The Lucky Charm

chapter 2

I woke up to the sound of roaring thunder, followed by the aggressive splashing of rain. I wanted to wake up from the warm sunlight shining into my eyes like a stage spotlight just like the movies, but jolting awake in panic felt a bit more natural. The bell signalled me to head home.

I dug my hands into my bag to feel for an umbrella. It was dead empty. How am I supposed to go home now?

"Got an umbrella?" Mabel's voice sliced through the air.

"No." I gave her this defeated look.

"You look so dead." She winced.

"As always. My face is just like that."

"What's your average score for this term?"

"What?" I had a confused and drowsy reaction.

"For your report card, we got it back today, don't you remember?"

"Oh yea...65%." I hesitated a little.

"Finally! I got 67%." She elbowed me in the ribs.

A resounding "YES" was echoing from a small crowd of students, which took awhile for the excitement to fade away. We both turned our necks to see what the commotion was about, only to see that group of students screaming their scores in amusement, like "I GOT 77%" or "YES I GOT 84%". I didn't see why they needed to cheer so loudly, it's not like they were suddenly ultimate Einsteins.

Of course, being well-liked and smart, it's the perfect concoction to create a popular kid.

I lugged my bag across my shoulder and we kept talking all the way down the 'never-ending stairwell'. The energy in the conversation started to pick up and begin to feel more interesting, so I teased her a little bit.

There was this unspoken feeling that buried deep within us, I could feel it brewing. That sting, the stinging feeling in my heart when the world has shown me that I will never reach my desired goals.

We parted ways at a traffic light junction outside the school. I spotted the same small crowd across the road, protected from the merciless rain under a sheltered route which was headed to the mall. Evidently, they had not gotten over the thrill of scoring so high, so they were probably going to the mall for a shopping spree. I looked around frantically, and there was no one I knew that I could borrow an umbrella from.

Hence, I took a deep breath and braced myself for the cold.

I raced through the rain like a bullet. When my vision got slightly clearer, I could see the blurry bus that I needed to catch approaching the bus stop ahead. My steps got even quicker and lighter, and I ran so fast I felt like I could split the rain in half. The bus stop felt so near yet so far. For some reason, I wanted to look at the same group again.

They were laughing and smiling so widely, in such a good mood. And here I am trying to go against the strong elements of nature, with the raindrops inevitably seeping into my vision. They felt so high and mighty, and I felt so small and vulnerable. They were dry under the shelter, and I was completely drenched. By this time, I was gasping for air from all the running, and I never valued oxygen as much as I did now.

Those peoples' intelligence and popularity was just like oxygen to them, because the world revolved around them. But there are people waiting below, just like me, who would crave to just inhale a quick breath of their oxygen, just to know how it feels like up there.

Well, afterall, I had to shake that feeling off. Nothing would change even if I felt that way.

Then I saw him.