First Love

Autumn brings with it the sweet scent of milk flowers that just a whiff is enough to make people's hearts flutter. Where I live, every street and corner is filled with the scent of this small white flower, a familiar sign of autumn.

Looking at the blooming milk flower clusters, my heart is filled with nostalgia for my student years with many memories of my first love still intact in my memory. Back then, my classmate and I were always two names standing next to each other on the school's achievement board. He was a handsome, studious boy, the pride of our class. I was a quiet girl, always quietly walking beside him, not showing off, but inside I had so many emotions that I never dared to say. We were close to each other since the first days of grade 10, when our pure friendship still sparkled like the autumn sun.

That autumn, the milk flowers also bloomed all over the school yard, spreading a gentle fragrance that made the space more charming than ever. Every morning on the way to school, my friend and I walked together under the milk trees, talking and laughing happily, but in my heart there were always strange, indescribable emotions. That was the first time I knew the feeling of confusion when standing near my friend. I felt my heart beat faster every time our eyes accidentally met.

He often helped me solve difficult problems, patiently explaining them to me bit by bit. When I was confused, even helpless with numbers and formulas, he just smiled gently, patiently explaining, making me feel that everything was easier. We spent afternoons studying together in the sunny corridor, under the swaying milk flower trees. The gentle floral scent spread, permeating the pure white pages of my notebook, wafting over my hair covering my rosy cheeks that were gently shaking.

One autumn afternoon, we went for a walk together after school. He took me to a corner of the schoolyard, where there was the biggest milk flower tree. Under the shade of the milk flower tree, he looked at me, his eyes full of affection, making me unable to forget. That was the first time I realized that I liked him, liked even the smallest things, from his eyes, his smile, to even the scent of the flowers.

My first love had no sweet confession, no tight hand holding, just times studying together, walking under the trees with feelings that I didn't dare to express. Every time I wanted to say it, his deep eyes made me hesitate.

Then autumn passed, the milk flower clusters gradually withered, he left school, went to a far away place to continue his studies. As for me, I stayed, quietly pursuing my own dreams. We no longer had the opportunity to meet as much as before, the letters and phone calls became less and less frequent.

Every time the milk flower blooms, my heart is filled with old emotions. Then, every time I walk through a street filled with the scent of flowers, I see the figure of my old friend. My heart always remembers the beautiful, sweet, deep first love, deeply imprinted in my heart throughout my youth.