Everybody has a love story

I had always been in love with Lee. But then who wasn’t? His magnetic personality attracted not only the young girls in particular, but also every other soul around him. Whenever he passed by, the gloomy air got replaced by a dazzling ray of sunshine. His laughter filled everyone’s heart with pure joy. His honesty and sincerity impressed even the stern teachers to great extents.

He wasn’t all perfect though. He was reputed to have a rotten temper. Some of his close friends used to say that ‘nobody should go near Lee when he’s angry’. I always wondered what that would be like. But I didn’t ever discover that side of him during the times I stalked him in the school. And sometimes even in his neighbourhood. Creepy, you say? C’mon guys! Love makes you do things. I can’t be judged for this. Though it does seem a little silly now that I think of it. But back then, nothing except him mattered. He was a chubby and arrogant kid in middle school but then his appearence changed drastically when we reached high school. He wasn’t the handsomest guy but he was definitely the most charismatic. I was into him not because of his looks. I loved him for his humour, intellect, chivalry, smile and of course, intoxicating personality. It was easy enough to fall for him.

But amidst all this, one question always lingered in my mind. Does he even know I exist? I was his exact opposite. I wasn’t so good at studies, and he was the topper. My looks were below average, and he was finely handsome. I was awkward and introvert, and he was an extrovert and smart. Why in the world would he ever notice me?
It’s the typical problem of almost every secret admirer and oneday, I received my answer. I was by my locker in the school corridor. I was standing idly, wondering about his whereabouts when he appeared out of the blue. He knocked me out of my wits.
He smiled giddily at me as one cute dimple formed with ease on his right cheek.

“Hello June! I hope you’re having a lovely day. I just wanted to let you know that my new formed band will be performing tonight at the city mall. I hope you come along with your friends and cheer for us. See you there, bye!”, he said in a pleasant but robotic voice.
I was stunned into silence.

Lee Maxwell was talking to me? And he even knows my name? He knows that I exist?

My happiness had no bounds and somehow I felt special to get personally invited by him to his show. I knew he was working on a band for some days, and I had been eagerly waiting to hear them out since then. So this sweet little invitation lifted me up to cloud 9. But I soon felt my feet touch the cold hard ground when I heard him chanting the exact same words in the exact same manner to the girl standing by the next locker.

Oh. So he’s just promoting his band here. My short lived aspiration was hit by a silent thunderbolt.

But it’s a good thing that he at least knows my name right?

I was content with that puny little fact.
But I still wanted to attend his show. I wanted him to feel my presence. I wanted to stand in the front row and shout out to cheer him. But… I couldn’t.

I wasn’t allowed to.

“Are you out of your mind? What made you think I would ever allow you to attend that concert thingy at this hour of the night? “, retorted my angry Mother.

“First of all, it’s not a concert. It’s just a small show. And second of all, it’s around 8pm, which is not that late!”, I tried my best to convince her, but she was in no mood to give in.
“You’re not going. Period”, that’s all she said.

I hate this thing what parents do. When they find no logic to hold their ground, they just end the argument abruptly.

I missed his show, and the feeling was terrible. My friend Macy had said she’d be there too and she wasn’t even his fan. This troubled me a lot so I decided to give her a call and ask her to send me live video of the show. And she did. The video quality was a bit hazy, but I could recognise his voice clearly. Though his face was a bit blurry, it didn’t matter to me.

So that’s how crazy I was about him. And every day, every hour, every minute and every second I wished that he could acknowledge my presence. I wished he noticed me.

》TO BE CONTINUED