Ever since I was young, my motto has always been: study first.
I used to be smaller than most kids my age. They called me "dwarf." It was just genetics, but when the teasing got too much, it pissed me off. I had a short temper back then.
I had a crush on a girl in kindergarten through grade one. It felt big at the time, but the feeling faded sooner than I expected. After that, I focused on one thing—studying.
I started earning medals in grade 3. Year after year, I kept going. Of course, school got harder, but that was normal. High expectations, pressure to be close to perfect—it all became part of the routine.
Then, the pandemic hit.
At first, I was still determined to study. But by the time high school started—grade 7—I started slipping. Laziness crept in, my motivation dropped, and my grades followed. It was a bad year. One of my worst.
I thought that was it. That I had lost my shot at being part of the "star sections."
But then came grade 8. The first face-to-face classes after the lockdowns. Everything felt awkward. I didn't expect to be placed in the star section—but I was.
Our class was split into Set A and Set B. One group went to school while the other stayed online, switching each week. It was hard to keep up. But eventually, it was our turn—our first full class without divisions.
That's when I saw her.
I still can't explain how I was drawn to her. Why did I keep looking at her? Why was she constantly on my mind? Was it just another crush that would fade away?
Or… was it something more?
To be continued…