Celline told her about Bright, "Do you know, Naz? Bright is in the special class now, and he keeps calling me. He likes me. I don't even bother replying, I'm just not interested."
"Bright?" Nazma tried to recall who Bright was.
Suddenly, Nazma remembered.
Bright, that cocky guy. Yeah, that tall, noisy guy. It was only the first day of school and he was already being loud.
Bright likes Celline? Nazma thought. She listened to Celline's story intently. Nazma's head was positioned lower than Celline's. Nazma listened to Celline telling the story from below.
Nazma looked up slightly, watching Celline's jaw move as she spoke. "He keeps calling? Where did he even get your number, Cel?"
Obviously from the class group chat.
Celline snorted, busy twirling the ends of her hair with a look of pure annoyance. "Who knows. He's so aggressive, Naz. Even though I give him the cold shoulder every time I pass him, he just gets worse. Just now in the corridor, he purposefully shouted my name so the whole grade would look."
Nazma imagined the Bright she had seen before. The guy really did have a vibe that was "too bright," true to his name. Too noisy, too much attitude, and too much self-confidence.
"But he's handsome, isn't he, Cel? Tall, too," Nazma probed gently.
"Only when he's quiet!" Celline cut in quickly.
"The moment he opens his mouth, ugh, he drops a hundred points. He's the type of guy who thinks every girl will swoon if he just whistles. A big no for me. I'd rather be single than deal with a guy who loves to show off like that."
Nazma fell silent. She compared the explosive Bright to the calm and enigmatic Zemiro.
Her world and Celline's were truly different. Nazma was trapped in a silent waiting game, while Celline was busy running from a pursuit that was far too loud.
Celline snorted, "Smart? Please, he's an idiot. Who calls at eleven at night just to ask what clothes to wear tomorrow? It's crazy."
Nazma chuckled softly. Turns out Bright was that aggressive. The polar opposite of Zemiro.
"And if he calls again?" Nazma asked.
"I'll just ignore him. I'll block him if I have to," Celline replied nonchalantly. "I don't like guys with no self-respect like that. I'd rather have someone who plays hard to get, so it's actually fun to chase him."
Nazma smiled thinly. Celline was clearly the hunter type. Suddenly, the classroom door swung open violently.
"CELLINE!"
The voice was shrill, filling the room that had just been occupied by their whispers. Nazma and Celline turned toward the door in unison. Talk of the devil.
Nazma straightened up. Frozen. Staring at the wide-open classroom door. She could see Bright standing there, breathing slightly heavily, as if he had just run a marathon just to shout "Celline!"
Celline, on the other hand, didn't look surprised at all. She simply rolled her eyes lazily, leaning back into her chair with a heavy air of boredom.
"There he is, Naz. The devil has arrived," Celline whispered without taking her eyes off the door.
"What time do you call this, Bright? You've only just arrived." Talitha shouted from the back row. The clock already showed exactly nine o'clock.
Bright walked in with his signature cocky stride. His bag was slung over just one shoulder, and his wide grin showed not a hint of guilt for disrupting the peace of the class. Bright's eyes locked onto Celline immediately, as if Nazma, sitting down there, was nothing more than a speck of dust.
"Cel! Why didn't you pick up my call last night?!" Bright exclaimed while approaching their desk. His shrill, overconfident voice truly made Nazma's ears ring.
Nazma slowly adjusted her posture, looking at Bright from up close.
This guy was the literal definition of 'too bright' and noisy. In her mind, Nazma immediately made a comparison: If Zemiro was a silent library, then Bright was a loud street-side concert. Noisy, but definitely impossible to ignore.