Chapter - 5

Sam's POV;

I overslept, again, and it's because of him that appears in my dreams. When I checked the time on my phone I realised it was already 7.30 am, and today is Valentine's day! I'm so excited to finally express my feelings to him - I can't wait to see how he reacts.

After getting ready for college, my mom gave me her best wishes and a thumbs up; and luckily, dad had free time and could give me a ride to school.

As I approached college, I felt a mix of excitement, eagerness, and a bit of nervousness and fear - it was finally happening! I could sense the hairs on my neck standing up. I was thrilled!

When I reached my classroom, I spotted Ace standing outside, scrolling through his phone. What is he doing out there? So I passed him and walked into the room to find it full of girls. What's happening here? Being short as I am, I couldn't see over them to figure it out. Ah! Suddenly it made sense - It must be Valentine's Day and girls from other faculties were here to give Wil a gift.

As I started to get closer, I heard girls around me gabbing about something. The gossip seemed to increase as I moved forward. What were they talking about?

Then, I saw him -- William. He looked so handsome with his slicked back hair and black leather jacket paired with ripped jeans. He was talking to a girl and it wasn't just anyone; it was my best friend Blair! What was she doing here? Did she know Wil? Was she also here to give him a gift? I was taken aback and confused by her presence in my class.

Oh no... is he holding her hand?!

Clara suddenly located me in the crowd and said, "Hey! Where have you been?"

"What is Blair doing here?" I inquired.

"She's claiming that he's her boyfriend, and it looks like he agrees!"

What!?

"Sam, I should have said something earlier, but I couldn't. I hope you understand why I didn't tell you." Blair said to me.

The girls started getting into a brawl, those who stood by Wil and those who were angry with him for not being honest about his girlfriend. I couldn't bear to watch, so I left the class.

All of a sudden someone grabbed my hand and when I turned it was Ace. He asked me, "What are you up to?"

"Not that it's any of your concern!" I yelled with wet eyes.

"I'm sorry," he replied. What is he apologising for? Anyway, I pulled away from him and ran away from there as fast as I could.

Eventually, I stopped at Wil's locker, where several gifts were placed outside; Taking the gift in my hand which I bought for him, I threw it away and shouted "You don't deserve this!" before leaving the place.

Before long, without intending to do so, my feet brought me to the basketball court and there my emotions came gushing out as tears streamed down my face. Wil... He's in love! How did I not see this coming? If I only listened to myself instead of following him blindly - but it doesn't really matter anymore... especially now that he's in love with my best friend!

Back in school, Blair and I were the best of friends - we shared everything together. But when we split into different faculties, our distance began to grow. She started going out with her new pals, and I felt a bit left out. Yet I still thought of her as my best friend.

I couldn't decide what was more hurtful; that my crush had a girlfriend or my closest companion had kept it from me? Tears welled up in my eyes without warning and suddenly, someone embraced me from behind while consoling me, "I don't know what's wrong, but it'll all be alright. Trust me."

I lifted my head to see who it was, "Senior?" He simply hugged me tighter in a warm embrace. I pulled away and uttered with a sob, "It won't," before running off.

When I got to class, everyone had already gone except for the teacher and other classmates. Wil's seat was empty though... I sat beside Clara nervously and she looked at me worriedly, "Are you okay?" All I could do was nod in response. Will eventually walked into the room like nothing happened - shocking! Suddenly something hit me on the head; turning around, I noticed Ace had thrown a scrap of paper towards me which read 'Stop staring at him!' in writing. Without thinking twice, I crushed the paper up and tossed it out of the window whilst mumbling 'What's with him?'

When college was finished, I headed home. As I was walking along, someone tapped my shoulder and when I turned around, it was Wil. He beamed at me and said "Hey!".

I couldn't even show him a happy face as he kept talking about Blair; it made me realise that he definitely cares for her deeply. But why did it feel so painful to me? Was this more than a crush? No matter what it was, Wil has a girlfriend now and that's all there is to it. He then said that we should still hang out together, once Blair and I had sorted our issues out. He smiled at me one last time before leaving.

When I got back home, I lay down on the bed and looked up to the ceiling where those neon stars were hung but seemed so far away from me now. My dream of being with him had only ever been a dream--it could never really happen now because he belongs to someone else. Tears started welling up in my eyes; maybe I'd fallen hard for him? Could it be more than a crush? Could this be love? But no...it's too late now even if that was the case. With those thoughts, I cried myself to sleep.