Alvierra's P.O.V.
I tried to avoid Raiden, but I couldn't because he was always beside me. When I was about to grab the broom, he also reached for it, and our hands touched. I pulled away and walked away. I thought my feelings would go away after a few days or weeks, but they only got worse.
The school year was almost over, and I still felt this way. I hung my head as I waited for Rai to come out of their classroom.
"Vierra, are you okay?" Raiden asked. I looked up. When I saw him standing in front of me, looking at me, my heart started beating faster again.
"Ah, yeah," I said, looking away.
"Alvi!" Rai shouted, making me look at her.
"Ah, okay, I'm going now," Raiden said. Why did he sound sad? Did something happen?
"Is that Raiden? Your crush?" Rai asked when she got closer to me.
"Yeah, you're so loud, someone might hear you. Let's go. You're so slow," I said.
"Sorry, I'm a cleaner. Let's go," she said. For the whole year, I suddenly felt happy being with Raileigh. She said we were best friends back then, so now we are. She's okay to be with, and I only realized it now. I wish I had befriended her earlier.
The day of the start of Second Year High School came, and unfortunately, I was in the same class as Raiden again.
"Hi Vierra! We're classmates again," he said with a smile. "Here, take your bag. Sit next to me."
I had no choice but to sit beside him.
"Hi Alvierra!" Luke greeted me cheerfully. He was also my classmate in 1st Year and still is now.
"Hi," I replied. He sat beside me, but I didn't understand why Raiden made Luke sit beside him. I just ignored it.
I learned to be friends and socialize with them. And that's where I became close friends with Jullian, who turned out to be Raiden's neighbor.
"What if I court you?" Jullian said, laughing.
"Court? What if I take you to the forest and get you lost?" I said.
"Just kidding, Vierra, you're so uptight," Juls said, laughing. I just glared at him.
"Hey Juls, get off my seat," Raiden said. I was still sitting next to Raiden until now.
"You're so rude, Rade," Juls said.
"Rade! Someone's looking for you! Your girlfriend, I think," one of my classmates said. I looked to see who was outside and frowned when I saw Deya holding Rade's notebook.
"Crazy! She's not my girlfriend," Rade said, running outside to talk to Deya. I looked away and just focused on doing the assignment given to us earlier.
"Vie! Deya's looking for you. Let's go!" Raiden called out to me.
I stood up and went outside too.
"Happy Birthday, Vierra," Deya said, giving me a letter and a small gift.
"Thank you, Deya. You didn't have to bother. I thought you'd forget." I said.
"It's your birthday?" Raiden asked me.
"Yeah," I said.
"Farrah and the others have class, they said we should meet all four of us later after school," Deya said.
"Yeah, okay. Thank you again," I said with a smile. She just smiled, nodded, and waved goodbye.
"It's your birthday, you didn't tell me," he said.
"You didn't ask either," I said.
"Even so."
"I told you before, you just forgot," I said and sat down on my chair. Class started for our fourth subject. Raiden was still looking at me, so I elbowed him.
After school, I was surprised when Raiden ran out of the classroom quickly. He left his bag behind, so I wondered where he was going. Was he going to the C.R.?
"Hey Raiden, you're one of the cleaners!" Anika, our class president, shouted.
"Maybe he's just going to the C.R., Anika. His bag is still here," I said.
"I thought he ran away," she said and started checking the classmates who were cleaners.
I just packed my things and arranged them in my bag. I took everything out earlier so it wouldn't be hard to find things. A few minutes passed, and he still wasn't back.
"Vierra, he's taking so long. Where did he go? They're done cleaning, but he's still not here," Anika said.
"I don't know either. He rushed out earlier," I said.
"We're going home, what about Raiden's bag?" Anika said.
"I'll stay here, I'll watch Raiden's bag," I said.
"Bye, Vierra," Juls said with a smile. I smiled and waved at him.
A while later, Raiden came in, panting.
"Where were you?" I asked. He was holding a cupcake and a candle. He was also holding something in his other hand, but I couldn't see it.
I got his water bottle and gave it to him.
"Happy Birthday, Vierra," Raiden said and lit the candle. I was surprised by what he did. He stuck the candle in the cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to me.
"You went out to buy this?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's your birthday. I can't let this pass. I didn't even greet you last year even though we were already friends. This is my gift for you," he said. He put the bracelet on me. "Blow it out now."
I made a wish first, then blew out the flame on the candle.
"Thank you, Rade," I said. I saw surprise in his eyes.
"You called me Rade?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, laughing. He wanted me to call him Rade. I said I didn't want to before because it was weird.
I was surprised when he hugged me.
"I'll call you Alvi too," I said. Rai was the one who started calling me Alvi. It's a guy's name, so I'm annoyed, but when Rade said my name, Alvi, it sounded so good. I really like this guy. But I chose to hide this feeling. I will try to forget about my feelings because I don't want to lose him. I think it's better to stay friends. I feel like he doesn't have feelings for me. It's okay, as long as I'm with him and we have a better friendship.
Raiden left the classroom first because they were going to play basketball. I went out of the classroom and saw the three of them with Raileigh. I waved, and they saw me.
"Happy Birthday, Vierra," Farrah said and gave me a gift.
"Happy Birthday, Vie!" Sammy said happily and hugged me. She gave me a paper bag, and I peeked inside. It was snacks, all my favorites.
"Thank you," I said with a smile. They smiled back.
"Let's go, Alvi," Rai said.
"Bye, we're going now," I said. "Thank you again."
"Enjoy your day!" they said.
Deya waved with a smile. Their houses were close to each other, so they were going home together.
"How was your day?" Raileigh asked.
I looked at the bracelet I was wearing. I smiled and stared at it.
"Ay, that smile is different. Did your crush greet you?" she asked. I nodded with a smile.
"He gave me this," I said, showing him the bracelet I was wearing.
"Ay, our gifts are no match for your crush's gift. It's just a bracelet, but you seem happier with it than with our gifts from your friends," Rai said, laughing.
Rai is beautiful. He even has a boyfriend. I stopped her, I said we were only 14, and it was too young to have a boyfriend. But she just said that nothing could stop her when it came to her love life. She loves Clark so much, but she knows her limitations. And because our parents are strict, we just kept it a secret from her parents. When they go on dates, Rai brings me along. I'm scared that if our neighbors find out that Rai has a boyfriend, they might judge her. Who would be happy? We're only 14 years old, hello!
After 3 months of their relationship, they broke up. I told you so. It's just puppy love. She cried and cried. I comforted her and told her to learn from it, because at this age, there's no pure love. I'm not sure if there's no pure love at this age. I'm just going to study hard to achieve my dream and help my family