IT HAD BEEN NINE YEARS since the day we came. I had been anxious all day. I watched as we drove, leaving the city and its people behind. Back then, my parent’s told me vague reason’s to why we left. They told me we would only be in the town temporarily, that we were only taking a break from the city, but we ended up staying here for the rest of our lives. I was too young to question my parent’s authority, too young to understand. So I did what I was told, and I tried to comprehend what complex lessons they insinuated upon me.
Nevertheless I caught on to what new disaster I was to face in the town. The town was small but it was less crowded than the city, which made it much more comfortable. Our neighbors were nice, they didn’t ask much questions, they didn’t probe. Unlike the kind of people who ask a bunch of questions, looking for what fault there is in the newcomers, something they could gossip. But this were the adults, the children were something a whole lot different.
Naturally, on my first day in the new school, I was nervous. Not knowing anyone made everything worse. I remember wandering around the halls looking for my class on the verge of bursting into tears. Somehow though—I don’t recall how—I managed to find my class. I was late but I was lucky enough to only get a simple “Well, I expect you’ll try to arrive earlier next time” and the teacher—Miss Natividad, I think—even forgot to introduce me to the class and just went on to what she was previously saying to the other children. I sat on the nearest seat I could find—which was all the way at the back of the class, beside a wall adorned with drawings and paintings. I was looking at a drawing of a rabbit when someone threw a crumpled piece of paper at me. The paper hit my head and landed on the floor beside my foot. I turned to my right to see who threw the paper and saw a girl nodding towards it. This was probably what started everything else in the town.
• • •
“sit with us later, lunch, we wanna tell you something” it read. The bell rang and I stood. “Where?” I asked and in reply she put her finger on her lips and nodded to the window. Through the glass was the school’s park. It was the free space behind the school. There were tall trees near the fence and beneath them were benches. It was just plain field within a twenty meter radius from the center. All the structures like the swing set and the science gardens were situated at the sides of the park. I debated with myself whether or not I should go. This may be another elaborate prank, made specially for the new kid. But if it weren't I would've lost my chance at a friend. In the end I decided that I would go.
Who is this girl? What could she possibly want from me?
I waited until the other students were already coming back from lunch, if it was going to be a prank I won't give them the pleasure of humiliating me in front of a crowd. I went out when I was sure nobody else was at the park.
"Pssst! Over here!"
She was hiding behind the trees.
"What do you want from me?" I called out.
"Sssh! Somebody might hear you, come closer."
I stepped forward. "Why worry about that?"
She opened her mouth to to say something but just then a group of older students went out. I was turning back to her but she'd already passed me.
"I'll tell you on Saturday. Behind your house."
• • •
The weekend came and I was pacing around the house. I constantly peered through the tall windows that showed our backyard. Though after that time we talked, in the shadow of our house, I was reassured. But at the same time I felt stupid for thinking. She was just a girl. A weird girl.
