“All boys are stupid.”
“They’re all so dumb.”
“I hate boys.”
“He’s not worth it.”
Melissa grew up hearing her sisters repeat those phrases to one another. Every time the words fell from their lips, the more determined she became to stay away from the opposite sex. They were disgusting, immature, annoying and weird. She truly believed, truly, that there was no boy on the planet who was worth anything.
And so she went into junior high with this mindset, without an intention to get to know any boy. Besides, she knew all of them from primary, they were all dumb.
“I heard there’s a new girl! Her name’s Sam, she’s from the other side of the country!” Anna had chirped into Melissa’s ear as they sat down together.
“Really? How’d you know?”
“Hayden was just talking about her, said that she’s pretty cool and skates or something like that. Heard that she likes to study plants, too. Just like you!”
Melissa and Anna continued to flourish their excitement about this interesting new kid who had similar interests to Melissa. They started to imagine what she would be like, her hair color, her height and her outfit.
How surprised they were when Sam walked through the door.
He stood confidently before the class, his chest straight and chin up. He slung his backpack on one shoulder, both his shoelaces were untied. Melissa’s jaw nearly touched the floor, quickly making eye contact with Anna who just shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m Sam. I like skateboarding and plants.” Sam introduced himself with a smile. The teacher told the class to greet him before allowing him to sit down next to Melissa.
“Hey,” A rather unfamiliar voice called out to Melissa, who looked up at Sam. “Could I please borrow an eraser? Forgot to bring mine.”
Melissa was taken back by his chocolate brown eyes and pearly-white teeth. She quickly handed over a spare eraser and looked away before he could thank her. Who doesn’t bring an eraser to the first day of school? All boys are dumb.
“Who can tell me the reaction of photosynthesis in plants?”
Only two hands shot up, Melissa’s and Sam’s. She looked over at him when the teacher chose him to answer.
“Carbon dioxide and water react to form glucose and oxygen!” He answered, making the teacher smile and compliment him. A proud expression danced on his face. Okay, maybe not ALL of them are dumb.
Halfway through the lesson, a post-it was slapped on her notebook. It read, in the scribbliest and thickest handwriting, ‘thanks for the eraser - here’s a kiss.’
Melissa squirmed in her seat, but was relieved when a Hershey’s Kiss landed on her desk. She looked over at Sam, who gave her an unapologetic wink and wide grin. She quickly turned towards the front of the class, feeling her cheeks reddening.
“Hey Melissa,” Sam ran to her at the hallway. “I heard you’re interested in plants. We should sit together at lunch! Here’s my number! See ya.”
He ran in the other direction, almost tripping over his own shoelaces.
All boys are dumb. But maybe, some, might be worth something.
Katya Tjahaja
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