A Touch of Security

“I get a feeling that Daph doesn’t like me at all,” sitting by the window of an empty classroom, I confided in my best friend.

“Ranking first as said to be the most loyal pet you can have, followed by a duck, a dog’s dominant sense is its smell,” My unconventional friend, Arche, blurted out. “Unlike humans whose dominant’s is sight.”

“Do dogs have bad vision?” I was always curious with whatever Arche said. This caused the topic of conversation to never be in my favor. “Or do they just have that good hearing?”

“Dogs have a form of color blindness, referred to as deuteranopia. It’s a case where the retina, a layer at the back of the eye, have a deficiency in cells that allow the eye to differentiate colors. In deuteranopia, the colors that can’t be distinguished from one another are the colors red and green.

If dogs were able to speak out loud and call out colors, they’d try and point out that green was red when it’s not.”

I see. I’ve been looking at one thing and thinking of it as the other. In other words, I’ve been a fool. He always wore a blank face when explaining something. I once considered pursuing a career as a neurologist just to dissect and understand his peculiar brain.

“Are you free tomorrow after class? A few friends of mine from the other section are inviting us to play ball.”

“Sorry Lau, I unfortunately already have plans.” I looked at him with doubt, I thought I was the only friend this lonely boy had. “My Mathematics class partner wants me to help her study.”

My ears perked up at the mention of a female pronoun. My dismay turned into a grin.

“Oh, sure. Enjoy, enjoy. Don’t you go forgetting about me,” I teased him.

“I don’t think there’s any enjoyment to be found in studying Mathematics, but at your request I’ll try to.”

I jokingly hit his side with my elbow as we left the room. I felt intrigued with news of my closest friend finally socializing. If I remember correctly, his partner’s Ms. Fierro. I was surprised to find out we were in the same class as she was the student who aced every exam last year. I tried reaching her scores but ultimately gave up satisfied with my above average grades.

I headed over to the canteen by the club building. I took out a book as I sat by a vacant table. This had been my daily routine ever since a while ago. An hour passed by when a backpack was roughly dropped on the seat beside me. The owner sat down on the adjacent seat and rested her head atop the table with a groan. I took out a fan to cool her off as she murmured incoherent but definitely offensive things under her breath.

“I take it the student council meeting didn’t go so well?”

Her head jolted up riddled with disbelief.

“They’re all idiots! All of them! Absolutely unbelievable!” She rubbed her hand over her face, combing her hair as she took a deep breath. She groaned for a few minutes with more complaints.

“Did I make you wait long?” She asked shamefully.

“No, I just got here.” I smiled at the way she fiddled with her thumbs. “You hungry?”

She smiled back. We walked out the gates as she continued ranting about her co-officers. I tried to move closer to her, but she’d move away every time. I really felt like I was making her uncomfortable, so I decided to give her distance. By the street food stand where we always ate, we saw some schoolmates. People from the room next door. I think their names were Frank and Cate? I didn’t remember. But from afar, we could hear how they laughed without a care about the people around them.

I hadn’t noticed that we had stopped to watch them until Daphne tugged at my sleeve.

“We saw them at the park, too. Do you think they’re a couple?”

“Maybe.”

The two had left and we bought our own food.

“Do you think we’ll ever be like that?” She surprised me as I was under the impression she didn’t want to. “Even when I’m completely unlikable like this?”

Ah. She must have been worrying about that. I had thought she was sure of herself when she said yes a week ago.

“Let’s sit down.” I showed her to a bench nearby.

She sat with her hands on her lap, her eyes occasionally glancing at me as I took my time to eat my snack. She was trying to fake her smile.

“Have you ever heard about the red thread of marriage?”

The word marriage stole her attention, but her expression answered my question.

“It’s something that’s famous in Chinese culture. But Japan and Korea have their own variations of it. It’s about a red string tied around yours and another’s ankles. In Korea, on the boy’s thumb and the girl’s pinkie, while in Japan both are around their pinkies. This thread is supposed to be invisible. It connects those that are destined to meet. Be it regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The string stretches, tangles, loosens and tightens.” I took her hand gently. She flinched but stayed silent, a faint pink dyeing her cheeks. “But it never breaks.”

“It’s supposed to be invisible,” I held her small pinkie with mine. “But I see it clearly.”

I tried to hide my smile as she averted her gaze.

“Do you really think I’m the one that’s tied to you?” The loud and cheerful girl I fell for modestly asked, “I mean, I’m just––”

“You are.”

“But what if I’m not?” She was tearing up.

I brushed her hair with my other hand, caressing her cheeks.

“I’ll choose you anyway.”