"There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind." ~Louisa May Alcott
"Please don't let go. I don't want to lose you in the hallway."
It was the first day of school. Beth and I had been friends for about three weeks, and the most important thing I'd learned about her was that she HATED crowds. She was drowning in the sea of people around us, clinging to my hand as if it was her life raft.
"Why don't we just ask someone?" I gave her a reassuring smile, hoping to regain feeling in my fingers. Beth shrunk into her shadow, leaving me alone with the bustling strangers. Laughing nervously, I pulled us down a hallway. Beth's panic was starting to rub off on me, and I wasn't used to being afraid of things. We were two ants in a sandstorm, and it didn't take long for the masses to swallow us whole, tossing us deeper and deeper into the whirlwind of chaos.
And then we were in a classroom. Beth and I sat and we breathed. Deep breaths of relief, or maybe of terror. The teacher introduced herself. She was a kind woman, with dark hair and eyes aged by the weight of wisdom. She pressed on about what school was going to look like, but I was still breathing. Everything was so loud.
And then the people around me started talking. Talking about their favorite things, and their parents and who knows what else. What was I supposed to say? What would others find interesting? What would others find useful?
"My name is Mark, and I like to draw."
That was what I was going to say, Mark. Now I can't say that I like drawing.
I thought harder. What else could one say? Raindrops? No, those are sad. Books? No, I couldn't read, and dad's bedtime stories don't count.
I quite liked dad's bedtime stories. Last night, he read me a story about a tortoise and a hare. The tortoise said that the hare couldn't possibly beat him in a race, even though tortoises are known to be slow. The hare and the tortoise began the race. At first the hare was winning by quite a lot, but then-
"Hello?" the lady seemed to only be talking to me now.
I glanced up. Every single person in the room had their eyes on me.
"Oh. My name is Harper. Harper Hathaway. And I..."
Say something, Harper. Say anything.
I looked at Beth.
"I really like sunny days."
The class was silent for a moment.
"Thank you, Harper. And you?"
"My name is Bethany Kruger and I like the color blue."
She'd rehearsed the phrase in her head about 20 times before speaking. I could tell.
Out of all the things we'd done together over those first 3 weeks, this specific memory is the one that stuck with me. I have a hunch that it's because we were in the wrong classroom the entire time. Beth and I were sifting through our old school projects a few years later and stumbled upon the class list. We belonged in the classroom next door, class AB2.
I'm still not sure why our parents didn't walk us to the classroom that day.
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
The Hideaway
Fiksi RemajaWhile Beth may have been Harper's neighbour, she was never the girl next door. She was a dancer. She was a friend. She was the kindest, bravest girl Harper had ever known, and meeting her on that rainy day all those years ago was the best accident s...
