it wasnt just a dream

I was laughing, trying to run away from two of my friends who were chasing after me from behind. Somehow we were in the school corridor, and light was filtering in through the strip of windows on my right. I could hear my friends’ laughter echoing their steps and I quickened my pace. A door flashed by and I caught a glimpse of the school guard outside. And suddenly I realized I was not running away from my friends anymore, but from that school guard who had fallen prey to our mischief. My friends finally caught up with me, and like normal teenage girls, we giggled and pushed each other playfully as we headed towards the canteen. I looked at them and I saw that they had no face but somehow it all felt right.
We ran up a flight of steps and past a group of boys who were walking out of the canteen. It was a brief encounter but I caught his eyes, looking at me with a smile which tightened my stomach into a knot I could not comprehend. I smiled back, and quickly ran into the canteen when my cheeks began to burn. The fluttering feeling went away as fast as it came. My friends were already in the queue, deciding what to have for lunch that day. I turned to the corner of the canteen and was surprised to see Sirijit and Wan-tsin, both classmates of mine back in secondary school, looking into the mirrors in the hands. Their faces seemed to glow and shimmer under the light, and as I approached them I noticed they had applied bottles of glitters on their cheeks. They looked pretty, I thought.
Suddenly, Honglynn was in front of me, talking away animatedly with dramatic hand gestures, as though she was trying to narrate an incident which occurred to her earlier on. I could not hear her no matter how hard I tried. Nevertheless I was smiling from ear to ear. Then, a familiar posture caught my eye, Robert. He was sitting at a table, eating with that very expression on his face and that very same hairstyle he had back in junior college, always acting as if he did not care about anything else but fun. Our gaze met, and he looked away, ignoring me as usual before I could wave and say hello. Still, I was not hurt by his act. I knew he was really sweet and nice inside.

It was the happiest day. I went back to the past, when life was free of responsibilities and commitments. When boys did not matter and friends were all around, giggling and laughing together. When we used to run around and bump into things and still it did not matter.