A jolt rang through Seth, at the sound of his full name.
Nina was the only one toeversay his name in full. Middle-name and all. He was certain that his middle name was revealed only once - the first day of school probably.
Yet, she remembered.She always remembered.
By the time the two reached the park near Seth’s house, Nina had convinced him to add five Studio Ghibli movies to his watchlist.
It was almost completely dark out now, with only the street lights illuminating the way. Their suburb had small roads, with parked cars taking up most of the space. No one else was out, besides Seth and Nina, who sauntered side by side in a comfortable silence they’d fallen into.
As Seth reached the corner that turned into his street, he faced Nina.
“So, this is where I leave off,” he said.
“Wow, you actually live quite close to me. Like, just a two minute walk.”
Seth suddenly wasn’t sure how he felt about Nina walking the rest of the way to her house alone.
“How much further is your place? If you want, I can walk you there.”
Nina shook her hands in front of her face along with her head.
“No no, it’s okay, it’s literally so close.”
He hesitated, unsure of why he didn’t want to let her go alone.To make sure she’s safe, since it’s night,the reasonable part told him.
It’s because you don’t want this night to end.
They stood a foot apart, the silence between them growing into an awkward one as Seth took too long to decide what to do. Nina’s lips pulled into a polite smile.
“Well, I’ll see you around Seth,” she said.
She turned, walking away down the street.
Seth watched her, until she was out of sight, realising that this time around, there was a part of him that wanted to see Nina Mendez again.
4
Then
— An excerpt from Nina’s Diary, March 18 2014
Seth had never expected he’d be the star of the cohort gossip in Year 7. Nina Mendez’ confession may have been at the beginning of the year, but his peers had made sure it lasted like a raging wildfire throughout their entire first year.
What did he expect from a group of 12 and 13 year olds, who snickered at the idea of holding hands with the opposite sex?
Being in every class with her, hadn’t helped.
Seth tried to forget his initial impression of her.
The cute girl with the brown hair and sweet smile turned into a source of taunting against him. Joshua had a field day asking him every single week, in Year 7, when he’d finally ask Nina out.
With that, Joshua never failed to remind Seth of how he felt about her. Or, more specifically, how he felt about herappearance.
“A 6 at most,” he’d say
As if a person’s entire worth could be measured against a rating system.
Nina was more than a number. Seth noticed that she laughed with her chin tilted backwards, as if the laughter were gushing out like a fountain. He also noticed that she was funny; whenever she gave presentations, she’d crack a couple of jokes that had his class giggling.
