First day of classes.
Coach called of our training for today, to give all of us an opportunity to focus on our classes and get our groove for the new school year.
I was busy fixing my things when I heard a soft knock in our dorm room.
"Michifu, can you get that please?" I called out to my roommate, Mich Morente, as her bed is closest to the door. I continued ruffling through my things, looking for a book I needed for my first class.
"Hey Bea, what brings you here?"
"Ey Mich, is Jia there?"
I turned around and saw Bea at our door, and i waved at her "come in" I called out to her.
She shyly walked inside our room and asked my permission before she sat on my bed.
"What time is you class?" She asked.
"9am at Kostka"
"Ok. Can I walk with you?"
"Do you have class in the same Building?" I asked.
"Actually, No. My class is at SEC."
"That's on the other side of campus!" I uttered in surprise. Even at a brisk walk pace, the distance between those 2 buildings would at least be a 20-minute walk.
She sat in silence and started playing with her hands. I have started to notice that this is her habit whenever she gets nervous. Sitting beside her on the bed, I took her hands in mine and placed these on my lap.
She stopped wringing her hands and smiled at me from under her gaze. Her face suddenly brightened, as if recalling something, and immediately grabbed her knapsack. Opening it, she handed something to me, "here! A goodluck charm for your first day of classes."
I squealed upon seeing her gift, "Oh my gosh Bea, it's so cute!" I hugged her and kissed her cheek. "And it's a.."
"Dog... you love dogs.." She said shyly
"How do you know?"
"I remembered, you said you love dogs. That time, when we reintroduced ourselves..."
I scratched my forehead, "wow" I said rhetorically.
"Wow?"
"You're really good at this.. Getting to know me thing. I'm afraid I haven't done my part."
"Walk with me.." She said as she stood up and offered her hand to me. I reached out to close the distance and grabbed her hand.
I am older than her, but the way she holds me and leads me shows a level of maturity beyond her age. Beside her I feel small, which is not really a bad thing because it makes me feel how strongly she protects me.
From the flood of students that we had to barge thru to get to my class, she had parted the flow just so that I can pass easily. When the pressure of the zooming students forced us apart, her hand immediately found mine, pulling me close to her.
I look at her in awe and amazement. She is tall, fact; but more than that, her appeal lies in her confidence. It is enchanting to see a different side of her, away from the court, outside of training. For the first time, I see "her".
"We're here," she said, handing me back my laptop bag which she had insisted on carrying since we left the dorm.
"Jia, you're staring" she said, but more of a question than a statement, and even looked behind her to check who I was staring out.
"Sorry, I was trying to memorize for recitation" I fumbled, taking my bag from her. "Thanks for walking with me, you need to run to your class"
"Yah, ok, gotta go!" And I saw her start to run. Turning to enter my room, I heard her shout my name, "Jia!"
"Yeah?"
I stepped peaked out of the room to look at her and she was already a few rooms down, near the staircase. She was walking backwards as she strained to shout for me to hear her, "wait for me after your class!"
"You don't..." But I couldn't finish my sentence anymore as I saw her zip down the staircase.
Laughing to myself, I entered my room and class started.
2 hours after and the bell has finally rung signalling the end of class. Stepping out of my room, I immediately saw Bea, sweating and breathing heavily.
"How did you get here so fast?"
"I ran.." She said, still catching her breath and clutching on to her shirt, trying to fan herself.
"You didn't have to do that."
"I know... But I didn't want you to wait." She said, reaching out to get my laptop bag from my shoulder and slinging it on hers.
She then clasped our hands as she led me to walk, as if it's the most natural thing. The way our hands eased into each other and melded, just felt like 2 magnets fitting perfectly. Like lego blocks matching with each peg.
I watched her as she led me, hand in hand, like a slow dance in a perfectly timed song.
Something's starting to click. We may finish this special task sooner than we expected.
