I was 12, in class, trying once again to convince one of the boys(Alex) to secretly pass my personal note(answer) to another boy but it was the third time in less than a school hour and he was getting grouchy, refused to comply and I was trying to convince him when the teacher interrupted me with a question *gulp*

‘How many hours does it take to travel by train from Athens to Crete?’ and kept staring intensely at me. I felt like he had pushed me up against the wall and he repeated his question(everyone was quiet oh so very quiet, waiting for my answer) oh I didn’t know I couldn’t think and begged with a hand gesture the boys to give me the answer.

3 hours, Alex whispered. 3 hours Sir I replied. Are you sure he(the teacher) asked me. Yes, three hours Sir and the whole classroom like one voice burst into laughter I am sure that I had a question mark in my eyes that moment. Crete is an island he reminded me. *Gulp*gulp* I swallowed twice and smiiiiled while looking into the teacher eyes and thought to myself ‘and now we are even’ and turned my head and asked Alex: ‘Why did you gave me a false answer?’ He looked down, shrugged his shoulders and said with a grin on his lip while staring at the floor and the top of his right shoe: I don’t know’ .

Although he (the teacher) kept a straight face his moustache was like a group of schoolgirls (hair) that were giggling while nudging each other; he did eventually crack a smile and explained to me the purpose of his tricking question – he wanted to point out that I wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying because I was busy sending notes to the boys, he said that while trying to restrain the laughter that was coming from deep within his throat. I smiled a big goofy sparkly smile and admitted that he was right and oh how I laughed together with the rest of the class when the class was over, it is not easy to make me blush but this time I really did blush:D

 I didn’t mind, making people laugh, have fun, be in the moment is one of the best things in life. It was ok, an unforgettable moment and life fell back into its normal rhythms but something had changed but I didn’t know that yet. But before that:

. . . ‘and now we are even’

time to explain my: ‘and now we are even’ inner thought

*to be continued*