A Day Like No Other

• Kevin Nguyen, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2013

It was a day like all others, the sun beaming down upon the earth, the cars cruising down the street, people walk back and forth in a seemingly endless line. I was doing on this day, what I have done all others. Waiting at the station. Normal. Everything was normal until she came along.

I didn’t know her at all, she didn’t even do anything miraculous to make her stand out from the crowd, but something… everything about her caught my attention. From the way she walked down the steps, onto the platform, to the strong scent of her perfume which became stronger and stronger as she came closer to me.

What do I do? She’s barely a metre away from me. Alone. It was the perfect opportunity to make a move, no friends around, and no distractions.

The only problem was me. I had never done anything like it before. I had no idea how to approach a girl. I’ve tried to once, and I froze. The tension of the situation got the belter of me and I couldn’t do anything at all. I tried to think back to what my friend has always told to do. Be confident, be clear, and know exactly what you want to say.

So I tried. I pictured the conversation in my head, how it was going to happen, what I would say? First walk over to her, and try to…no. Not try. I will get her attention. Afterwards I would give her a friendly yet flirty greeting. Hey! Hi! Hello! Then I would introduce myself, and ask for her name, her school, her interests. Within the three minutes left until my the train comes I’ll ask for her number.

And then… and then I’ll call her, we’d go out, maybe get something to eat… Italian? Chinese? Thai? We’d get to know each other some more, and maybe, just maybe… she’ll agree to be my girlfriend. We can get married, have kids and finally… grow old together. Am I overthinking things a little?

But It could go wrong. All of it, from the earliest moment. What if I can’t get her attention? What if she doesn’t like me? What if She doesn’t like Chinese food? What if she doesn’t want to get married or have kids? What if… she was immortal and will never grow old with me? No that’s ridiculous… is it?

WAIT! I’m getting carried away. OH NO the train is here. I missed my chance! No… I can still talk to her on the train but… she’s not getting on. She must be catching the next train somewhere else. I can’t get off! I’ll be late for school. But if I don’t do anything now I’ll probably never see her again. This was like the last time I’ve tried talking to the girl. I can’t do anything at all.

But then I thought back to what my friend told me; Take a chance!

“Doors closing, please stand clear”

So I took a chance. I grabbed the closing door… Hi there, my name is Michael.