24 April 2012
Had the weirdest and most heartfelt encounter today.
It was only six forty a.m. when I arrived at school. I settled down near the library, just beside the college garden where the trees are already dying due to the drying heat of summer. I found an empty two-row working table and sat while waiting for my nine o'clock class.
Whilst reading my notes on Mandarin, I saw this boy who's in the same department as me, doing some asking all over the area.
I thought maybe he was doing some survey or interview for a thesis.
Soon after, the boy approached me and asked me something. I removed my bosé earphones from my ears and relieved them of loud music. I asked him about three more times what it was about. I barely understood him because of the ringing sound in my ears. The sounds were still resonating.
After a short while, he sat down on the opposite long seat just across me and pulled out some paper. Then he asked me if I know cursive because he's going to ask me to help him write something on a sheet of paper.
It was nice because he was asking me to write something in cursive (one thing I'm really really good at) and weird because he was asking me to write some sort of letter.
I asked him to whom it was for. He smiled at me, his cheeks all flushed out and was thinking of the right words to say.
It was then that he pulled out a sheet of intermediate paper. It looked like a draft. At first, I thought he was going to ask me to write some form of parental consent. But as I continued reading, he told me,
"ate, uhm medyo corny po ito." *in english, "ate" means older sister; we use it to show respect for female people we don't know. Then "medyo corny po ito" means it's a little bit corny.
After I finished reading, I smiled, eyed him curiously and said, "this would be the first time someone's ever asked me to write something like this. I've been writing parental consents and letters to the dean eversince."
He laughed with me and handed me his rough draft.
He produced a beautifully designed scented paper, and gave me a sign pen to use.
"Can you please write it in a big manner?"
"Sure."
I began to write.
"I know that it's hard for you. But smile for me. Smile, beautiful. Don't be sad, just smile for me. I want you to be happy. I know we'll get through."
I began to feel my own heart beating so fast; it was incredibly short, but filled with love.
I looked at him, his smile was way beyond what I was expecting. It was sweet I thought, and I knew that the girl-- whoever she was, was downright lucky.
"Thank you so much, ate. We just broke up. But, I want to fix things so that we can be okay again."
"That's good. That's really good to hear. She's also from our department?"
"Yup. We're both from Medtech. What year are you now?"
"I'm an incoming fourth year student."
"Wow. Regular?"
"Yes. Regular.. Tough year."
"Dean's list?"
"Uhm." I thought twice before saying. I didn't want to sound impulsive.
"Yes. Dean's list.."
"Oh my God. You're great."
"haha. Thanks.. Well, I can teach both of you if you're both getting into trouble with some subjects. I'm being asked to tutor anyway. That's for free."
"really? That'd be great."
"yeah. No problem with me. Take care, you and your girlfriend. Wishing you luck with that note."
"Ate, can I have one last request?"
"Name it."
He handed me the pen again, and asked me to draw a smiley.
... I wonder how many boys are like this. Doing every move and effort to turn things around. I hope more will become like him, because for us girls, effort is everything. Even a short note can make our hearts beat.
The Heartbeat Note • Opuss № I