Remember me?

But I Saw Him!

—

–TRAVIS PARK

"I'm…I know that it may be early, but since you asked, you failed your first mathematical test and this brings down your percentage points!" 

The tiny, sensitive organ began to pound strongly and steadily, against Travis's chest. Words scattered across his head, influencing a headache to take over instead. His eyes widened— he felt like everything was floating as if he were on a ship that was carried away by a strong current. 

Hair on every part of his body stood up, gearing up to run away, if possible. His dilated eyes with fear, mixed with confusion, only darted around from one place to another, as if searching for something.  

That was it. That was how he remembered yesterday when Mrs Lee broke the news to him— news that carried evilness that paralyzed his soul. 

Those dreadful words hid in the core of his wonderland, preventing him from entering inside. They played again in his head for the millionth time now, discouraging him from thinking of anything else. 

"Anything but that!"

Travis spat as he sadly browsed over a paper he was handed over by Mrs Lee, his mathematics educator. His eyes coldly yet, sympathetically ran over the number '5', which was written big and boldly on the top of the paper. It was the number of the rights he got on the class test they wrote. 

"Of all the twenty questions, I only got five marks…!" He huffed, closing his eyes shut. It was indeed early— although he asked Mrs Lee to tell him, he felt like it was too soon for his ears to receive such devastating news. The truth was that he needed good marks that would get him to study abroad and since he was not involved in sports, higher percentage points were a must for him. 

Twenty minutes already crawled away— Travis had even forgotten that he has school to go to. He sat silently on the edge of the bed, crumpling the paper as he caged his mind with a series of questions that lacked answers.  

"TRAVIS?!" 

The loud, husky voice of his grandmother called and Travis who was wandering in his wonderland failed to hear her. 

"This child! Travis!" Mrs Park called for the second time, this time with a roar that made Travis jump from the bed, frightened by the booming waves in her voice. 

"Really? Travis?" Shortly after opening the door, Mrs Park yelled in a tiny voice that pierced itself in Travis's ears. Her eyes met with Travis's glistening eyes and immediately sighted a formation of a river of tears.  

"Wha…?"

"I'm sorry! I was…thinking!" Travis spoke before his grandmother could finish her sentence. Mrs Park cleared her throat and shifted her eyes away from an embarrassed Travis who was hiding the paper behind his back. 

"Did the people in your head forget that you have school!? Come on…get ready!" She said clicking her tongue, avoiding eye contact with her grandson, afraid of making him more embarrassed. In response, Travis pressed his lips together and gave out the most hideous smile ever. 

"I will warn them!" He said abruptly after throwing out shaking, brief guffaws. Promptly after his grandmother had gone out, Travis immediately got ready and off, he ran out. 

"What about breakfast?" Mrs Park yelled as soon as Travis threw himself in the car. "I'll eat at school!" Giving a brief answer, he waved to his grandmother and off he was driven to school. 

•••

"How can Jiyeon like someone like him? I mean…he's always locked away in his world and seems rather depressed." Martha, whispered to her friend abruptly after Travis had entered the classroom. 

"Still…he's handsome and I heard that his family is super rich than Jiyeon's family! Maybe she wants money from him, who knows!?" Hanna who was browsing on her phone shrugged her shoulders, gasping as she spoke. 

"Quick…she's coming!" Hanna warned her friend as soon as they saw Jiyeon rush into the classroom, lost in a conversation with David. Like shy thieves nabbed, the girls cleared their throats and switched their phones off when they saw Jiyeon approach them. 

"Were you two talking about me?" Jiyeon rushed to investigate when she had finally reached her destination. She crossed her hands on her bosom and watched the two girls as they look at each other with frightened glances. 

"No! Who…are we to talk about you, Jiyeon?" Hanna cleared her throat and aired in a dulcet voice that cracked with emotions. 

"That's…!" Jiyeon spoke synchronously when the bell rang, intruding her from expressing her utters any further— instead, she grunted whilst glaring at the two girls with a skeptical glance as she was walking to her seat.

"Should I…?" David thought as he stealthily watched Travis who was asleep on the desk. A smile swiftly washed over his face immediately after his eyes fell onto Travis's thick, peached lips. The sun's rays had invited themselves onto his face, exposing the tranquillity looming over Travis's features. 

"So Bright! So Handsome! David whispered, his eyes trailing on Travis's face— from his long eyelashes to his pointy and narrow jawline that took his breath away. 

"I wish you weren't mysterious!" David spoke secretly. He wanted this moment to last as long as it can but the bell had already rang. 

"Travis?" 

He called. His voice had reduced to a whisper as he gently shook Travis from sleep and to his surprise, Travis's eyes instantly opened like he was waiting for David to wake him. For a brief moment, he looked into David's eyes as if telling him that he heard all his thoughts when he was studying him. 

Travis's face was decorated by a smile, only he knew why it had suddenly shown up. Never did he take his glistening eyes away from David's eyes. Tangled up in their own world, the two forgot about anything else and looked at each other for as long as they could. 

"He smiles…!" 

"Alright! Good morning everyone!" Mr Chan, their life orientation educator shuffled inside with a beaming face, stepping onto David's words, encouraging him to separate his eyes from Travis's eyes.

"So…today we'll have a lesson about good healthy choices!" Mr Chan said immediately after he had thrown his hands in the deep of his trousers. He was a middle-aged, squat man who many at school called 'The Good Man' mainly because of his jokes. 

During his lesson, everyone would pay heed to every word he spoke. 

"Who amongst you know what being safe means?" Mr Chan asked and everyone except for Travis, quickly raised their hands. 

1"Abstaining from sex!"

2"Avoiding bad company!" 

3"Doing your homework!"

4"Knowing your HIV status!" 

—

Everyone spoke at once. The whole classroom was embraced by murmurs and softened giggles. 

"Alright! Alright! Seems like you all know, but let me tell you this…generally, you are adults! Keeping safe is important. You should all learn to say no to risky behaviours and have clear goals and also have a plan on how to reach them!" Mr Chan's voice echoed across the now hushed classroom. 

All this time, Travis unintentionally found himself looking at David as he reacted to every word their teacher said— not knowing that David had long felt his gaze on him. 

Soon, it was lunchtime. Travis remained in his seat and watched everyone as they walked out. "Uh…you aren't going?" David investigated immediately when he noticed that Travis had no slightest purpose of getting up. 

"No…I'm good!" Taken aback, Travis answered. "By the way…I wanted to thank you!" As David was intending to walk away, Travis aired words that put a frown on David's forehead. 

"Why—!?" David scarcely spoke when his phone began ringing. 

"Sorry…I've to take this!" He excused himself, leaving behind Travis who was immediately lost in thought. 

"There is no way he'd recall!" Travis whispered through clenched teeth as his eyes watched David walk away— studying his swift, elegant foot stepping. Travis leaned his cheek on the palm of his hand and fell into a memory that he had saved in his heart. 

— 

[Travis's Memory] 

The dappled sun was shining through the tall buildings, creating ominous shadows. It was already 4 pm and Travis was walking home with his cousin, Arthur. 

The azure, bright sky was dotted with a family of fluffy, white clouds that were drifting lazily in the gentle breeze. The two boys were lost in their debate when an unknown boy, riding a blue-coloured bicycle came out of nowhere. 

The wheels hit roughly against the gravel and it was clear that the one riding was in a hurry. Unconsciously, he hit Travis who was about to say something to his cousin— it was fortunate that there were no cars around. 

Everything happened so quickly. Travis was on the opposite lane, lying on the floor, unable to react.  

"What have I done!?" The boy cried, galloping towards Travis who was being called by Arthur. 

DAVID_

"I'm sorry…please forgive me!" David whined kneeling next to Travis who was trying to get the best vision of his eyes. 

"Wha…!" Travis aired, raising his eyes to look at the one crying next to him and instantly, his eyes fell on the thick, red lips. When they went up, they met a pair of dewy, dark brown eyes looking apprehensively at him. 

The same brown eyes were closed in fear. During that moment, it seemed like the world around Travis had stopped. Every sound came to him like it was muffled by the air. 

"Peaches!" 

•••