Love Before Graduation

They say if you try to run from love, it meets you at every corner of the street.

But this wasn't some filmy dialogue—

It was the daily sentence of the girl

who tried to turn away from Arin... but always found herself back in his shadow.

I wasn't anyone special—just an ordinary girl,

whose eyes held on to reflections longer at dusk,

whose heart beat a little too fast, a little too easily.

And Arin...

He wasn't a hero.

He just was.

Sometimes in the canteen line,

sometimes leaning on the library railing,

and sometimes under that tree where girls buried their dreams.

He never said anything.

No love, no hatred.

Just looked at me with those eyes,

as if my heart were some old book—he was quietly reading,

without making a sound, without flipping the pages.

Every time I told myself,

"This time, I'll look away."

But the moment my breath caught,

his eyes would be right there—unblinking.

Everything else would blur into a background—

Nami, Tenzin, samosas, laughter, those junior girls... all of it

faded.

Only that boy

and that one moment

in which I gave up every test I ever cared about.

"You zoned out again," Nami said, waving a samosa in front of my eyes.

We were sitting by the basketball court, under the big tree—the place we escaped to when we wanted to disappear from the world.

"I didn't zone out," I said, snatching a bite of the samosa.

Nami looked into my eyes, as if he wanted to see the truth behind my lie.

"You did," he said. "And I know why. His name—"

"Shhh!" I shoved him. My cheeks were burning.

Just then, Tenzin came running.

One shoe missing, shirt half-untucked.

"Guys! Emergency!"

We looked—Riyan was surrounded by girls, a thin, terrified guy trying hard to laugh loudly, but his eyes gave away the truth.

"Look at his face," Tenzin said, "He's dying inside."

Nami burst out laughing.

"Let him suffer. It's called character development."

I laughed too—for the first time today. Something in me, lost, stirred.

Watching Riyan's innocence and embarrassment, a lightness passed over our faces for a moment.

Then, the air shifted.

That's when Arin appeared.

He stood by the basketball court fence, headphones on.

Head slightly bowed—but his eyes...

They were on me.

No words, no signals—just that silent fire I could feel burning.

Like a window suddenly flung open, letting in a cold wind that chills more than it soothes.

Nami saw my gaze.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, but my voice trembled.

I looked away, my throat dry.

What could I have said?

That I keep fighting myself—

that this will end, that I'll forget him.

But in truth, he's always there—

like an old wound I try to wash away, only for it to deepen.

Maybe I'm stupid.

Maybe I'm just a messed-up girl who doesn't understand herself.

Running from reality, but unable to run from herself.

A human is someone who screams even in silence.

And me? I'm just a silent scream.