A Young Heart

“What was her name again?” Daniel asked me as I turned my face away to the other side so I could hide my smile. “I know you’re smiling; just tell me her name, and I won’t tease you again.” He wouldn’t stop nagging until I told him her name. “Dorcas, her name is Dorcas.”

We both walked home together as we reminisced about our days in high school. Thinking back to those days, I could say I was just a foolish young boy who was in love with someone out of his reach. As we walked home, I wondered to myself, “Why can’t girls love the guy who loved them wholeheartedly when they were younger?”

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I and Dorcas were in the same high school class, and she was one of the best students in the class. Always coming out at the top, while I was always at the bottom. Well, grades don’t matter when love is involved. As a young boy who has never confessed to any lady before and lacks the courage to do so, all I did was show my affection towards her with my action. When I saw another guy attracting her attention, I would always be envious and would vent my fury on my close friend Daniel.

Daniel was the only one who knew about my feelings for her, and he had urged me to tell her several times, but any day I determined to let her know how I felt about her, my voice always betrayed me. I can never forget the first day I attempted to express my feelings.

“Dorcas, can I talk to you for a brief moment?" I spoke those words with a sweaty face, and my legs were shaking. We both walked out of the classroom, and I stood facing her. I was looking into her eyes, and she was looking into mine, waiting for me to say something. I knew what I wanted to say, but I didn’t have the right words. “Will you just stare at me without saying anything? Well, I have to go back to the class,” and she walked away.

I couldn’t explain the feeling I felt after she left—was it joy, anger, happiness, humiliation, or sadness? I couldn’t tell because I was feeling everything all at once. I thought that would be the end of everything until the day she lost the key to her house. She looked very worried because she couldn’t remember where she kept it or where it must have fallen. I spent most of the day and class hour looking for her key. I shared the school field, walk-way, and even classes during break.

Luckily for me, I found the key on the assembly ground. I picked it up and ran towards her. “Dorcas Dorcas, is this the key you’re looking for?” She turned around and looked at the key in my hands. I saw her expression brighten, and I could tell it was the key. I wanted to hand it over to her, but she ran towards me and gave me a tight hug.

Immediately she hugged me; it was like the time had stopped counting; there was a soft breeze blowing around us like I was in the middle of a Greenland. I could see flowers and ladybirds flying all around me. We held our hands as we walked through the vast land filled with flowers.

“Fash, Fash, Fash,” Daniel gave me a heavy tap on my shoulder. “Give her key back to her; she has been stretching her hand for a while.” It was then that I came back to my senses; my head had actually been spinning around a scenario that was created from its spin. I handed her keys to her and decided not to shower that night because I didn’t want to wash her off my body so fast.

I became her close friend since that day, the best of friends. I did everything to make her happy, but she never noticed my feelings or the affection I had for her till we graduated.

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