Marcin

I met Marcin in my first year of high school. We didn't talk much for the first year. The following September, something clicked. We talked more often or did papers together. He was friendly, a bit shy, and... handsome. It wasn't until September that I started to see him as a man, not a friend. We connected without saying a word. In October, we went on a field trip. We sat next to each other on the way, so we talked constantly. Upon arrival, everyone went to their assigned room. Before dinner, someone knocked on the door. It turned out it was Marcin. He wanted to see how we lived. That evening, we had a small party. By 9 p.m., everyone was a bit tipsy. I hadn't been drinking much. We all sat in one room. When Marcin went out, everyone started talking about "us." One of the friends, who was already drunk, said, "Did you know Marcin has a crush on you?" There was silence in the room. I didn't know what was going on. I started laughing and said cheerfully,

"Hey, you guys?" "Why are you so numb? You know we're just friends and nothing more..." I said this in a normal tone. I noticed some of them seemed relieved. When Marcin returned, we changed the subject.

The next day we were going for a walk around the city. First, a few sights, then some free time. I felt terribly ill. I could barely stand. I pretended everything was fine, but Marcin noticed my strange behavior.

"Ewka, what's wrong with you?" he asked in a warm voice.

"Something's wrong," I whispered. He was ready to call the doctor, but I asked him not to.

"Then I'll keep you company during your free time, so nothing happens to you," he replied categorically. I nodded. We sat in the park and talked. I rested my head on his shoulders. It made my head hurt less. I felt an immense warmth radiating from him. We returned to the center before dinner. I fell asleep immediately. I didn't even get up for dinner; I couldn't. Luckily, I got over it in the evening. I decided to go out onto the balcony and watch the stars. I turned off the light and quietly opened the balcony door. As I was gazing at the sky, I heard Marcin and Przemek's voices. They were three balconies away, so I couldn't hear the conversation.

Marcin: "I like her. Today in the park, I had this urge to kiss her. I'm afraid she doesn't feel it." The boys were standing on the balcony and apparently didn't notice me. I didn't hear the rest, because my roommate called out to me. I only know that when Ula called me, the boys fell silent. The next day, I was on "duty" to wake everyone up. After what I heard, it was hard to behave normally. When I knocked on Marcin and Przemek's room (they lived together), Marcin opened the door almost immediately.

"Hi, I came to wake you up," I said as calmly as I could. He wanted me to come in, but I firmly refused, claiming I had a lot of cleaning to do. After breakfast, I went to read. There was a gazebo next to the center. I tried to focus on my book, but I kept thinking about what Marcin had said to Przemek. I was lost in thought; I didn't hear Przemek join me.

"Can we talk?" he asked. I agreed.

"You heard everything, right?" he asked immediately.

"Not everything, but enough," I answered truthfully.

After a short conversation, it turned out that everyone knew that Marcin liked me except ME. At the end of the conversation, Przemek asked, "Do you only treat him as a friend?"

"Don't expect an answer to that question." That was my quick reaction. "That's what Marcin should be asking, not you," I added. That evening, I went for a bath. I didn't hear anyone enter the room. I emerged from the bathroom in just a towel, and Marcin was sitting on my bed.

"Hi," I replied after a moment.

"You know... I came to tell you something," he began very shyly.

"It's hard to talk about feelings... but I just like you." He said all this with his head bowed and terribly quiet.

I knelt down beside him, looked into his eyes, and said cheerfully, "I already knew that from Robert... anything else...?" I trailed off.

"Just that..." he mumbled.

"And I was hoping you'd ask me to be your girlfriend," I feigned concern.

"I'd like to... but I thought it was too soon..." He spoke even more quietly than before.

"I don't know if it's too soon, but you could try." To make things easier for him, I kissed him on the cheek.

"Yes," I whispered in his ear. That was our first kiss.