Born between goodbye

Chapter 5 — The Boy Across the Field

After the sports event, she began seeing him everywhere.

At first, only in passing.

Near the school gate leaning lazily beside his bicycle.

At the small roadside stall selling iced drinks after school.

Sometimes near the bridge leading toward the village road.

Always watching quietly.

Never approaching.

The boy’s name was Rizal.

He was two years older than her and studied in the upper secondary class. Unlike most boys in the village, he rarely spoke loudly or acted recklessly. While others competed to impress girls with motorcycles and cigarettes, Rizal remained distant from them.

Still, people noticed him.

Tall.

Sharp-eyed.

Calm in a way that made him seem older than his age.

One afternoon, while she was helping her grandmother buy fertilizer at a small farming shop, she heard the shop owner laugh softly.

“That boy has been asking about you.”

She froze immediately.

“Who?”

“Rizal.”

Her grandmother glanced at her briefly but said nothing.

The entire walk home afterward felt strangely uncomfortable.

Not because she disliked him.

But because she understood what attention meant for girls like her.

In villages, people watched everything.

A smile became gossip.

A conversation became rumor.

And rumors followed girls forever.

So she avoided looking at him after that.

Whenever she noticed him near school, she lowered her gaze and walked faster. If he stood near the bridge, she took another path home through the paddy field instead.

But somehow, avoiding him only made her more aware of his existence.

Then one rainy afternoon, everything changed slightly.

School ended late because of heavy rain, and most students crowded beneath the corridors waiting for the storm to weaken. The sky had already turned dark gray, thunder rumbling low across the fields.

She stood quietly near the staircase hugging her books against her chest when suddenly someone stopped beside her.

Rizal.

Up close, she realized he looked nervous.

More nervous than she was.

“You live near Sungai Merah, right?” he asked carefully.

She nodded slowly.

“My uncle lives nearby.”

Silence followed.

Rain hammered loudly against the zinc roofs around them.

“You’re very smart,” he said suddenly.

The words surprised her more than compliments about beauty ever did.

Before she could answer, several boys nearby started whistling and laughing loudly.

Rizal’s expression hardened instantly.

Without another word, he stepped away and disappeared into the rain.

That night, while helping her grandmother prepare dinner, she caught herself thinking about him again.

Not because he called her beautiful.

But because he noticed something else first.

Her intelligence.

And somehow, that frightened her more.