Mark Lee was the kind of guy everyone knew, but not in the way you’d expect. He wasn’t a star athlete or the class president. He was just… Mark. The super smart guy who somehow still made time to talk to everyone, even if it was just to ask about homework or laugh at a bad joke. He was always tossing out random facts or cracking some joke that actually made our chemistry class less miserable. Naturally, half the class had a crush on him.

My best friend, Lina, was the president of that unofficial fan club. She was completely obsessed. Whenever she’d spot Mark, she’d go into this dreamy-eyed mode, whispering things like, “Isn’t he the smartest guy ever? I bet he’d make amazing study notes.” And somehow, I always ended up dragged into her schemes, especially the worst one of all: following Mark after school.

It started out as her "just wanting to know what street he lived on." So, like a good friend, I went along, rolling my eyes as Lina pulled me behind trees and ducked behind parked cars in a dramatic attempt to stay hidden. It wasn’t the best plan—we were always one misstep away from getting caught—but Lina was too determined to care.

One day, we were trailing him through the park near his house, when Mark stopped suddenly. Lina froze, clutching my arm in terror. But instead of confronting us, Mark turned around with a big grin and said, “You know, if you’re gonna follow me, you should just walk with me. I don’t bite, promise.”

Lina looked like she was about to combust, and I was trying not to burst out laughing. We ended up walking the rest of the way with him, chatting about homework and random things until he reached his house. It turned into a routine after that—no more hiding in bushes or awkwardly creeping from behind. And even though I did it just to keep Lina happy, I had to admit… it was kind of fun having him around.