Secret Admirer

Do you remember high school? For me, there are a few things that come to mind whenever I think of it. One of those is the fun we had with friends, both boys and girls, and the way we used to talk about our crushes.

High school love stories are unique. It was during that time I learned the meaning of the term "secret admirer”. I actually looked it up online because of some mysterious behavior happening around us. One day, I found a note written on the last page of my book with no name or address. A week later, my beautiful orange backpack 🎒 had a message scribbled on it: "Remember SMH." The handwriting was clearly a girl's. If you think that was the worst part, trust me, you don’t know what happened to my friend.

In Senior Five (S5), I had a South Sudanese friend in Senior Four (S4). This guy would always find a letter in his backpack addressed "From the girl you hate." The twist? This girl was clever and neat, never repeating the same handwriting style or getting caught while slipping the letters into his backpack.

My friend even hired a few people to keep an eye on his bag while he was out, hoping to catch her in the act. But it seemed like she was always one step ahead of him. The last letter he received was signed, "From your secret admirer." To this day, even after their final exams, he never found out who she was.