Since that day, Danial would hang out with her during recess. He was her senior one year older than her. Sometimes they would share from each other’s lunch box, but he was very secretive of himself. Never once did he ever complain or whine about anything. He seemed like he didn’t have any problems at all. But there was one thing that she knew about him; he loved egg sandwiches.
Lily still remembered their conversation one cold afternoon under that particular birch tree.
“Danial, may I ask you something?”
Danial looked towards her without a reply, but his expression clearly told her to go on with her question. “Why do you always sit here alone? I mean… why don’t you hang out with your friends?”
Danial smiled.
“Why don’t you ask that to yourself?” he replied. Lily was quite surprised with his answer but there was a truth in his words. They probably had the same reason all along.
“Have you ever felt like running away?” she asked.
“Sometimes. But does it even guarantee anything? Running away is like an open ended question; there’s no specific answer to it.”
“What would you do then?”
“I’d fight back.”
“What if you can’t?”
“How do you know you can’t if you never tried?”
That small conversation really changed something inside Lily. All this time she had been avoiding and letting people do whatever they wanted to her. She had never even once tried to defend herself. Danial’s calm face and friendly voice was like her amulet. Lily soon realized that she had fallen in love with Danial. Her very first love.
It was that one historic day when everything changed. It was very cold as snow had started falling since that morning. The grounds were bright white and everything was as beautiful as ever. Lily and Danial walked side by side after school that day and they were talking happily about something, with cold steam flying out of their mouths. As they walked pass the school gates, a black Mercedes Benz stopped right in front of them. The both of them stood dead and stared towards the dark tinted windows of the car. Lily could see nothing even though she tried really hard to.
A moment later, one of the doors of the car opened out. A girl with long wavy hair, round eyes and fair complexion stepped out with a big smile towards them. She wore an expensive red warm coat and a fashionable winter boot. She was very tall and pretty. But Lily soon realized that the girl was actually smiling towards Danial. She also realized Danial’s surprised expression as he stared towards the girl.
“Danial, I’m back!” The girl cried with a huge grin as she waved towards him. And before Danial could say anything, she rushed towards him and hugged his neck tightly. Lily was shocked as she watched in awe. What the girl said next made her heart crack all over, like a smashed mirror.
“Danial, I missed you so much!”
*
To Be Continued...
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