Seth chuckled, but it sounded nervous to his ears.Why was his heart quickening?
“Still clumsy, I see,” he said.
Back then, Nina was quite known to be a clutz, tripping over her own feet, so much so that it was almost effortless how much she’d stumble on air.
Nina gave him a stink eye, but it was lighthearted.
“Shut up, it’s the train’s fault,” she pouted her lips, “I promise I’ve changed for the better.”
The two of them laughed, the awkwardness from before dissolving. Nina repositioned herself, locking her knees and grabbing at the pole, holding it tighter this time.
“There, this way I won’t be falling on you again anytime soon,” Nina said, looking up at him with a smirk.
His pulse quickened, and he looked away.
Seth wasn’t sure he’d mind if she fell again at all.
6
Then
— An excerpt from Nina’s Diary, October 1, 2014
Nina Mendez wasclumsy.
By the end of Year 8, she wasn’tjustknown for her crush on Seth. She was also known for always being on the floor.
There was one time, during P.E, where Nina Mendez had misjudged herself when trying to sit on a park bench. Turns out, there were two park benches side by side. When she sat down, she’d accidentally sat too far inward, that she ended up falling in between them.
All their classmates erupted into laughter, with Seth looking on, quietly amused. He expected her to be blushing, like he was so used to. To duck her head in embarrassment.
But no, she laughed along with everyone else. Brushed off her back like it was nothing.How?
Another time, they were walking to their next period classroom. She happened to be walking right in front of him, beside Veronica and Celine.
“-And Augustus Waters just confessed to Hazel-Grace!” her voice carried so loudly, that she was basically announcing this love confession to everyone within a ten metre radius.
What if this Augustus didn’t want everyone to know about his confession?
Then, her foot caught on air. Or maybe pavement. But she stumbled forward a little, and a book slid from the pile of textbooks she was carrying.
A bright blue one. Her friends stopped, glanced at her, and after asking if she’s okay, burst into laughter. So did she.
Seth walked past, and before Nina caught him, he tore his eyes from her. He didn’t realise he’d been watching her movements.
“Do you think he saw? God I hope not -”
One time, after fifth period English class in Term 3, Seth was at the locker bays. It always got so crowded, with students pushing left and right to reach their locker. The configuration of the lockers didn’t help either - they were small and stacked on top of each other.
Thankgoodnesshis locker was right at the top. And that he was quite a tall guy himself.
He reached above the person below him - he was pretty sure it was a pretty girl called Renee he used to flirt around with - and pulled out his school bag from his locker, when all of a sudden everyone gasped around him.
There was a crowd of students gathering around something. Curious, Seth peered over and sighed when he realised it was Nina once again, on the floor, her books scattered around her.
Someone was gathering her things for her, while another helped her up.
“Classic Nina,” someone announced in the locker bay, and everyone laughed along.
