes which were looking at him in concern. But he was forced out of his trance by the heated gaze he felt from besides him.

“Oh! Yeah. I’m sorry. I-I mean it’s okay. It was my fault too…”, Oliver answered with difficulty it more like rambled. Now making fool out of himself.

“Um, nah. It’s okay… So see you around.”, One more awkward response came from the person in front of them who looked little apologetic but then he was alright after Oliver had dumbly answered him and found it quite entertaining. The boy, after giving him a small smile proceeded towards where he was going earlier while Oliver was still glued in his spot looking at his retreating figure until he completely disappeared among the mass of students.

“Oli, I swear if you’re gonna stand here for even one more second like an i***t you are, I’m going to leave your ass here so that you can stay and stand here all day all you want.”, Mia grumbled catching his attention.

“I’m sorry bro…”, Oliver mumbled being sorry.

“Come on Oli… Enough is enough. Atleast do something rather than just standing around and watch him creepily!!”, Oliver widened his eyes and looked at her in disbelief when she scolded him.

“Hey! I do not watch him like creepily.”, He retorted back trying to prove his innocence.

“It sure seems like it Oli. Look, what I’m saying is that you have to do something. It’s been long two years since you have been crushing on that boy. If you just keep it up I can guarantee that soon you’re gonna loose your mind.”, She stated with a firm faces trying to make him understand her point. She honestly the only one who’s been around Oliver all her life. He didn’t have many friends unlike her. So she has known about his crush on their senior boy since the day he realised his feelings. And she could see how sincerely her friend adored that older boy. So she wanted to do something for him. But it was not possible if Oliver himself wasn’t willing.

“Are you crazy bro? What do you mean by do something. He might even not be gay!! Gosh that will be embarassing. And what if it goes downhill even worse than we can even imagine? I'm telling you he's might not be... gay.”, Oliver whined while whispering the last word as if it was something forbidden. Mia just rolled her eyes.

“That’s the key word Oli. ‘Might’. You’re really not sure if he really is into boys or not. Infact you don’t even know the basic things about him. So why are you assuming these things on your. Better than that I say, you should give it a shot. If it hits right, imagine yourself with him, how happy you’ll be….”, Mia said encouraging him while they entered the Tennis ground.

There weren’t many students. Probably were in their respective classrooms as the break was over. Only few people from the club strutting around. That’s why Mia was quick to acquire an empty ground. She picked up two rackets from the props cupboard and came back holding one towards Oliver. He looked at her and then towards the racket questionably.

“Come on.”, She simply said while extending her hand a little more.

“Oh no. You know I don’t know how to play…”, Oliver reasoned while starting to walk off towards the bench which was the side of court.

“And this ain’t any competition. It’s just me. Come on, I’ll teach you.”, She said while approaching him.

“Um, bro… I don’t even know how to hold a racket. I suck at that.”

“How do you know?”

“What?”

“I’m asking how do you know if you suck at that? See, how will you ever if you don’t even come to the court and start playing. Stop assuming anything.”, She encouraged as she went upto one side while Oliver just timidly stood by.

“But…”

“What will happen if you drop the ball?”, Now Mia was asking him with dead serious expressions on her face.

“What?”

“I asked, what will happen if you drop the ball or failed to deliver successfully?”

“Um, I loose, I guess?”, He said unsure.

“So will that cost you anything?”, She asked again.

“No…”

“So what exactly are you afraid of? Loosing? Hell that’s part of our life! Learn to admit it. But don’t sit around doing nothing.”, She now had started bouncing the ball over the racket.

While with her corner of the eye, she eyed Oliver slowly going on the opposite side and pick up the racket she had left on the ground in middle of the conversation.

“I see what you’re trying to say.”, He mumbled under his breath. But Mia heard that perfectly.

“Good.”, She said with a slight proud look. But then he once again looked up with confusion on his face.

“But… What should I do? Like, I never have done anything like this. Oh my god, what am I going to do? I’m so stupid. How can that boy even look at a stupid boy like me!!”, Oliver completely freaked out. At this point he was talking to himself. Mia didn’t take much time to approach him to the other side. She tapped his shoulder to bring out of the trance.

“Relax Bud!! For now, just focus on starting friendship with him…”, She said soothing him off of his anxiety.

“But how? I have never even talked to him before. So how can I start a freaking friendship with him?”, Oliver gripped his hair in frustration.

“Come on. People make friends without even doing anything. That’s not even a problem… Start with… Social media. You know it’s the easiest platform to start friendship with anyone. And you won’t even seem like freak. Everyone uses it. It will not be that obvious. Then start to get to know him slowly. Are you getting what I’m saying??”, Mia said. Oliver just dumbly nodded. She looked at his face and understood that he was still contemplating on her idea. It’s not that he didn’t trust her. But he was scaredy cat practically about everything. She knew that.

“Come on. Give me your phone.”, She didn’t even wait for him to process his words and put her hand in his pocket to pull out his handphone.

Till he processed her idea in his mind she tapped away something on his phone. Then after few minutes a bright smile spread on her face and she cheered.

“Done!!”

“What?”, He asked confused.

“I have sent him a friend request. Now let’s just wait for him to accept.”