Renae grew up in a Christian home where certain principles were instilled in her. Like other teenagers, she too had humanely desires that needed to be satisfied, but she fought some immensely; one wonders though if it were the principle or she was just shy. She was an athlete at her high school and lived on campus; it was a boarding institution and traveling to school daily would have been hectic. She had to train twice per day, early mornings and in the afternoons after school. However, it was a difficult time for Renae, being an athlete, and having to focus on her academics. It meant that after training in the afternoons, she had to go to ‘Prep’ where she did her homework and studied. After a year of hard work and dedication to all the areas of her life, she wanted more. Her life felt lacking. It was, therefore, no surprise that she turned her focus on Bramwell, the high school star athlete, who was one year her senior.
Renae couldn’t understand what about him that captured her interest, but she knew she now looked forward to training (no matter how long or tedious it was). She trained harder than her teammates, with the hope that one day Bramwell would at least be impressed with her and say, ‘Girl I admire the way you are training since of late’. Unfortunately, her strong feeling was unrequited. He had no clue that two special eyes were watching his every move, the chocolate brown eyes that saw every frown and noted every beautiful laugh that exposed pearly white teeth. He didn’t live on campus but traveled to school, so most mornings she sat on the balcony of her dorm just to see him saunter casually into the schoolyard. He was always early for school, but maybe he had no choice but to catch the early bus that only ran every two or three hours. He always walked in armed with his instrument for his Technical Drawing class, and Renae wondered if he could survive a day without it; he would have it even on the days when he didn’t have that subject. Yes, she knew even that about him. She felt she loved him and the feeling grew each day to the point of being overbearing; so dominant that she had to tell her friend Marion but begged her not to tell anyone.
Another agonizing year passed, with Renae lusting and Bramwell being clueless. Every moment he spent conversing with another girl made her little heart burn with jealousy. In Renae’s third year of school, she had an extraordinary experience. During the school’s annual sports day, she found herself registered for almost all the events. By the end of the day she was awarded the title of champion girl, and standing on the field by her side was Bramwell, the crowned champion boy. During the presentation of trophies, she could hardly hide the ecstasy she felt; an ecstasy that soared when they took a picture together. It was a super special day for Renae as that was the closest they had ever been together, ever since her heart had been pounding beats for him. She wished the day had never ended. She wished he had congratulated her but unfortunately, his interest lay elsewhere. After the presentation, while poor innocent Renae was too busy in love, he didn’t even look at her. It would have appeared that being crowned champion girl with trophy and cake meant nothing to her like being close to her crush. She cherished the moment as though it would be the only time they would ever be that close.
As the days progressed, she continued to secretly admire him and made sure when she looked at him nobody saw her doing it. Her friend Marion would secretly tease her at times by calling her, Mrs. Bramwell. Bramwell was Renae’s senior so he graduated before her. She attended the graduation as she thought she needed to see him, probably for the last time. She watched him marching with his partner, moving in the groove to the graduation song. She watched him receive a prize for good sportsmanship and when he collected it, she was overjoyed that she applauded the loudest. After the ceremony, he was busy conversing and taking pictures with his friends as they knew they probably wouldn’t see each other again. Renae knew she wouldn’t see him again, so she too wanted to take a picture with him. However, it didn’t take place but only stayed in her thoughts. Seeing there was no chance of her taking another picture with him, she secretly watched him leave for his prom while she returned to her dorm.
Bramwell had finally gone and Renae no longer had him to look at in her final year. She was hurting too, due to Bramwell’s absence, and it was evident in the way she trained. After completing her final year, she too graduated and went on with her life: furthering her studies, having children, and becoming a professional. She had forgotten about her high school crush as after all, it was indeed a crush, a fact she learned as she went into a restaurant to buy food one day. Before she cashed the item, she heard someone called her name. When she turned around, she was shocked to see who the caller was. After cashing out her item, she went over to him and they began conversing. At that moment her heart didn’t pound, as with experience and maturity the crush had disappeared. It was their first time talking with each other, but she was brave enough to tell him about the crush she had on him. Surprisingly though, he laughed and told her he liked her too.
They continued talking about high school days until they parted company. No exchanging of contacts was done as Renae no longer felt the way she did years ago. All interest was lost because after all, it was just a high school crush.
