His heart skipped a beat every time she walked by, but he never had the courage to say anything to her.

Somehow, his mind just seemed to go blank whenever she was around. This, however didn't discourage him. He had to tell her; he just had to.

Two weeks passed and he was no closer to getting close to her.

"There just has to be a way," he thought out loud.

"A way for what?" he heard behind him. Surprised to know that someone had heard him, he quickly turned around - and there she was.

"Oh, nothing," he replied. His heart was now racing. She was standing right in front of him and he did not know what to say. What he really wanted to say just would not leave his lips.

She told him she wanted to know if he had finished the assignment the had got the day before in science class, for she was having problems answering question two.

With his mind now all tangled, he was unable to think straight. He was not able to come up with a good response, so he just told her he had not fully answered that question as yet. After she left, he gritted his teeth and slapped himself on the forehead.

"You jerk!" This time he made sure not to think out loud.

The next day, his seemingly never-ending love quest continued. He was at the netball court watching a match between the college team and a visiting team.

She was on the college team. This made him somewhat nervous but he kept his composure.

During the match, the unthinkable happened. In trying to make a long pass, she threw the ball, which was not cleanly collected by her teammate and it came straight at him.

Before he knew what was happening, he was struck on the side of his head and the impact sent him toppling over the seats.

Everyone around him started laughing. Embarrassed, he took a long time to get back up. He was helped up by two of his friends and when he looked back onto the court, there she was staring at him and saying sorry in the distance.

His heart melted. He shook his head as if to say 'I'm cool'. The pain he was feeling seemed to have miraculously disappeared, at least for that moment.

"Why me?" he wondered. "I hope this is good luck, but this good luck sure hurts a lot."

After the match, which their team lost by 10 goals, he went over to talk to her. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was that they lost the game.

She, however, was more concerned about the blow he had received on his head earlier.

Not wanting to appear soft, he told her all was well and his head was quite fine. She told him she was happy to know that and then she just walked away. This was just not his day.

A few days later:

A few minutes before the mathematics teacher arrived, he went by her desk and told her he would like to talk to her. He asked her if lunchtime would be good.

To his astonishment, her response was, "Is it that important?"

"Very" he nervously replied.

"OK, no problem," she responded, without even looking up.

He slowly turned around and walked back to his seat. As he walked back, he was hoping no one else heard their conversation.

Anxiety, nervousness, hopefulness, optimism, doubt - all these feelings were churning inside of him. He was more confused now than ever.

For the rest of the mathematics class, he remained in a daze. His concentration was now at a minimum. Three sessions later, the dreaded moment came. It was lunchtime. He sat under a tree close to the walkway leading to the cafeteria.

They never agreed on where to meet so he thought this would be a good enough spot and probably the most logical one, as she would have to walk by on her way to buy her lunch.

Half an hour into lunchtime, she was nowhere in sight. Somewhat worried now, he hoped maybe in another 15 minutes she would pass by. Fifteen minutes later, she still had not turned up. He was so hungry he decided to rush to the cafeteria to get something to eat before lunchtime was up.

They didn't have any more classes together for the rest of the day, so he decided to wait for her after school.

This time, he strategically placed himself by the college gate, as she would have to pass by him there. Lucky for him, his wait was not long. There she was.

He walked over to her and asked her what had happened. She casually told him that she forgot as she had to use her lunchtime to finish a business administration assignment that she needed to hand in after the lunch break.

"Maybe tomorrow might be a better day," she told him. "See ya!", as she briskly walked away.

He just stood there dumbstruck. What is he doing wrong? Some of the words she used made the situation more frustrating. Why did she say 'maybe and might'?

She sounded as if she was almost brushing him aside. Could she be sending him a signal? He was getting more convinced now that she was not interested in him but he certainly was not giving up. Not now.

Deep in his heart, he was sure she was interested. In fact, he knew she was. The signs were there. He saw them, clear as day.

"Hey, stop the daydreaming!" he heard coming from his left.

It was one of his classmates.

"Mind you think too far this time," he added. "Time to make a move, man."

He was glad for the interruption, as the bus had arrived and he had to rush to get in before it moved off. He sat feeling dejected. He had never felt so much in love before.

She just had to be the one. He nearly passed his bus stop but was alert enough to ring the bell just in time. As he got off the bus he could hear her voice echoing in his head: "Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow."

The next day:

As he sat at his desk contemplating what he would say to her, he couldn't help but notice a small note on the wall beside the window to the right of the blackboard. He got up to have a closer look. He reached out and took the note off the wall and on it was written 'The choice you make today will affect your life tomorrow'.

Immediately he felt chills all over his body. He slowly walked back to his seat, still holding the note in front of him. This made him more uncertain about their future, if there ever was one. Today was one day when nothing would distract him. Nothing.

She sat in her usual seat near the window to the far right corner just five spaces in front of him. The class was lively as usual. There was no question that was asked that she did not know the answer to.

The class ended five minutes early and he made sure to try and catch her before she left.

"Is lunchtime still on?" he asked.

"For what?" she responded, as she turned her head slightly in his direction.

"Our meeting. Remember what you said yesterday?" he questioned.

"Oh, that? No problem. See you at 12:30 then." She began to walk away.

"Where would we meet?" he almost shouted to her, in order to make sure she heard him.

"Somewhere near the cafeteria" she replied as she went on her way.

"Ok." Immediately he remembered what happened when he waited in the same vicinity the day before.

He was in place and on time, as he waited anxiously. At 12:30 p.m. on the dot, she approached him. She came over and sat down on the seat across from him. He took a long look at her, as she sat, and managed to give a simple smile.

"So,what is on your mind now?" she asked, with a pleasant look on her face.

He mustered up some courage and tried to respond with ease. "Did you ever wonder why I keep asking you to meet with me?"

"Not really, " she said.

"Well, I like you a lot and I was wondering if you feel the same way about me," he said.

To his surprise, she got up quickly and laughed out while putting her hand over her mouth.

"Me? Interested in you? Why would I do that? You are nice and thing, but I would never want to spoil our friendship by getting that close to you."

He just sat there, feeling crushed, as if the world just fell on top of his head.

What just happened? What did he just do to himself?<