Some moments don't glow because they're perfect.
They glow because they happen when your heart is too young,
To know the difference.
Tonight, my thread didn't pull.
It didn't warn.
It didn't burn.
It just… hummed softly,
Like it was curious.
The music lowered slightly.
The spotlight drifted toward us again.
The MC's voice echoed through the hall:
"Lauren and Anthon… step forward."
My friends screamed my name with embarrassing excitement.
"Go, go, go!"
"Don't fall!"
"Anthon hold her waist so she won't trip"
"Lauren you better not disgrace us!"
I shot them a look, but even I was smiling.
Anthon walked beside me, hands in his pockets, casual but confident.
I could tell he wasn't nervous at all.
He loved the attention.
I… did not.
We stood before the MC.
"So," the MC said slowly, theatrically,
"rumour has it these two are the hottest new almost-couple."
The crowd cheered wildly.
"They say you always sit together…
Walk together…
Whisper together…
And disappear after class together!"
People shouted, "Yes!" "It's true!" "We've seen them!"
I covered my face with both hands..."mortified"
Anthon laughed softly beside me.
"I didn't know we were this famous," he whispered.
"Kill me," I whispered back.
The new set of questions came.
The MC pulled a new slip of paper.
"For Lauren and Anthon:
Describe each other in one word.
But…"
He lifted a finger dramatically,
"it must be honest"
The crowd oooh'd.
Anthon went first.
He didn't even think.
"Calm," he said.
The hall murmured.
He continued, quietly,
"But she has this fire hiding behind her calmness.
You feel it when she looks at you."
My heart did a strange flip, as he gazed deeply into my eyes.
His friends shouting and hyping him from the back, as the crowd burst in giggles.
Someone shouted, "Lauren, it's your turn speak!"
I swallowed, thinking.
"One word?" I asked.
"Yes!" the MC replied.
I looked at Anthon.
He watched me with steady eyes, waiting.
"Unexpected," I said.
The crowd erupted again.
Girls squealed.
Someone threw confetti from the back like a maniac.
Anthon raised a brow.
"Unexpected?"
"I didn't see you coming," I said softly.
For a moment, he looked genuinely taken aback.
The MC clutched his chest dramatically.
"This ship is sailing !!"
People cheered again, pushing the moment into something bigger, louder, brighter.
After a few more rounds, the MC dismissed everyone. Saying there would be an after party, and everyone shouted in excitement.
As the food and refreshments were served the MC {our senior} came to us saying to me, "you're really beautiful, Anthon you better treat her well"
Soon enough the place was emptied, others preparing for the after party, changing clothes and all that.
My friends rushed me immediately:
"Lauren!!!"
"Tell us EVERYTHING!"
"When did you too start dating"
I just rolled my eyes and pushed them away playfully. Saying anything to them won't change anything at the moment
But somewhere across the crowd, I saw Anthon watching me again.
Like he was waiting…
The after-party was already happening somewhere behind the boys' hostel. Music thumped faintly from a distance, voices rising and falling in excitement.
Timaya and Diana headed that way with others, already buzzing with anticipation.
I stayed back.
"I'm tired," I said, adjusting my bag. "You guys go."
Maryanne hesitated. "What about Anthon?"
"I'll see him later."
She gave me a look, one that said later already means something, but let it go.
They left, laughter trailing behind them, and the campus grew quieter.
That was when Anthon appeared.
"Not going?" I asked.
He shrugged.
"I'll go if you go."
"I'm not going."
He nodded.
"Then I'll stay."
We walked slowly, not toward the hostel, not toward the noise, just around campus, where the lights were dimmer and the night felt less crowded.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
"You didn't like the attention," he said eventually.
It wasn't a question.
"I don't like being put on the spot," I replied.
He smirked. "People already think what they want."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it."
He shrugged again, hands in his pockets.
"I don't see the big deal."
That was the difference between us, I realised.
Things rolled off him easily.
I carried them.
We stopped near a bench under one of the tall trees. The moon sat high above us, pale and quiet, watching without judgment.
Anthon leaned back against the tree, arms folded.
"So," he said, "I guess we should talk."
My chest tightened slightly.
"About what?"
He looked at me directly now.
"About us."
There it was.
No build-up.
No softness.
Just the words, dropped between us.
"I like you," he said offhandedly. "And I don't really see the point in pretending otherwise."
I waited for more.
"I mean," he continued, "we're already acting like this. Might as well be official."
Official.
The word felt heavier than it should have.
I stared at the ground, tracing invisible lines with the tip of my shoe.
"What if I don't like labels?" I asked quietly.
He sighed, not impatient, but close.
"It doesn't change anything. It just makes it clear."
Clear for who? For him, maybe.
He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel his presence without touching, close enough to feel pressured without being pushed.
"Lauren," he said, softer now, "just say yes."
And I did.
Not because my heart leapt.
Not because everything suddenly made sense.
But because in that moment, saying no felt like more trouble than saying yes.
He leaned in, confident, certain, already moving faster than I was.
He kissed me with a sudden intensity, but my heart didn't move with him.
Rushed.
Awkward.
Demanding.
Just a moment of two young people
Choosing each other
For reasons they hadn't fully understood yet.
When it ended, he smiled like something had been secured.
I smiled back, even though something inside me stayed quiet.
Not destiny.
Not a burning thread.
Just a gentle pull.
A sense of being wanted.
"I…" I paused, unsureof what to say.
He waited.
"I'll try," I said finally.
"I'll try with you."
A small smile tugged his lips.
"Then we're together
"Yeah," I said softly.
When I got back to my room, thinking about my ever first kiss I thought maybe this was what being chosen felt like.
Maybe this was how a new thread began.
Not with destiny.
Not with certainty.
But with a kiss
Under neon lights
And a boy who stayed close.
By morning, everyone knew.
Not because I said anything, but because Anthon did.
"My girl," he called me casually when he saw me later in the day.
The word followed me everywhere after that.
People whispered.
Some smiled.
Some watched.
Maryanne raised her brows when she saw us together.
Elizabeth squealed when I confirmed it.
And just like that, something had begun.
Not with fireworks.
Not with certainty.
Just with momentum.
And I let it carry me forward,
Not knowing yet where it would lead