Layers

Prologue

A/N: In Hong Kong, students enter secondary school at the age of twelve or eleven. We call it secondary school, some call it middle school. Elementary school here is called primary school, and we study from first grade to sixth grade, and we graduate to form one. That's how things work here.

~~~

Eliza's POV-

We've graduated. Nearly everyone is crying. I'm not, but I know I'll miss my primary school.

And I'll definitely miss my friends and teachers here. Especially Amelia Ha.

I met her during the end of fourth grade. She was funny, nice and smart, and we became friends. It was a great coincident that in the new fifth grade year we ended up in the same class. I met a lot of other people, and we had a great time in the next three years in school.

Amy was relatable. Every time I say something that was my opinion, she would agree. Every time I made some kind of mental conclusion, we could talk about it for ten minutes. She likes science, sketching and basketball. I like art (music, visual art, language arts, literature etc) and psychology. We don't like the same things, we think alike. I wouldn't want to leave her out of all people.

What's even worse: she's going to immigrate to England in Form One and study in middle school, so there won't even be a chance that I'll get into the same secondary school as she.

Until when I go back home, I made a huge decision: I am going to immigrate with her.

Or at least, I'll talk to my parents about it.

///|||\\\

With some kind of persuading magic, I kind of did it.

I told them I did some "research" and it proves if I was going to study in another country for college (which my parents planned to shove me to America when I'm 18), I will have to get used to living in a place where everybody speaks English and all that jazz. I know the United Kingdom and the United States are a huge difference and are so far apart but at least I made such a great point my parents have decided to think about it.

Well, it was better than nothing— what did you expect? For them to say "sure Eliza we'll send you to a foreign kingdom where the bread there is so ridiculously hard it's like biting on tree bark"? Yeah right.

But apparently, they thought about it and said:

"Sure Eliza we can send you to a place where the brooks are so fresh and there are pretty winters and pretty buildings."

Better than my expectations, pals.

)*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*(

Amy's POV-

I still cannot believe that my good friend Elizabeth is coming with me to immigrate to England. Just to be with me. I knew she was a loyal person, always sticking up for China when I said Hong Kong is not China. But being so touching, sacrificing to be in her homeland just to stick with me, really moved my heart when she told me the news at our graduation luncheon.

She will be living with me—and I will be living with my older brother who has graduated college so he has his own home yay.

We're on the plane right now, and I'm still taking in the fact that Eliza has tagged along with me. It feels false yet it is real. She is watching "Jessie" on the TV, munching on her lunch. Our parents bought us UM—unaccompanied minor—so we have special service and a badge saying "UM".

On the day of our graduation ceremony, before we entered the ceremony hall, she told me why she likes being friends with me.

"It's because we both understand the world, we think maturely, and yet we have personalities and feelings. It's like layering. While the others have only one layer which they use to face the world, which means they speak their minds, we have two or more layers which we use to guard our true knowledge."

Eliza loves using metaphors. She finds it an easier way to explains the things she knows about the world since she isn't the best at explaining her thoughts.

Layers, hmm...

I like this metaphor. It's like cake, or drawing in Photoshop, or wearing clothes. Layers.

I understand her. Even without her metaphorical explanations, I understood what she means. Because that I the way I think, too.

Layers...

Guarding ourselves.