CLOSE YOUR EYES

dErEk: "Eyes Closed"

My mom gets very emotional about these things. When I started school in kindergarten, she would hug me so tight as if I was traveling somewhere or going to die soon and she will not see me again or for so long. And kindergarten classes were just 4 hours daily.

Now I am entering a new school, virtually age 14 and it doesn't really change.

I got out of the car and before I could take a sniff of the air, my mom got out from the driver seat, went around the car, and gave me a hug. She kissed my cheeks and she gave me a speech.

"Mom, there's no need to do this," I embarrassedly said as everyone was looking at me and cars horning furiously behind us.

Finally, she patted my head again, entered the car, and drove off.

I learned that we had a form class first, so I was escorted there to find myself in an oddly shaped classroom. It probably had nine edges, like a nonagon. Wonder how the architects pulled it off. The room was well arranged as it was the first day and also because they wanted to impress new students like me.

Since I didn't have a locker yet, I went in with my bag and dropped it on the table close to the chair I would sit on.

Students were involved in all sorts of chatter and entertainment: showing each other funny faces, playing games on their phones, just to name a few. I could tell they had a good holiday as they didn't even know that there's a new student in the class. But I guess I wasn't the only one, though.

They were some children sitting on their own with their bags too. One was spending time on his phone, another was singing a song to herself. The third, in glasses, was reading. Wait, really? Reading?

"There's the new class nerd," I thought, "Probably reading Harry Potter."

Then I looked to the extreme right to find a girl whose eyes were closed. I guess she wasn't new because she had her books for the first few classes. But her eyes were closed, not sleeping, but closed. Not many people do that these days. Close their eyes. So I reach out.