It was one of those rare days that he was at the library too. He didn come as often, it was usually just her studying for her finals on the top floor. So, when she saw again after so long, and that too leaving, she did something she still cringes about.
She just sprinted in his direction. Just like that. No plan, no logic. He'd captured her attention so completely that she—the all-time nerd—momentarily forgot she had an exam the next day.
He was outside, walking through the garden with long, deliberate strides. Normally, she would've joined the walking path, but this time her nerves froze her. Instead, she stood awkwardly in one corner of the garden, waiting for another guy to vacate a nearby spot. She paced slowly in her little zone, trying to look like she had something important to do. He walked on one side. She lingered on the other.
Being shy and fearing heartbreak, especially so close to finals, she knew she couldn't talk to him. So,instead of talking to him, she did something she still cringes at. (There would be a whole chapter in her life titled "Tricks to Pretend You're Not Simping When You Totally Are".)
Her glasses were still missing, so she struggled to see him clearly, but she didn't want to come off as a stalker or as someone obviously watching him. So, she opened WhatsApp and pretended to be sending voicenotes to her friend and that she was teaching her friend something.
She did that for some time till he went inside the library café. She thought he'd left. So, still talking to her phone in hushed tones, she began walking toward the automatic door of the library so that she could go back in. Right as she reached it—he stepped out again from the cafe which was right next to the entrance.
She panicked.
On instinct, she pretended she was giving her freind advice—something like, "If you don't understand something, you should just ask me," in a panicked tone she hoped sounded casual, like she wasn't half-talking to herself.
He walked past.
She kept recording.
Eventually, he left. And only then did she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.
Later, as she walked back to her studying space, she realized: it was time to return to reality. Finals waited. Her glasses were still missing. And she had a major crush on someone she hadn't even spoken to yet.