OK I know that it took way too long to post a chapter, and I apologize, but i was going through mental stress. Now I'm better so here's a new one. Enjoy đ
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Remember I told you we were working on a "documentary"? Well, it was actually more like a short film, but our English teacher insisted on calling it a documentary. Anyway.
That day, we had to go to a different branch of our school , about half a kilometer away. Anu picked me up from my house and we rode there on her scooter. We'd been told to wear our school uniforms because apparently the film had to "represent the school." So there we were, in full uniform⊠and of course, no one else bothered to wear theirs.
When we got there, we were standing awkwardly in front of the branch manager , who was also our school's founder , debating whether to greet her since it was a convent school and we weren't sure about the protocol. After a moment, we went over, greeted her politely, and she asked what we were doing there (it was a holiday, after all). We explained that we were there to shoot our "documentary," and she nodded, so we thought everything was fine.
Oh, how wrong we were.
The plan was that Lucy's brother and his friends all around 23 or 24 ,would shoot the film for us since they knew how to handle cameras. But just as we were about to start, the founder called us over again and asked if we'd taken permission from our own branch's principal and teacher. We hadn't. No one told us we were supposed to.
What followed was a full-blown scolding session. She accused us of being irresponsible, said we had no character for "roaming around with boys" as underaged girls, and refused to let us shoot. Lucy's brother and his friends tried to explain, but she was adamant, no permission, no shoot.
We pleaded with her, but it was useless. In the end, we quickly filmed whatever scenes we could (admissions, lunch, bullying) and left.
The next day, our teacher ,the one who gave us the assignment , was furious. Apparently, she had been scolded by the founder and decided to take it out on us. She called us "characterless," insulted our families, and flat-out refused to even look at our work. We apologized again and again, but she wouldn't budge.
Her exact words: "I don't care if you apologize or not, I am not accepting your work. Never. And I'm giving you a zero."
Some of my classmates were in tears. I, on the other hand, was fuming. She had to give us at least passing marks otherwise, the board would question her. But we let it go for the time being.
A month later, we shot the remaining parts of the documentary at another school , one where Lucy's brother and friends had done some work before.
This time, things were smoother. Well, almost.
At one point, we were rushing because it was getting late. Lisa quietly told me, "I need to leave by 5:30." She said it so softly that only I heard her. But then Samuel (Lucy's brother) caught her whisper and asked me what she'd said. When I repeated it, he smiled and said, "She talks just like me , so softly." And honestly, he does talk softly.
Then, when we were trying to speed things up, he said, "Do whatever you need to, quickly , she has to leave at 5:30, and there are only 10 minutes left." I instinctively checked my phone it was just 4:55. I looked up but didn't say anything until he gave me a "go on, say it" look. So I did, and he just smiled knowingly.
A few minutes later, one of my teammates asked my name. When I told her, Samuel said casually, "Elisa. Elisa is my crush's name."
I nearly choked on my water. Anu and Lisa burst out laughing, while I sat there blushing and avoiding eye contact. Lisa, being Lisa, demanded, "What?" but he just said, "Nothing," still smiling.
Later, as Lucy was explaining the next scene, he seemed completely lost in thought. In the middle of her explanation, he interrupted, "Can you repeat that? I was thinking about something else."
Yeah, we all knew what he was thinking about.
When Lucy left for a bit, Samuel even showed us his crush's Instagram. I couldn't help sneaking a peek , her name was Alisa. I found myself wondering if Elisa and Alisa sound too similar.
"This is why I was smiling," he said to Lisa. "She's 21, she had a boyfriend but they broke up, so I never confessed."
He didn't sound sad, just thoughtful, like he was remembering something from the past. He asked us not to tell Lucy, and we didn't.
When we wrapped up the shoot and were about to leave, Lucy took Lisa to the restroom so she could change out of her uniform. Meanwhile, we were waiting outside, talking about random things, when Samuel suddenly said,
"Elisa, I'll remember you , even if I forget everyone else."
I just smiled like the awkward person I am.
When we were finally leaving, I waved big and said, "Bye! Thank you!"
"Bye, Elisa. Thank you," Samuel said, waving back. (I still don't know what he was thanking me for.) Then he turned to Lisa and called her name. When she looked at him, he said, "Bye" again, louder this time , just to tease her.
She blushed. He laughed. And I blushed the entire way home.
Samuel was⊠nice. He knew how to respect boundaries, how to make us comfortable, and there wasn't a trace of malice in the way he behaved. We girls just know when someone is genuine, and he was.
And four months later, when I was in class, Lisa casually told me, "Lucy said Samuel said he misses us."
I laughed. And that's how a bunch of 17-year-old girls met a gentleman who got reminded of his crush by one of them and somehow, none of us forgot each other.