The next day, Dan walked through the school, receiving stares from other students as always—something completely normal by now. As he walked, he thought about what he could do to win Naomi's heart. "Should I talk to her and then ask her out? No, no—that would be too bold and rushed." Thoughts like these raced through his mind.
Dan was heading to his classroom when he passed by Naomi's room in the hallway. He turned to try to spot her, and when he found her, he saw she was sitting at her desk studying calmly while her classmates talked among themselves away from their seats. Dan kept walking toward his own classroom.
When he arrived, all his classmates looked over at him. Jhonatan smiled as he walked up to Dan, with Brandon beside him.
- "Hey, heartthrob! Do you know how to approach Naomi now without her ignoring you again?" Jhonatan said, laughing a little as he remembered what happened the day before.
- "Haha, very funny," Dan said with sarcasm and irritation.
- "Just joking—we believe in you, buddy. We know you can win over anyone," Jhonatan said as Brandon nodded in agreement.
- "You're right—and I already have a plan to win her over. Obviously, I'm not going to tell you what it is," Dan said confidently, even though he actually had no plan at all.
- "Well, good luck—I hope you make it happen," Brandon said as he and Jhonatan walked away to their seats.
Dan sighed and went to his own desk, still thinking about how to approach Naomi.
Meanwhile, in Naomi's classroom, she was relaxed and studying, not paying attention to her surroundings until Sofía walked up to her.
- "Naomi—I heard a rumor from another class that Dan came up to talk to you and you ignored him. Is that true?" Sofía asked in a whisper, curious.
Naomi was surprised by her friend's question and looked at her with embarrassment as she remembered the moment.
- "Y-yes… but I didn't mean to ignore him. I got so nervous—words wouldn't come out, my body just reacted and I walked away."
Sofía laughed softly, amused by her friend.
- "Why did I have to be absent just yesterday? What bad luck," she said with a smile.
- "But why did he talk to you? What did he want?" Sofía asked, extremely curious.
- "I don't know—he just said hi and left. I didn't hear anything else," Naomi said, still embarrassed but also a little curious deep down about what Dan had wanted.
- "Well, it doesn't matter now. Whatever he wanted to say, it's not important to us anymore," Sofía said with a smile.
Naomi nodded and smiled back at Sofía.
A few hours later, during English class in Naomi's room, the teacher asked her to go get some dictionaries. She stood up and left the classroom to find them in the library.
In Dan's classroom, it was philosophy class. As usual, Dan was falling asleep, so he asked to go to the bathroom to skip the lesson.
Dan went into the bathroom, and when he came out, he saw Naomi in the hallway carrying a huge stack of dictionaries. Before approaching her, he tried to think of how to start a conversation. "What if I put my foot out so she trips and falls, then help her pick up the books? Wouldn't that be romantic?" Dan shook his head, realizing it was a terrible idea.
Finally, Dan made up his mind and slowly walked up to Naomi, falling into step beside her.
- "Hi—those look really heavy. Do you need help?" Dan said with a smile.
Naomi stared at him in surprise, completely frozen. She misstepped and tripped over her own foot, sending the dictionaries crashing to the floor. Dan's eyes lit up as he thought, "Yes! My chance!" He quickly helped Naomi stand up and started gathering the books.
Dan picked up most of them, then gently took the rest from Naomi's hands.
- "They're heavy—don't worry, I'll help you carry them," Dan said as he held the tall stack of dictionaries in his arms.
Naomi's eyes widened in surprise, and she whispered in a soft, quiet voice:
- "T-thank… thank you so much…"
Dan carried the dictionaries to Naomi's classroom. When they arrived, Naomi stopped at the doorway and Dan handed her all the books. Even Naomi's classmates and teacher stared in shock at seeing Dan with her.
Naomi tried to thank him again, but her nerves got the better of her and she stammered:
- "T-tha… tha… thank… th-thank… y-you…"
Sofía noticed her friend was nervous and quickly interrupted with a smile.
- "Thank you so much for helping Naomi, Dan—we really appreciate it. Well, see you later!" Sofía said before closing the door on Dan.
Dan looked at the door in confusion, then sighed and walked away. Sofía sighed and helped Naomi set the dictionaries on the table. Naomi sat back down at her desk as some students looked at her curiously, but she didn't seem to notice.
As the teacher continued the lesson, Sofía thought about why Dan had been approaching Naomi so often lately.