The last bell rang louder than usual, or maybe it only felt that way because I wasn't ready to leave yet.
Chairs scraped against the floor, bags zipped in a hurry, and within seconds the classroom turned into noise and movement. Everyone wanted out. Another school day over. Another race to freedom.
I stayed seated.
Not because I loved school—no one really did—but because I was still staring at the half-finished sentence in my notebook, pretending it mattered. The truth was, I just didn't feel like standing up yet.
"Mike, you coming?"
I looked up to see my friend waving from the door. I shook my head slightly.
"Go ahead. I'll catch up."
He didn't question it. No one ever did.
Within moments, the classroom emptied. The noise faded. The door closed. Silence took over, broken only by the hum of the ceiling fan and the distant echo of footsteps in the hallway.
That's when I noticed she hadn't left either.
Jane was still sitting beside me.
She was carefully placing her books into her bag, slow and unhurried, like she wasn't in any rush to go anywhere. A strand of her hair had fallen loose, brushing against her cheek as she leaned forward. She tucked it back behind her ear without looking up.
I had sat next to Jane for months. Almost a whole academic year.
And somehow, I had never noticed how quiet the classroom felt when it was just the two of us.
I shifted slightly in my seat, suddenly aware of how close we were. Our desks were pushed together, barely any space between them. I could see her handwriting on the open page of her notebook—neat, careful, nothing like mine.
She finally glanced up.
Our eyes met.
For half a second, neither of us looked away.
Then she blinked first and looked back down, pretending to adjust the zipper of her bag. My heart did something stupid, like it had forgotten how to behave.
I cleared my throat.
"Uh… long day," I said, immediately regretting how useless that sounded.
She smiled, just a little.
"Yeah. Feels longer when you keep watching the clock."
Her voice was soft. Calm. Familiar—but different somehow, now that the room wasn't full of people.
I nodded, even though I hadn't been watching the clock at all.
She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. As she did, one of her notebooks slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, landing open near my feet.
"Oh—" she started.
I bent down and picked it up before she could. The page it had fallen on was filled with tiny notes in the margins, arrows pointing everywhere, little reminders written in pen.
"You're really organized," I said before I could stop myself.
She laughed quietly. "That's one way to say overprepared."
I handed the notebook back to her. Our fingers brushed for a second. It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't movie-like.
But it was enough.
"Thanks, Mike," she said.
The way she said my name made my chest feel warm. Like it meant something more than it should have.
"No problem," I replied, trying not to sound nervous.
We stood there for a moment, neither of us moving toward the door. The classroom felt different now—smaller, quieter, like the walls were listening.
"So," she said after a pause, "are you ready for the math test tomorrow?"
I let out a breath. "Honestly? Not even close."
She smiled wider this time. "Same. I tried studying, but it's not really working."
I raised an eyebrow. "You? Not ready?"
"Hey," she said, pretending to be offended, "even organized people have limits."
We both laughed, and just like that, the awkwardness faded.
Jane glanced toward the door, then back at me. "We should probably go before the teacher comes back."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Probably."
But neither of us moved immediately.
As we finally walked out together, our footsteps echoed down the empty corridor. The sun outside was starting to dip, casting long shadows through the windows.
I didn't know when it happened.
I didn't know how.
But as we walked side by side, talking about exams and homework and nothing important at all, I realized something had shifted.
School didn't feel like just school anymore.
And as we reached the stairs, Jane looked at me and said, "Hey, Mike… do you usually stay back after class?"
I shrugged. "Not really. Today was just… different."
She smiled, thoughtful.
"Yeah," she said softly. "It was."
I didn't know it then.
But that moment—
after the last bell—
was the beginning of everything.
Jane stopped at the bottom of the stairs, right where the hallway split into two directions. She turned to face me like she was about to say something important.
"Mike…" she began.
I stopped too, even though I didn't know why.
She looked down at her shoes for a second, then back up. "Do you want to… walk home together?"
My brain went blank.
It was such a normal question, but it felt like the world had paused just to make sure I heard it right.
"Uh… yeah," I managed to say. "Sure."
She smiled again, and the smile made my chest feel lighter. Like I'd been holding something tight and I could finally release it.
We walked out of the school gate together. The air was cool, and the street was filled with students leaving in groups, laughing, shouting, and talking about everything except homework.
I noticed how Jane didn't join anyone else. She didn't even look like she wanted to. She just walked beside me, keeping the same pace.
We didn't talk much at first. Just small things.
The way she held her bag.
The way her hair moved in the wind.
The way her shoes tapped the pavement.
I didn't know why, but I felt like I was seeing her for the first time.
"Mike," she said suddenly, breaking the silence, "why do you always sit at the last bench?"
I blinked. "Because… I don't like the front."
She laughed. "That's not an answer."
I shrugged. "It's honest."
She looked at me with a soft expression. "You're always quiet. Like you're thinking about something important."
I wanted to say something smart, something that sounded like I was deep and mysterious.
But I wasn't.
So I said the truth.
"Honestly? I don't know how to talk to people."
Jane's eyebrows lifted. "You talk to people. You just don't talk much."
"Yeah," I said. "That's the problem."
She looked away for a moment, then back at me. "You're not like everyone else."
That sentence hit me harder than it should have.
"I'm not?" I asked.
"No," she said, smiling gently. "You're… different. But not in a bad way."
We walked a little further. I didn't know what to say next, so I kept quiet.
Then Jane stopped again, this time beside a small shop that sold snacks and cold drinks. She stared at the menu board for a second, as if she was trying to decide something.
"Do you want to buy something?" she asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not hungry."
She tilted her head. "You look tired."
"I am," I admitted.
She nodded like she understood. "Me too."
She took out her wallet, but before she could pay, she paused.
"Wait," she said, turning to me. "Do you have money?"
I hesitated.
I didn't have much. Most days I didn't even carry cash because I didn't buy anything.
"I have a little," I said.
Jane smiled like she was relieved. "Okay, good. Then we can share."
Share?
I looked at her, confused.
She pointed at the snack shop. "I want a cold drink. But I don't want to buy it alone. It feels weird."
I laughed. "That's random."
She shrugged. "It's not random. It's… nice."
I didn't know why, but I felt a warm feeling in my chest again. Like something inside me was waking up.
We bought two cold drinks and sat on the roadside curb. The traffic moved slowly, and people walked past us without noticing we were there.
Jane took a sip, then looked at me.
"You know," she said, "I used to think you were rude."
My eyes widened. "Rude?"
She laughed. "Yeah. You never talked. You just stared. It looked like you didn't like anyone."
I stared back. "I didn't mean to seem rude."
She shook her head. "It's okay. I get it now. You're just… quiet."
I didn't know what to say. I wasn't used to someone understanding me without judging.
Then she said something that made my heart beat faster.
"Do you want to be friends, Mike?"
The word friends sounded simple. But it meant more than that.
I swallowed.
"Yeah," I said, without thinking. "I'd like that."
Jane smiled again, and this time it felt like a promise.
We sat there for a few more minutes, just drinking and watching people pass by. I didn't know what to say, but I didn't feel awkward anymore. I didn't feel like I had to pretend to be someone else.
Then Jane looked at her phone and frowned.
"Oh no," she said quietly.
"What?" I asked.
She glanced at me. "I have a test tomorrow. And I didn't study at all."
I laughed, but it was a nervous laugh. "Same."
She looked at me seriously. "Mike… can you help me study?"
My heart skipped a beat.
"Why me?" I asked, surprised.
She shrugged. "Because you're smart. And because you're sitting beside me."
I didn't know how to respond.
So I said the only thing that felt right.
"Okay."
Jane's smile returned. "Good. We'll meet after school tomorrow."
I nodded.
And then she stood up.
As she walked away, she looked back once and waved.
I waved back.
The moment she disappeared into the crowd, I realized something:
I had just spent the first real moment of my life with her.
And I didn't want it to end.