When I was fifteen, I was a freesia, innocent and thoughtful. My dream was to be a writer so during my free time, I would daydream about stories and stuff that I wanted to write. I would think about a princess with a boring life that was saved by her prince or a prince that was saved by a princess. I would think about fairies and monsters battling in the city as if it were their own stage. Personally, I couldn’t care less about everything in my surroundings. It was as if the world was just a playground of imagination, a garden of flowers that would soon wither. My classmates were simply some flowers brought about by the wind. That day was no different.

I was sitting on my seat inside the classroom, most of my classmates left the classroom to buy themselves lunch. I had my packed lunch with me every single day so I was just waiting. Of course, talking to my other classmates was not an option. Not only was it difficult because of my lack of interesting topics, I also did not want to bother. That time, I was so happy to be by myself.

I played with my hair that was tied in a messy ponytail. There was nothing much to do but to imagine myself as a character in a drama or a novel, perhaps.

"Lindsay!" I heard someone call. I turned around and found my two friends walking towards me with the foods they bought from the cafeteria. "We're back," Yumi announced, grinning cheekily. She was the tallest among us three and was known for her friendly and active nature. It was a surprise that she was so close to me, an introvert. And it was a surprise that I hang around her enough to tolerate her loudness. I did not even hate that loud nature. It was like her second nature, you see. It was so natural that no one could really stop her.

"And we got some news for you," Tiffany proudly announced. She was the shortest among the three of us but was definitely not a pushover. She was known for beating up bullies. Once, she even brought a pipe with her to threaten a classmate. It landed her in the office, of course, but according to her, it was all worth it. Aside from that, she was also known for another thing. She gave out accurate gossips and the juiciest news. Sometimes, I would wonder how she even got them but she would never disclose it to me—or to anyone at that.

"What is it?" I wasn't interested but I asked to humor her. She would not stop either way, might as well let her have her way. I knew her well. Still, there was a soft smile on my face.

"There is a new Korean transfer student!" Tiffany sounded so proud when she said that.

I did not want to but I had to deadpan. "Tif, we're in an international school. There are a lot of foreigners." I chuckled, nodding my head to the direction of a Korean classmate. And then, I looked around to prove my point. Since most of my classmates were back, the classroom was filled not just by Filipino students like the three of us but also with students of different nationalities—Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai.

"My only concern is if that student is handsome or not. I wonder if he is handsome. Unfortunately, he's our senior," Yumi sighed. It was something expected from her. She liked admiring guys with handsome faces—scratch that, she liked admiring guys in general. That was why she would fall in love much faster than normal. She was so into the idea of being in love.

But I was a freesia then, innocent and thoughtful.

I smiled at Yumi, chuckling just a little bit. “When is he going to transfer anyway?”

“Today!” Yumi replied, almost a little too excited.

“Or tomorrow,” Tiffany added, emphasizing the word “tomorrow”, letting her tongue roll for effect. That certainly earned her a glare from Yumi.

I laughed, shaking my head at their silliness. “Forget about that. Let’s eat, let’s eat,” I urged them. “But before that, I have to go to the toilet. Anyone who needs to go too?”

“Went there already,” Tiffany answered. “If you came with us earlier, you could have gone too.”

Ignoring her reprimanding words because I know that she only wanted me to accompany them to the cafeteria, I nodded in understanding before making my way out of the classroom. Nothing was amiss, nothing was weird. But on my way out of the classroom, I bumped into someone. It was so soft that neither of us was probably hurt. I looked up and that person looked at me.

“Sorry,” we said at the same time. His voice was deep albeit not the deepest one I’ve heard. His eyes were twinkling but not the brightest I have seen. His smile was beautiful but not the most dazzling I have seen. He was a normal person and so was I. We smiled at each other and went our own ways as if nothing happened.

When I was fifteen, I was a freesia, innocent and thoughtful. That must be why that time, I did not realize that something was bound to change. I did not know that freesias can wither and can be picked only to be replaced by a new budding flower—something that would be more colorful and complicated.