Eventually mine

Adrian’s POV The weird hole in my shoe was getting bigger and bigger. It wasn’t big enough for a teacher far away to notice, but big enough for the bunch of girls in front of me to start giggling when I walked towards the blackboard. I tried to drag my foot slightly so that the sole wouldn’t flap but to no vain. It only worked for a few steps and it went _ pak pak pak-. Geez this was so embarrassing. The whole Senior 6 class burst out laughing. I wouldn’t blame them for laughing. The shoe was funny but not to me since it was the only pair I had for six years now. Thanks to my constant foot size. If it had grown even by a few inches, I would be moving around bare foot. “Hey Adrian, your dear shoes are clapping for you” Jamima shouted from the back and the whole class burst out laughing again. They were all rich kids. This was new to them. Madam Sylvia the sub maths teacher did not laugh though. She just looked at me pitifully with that look that teachers give to helpless kids. “Yes Adrian, go ahead and solve the equation”. I solved the equation with ease. I always have. I was the only one in my class who found all subjects very easy. See, at least I have something rich kids don’t have. They would laugh at my wornout shoes and uniform but they would copy my notes. I wasn’t completely useless. I finished solving the equation and I explained to them how it is done which earned me a round of applause from them. I walked back to my desk, _pak pak pak_ and I sat down as fast as I could. My seat was on the second row right behind Liana. Liana didn’t laugh at my shoe when the others did. She never laughed at me for anything others found funny. And that’s the reason why I was stupidly in love with her since Senior one. She had a pair of big round eyes that screamed innocence. Her skin was light like morning tea with too much milk. Her hair was black and she always had it in a high ponytail. She always smelled like Vaseline and strawberries altogether. I could smell her scent from miles away. Lunch siren rang and everyone rushed out. I stayed behind because I actually didn’t have any money for lunch. My mother gave me 1000 shillings to last me for a week. If I dared to buy a single chapati for lunch, I wouldn’t have transport for tomorrow. So, I drank water from a bottled I always carried with me to school and pretended I was fasting not to earn pitiful gazes from other students. Liana stayed behind too. She was arranging her books one by one. “You solved the equation real quick”. She said without lifting her gaze from what she was doing. “You could easily solve it too,” I said, my voice cracking. She smiled displaying those cute dimples that always had me forgetting all the problems in the world. “Hey, I am not you. My father always says that I will marry a lawyer, not become one.” She shrugged and I burst out laughing which earned me a giggle from her. I have always had a big crush on her. It actually wasn’t a crash. I was madly in love with her since the first day she entered class in S.1. I always found myself looking at her but making sure she didn’t catch me drooling. She was beautiful, polite and down to earth even when she had very rich parents. It’s her beauty and character that drew me to her. But I was a no body. There was no way I was going to confess my feelings to her. At least not with these wornout uniforms and torn shoes. Even if I were her, I wouldn’t say yes to a guy like me. Then again, I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try…. “Liana” I called her name which came out as a whisper instead. She turned to look at me , her eyes bright. They always were.