Operation Centuria: The First 25

Day 23: When does the moon cry? ("Roberta") by Gianne Rabena

I doubt anyone else caught the satisfied smile on my brother, Dooley’s face that morning. It was as if he was happy about something, something he did in particular. But I did and it was a smile that I’ve never seen in his face ever before. I doubted it had anything to do about him being hiking partners with Roberta the day before, because I remembered the look on his face when our teacher/camp instructor told them to stick with each other the whole hike. His face was as downcast as the time someone told him they were trying to shut down the arcade downtown. He didn’t like Roberta, as did many of the guys in our class. I asked him why he made such a tone and a shudder whenever her name was mentioned, but I guessed it had something to do with her being a bully or something.

it wasn’t that she didn’t look good. In some normal standards I’d even say she was pretty. But boys can be pretty shallow when it comes to picking girls and Roberta came off as pretty intimidating. I don’t know if anyone knew this but one time I thought I heard a sniff from her when i saw her leave the girls’ room. Later on I found out that Clinton, some guy I knew from rumors that she liked, already had a girlfriend. I went “aww” because deep down inside Roberta was just a girl like everyone else.

Roberta was bigger and bulkier than any of the guys in our class and she always had on a serious glare whenever we talk to her. I didn’t really know what it was about her. She never really approached us girls but we felt like we did everything we could. She just never came by to hang with us.

But when the hiking thing started just before summer which our Science teacher promised us things started to change. We lived nearby this small mountain and it was safe enough to climb. We were ecstatic. It was the  twins’ first time to climb a actual mountain and I dared Dooley to get to the top before I did. We were paired off so that we wouldn’t get lost. I don’t know why the teacher didn’t just get us to pick our partners at first but then I figured maybe it was because she foresaw that poor Roberta wouldn’t have anyone. So I agreed with the whole partner thing and I ended up with someone who was actually already my friend.

I heard snickering from the boys when my brother carried himself sulkily towards Roberta as she fumbled around her backpack. She didn’t look him in the eye but I heard him awkwardly try to say a joke and it failed. I saw her lower her head and stare at her feet.

It was noon and as our teacher started to say excitedly how we were almost to the top, someone started fussing how they saw a bear. I said that’s impossible because there weren’t any bears in these parts of the world but everyone started getting scared. That’s when I decided to turn around and look for Roberta because I remembered how scared she looked when one of the boys wondered if there were bears in these mountains. My brother tried to assure her that he doubted there were. But when I looked they weren’t there.

—-

I don’t understand how I ended up with bully, Roberta as a hiking partner. It was probably because the teacher thought about my asthma and assumed that someone would eventually have to haul me around if I faint or something. But I heard them laugh. I don’t get what the deal was with Roberta other than she was big and intimidating. If it weren’t for her hair I guess I’d think she was a boy.

The hike started and It was fine at first but as we got higher, I started feeling short of breathe. I had to clutch my chest and gulp in hard. It wasn’t the most leisurely trip I’ve ever been in.

Oddly enough Roberta actually started talking to me. Asking me if I was okay and whether I wanted water. She said her mom packed her two and was already rummaging through her bag for it. I smiled weakly, hoping no one was seeing me like this but accepted hastily. Eventually I noticed that the sounds of my friends voices were fading. It didn’t take long for her to notice it too.