Page 4

Then

Nina Mendez professed her love for Seth Roman Moore, in the seventh grade.

Except, she didn’t just confess her love to him, but their entire cohort.

It was the beginning of April, and mid into autumn.

A week of rain had left the school pavement permanently dampened, and in the air hung a scent of mildew and moss, likely carried over from the trees beside their school.

Two months into high school, and Seth was finally finding his footing.

He’d made friends with a couple of boys in his class - Joshua, Will and Dennis - who enjoyed playing soccer at lunchtime and snickering about girls they found cute in between classes. Seth thoroughly enjoyed his classes and his peers, and he thought they enjoyed him too.

In primary school, he was viewed as one of the more popular children, due to his natural sporting abilities.

He hoped that the reputation would carry into high school, and make it a little better.

Having the attention on him within the school walls was more than he felt when he was at home. At least, lately.

It was during their second period, right before lunch break, that his class, along with the others in his cohort, were called to the school hall for a seventh grade meeting.

On the way there, Seth, along with his mates, all rattled off about a recent Grand Theft Auto game that was scheduled to be released later that year. Joshua was trying to get his cousin to secretly preorder it for him, against his Mum’s knowledge.

As they reached the hall steps, the teachers at the front motioned for them to simmer down their conversations. A hush fell over Seth’s group, as they neared the hall entrance. The quiet around him elevated the voices of those approaching behind.

“Come on, you so have a new crush.”

That was the voice of Celine Seang, a girl from Seth’s class.

“Don’t tell me it’s still Peter ?”

Peter must refer to Peter Russo from the class just below them.

“You like Peter ?”

That one belonged to Anthony Hayes.

“No, no I don’t.”

The commotion tickled Seth’s interest, as would any gossip to do with crushes . He turned around, and about four people behind him stood a girl with brown hair, with her back turned to him, facing Celine and Anthony.

“Oi, what’s going on there,” Seth asked Joshua.

Joshua, who’d been slyly checking his phone in his pocket, shrugged.

“I don’t know, that chick Nina in our class likes Peter Russo apparently.”

Nina Mendez? Seth had a knack of being incredibly ignorant and forgetting names and faces.

“Who is Nina again?” Seth asked.

“You know, that girl with the Hello Kitty keychain on her bag? She always puts her hand up in English?” Joshua informed, and the memory of Nina Mendez lit like a bulb.

That cute girl, his mind told him instead, the one with the bright smile.

Seth recalled chatting to her in class once, at the beginning of term. “Yeah, she’s kinda weird and loud,” his friend continued, with a shrug, “And average-looking. Just, whatever.”

Seth’s brows crinkled at the retort, unsure that he agreed with it at all. But Joshua’s mouth widened into a smirk, as if he were this sly stud, and nudged him in a coax to agree with his joke.

He swallowed, and nodded, plastering his own mockery of a smile. “Don’t think I remember her then.”

“You like Peter !” Anthony exclaimed, louder.

Annoyance bubbled at the pit of Seth’s stomach. Why did this Anthony guy care so much about who Nina liked?

“No - no I don’t!” Nina’s voice quivered.

“You’ve gotta tell us who you like then!” Celine prodded.

“ Peter and Nina sitting in a tree -” Anthony sang, their peers around them began to snicker.

“Shut up , Anthony!” Celine hit the boy in the shoulder, which only made him laugh.

“I don’t like Peter!” Nina’s voice carried further now, louder.

He tilted his head subtly, craning his ears in his general direction, direly curious.

There’d been a shortage of gossip in the grade at the moment, ever since the news of Erin Jovanovski from the middle-classes getting together with Xander Park from the grade above them broke out.

“Yes you do !” Anthony cooed.

“No!” Nina exclaimed. Her voice had reached its peak, and Seth heard it echo across the school hall. The teachers peered outside, holding a finger to their lips.

Mr. Stachmann, their English teacher, coaxed Seth forward into the hall, where their class would finally take their seats.

Seth stepped through the hall doors, the commotion of outside blurring. He sauntered toward his seat, followed by Joshua, Will, and the rest of his classmates.

“I like Seth Moore !”

Nina’s voice carried through from the outside, into the hall, echoing across the walls. A secret, heard not only by the one person she wanted to keep it from, but by everyone else in the grade.

Everyone fell silent. Even the teachers.

Until Anthony burst into laughter.

“ Seth? The tall one who talks all the time?”

Nina liked Seth?

Nina looked up suddenly, lips parted in shock, eyes crinkled in worry as she realised how loud she’d been. Her gaze met Seth’s, before quickly looking away.

Joshua turned to him, his features twisted into more of a mockery than amusement.

“Yikes, awkward,” he said, punching him teasingly.

Seth shrugged him off, waving it away like it wasn’t a big deal. But his heart begged to differ, jumping into an unsteady pounding.

No girl has ever liked him before.

It was considered the big gossip of the week.

Nina Mendez and Seth Moore.

Two students from the top class. And two students who, as far as anyone knew, hardly interacted.

From then on, Seth Moore knew Nina as the girl who had a big crush on him. Honestly, he didn’t know why. He’d never really gone out of his way to talk to her or anything. Most of his friends thought she was a little weird.

As the months pushed on, he shouldered the gossip like it was no big deal. After all, Nina Mendez, to him, was no one special.

She was just...a classmate.