Lost in the Future, Found in Love

Chapter Two

"Do any of the students in this class listen to good and soothing songs at all? Why the hell does no one know me?" Lauren wondered in frustration while the teacher's class was going on, because she knew she wasn't popular yet career-wise, but she promoted and released top-notch songs as an up-and-coming singer for no one to know she was.

Jonathan tried to think of how to start a conversation with her at lunchtime while Mr. Smith's class was ongoing and the other two classes they had before the bell for break was rung, but he could not think of any.

"Hi, thanks for the other time." She brimmed with smiles while he was putting his book back into his backpack, preparing to have lunch at the school's cafeteria.

"Oh, you're welcome." He grinned.

"Please don't have the bad impression that I am an unserious student because I forgot to bring my pen along on my first day at school... and probably because I was late also." She said.

"It seems she is into you; don't misuse this opportunity, Jonathan." A voice rang in his head.

The voice seemed to have been uttered under the influence of a spell because it compelled and prompted his confidence to flow with her conversation.

"No no. I honestly didn't have that thought. Unless you think you are, due to the fact that you brought up the issue yourself." He teased her.

"What?" She scrunched her face.

He apologised, saying that he only meant it as a joke and she accepted his apology.

"It's okay. I'm also sorry."

"For what?" He was confused because she had not done anything wrong.

"For the little collision we had earlier." She scratched her braided hair, which fell gently down her back like a cascading waterfall.

She knew she obstructed his way while she was admiring the school's beautiful surroundings, which distracted her and caused them to run into each other.

He told her not to apologise stating that he was also to blame for it, which was somewhat true.

One of the lessons her mother taught her was to always say "sorry" in order to avoid getting into trouble. The advice had become so ingrained in her that whenever someone stepped on her while I'm walking or moving, she still say "sorry," ostensibly acknowledging that she was partially to blame.

"It's okay. We are cool now, right?" He inquired.

"Yeah, sure. We have been."

"I am glad we are." He proposed a handshake to her.

"My name is Jonathan." He added.

"Does this mean we are friends? Well, let's see how this goes." She thought inwardly as she looked at the handshake for a split second.

"I figured that out." She shook his hand, smiling.

"From Mr Smith, right?" He realised she would have gotten that when Mr Smith picked on me earlier.

"Yeah. I am..."

"Lauren. Lauren Gates." He cut in, smiling, while still shaking hands with her.

She withdrew her hand from the handshake in shock, puzzled at how he knew her name—her full name, to be precise.

"How do you..." She was still in confusion.

"How did I know your name, right? I figured that out also." He smiled broadly with his cheeks puffed out.

"Now, let's be serious. How do you know my name? I'm really curious." She gave him a stern look.

"I just got to know it. It's not a big deal, right?" He knew she would be persistent in asking how he knew her name, and he was having fun seeing her curious and puzzled that the organs in his stomach grumbling for food had stopped.

"No one has uttered my full name since I was introduced to the class, not even the principal. So how come you know my name?" She asked.

"Or do you...?" She widened her eyes.

"Do I what?" She wanted to force the truth out of his mouth, but he was not ready to.

"Stop this; stop beating around the bush and come plain already."

"I don't read minds; I'm not a telepath, so how do you expect me to know what you're thinking or what's on your mind?"

"So you're not going to tell me? Okay!" She frowned and faced the other side, her arms crossed on her chest.

"I'm really surprised no one was star-struck when you walked in, because who the hell are they not to know the super talented and melodious Lauren Gates?" He finally gave in to her persuasion.

She turned to face him, surprised, and said, "So you knew?!" She covered her mouth with her palm to reduce the echo of her scream.

"I'm a die-hard fan of your music. You have no idea how much I like your music. I listen to at least one of your songs every day, and I'm not exaggerating.

"Really?" She held his hands, which shocked me.

"I'm really sorry for overreacting. I was just elated that someone knows me as a singer and appreciates my music. I was kind of worried in the first few hours of stepping foot in this school because no one recognized me until this moment." She pulled her hand away.

"It's okay; I understand."

He remembered that he hadn't eaten lunch, and if I missed it, he won't concentrate on the classes held due to my hungriness. He was not even concentrating on the last class they had before lunch.

"If we continue conversing this way, I'm sure that we will miss lunch. We should be on our way to the cafeteria before the bell rings." He stood up and offered her a hand.

"I'll just skip it. I ate beyond my limit for breakfast before coming to school." She nodded her head in disapproval.

"You can...or can you accompany me to the cafeteria?"

"You can't just sit here all alone." He added, noticing that she wanted to refuse.

She would have gladly accepted to have lunch with him without batting an eyelid if it had been before, when her family were struggling to live. Back then, they also struggled to eat three square meals a day and usually ate breakfast late; most times they had brunch instead of it in order to skip lunch.

She was not used to the change in their lives yet, which was why she hardly ate anything after having breakfast since they started living in wealth.

She finally accepted to follow him to the cafeteria, only to keep him company, since she did not want him to have any bad impression of him hatsoever that she was pompous, and since she wanted to satisfy his wish as a die-hard fan of her he was.

"Okay, fine." He offered her a hand again, she grasped it, and stood up.

"I saw the way you were admiring the school's buildings earlier; do you like them?" They were walking through the hallway to the cafeteria.

"Yeah. They are attractive."

When she walked into the school building earlier, she was gobsmacked by its structure and beautiful aesthetics.

Beautiful flowers of different kinds blossomed around the building. If not for the school's building, one would have mistaken it for an orchard where people, especially lovers, have picnics and their lovey-dovey moments.

It was during her admiration of the outdoor areas that her shoulder was brushed by his, which made her fall on the floor.

"No wonder the school is one of the best schools in the country." She added.

"The quality of the buildings does not solely define the school's excellence; the same applies to all colleges and schools."

"The true measure of a school's excellence lies in its academic programs, teaching quality, faculty expertise, student achievements, curriculum, extracurricular activities, research opportunities, and overall learning environment." He clarified.

Although the school's segregation irked him, the excellence of the teaching is what he was proud of. The school's concentration on academia is very high.

"That's true." She nudged her head.

All eyes were on them as they walked because most students had not seen Jonathan talking or walking with another student, not to mention a girl. He refrained from associating with students because he didn't want anybody to use his vulnerabilities to mock him later.

"Would you like to take a walk with me around the school after I've had my lunch to see more of its beauty?" I asked her.

"Sure. That sounds great. I'd like that." She beamed.

"What you saw earlier is just the tip of the iceberg." He knew what caused the collision between them, so he wanted to show her more, and try to get close to her.

"Are you sure you're okay skipping lunch?" He asked her as they entered the cafeteria.

"Yes, I am." She smiled.

"Okay, since you insist, find a vacant seat over there." He pointed at a vacant seat at the right corner of the cafeteria."

"Okay." She replied, after being silent for some seconds.

"Ensure to keep a seat for me."

"Okay, I will." She smiled, rolling her eyes.

He joined the queue of students waiting in line to get served their lunch.

"I'm glad you kept a seat for me." He said, immediately he sat in front of her on the seat he indicated to her earlier.

"Why do you think I wouldn't?" She asked.

"Because you are beautiful, and I expected some guys to have surrounded you, to get close to the beautiful girl and try their luck. Trust me, a lot of guys have been hitting on you while you were seated here, pressing your phone." He wished the words could come out of my mouth, but he didn't dare, as he didn't want it to seem like he was hitting on her.

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen or met, but hr was not attracted to her sexually and did not want to make her think he was.

"The cafeteria is usually so full of students that some fight for space, so I thought someone would have occupied the seat you keep for me." He lied, but not entirely.

As he was walking to the seat, he noticed a group of boys huddled together near a corner. They were all staring intently at her, and their eyes were wide with admiration while her gaze was fixed on her phone.

She seemed oblivious to the attention she was getting, but the boys were clearly enamored by her presence, or perhaps, her charming beauty.

"If someone had proposed to sit here, I would have definitely declined." She smiled.

"Are you sure?" Their eyes made contact, and that was when he noticed how piercing they were. Her blue-hazel eyes were so beautiful, that they made him drift off in thought for a few seconds.

His face was oval-shaped, and his hair was neatly trimmed, just brushing the top of his ears.

Her reply made him wonder who she was, whether she was one of the few girls that do stand their ground because things didn't work that way in the school. If something of such had happened, a scuffle would have definitely erupted between her and the student, except if her parents were influential or wealthy.

"It seems you don't have many friends." She said.

The question caught him off-guard, as he didn't expect that and wasn't ready to tell her, so he ignored the question.

"You know lunch is free here, right?" He pretended to be enjoying his meal as he wolfed it down.

She paused, then said, "No. But why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering why you bluntly refused to have lunch." I said.

"Oh, about that. I had breakfast and ate beyond my limit, so I'm not hungry to have lunch." She explained.

"Ohh," was all he said as he delved into another thought.

He wished he was in her shoes. She was privileged to have breakfast. He did intentionally skipped breakfast on school days since lunch was free at the school to save the little he and his mother earned. Sometimes, after eating lunch in school, he didn't eat dinner and breakfast until the next day in school.

He cleared his throat after some moments of silence between them and said, "What I'm about to say may annoy you, so I want to apologize in case it would..."