CHAPTER 11

Although Nick was one year my senior, he stood at least two inches shorter and about ten pounds heavier than me. He was not handsome, not the type I would have normally fallen for. And he walked funny.

Despite these little imperfections, I found myself increasingly attracted to him, ever since I first saw him early that year.

Ben and I were in the school cafetaria one day, discussing about some mathematical equations that had boggled our minds in class earliear while being served at the food counter. I reached for a glass of iced tea, only to find out that I had grabbed the hand of the student in front of me. Ben chuckled, and I, hot with embarassment, quickly apologised.

"It's all right. The tea's yours," he said, taking another glass and carefully balancing it on his tray.

"You're Gabriel, right?" he asked. I nodded. "My name's Nick." We shook hands. "Well, nice to have met you. Enjoy your iced tea, then," he smiled and walked away.

I later learned more about him. It turned out that he was in Ben's tae-kwon-do class, working towards his black belt. Oh, I was intrigued, and dug for more information from Ben. He could not tell me much more about Nick except that he was quite shy and "unattached". Great. But then, Ben added, he was not that type.

Oh, well.

Despite that piece of discouraging news, he drew me like moon draws water. I found myself thinking about him a lot, especially during English Lit. Shakespeare woke up the romantic beast in me.

I was in love.

And then came Adrian. He was transferred to my English Lit class at the beginning of that year. He was one of those cool, easy-going guys who did not seem to have any worry in the world. I found him interesting and refreshing. His antics in class helped take my mind off Nick a little bit. Adrian was something else, he was irresistible, and I found myself fantasising what it would be like to be intimately alone with him.

I soon found out.