Begin at the Beginning (#LunaEast 1)

Part 2: Second Quarter

The first time it happened, Jamie thought it was some weird illusion of hers, induced by lack of sleep and late night anime watching, following a groggy, reluctant commute to the campus. (Without breakfast, of course. She would eat brunch later in school.)

“Good morning.” Marco smiled cheerfully at her as she sat down, his dimples showing. She blinked many times, and then murmured “Good morning” back at him. She began her usual custom: take out her textbook, notebook and ballpen (her favorite one, her good luck charm), put her backpack in front of her seat, and then stare outside the window, replying only to classmates who approach her.

“I like your pen.”

Jamie turned to look at her seatmate. “Huh? (Smooth, Jamie, smooth.)

“I like your pen.” Marco repeated, and pointed. “This one. With the phoenix. It looks cool.”

Her ballpen was a gift from the only friend she had during elementary. It was given during the sixth grade Christmas party, before they all graduated and left for high school. Her friend said it was going to be a good luck charm, her totem, her talisman, especially that she would be entering a new world alone and without him. It was going to protect her, he said. It was going to give her courage.

“Rebirth. That’s what the phoenix symbolizes.” The words left Jamie’s mouth before she could think of a proper response.

Marco looked at her without saying anything for a while. Then he nodded. “Oh. It fits you.” 

The bell rang for classes to begin.

The second time it happened, Jamie thought she was just hungry. And brain dead from all the Algebra problems Mrs. Cruz kept bombarding them with.

“…and so Ate Rose said, why not go for it? She said since I feel confident about myself, why don’t I join?”

“Hey guys!” Marco greeted, sitting down in front of Jamie, with some of their classmates behind him. “There are no more vacant seats, so we thought of joining you.”

“Go ahead.” Iris said. “Hey, is it true you’re running for class president?”

“Of course it is! I thought it would be fun.” Marco replied, smiling. (Jamie thought his dimples were cute. She liked him smiling. Then she thought she was going crazy with that line of thinking.)

“You have my support then. As long as you defeat Roddy.” The boy sitting beside Marco (Seth, Jamie remembered. His name is Seth.) said. “He’s too smug for his own good.”

Marco laughed. “Roddy’s not bad.”

“Well, as long as you’re nice to us, I’ll vote for you later.” Iris said, chewing on her sandwich. Faith, who was sitting beside her, nodded in agreement, the rest of their classmates doing the same thing.

“Thanks guys. How about you, Jamie? Would you vote for me?”

Jamie’s only reply was to drop her spoon on her plate, which made a loud clatter.

“So this article says that your favorite things tell a lot about your personality. For example, your favorite color.” Faith said, as she was showing them the magazine while waiting for their next class. “My favorite color is pink. It says here, pink means that I am sensitive, sentimental and romantic.”

“Ooooh, cool. My favorite color is green.” Iris read aloud. “Green means a practical, well-balanced and stable nature. And hopeful, as green is the color of spring. What’s your favorite color, Jamie?”

“Blue.”

“Okay, it says here that if you like the color blue, you are trusting of other people although you are wary of them at the beginning. You have a deep need for peace and harmony in your life. You may appear to be self-controlled, but you are hiding your vulnerable side.” Then Faith stopped reading and Iris looked at Jamie closely. “Sounds a lot like you.”

“Hey guys, what are you so busy about?” Marco asked, having arrived from the faculty office after volunteering to bring their worksheets from the previous class.

“What’s your favorite color, Marco?” Iris asked, taking the magazine from Faith.

“Hm, mine is red. Why?”

Iris skimmed through the magazine, and then she replied, quoting from the article. “Well, it says here that you usually gain the respect of other people. You are competitive and ambitious; with you, it’s all or nothing. And you are courageous and confident.”

“I hope I am all that! I sure do want to win the class election.” Marco said, grinning.

Their next teacher entered the classroom, and everybody rushed back to their seats.

Jamie really liked how his dimples kept showing when he smiles.

The third time it happened, she thought it was too much of a coincidence. Or maybe the sun was too hot when they went out of their classroom earlier to study the different life forms around the school gardens.  

Marco predictably won the elections for class president, as everybody (except Roddy and his minions) liked him (Carla most enthusiastically so).

As homeroom was finished and the dismissal bell rang, everyone went to congratulate Marco, and the back of the classroom was crowded. Jamie was all too eager to get out, so she hurriedly put away her things inside her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and waved a quick goodbye to Iris and Faith.

As she was nearing the school gates, she heard someone calling her name. She stared in disbelief as Marco ran to her, catching his breath.

“I swear you move like a ninja.” Marco groaned, still huffing, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He was grinning as he took something out from his pocket and held it out to her. “Here. You forgot this.”

Wordlessly, Jamie took her ballpen, the one with the blue ink and a small figure of a phoenix pasted on the cap.

“This is your good luck charm, right? So I brought it over to you as soon as I saw it on the floor.”

“Uh, thank you.” (Why was she being so stupid with her replies?)

“No problem.” Marco was still smiling. His sudden sprint made him red in the face, and Jamie thought he looked cuter. (She slapped her head mentally at that thought.) “Don’t lose your pen again. And thanks for voting for me.” He then gestured towards the pen she was still holding in her hand. “I sure did win because you wrote my name on the ballot using that.” 

Rebirth. Hope. New beginnings. For the first time in her life, Jamie felt very lucky indeed.  

(Note: The color symbolisms come from this website: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com)