Tufi walked slowly toward school, his bag slung over his back, his steps a little hesitant. He wasn't his usual self. Something had been filling his mind since yesterday — Shelly's face. For some reason, every time he closed his eyes, that girl's image appeared. Her gentle face, her soft smile, the way she looked at people with warmth and attention. There was something new inside Tufi's heart, something he had never felt before. He didn't know what to call it, but it felt warm. Yet behind it, there was also fear. Fear of speaking. Fear of being rejected. Fear of seeming strange.
When he arrived at school, the place was already lively. Children ran around the yard as usual. Some climbed the small fence, others chased each other while carrying their bags. Lily was already sitting on the classroom steps, opening her notebook.
"Morning, Tuf!" she greeted cheerfully."Morning, Lily," Tufi replied with a small smile.
"I heard Miss Siska's going to give us another group assignment today," Lily said while glancing at the empty blackboard."Yeah?" Tufi looked toward the classroom. "What kind of assignment?""Don't know. But I hope it's not drawing again — my hand hurt all day last time."
They both laughed softly. Not long after, Shelly arrived. The girl walked slowly with a small pink backpack, her hair tied into two ponytails like always. The moment she entered the yard, everyone turned to look maybe because of her natural grace or the gentle aura she carried.
Shelly saw Lily, then waved her hand. "Morning, Lily!""Morning, Shelly!" Lily stood up and hugged her for a moment.
From a distance, Tufi could only smile awkwardly. He wanted to greet her, but his tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth. The school bell rang. Everyone quickly sat down at their desks. Miss Siska entered carrying a stack of papers. "Children," she said gently, "today we'll learn about family and friends. I want you to write a short story about an experience with one of your friends. You can do this assignment at home, okay?"
The classroom immediately buzzed."Can we work in pairs, Miss?" one student asked."Yes, yes. You can do it alone or with a partner," Miss Siska replied.
Tufi glanced at Lily. They usually worked together whenever there was homework like this. But before he could say anything, Lily had already turned toward Shelly.
"Shelly, do you want to do it with me?" Lily asked brightly.Shelly smiled. "Sure! At your house, okay? My place is still a mess.""Yeah! Let's do it after school!"
Tufi stayed quiet. He felt a little disappointed but tried to smile as usual. "That's great, you two will probably get a good grade," he murmured.
Lily looked back at him. "You can come too if you want, Tuf! We can work on it together.""Me?""Yeah, we were in the same group last time, remember?"
Tufi wanted to say no, but his heart was beating fast. He finally nodded. "Yeah… I'll come later."
That afternoon, after school ended, the sky began to cloud over. Gray clouds hung above the village, but the air carried a calm scent of damp earth. Tufi walked to Lily's house, bringing his notebook and colored pencils. Lily's house wasn't far from school a simple but tidy wooden home, surrounded by pink bougainvillea growing along the bamboo fence. From inside, laughter could be heard.
"Shelly's already here!" Lily called from inside.
When Tufi reached the doorway, he saw Shelly sitting on the living room floor with Lily. They had open storybooks and blank sheets of paper in front of them. Beside them sat a plate of fried bananas and two glasses of sweet tea.
"Oh, Tufi's here!" Lily said happily. "Come in, Tuf! We just started writing!"
Shelly looked up and smiled politely. "Hi, Tufi.""H-hi…" Tufi stammered, sitting a little farther away while opening his notebook.
The atmosphere in Lily's house felt warm. Outside, a light drizzle began to fall, making a soothing sound against the tin roof. From the kitchen came the faint smell of tea and cinnamon.
Lily started writing on her paper. "So, what should our story be about?"Shelly thought for a moment. "About a new friend at school. How about that?""Perfect! You start, Shelly."
Shelly wrote slowly with neat handwriting. "The first day at school was scary, but I was happy because I met kind friends."
Tufi watched her. He admired the way she wrote, her calm posture, and her gentle voice when she spoke.
"Hey, Tufi," Lily said, glancing back at him, "you write too, okay? We'll combine them later.""Okay," he replied softly. He began to write on his paper:
"Friends are like sunlight, they make our days bright, even when the sky is cloudy."
Shelly peeked at his writing. "That's really nice, Tufi," she said with a smile. "I like that sentence."
Tufi lowered his head, his face warming up. "T-thanks…"
The three of them kept writing and drawing until late afternoon. Lily drew flowers and a sun, Shelly wrote the narration, while Tufi made small illustrations along the page edges. Slowly, they began laughing together, sharing stories about little things at home, about their teacher, about dreams for the future.
"I used to live in the next village," Shelly said. "There were a lot of rice fields, but not many friends. So I'm happy to be here.""You're lucky," Lily laughed. "There are lots of fun kids here!""Including you and Tufi," Shelly said, looking at both of them.
Tufi's heart beat faster, but he tried to smile as usual. For the first time, he felt accepted not because of who he was, but because his presence mattered. Tufi stared at Shelly's beautiful face, he saw her body and her very tempting skin. Tufi really liked Shelly looking at him so seriously and passionately, for some reason he became awkward like a horny person.
However, the longer he sat there, the faster his heart beat. Every time Shelly spoke, her gentle voice made Tufi's chest feel strangely tight. He didn't know why his face felt so hot, and his hands so cold.
"Hey, are you okay, Tuf?" asked Lily in surprise.Tufi quickly shook his head. "I-I… need to go to the bathroom for a bit."
He immediately stood up, almost tripping over the leg of the table, making Lily and Shelly hold back small laughs. Tufi hurried to the bathroom, looking at his reflection in the small mirror above the water bucket. His cheeks and ears were bright red.
"Oh no… why am I like this…" he muttered softly while splashing his face with cold water.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. After a few seconds, he looked at his reflection again and gave an awkward smile."Alright, Tufi. Relax. It's just talking, not a dream."
After that, he went back to the living room, trying to look normal. But the moment he saw Shelly smile again, that pounding in his chest returned — only this time, he didn't run to the bathroom again. He just lowered his head, pretending to be busy writing, while holding back a small smile he couldn't hide.
Time passed quickly. The drizzle had stopped, and the evening sky turned orange. Outside, birds were flying home. The three of them were still in the living room, gluing drawings onto their project paper.
"All done!" Lily said proudly."It looks great," Shelly laughed.
They looked at their work one big colorful sheet full of writing and pictures. At the bottom corner were their names: Lily, Shelly, and Tufi.
"This is definitely getting a good grade," Shelly said."Of course! Especially with Tufi's awesome drawings," Lily added.
Tufi smiled shyly. "I just helped a little.""No," Shelly said softly, "you made it beautiful."
Footsteps sounded outside. A woman entered, holding an umbrella. "Shelly, let's go home, dear. The rain's stopped."
Shelly stood up. "Okay, Mom!" She looked at Lily and Tufi. "Thanks, you guys. Let's hand this in together tomorrow!"
Lily nodded. "Yeah, be careful on the way!"
Shelly turned for a moment toward Tufi before leaving. "See you tomorrow, Tufi."Tufi smiled nervously. "See you…"
When the door closed, the room grew quiet. Only the sound of crickets came from the yard. Lily looked at Tufi and smiled. "You look really happy today."
Tufi glanced at the project paper on the table. "Yeah… I think I just learned what it feels like to have good friends."
That night, when Tufi got home, the sky was already dark. He opened the door quietly so as not to wake his father sleeping in the front room. His mother was hanging laundry on the back porch.
"From Lily's house?" she asked without turning."Yeah, Mom. Did homework," Tufi replied."Good. How was it?""All done."
His mother smiled. "Your friends are nice, huh?""Yeah, Mom."
Tufi went to his room. He placed his book on the table, then sat on the floor, staring out the window. Outside, stars began to appear. Inside him, there was a strange feeling a kind of warmth he couldn't explain. He remembered Shelly's face, Lily's laughter, and the comfort of that afternoon. He realized that his life wasn't as dark as before. Maybe, little by little, fate was starting to show its kinder side.