VALENTINE SPOTLIGHT

I have had a few embarrassing moments in school, beginning from my primary to the university, but one major one that I always remember is my experience in my first year in junior secondary school. That was one of my favorite years because I was so happy to finally be in secondary school and, most importantly, a new school. Most of my primary school friends also changed their schools to the same school as me, and that made the whole experience even more enjoyable and seamless.

I had this friend back in primary school that I knew very well—he liked me. And I won’t lie, I also admired him so much because he was brilliant and also good at drawing. I tried my best not to let those feelings grow because hello, I was just a little girl then. Well, this young man had other plans for me that I just didn’t really see coming. We both attended the same secondary school after our primary school examinations. I was happy about it even though I was surprised to see him there.

We continued being friends just like we were in primary school, but it seemed like someone already started flowing with the wrong crowd. I was worried for him then, and I’ll try to tell him to stop playing with certain people, but who am I to tell people who and who they should relate with? I cautioned myself to know my boundaries. Because of this new crowd he was following, his grades were not as good as they were, and that made me admire him less, but he continued to nurture his feelings for me. I already knew it wasn’t going to work because I wasn’t in school to start dating, especially at that young age.

Well, there came this fateful day—Valentine’s Day. My admirer did something that I wished he didn’t. All my life until that day, I never expected anyone to get me Valentine presents and all those stuffs. This guy didn’t just get me those things; he gave it to me in the presence of a crowd! I wished the ground would open up and just swallow me. I became furious and anxious. I tried my best not to overreact because I knew that the things he got for me cost him good money, but the more I thought about it, the angrier and embarrassed I felt.

He gave me a card that contained his confession to me and also a flower. In as much as I felt embarrassed, I was also happy I at least experienced that. I just wished it wasn’t then. I also ended up embarrassing him because I didn’t accept the gifts since I was just too overwhelmed and I didn’t know what to say to my dad at home if I had taken those gifts home. He would have probably gotten the wrong idea, and I just couldn’t afford that. Now that I think about it, I still feel embarrassed but more for the way I handled things.

This is my entry for the Hive Student Connect prompt.

Thank you for reading through. 💜