Today, he smiled at me.
All the times he had ignored, hurt and rejected me flashed through my mind but I couldn't help smiling back. The day had finally dawned. The guy of my dreams was smiling my way and I couldn't keep myself from joining him in our little moment of smiles amidst the noisy college crowd.
From across the hall, he was now walking towards me and I froze. His smile was now gone, eyes still fixed on mine and of all things, I felt scared. He stopped a couple steps away from me and then...
"I'm sorry." That's all he could say. I looked at him, puzzled. I didn't want him to feel sorry for me, but I could sense that genuine guilt in his eyes. Those eyes, which once enchanted me.
"What for?" I asked, but somewhere deep inside, I knew the answer. He had kept me waiting for way too long.
"How about we start with everything?"
Strangely, I felt relieved. He liked me. For real. All those endless rants about him, all those imaginary conversations, those dreams I had...they weren't for nothing. He didn't hate me, like I thought. A smile broke out of me and I could sense him ease up. "Why now?" I asked. The seams at where my heart had been freshly patched up began to sting.
"That's kind of, one of the things I'm sorry about. Like keeping you waiting for all these years."
"I don't think I can forgive you for that."
"Which is okay...I only wanted to let you know that I'm sorry. For everything I did or in this case, didn't do. But I'm here now, if it helps."
"It does." Why was he being so nice to me all of a sudden?
"Friends?"
"Maybe." I shrugged. His face lit up and seeing that smile, I followed.
For a moment, we just stood there, grinning like fools, acknowledging a friendship that should have been formed years ago. But then again, I've always felt, he's worth the wait.
Slowly, the rest of the world permeated into our moment, with all of its noise and colour. Everything was the same again, except for myself. I wasn't broken anymore. He had fixed me.
As he walked away, I felt ecstatic. He was walking away but there was a silent promise that he would return. Soon.


*** *** *** *** *** ***
From across the hall, he was smiling at me. I woke up, startled.
Were we supposed to wake up from good dreams too? Or was the idea of him smiling my way so alien that it felt like a nightmare?
But with open eyes, I let that thought of him proceed...for he even made daydreaming seem meaningful.