"Can't believe I have to wake up at 7am and climb up this stupid hill everyday for the next year or so," Sam thought as he trudged up the steps wearily. Sam had never been the most optimistic of persons. He hated the whole new day at new place sort of thing; the self introductions, the trying-to-be-polite conversations, the awkward silences etc. This was another one of those occasions.
"I hope today ends early," Sam thought as he took out the timetable that he received over the mail. It said the day would be over at 530pm. "Don't think I should hold out too much hope, better to mentally prepare myself for a long day," Sam replied to himself as he struggled to stifle a yawn; clearly he is not a day person.
As usual, Sam was one of the earliest to reach the place. He is always early, especially for official things such as today. He was very afraid of authority, and would rather obey than to get into unnecessary trouble. He scanned the room for a while; there were only 4 people inside, including the facilitator. He mentally decided to avoid all small talk, and hence chose the unoccupied corner of the room. He slumped himself into an empty seat, and proceeded to do his usual routine. It usually consist of him closing his eyes and trying to take a nap in any position. It was his way of telling the world - I am cool. I had a late night, a very happening night and now I am too tired to attend this thing but I am here because I have to. He had always been trying to fit in since young. To fit in, you have to be cool. And this was his way of being 'cool'.
But the truth is he can never really get to sleep, too much of a light sleeper.
It wasn't long before the room started to get filled up. One after another, men and women, the old and young, the hip and the not-so-trendy, trooped into the room. Some came with friends, most came alone. They did the usual thing, scanned the room, chose the seats, sat down and tried to make small talk with their neighbours. As is usually the case, Sam's "corner" is always the last to be filled. It always is.
"Here we go again, same old boring things again." Sam thought. On one hand he wished some nice and pretty girls would come to his corner, on the other hand he didn't really wish to make meaningless small talk. But as the room got filled up slowly, it was inevitable that his part of the room would be filled up too. Not wanting to appear too rude, he started making small talk with the people around him, and they were mainly guys. The chatter of voices soon reached cacophonous levels.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the facilitator spoke. He did some quick self introductions and began to touch on his agenda for the day. He was an entertaining speaker, but the eternal cynic in Sam dismissed it as propaganda or outdated, irrelevant advice. He was listening, but he wished there was something else to occupy his mind instead...
That "something" else soon arrived. She was late. "15 minutes late," Sam thought as he stole a glance at his watch. She came in, spotted an empty seat (about 3 seats away from Sam), and sat down. There was minimal contact with the people around her, and she simply looked in front with barely an expression on her face.
It didn't matter much to Sam though, as he adjusted his seat slightly such that he was facing her side profile. Trained in the fine art of fake-you-are-paying-attention from NS, he was listening AND observing her at the same time. "She is really very pretty," he concluded, his day having brightened up considerably. She was wearing a black cardigan over a blue top, with a pair of berms. He also noticed that she wore a necklace with a cross. She had slightly longer than shoulder length hair, with a clip at the back of her head. He liked her hair a lot. But he liked her smile even more. Whenever the facilitator told a joke, she would smile in such a sweet manner that Sam was totally captivated.
"I think I can sit here all day and see her smile," Sam mumbled to himself. It has been a long time since he felt this warm fuzzy feeling inside him. "Perhaps today might turn out to be quite all right after all!"
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