As a teenager, Mirea's parents laid the foundations of a sheltered life. Her strict Asian roots were too strong for her to disobey. She led a boring but content life, going to school and returning home to do homework, eat, play games with her brother, and go to bed. Through her eyes, she didn't think. Everything was a slow-motion movie on repeat.
As Mirea walked the yellow-ish cream-colored halls to lunch, she gazed out the small rectangle- shaped windows that were at her eye level. The sunny skies almost burned her eyes as she shaded them from the sunlight.
Mirea aimlessly watched the birds flutter around the strong, tall trees. She enjoyed nature and loved watching nature unfold as it brought a glimmer of peace to her boring life, almost as if it was a mediation process to be short-lived.
As she entered the hard double doors covered in red paint, she eyed the plates laid down on the tables where the kids were socializing.
Chicken and Rice. A joke on the Asian palate, where you want fish sauce or soy sauce to go on your rice but it's not available.
Mirea bumped into the kid next in line and apologized profusely while staring out at her serene place: the outside world.
"Hey, I like you. You are so pretty. Do you want to go out?"
Her gaze snapped back into reality as a low-pitched voice stunned her mediation. Was she really being asked out? In all her school years, she has never been asked out before.
Mirea felt her body heating up and started to sweat. She felt her clammy back sticking to her long- sleeve pastel pink shirt. As an introvert, Mirea didn't have much of a social circle, let alone friends. She had four friends that she knew, which meant she didn't know many people in the school to be asked out.
Mirea didn't recognize the voice. What was she going to say?
She slowly glanced in front of her and didn't recognize the boy nor know his name. Mirea couldn't bring herself to look into the boy's eyes. Her timid personality made it difficult to converse with others.
Mirea gradually glided her eyes up his big body as she checked the boy out. He was very tall with chestnut brown hair tied into a ponytail. He was fair weighted- not fat but definitely not thin either. His glistening brown eyes stared straight into Mirea's soul with a sweet smile and his body language showed such casualty as his hands was inside his golden yellow hoodie's pockets that it gave me such a calming aura.
"I-I don't know you. What's your name?" Mirea said as she blushed and looked at the floor below where the boy stood.
"Mr. Taul. Move up!" Mr. Godron, the principal, yelled out with arms folded across.
He turned around and walked up the lunch line until the line stopped moving again. As he turned around, he still showed that gentle smile. "Shane Taul. We share almost every class together."
Mirea had to reflect on that statement. Did they?
"Um...Well....I guess. Sure. I mean...I guess we can go out."
Shawn pulled one hand out of his pockets and extended to Mirea. "Can we hold hands?"
Mirea's eyes lit up in worry. PDA was not permitted in school. It felt like the whole lunchroom stopped moving.
"M-Maybe later. I don't think this is a good place." Mirea said as her words trailed off as she looked back to the ground in front of her.
"Mr. Taul. If I have to call your name again, you will have to sit with me during lunch period."
Mirea could feel Mr. Godron's piercing gaze at us.
Shane shrugged his shoulders. "Okay. Sounds good."
What made things worse was during lunch period, the school had a rule where you were made to follow in line to the table. Students did not get to choose who they wanted to sit with. Since Mirea was right behind Shane, she sat next to him at the table. This made things even more awkward between them.