My December

Chapter 2 Past – 2007

It was my first day as a junior high school student. All the new students were asked to stand in a neat line on the far-right side of the big field inside the school area. I am nervous, but I also know what to expect based on the stories I have heard from my older sister. She is on her last year at the school. I know that she is currently standing somewhere on the left part of the field. That’s the place for the seniors to stand. I took a deep breath and started to pay attention to the people around me. I know a lot of the new students standing on the line. We studied at the same elementary school. I even spotted some of my former classmates. That’s the perks of living in a small town. The possibility of you met the same person from kindergarten to senior high school is really big. I was smiling and waving at some of my old friends when a boy caught my attention. I’ve never seen him before, that meant he came from different elementary school. He was kicking the dust around him with his white shoes. He is definitely cute.

“Cute? Nathalia, shut up!” I muttered at myself when I realised that I’ve been staring at the boy for more than 2 minutes.

“Freshmen, please pay attention to what I will announce to all of you!” one of the teacher’s loud voices made me turned my head back forward.

“I will read your name and you class. Please get out of the line and follow your homeroom teacher.” The teacher continued.

I was nervous, but curious at the same time too. I hoped I would be classmates with some of my old friends. As the teacher read the students names and their classes, I noticed that the cute boy was still on the line too. Class 7-1 and 7-2 had been called, and now the teacher was reading the names for class 7-3.

“Nathalia Gabriella Wini!” I fixed my backpack on my back and moved quickly when I heard my name. Class 7-3 is not bad at all.

“Richard Denis Pati!” The cute boy who caught my attention earlier walked confidently toward my class. Our class. Now that I can see his face clearly, I noticed that he had curly hair and bright skin. He is tall for thirteen years old.

“Natha!” I shift my focus toward the voice. Without even turning, I knew that the girl is definitely one of my old friends. My friends from my elementary school called me Natha. I knew the girl who called me extremely well.

“Nancy!!! Oh my God! We are on the same class!” I hugged her excitedly. Nancy is my friend since kindergarten and we have always been classmate since kindergarten.

“I’m so happy that we will be classmate. There are so many new faces here.” Nancy held both of my hands and moved it left and right.

“I know, right? I’m so nervous!” I held her hands back a little tighter.

“Okay everyone! Please follow me to your classroom. The class is right beside the teachers’ room.” A forty something woman stood right in front of our line and gave us the instruction. She must be our homeroom teacher. All the students, including me, followed her toward the lone building right beside the teachers’ room. The class looked pretty lonely. There are no other class beside it, except for the teachers’ room. Once we get to the front of the class, our homeroom turned and made a ‘stop’ gesture.

“The school had arranged everyone’s seat. One boy and one girl for each table. The seating arrangement is going to be permanent for the duration of your 7th grade. When you enter the classroom, please find your seat.” At our homeroom’s announcement, everyone started to look around trying to make a wild guess on who will be their partner. Our homeroom teacher opened the door and ask everyone to enter.

I walked into the classroom, not even realising that me and Nancy still holding each other’s hands.

There were four rows of tables. Each row consisted of five tables. That means there are twenty table for forty students. Luckily, the class is huge, so it didn’t feel cramped. I saw everyone slowly gone through the rows to find their names. I let go of Nancy’s hand and started to follow everyone. I could see that Nancy found her name right away on the first row right next to the door. I smiled at her as I walked past her to find my table. I turned toward the second row and I notice that the cute boy, Richard, had find his name on the second row. There was a girl sitting right next to him. I’d be lying if I said that the thought of us being a partner didn’t cross my mind. I moved to the third row and still couldn’t find my name. I am among the last ones who still hadn’t found their tables. I read the names on the last row and find my name on the fourth table. I put my bag on the table and took a seat.

“Finally!” I sighed, relieved that I can finally sit down.

“Hi! I’m Pedro.” Said the boy who was sitting right next to me. My partner for one year.

“Hi! I’m Nathalia. You can just call me Natha.” I gave him a little wave and a smile.

“Which school did you graduate from?” Pedro asked me while taking out a book and a pen from his bag.

“I studied in Prima Elementary School. How about you?” I asked him back.

“Wow… a Prima student! I studied at Palm Elementary School.” I understood the reaction. I’m sure most of my friends from Prima will received the same reaction. Prima Elementary School is the best elementary school in this small town. People were under the impression that all students from Prima must be super smart. Well, my partner was definitely in for a surprise, because I am far from super smart.

“I’ve been to Palm several times before.” I told the boy next to me, still not taking anything out from my bag just like almost everyone.

“Really? What did you do in Palm?” Pedro had now turn to face me.

“Traditional dance competition.” I replied.

“ahhh right. You guys won every year.” The boy nodded his head. I smiled a little wider at the memory of winning the traditional dance competition 3 years in a row. I love Indonesia’s traditional dances because the movements are so graceful. Also, the fact that each dance has their own meaning and a whole lot of stories behind the creation of the dance. It has always been fascinating.

“Do you have friends from Palm in this classroom?” I asked him while gesturing to the class.

“Yep! There are several of us here. There is Richard, Melanie, Sandy and Me, of course.” He listed out his friends’ names while pointing at each person he mentioned. I, on the other hand, stuck on Richard. So, he was from Palm. I had never seen him there. That’s not weird, though. Palm is a big school, and whenever I went there, I was always sticking to my dance team. We basically just came to dance then went straight home after we performed. We had never stayed around to watch the other performances. We only stay during the final round to hear the winner’s announcement.

“Do you know Richard? You have been looking at him for a while now.” Pedro’s question made me turned my head away from Richard.

“Nope. I have never met him before. I was just curious, is he a dancer? His hands hadn’t stop moving since we were on the line outside.” I blurt out my thoughts without even thinking first. I grimaced a little at my blunt response.

“You noticed that? He is indeed a dancer. But he did hip hop dance with his older brothers.” Pedro explained.

“Yeah, I noticed that. Must be a dancer thing. Since I also do the same thing from time to time.” I replied while raising my hands to show him my fingers.

The classroom door opened and our homeroom teacher walked holding a big book, a wooden ruler and 2 markers in her hands. I shivered a little at the sight of that wooden ruler. I have a bad memory about it.

“Good morning, everyone.” My homeroom teacher greeted us with a big smile. Now that she smiled a little, she actually looked a little younger than my original prediction.

“Good morning, teacher!” I said the words together with everyone in my class.

“Welcome to class 7-3. I am Mrs. Selan, your homeroom teacher. I hope we will have great year together.” Mrs. Selan introduced herself, then started to arrange all the items she carried on the teacher’s table.

“I will call your name one by one so I can put a face to your names. I will do this everyday for the next two weeks.” She then procced to call our names alphabetically.

“Nathalia Gabriella Wini.” At the sound of my name, I raised my right hand just like what my other classmates did.

“Pedro Lian!” The boy next to me raised his hand.

“Richard Denis Pati!” I turned to look at Richard when the teacher called his name. He had his right hand raised just like I did. I noticed a bracelet on his right wrist. It looked like an ethnic bracelet. He lowered his hands then turned his head toward me. We stared at each other for a few short seconds. I turned away first out of embarrassment. He had a beautiful, big eyes. Did he know that I was staring at him? I definitely hope not.

I kept my head forward for the rest of the round call. Once Mrs. Selan finished with the round call, she announced that there would be no studying for the first day.

“However, you are still required to stay inside your class. The subjects’ teachers will make visit to all the classes to introduce themselves. They will either give you some simple assignments or play some games with you. I will come back here when its my subject’s turn. Be nice to your teachers, kiddos. I’ll see you all later.” She walked out of the classroom after making the announcement. And just like what she said, the first day of Junior High School was spent with endless introduction of the teachers who will teach in our class.