At first, everything between me and Nancy was normal.
We sat together.
She helped me.
I depended on her.
That was it.
But other people started noticing.
It began with small comments.
One day during break, one of my classmates looked at me and smiled.
"Light… Nancy is your girlfriend, right?"
I quickly shook my head.
"No."
They laughed.
"Why are you always with her then?"
"I just sit there," I replied.
But they didn't stop.
In class, some boys would look at both of us and start whispering.
"See them."
"Always together."
Even some seniors noticed.
One afternoon, as I was walking past, I heard one of them say,
"Small boy don get girlfriend already."
They laughed.
I felt embarrassed.
I didn't understand why they were saying those things. To me, Nancy was just… Nancy.
But the more they said it, the more uncomfortable I became.
Whenever I sat beside her, I started thinking about what people would say.
Whenever she talked to me, I would remember their teasing.
It began to get into my head.
One day, I couldn't take it anymore.
I packed my books quietly.
Nancy was seated beside me, arranging her things like she always did.
She didn't notice at first.
I stood up and carried my bag to another empty seat in the class.
I sat down there.
Far from her.
After a while, she noticed.
She looked at my old seat.
Then she looked at me.
She stood up and walked over.
"Light," she said, her voice calm. "Why did you change your seat?"
I didn't look at her directly.
"No problem," I said. "I just wanted to."
She stayed silent for a moment.
Like she was waiting for me to say something else.
But I didn't.
"Okay," she said quietly.
Then she turned and walked back to her seat.
She didn't ask again.
She didn't argue.
She just left.
At that moment, I didn't think much about it.
I thought it was nothing.
I thought everything would still be normal.
But I didn't know…
That small decision…
Would change everything between us.