Chapter 12:

Expectations

High School Raindrops


   The day was brighter than most. A light grey shine infected the land around them in a way that was so unusual it almost felt wrong to Hao Hao. The fauna she usually saw around the school seemed to flee under its gaze, and the street lamps that were always lit with blue flame were out.

“Ah! I missed the sunlight,” Mae said.

Alice said, “So did I.”

“Me too,” Taeyang agreed.

Cleo stretched, more relaxed than ever. Sumi was smiling (but she basically always was doing that) and the only one that seemed to disapprove was Kirai. He sighed, “I prefer the darkness.”

“Oh, come on,” Taeyang said. “No one actually prefers doom and gloom.”

“Try me.”

Hao Hao listened to all the chatter, not providing her own vote one way or the other. She was in the front of the crowd. A position she never would have found herself in before coming here, unless it was way ahead of talking distance, but now she stood comfortably with the crowd.

“What about you Hao Hao?” Alice asked, “Sunlight or fog?”

She couldn’t possibly pick fog. It constantly steamed her glasses, causing her to have to clean them incessantly. However, she wasn’t much of a sun person either (though her plants appreciated it of course.)

She answered, “I like the rain.”

“Really?” Mae asked. “Why?”

“Well, um…” She closed her eyes and envisioned it. She explained, “I feel at peace when it’s raining. If that makes sense.”

“It does. My choice is rain too.” Kirai said.

“I think you just pick anything that isn’t popular.” Mae said.

“I do not.”

“Yes you do,” Taeyang agreed with Mae. The two high-fived as he sighed. Alice and the others laughed. Hao Hao took a look towards Kirai; he acted upset and turned away, but she thought she could see a little smile just behind his long white bangs.

“Actually, I like the rain too.” Sumi said.

“Really?” Alice asked.

She nodded, “All the best love stories happen in the rain? Can you imagine being proposed to in the rain?”

Many of them continued to speak on possible love scenarios as they approached the garden. Class was out. This was what they did every single day. Except on weekends, but on those days Hao Hao came anyway to check on everything. Yesterday she thought she saw the start of a sprout. She was quite excited to see everyone’s reaction today.

They came to the courtyard where they set up their club. Emily was there, sitting at one of the brick half walls. Mae said, “Emily, you’re here. Finally decided to actually join us?”

“Quite the opposite,” She said and stood with crossed arms. “I worry about this club.”

“What— what about it is worrying you?” Alice asked.

“Well, for one, you’ve taken a rather reckless space of the courtyard, haven’t you? It’s not easy to tell where it is. What if someone tramples over everything?”

“Everyone that goes here knows where it is,” Mae said.

“What if someone new comes through?”

“That’s why Hao Hao put up the little picket fences. See?” Sumi pointed them out to Emily, who looked them over quite thoroughly. She even bent down and measured them.

“It’s not up to standard. You need to add twelve more inches.”

They looked to Hao Hao, who grew immediately quiet. Taeyang said, “We can do that. Easy.”

Emily turned away from them. She said, “Are you really allowed to have this club?”

“You, Jim and Daichi all approved it,” Alice said. “Don’t you remember?”

“I remember approving the idea. I’m making sure everything is actually up to standard now that you have things up and running.” She walked to the seedlings that had just begun to sprout. She asked, “These plants are all approved?”

“Jim helped us buy them,” Alice said.

“They won’t grow too tall? You’ll need a larger fence if the plants exceed a certain height.”

“Oh, come on.” Mae sighed and rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms and said, “You’re just looking for excuses Emily. What’s so wrong with the gardening club? Is it really that terrible that we all have a shared interest in something?”

“This has nothing to do with whether or not your interested in it. This only has to do with whether or not it is being done correctly. Do you have a list of the plants here?”

Everyone looked to Hao Hao. She swallowed a stifled breath and said, quietly, “I can make one.”

“I’d like the number growing, approximate height, seasonal availability, and whether or not it is safe to ingest. Heavens forbid someone’s pet walks through and munches on something and then dies.”

“You can’t be serious,” Cleo said. She sounded even more tired than usual as she started to curl up on her favorite spot. Around and around until she finally sat down. Just like a cat; it was as strange as it was interesting and almost cute.

“Now wait just a second now,” Emily said, pulling out a notepad from her bag and jotting down some quick notes. She said, “You do actually do gardening here? All of you?”

“Yes. Of course we do,” Mae said. Her and several others had decided to get started, assuming Emily would leave or tire herself out. They put on gloves Mae had made (bright pink and green) and looked over the plants. Sumi took the watering can and went for the hose while Kirai and Taeyang both took a casual seat by the other end of the small garden. Hao Hao was too nervous to look away.

Emily huffed, “Well, I just don’t know. You’re not very organized. Not acting particularly professionally either.”

“It’s a high school, Emily,” Sumi said.

“A high school with high standards. I don’t know if I’ve been convinced this is a real club.”

“You can’t be serious,” Alice said. Her voice still its light, gentle self, but with a distinctly disappointed tone.

“I am,” Emily said.

“I have seniority over you,” Mae said.

“But you don’t have seniority over Daichi. He will agree with me.”

To that, Mae huffed, making all sorts of disapproving noises but didn’t say a word more of rebuttal.

“Emily,” Alice said. “Please. We’ve all put a lot of work into this.”

“You have, but not the correct work. I don’t make the rules Alice. I just enforce them.”

Emily walked away. Mae complained, “She does too make the rules.”

“Who died and made her in charge?” Sumi asked.

“I don’t know, but I so badly want to kick her off that throne she’s made.”

“How about we just ignore her?” Kirai asked.

Taeyang agreed, “Yeah! We don’t have to stop just because she tells us too.”

“I wish,” Mae said and shook her head, “Unfortunately, Jim’s one and only rule is that we don’t fight. If she makes a fuss over this, he will disband us.”

Sumi came back, setting down the watering can and sitting down. Alice and Mae joined her. Hao Hao stood silent as ever. The two boys held an extremely thoughtful sort of stare. Even Cleo sat up. All of them were thinking about how exactly to rectify this.

“Why was Emily looking for a reason to disband us, anyway?” Alice asked.

“Who knows.” Sumi said, “She’s always been like this. No matter what we set up, her or Daichi is there to tear it down.”

“If she always does this, then there’s nothing we can do,” Kirai said.

“Surely you’re not already giving up?” Taeyang said.

Kirai gave him a glare that seemed to say that he was the king of giving up. He put on his headphones and looked down to the ground. Taeyang looked back towards the others.

“Could we bribe her?” Sumi said.

“Miss rules and regulations? I don’t think so,” Mae said.

“Maybe we should try talking to her first,” Alice suggested.

“We were just talking to her. She’s impossible.”

“Well, most of us talked to her,” Alice said.

And on cue, they were all looking at Hao Hao. She adjusted her glasses nervously and asked, “What would I do?”

“Talk to her,” Mae said.

“You are very good at that,” Sumi said.

“Better than any of us,” Alice said, adding with a nod towards the boys, “You even got Kirai to join. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

Hao Hao fidgeted with her glasses. It was true that she had convinced all of them except Alice to join, but… she was uneasy around Emily. She’d gotten nervous since Emily and Daichi talked to her that very first day, and she hadn’t quite got over the overwhelming shyness she felt as the girl welcomed her. Almost as if dismissing her. Maybe it wasn’t all that bad in the moment but Hao Hao’s mind had, over time, turned it into something truly awful.

‘I don’t know if I can,” Hao Hao said.

‘Why not?” Alice asked.

Her voice was gentle and kind. Alice would never make fun of or berate her. She knew that, and yet, the voices that were terrified of talking to anyone made themselves loud. Hao Hao shook her head and walked away from the crowd. People called after her. She didn’t listen to them.

Later on, after she calmed down, Shui appeared. It said, “Maybe it would help if you talked this through with everyone.”

“I can’t,” she said.

“Why not?”

Hao Hao sighed. “Everyone there… they think I’m cool. That I know how to talk to people. That I’m not… quite as shy as I am.”

Shui looked at her. Its face was unreadable as it bobbled up and down as it always did. Hao Hao tried to feel it (as she often did) and still, her hand went right through it.

“You know,” It said, “They wouldn’t think you were less cool if you told them your nervous.”

“I know…”

She said that, but she didn’t feel it in her heart. She sighed and placed her head on the desk. They were in her dorm room. A small space with a bed in the corner, the desk she sat at, and next to the door out a wardrobe with additional uniforms (all the same type, just for when she got her current one messy) and some pajamas. It was perfect in that she was, contently, alone here.

But she was worried. Without the gardening club, would they all even be friends? She knew it was a silly thought, but somehow she felt that that garden was the tie that bound them. Without it they were no more. She knew it was stupid, but that was how she felt about it.

“Maybe I could try talking to her spirit?” Hao Hao said.

“That worked with the other ones.” Shui agreed.

“Alright then.”

She got up. With a plan in motion that she was comfortable with, she found confident footing as she walked to and opened the door. In the instant after she felt deflated. Like the life was drained right out of her and left on a distant land somewhere far away.

“Oh, good. I was just coming to see you.” Emily said. She was standing right outside Hao Hao’s safe haven, her solace disappeared with the presence of another so confident. Dauntingly confident, in Hao Hao’s eyes.

“Um… why?” Hao Hao asked.

“You said you’d make me a list. Don’t you remember? Of the plants.”

“Right…”

“Is it done yet?”

“Well, um…” Hao Hao didn’t think she was still waiting for it, seeing as she claimed she was, most likely, going to get the gardening club called off one way or another. She couldn’t actually bring herself to say that, however.

“I need it as soon as possible. Are you busy now?”

“I, um, I guess I’m not.”

Emily coaxed her forward, asking her to follow her lead. Hao Hao managed to trail along behind her only because she believed that she’d get to talk to her spirit. Eventually at least. She wanted to talk to it right now, but with Emily so close Hao Hao was worried she’d catch her talking to herself and then it would all quickly spiral out of control.

They walked through the dorms and across the courtyard. Everyone else in the garden club had already left, assuming as Hao Hao had that it wouldn’t get to stay. The two girls came up to it and Emily pulled out a pen and paper. She handed them to Hao Hao.

“Well?” Emily asked.

“Right…”

Hao Hao started listing the plants. One by one, waiting for her chance to talk to Emily’s spirit. However, every time she looked over her shoulder, the girl was still watching her intently. Like it was her job (well, it was her job, kind of, but still.) When would she steal the chance to talk to the spirit?

A spirit floated by. Looked possibly like Taeyang’s from here, but she couldn’t tell from here. Emily looked away and asked, “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Hao Hao asked.

“That light. Was it one of the pixies?” Hao Hao shrugged her shoulders, but Emily wasn’t looking anyway. Mumbling to herself something about the things she needed to talk about with them. Either way, this was just the sort of chance Hao Hao was waiting for—

Blinking into soul sight, Hao Hao found the spirit immediately. All by itself, wearing a white ribbon and holding a ruler in its hand. Just like the sticker on her desk. It didn’t give quite the same impression as the motifs of the other students. Kirai had a music note for guitar playing, and Alice had a paintbrush for her love of art, but Emily? She loved… rulers? Measuring things? Honestly, she had no idea what to make of it.

“Hello there.” She said.

The spirit looked at her. Almost without sound, she said, “What?”

“Um. Hi. I’m Hao Hao.”

“And I’m Shui.” Her own spirit said. Floating beside her as always; she could always count on it.

“I’m… my name is… let’s go with Purity.”

“Purity. That’s pretty.” Shui said.

Purity said nothing. Hao Hao asked, “Purity, do you happen to know why Emily wants to close the gardening club?”

“Well, it’s hard to explain.”

“Could you try to anyway? It would help me a lot.”

She nodded, and she proceeded, “Put simply, she’s worried this club isn’t professional enough, and she’s worried about how that reflects on her.”

“How does it reflect on her?”

“The entire school reflects on her, she’s decided ever since she should watch over the place. She’s very thorough.”

“But why?” Shui asked.

“Well, her parents always had strict rules on her. How to look, how to behave. She’s worried they’ll come here one day. She’s worried they’ll be disappointed.”

Hao Hao nodded. Understanding washed over her, and suddenly, she wasn’t so scared of the girl that lorded over their fate. Hao Hao related to it, actually. Her parents were really strict on her too. If they ever came, she’d probably be taken out of this school immediately. She’d get no say at all. They were that sort of overbearing, and it sounded like Emily’s were too.

“Hm.” Shui hummed, “I wonder what we can do to help.”

“Emily isn’t as confident as she appears. It’s why she sticks with Daichi so often.” Purity said. “Follow her rules to a tee and she won’t challenge you. Even if she says she will.”

Hao Hao nodded. She thanked Purity and Shui and then blinked out of soul sight to finish the list. Emily came over. Breathing heavily as if she had just run several miles.

“Are you okay?” Hao Hao asked.

“I’m…. I’m fine.” She insisted, “Wherever that pixie went, it’s long gone. Oh well.”

She sat down to relax. Hao Hao waited a few seconds, and then she came up and handed her the list. Emily asked, “Is this everything?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Good.” Emily looked it over a moment, and then she put it back in her bag. She said, “And the fence?”

“It’ll be changed.”

“When?”

“Before the end of the week.”

“Alright then.”

A moment of time passed. The two of them sat in the garden wordlessly, taking in the sights and cool air. The sun was still shining for now. The little hints of saplings seemed to reach for it happily. Even in this small state you could see it.

Emily asked, “I take it you’re the leader of the garden club?”

Technically, the others and her hadn’t discussed that. Alice was the one who started it, and arguably Mae did more for their reputation (Sumi and Cleo joining all on their own once she was there,) but it was Hao Hao that showed everyone else what to do. She was the plant expert. She made sure the plants got what they needed on the weekends and was assigned to fixing the fence and making the list, and just in general being there when no one else was.

“Yes. Unofficially.” Hao Hao said.

“Let’s make it official,” Emily said, “I’ll get the paperwork for it so that no one can debate you.”

Hao Hao didn’t necessarily think she needed paperwork, but if Emily was helping them with paperwork, that must mean she’s on board with keeping the club. Hao Hao asked, “Are you thinking about joining?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really been part of a club.”

Hao Hao nodded, “I hadn’t before this one, either. It’s a lot of fun, actually.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. I love plants, but getting to know everyone here isn’t so bad. They’re a nice group.”

“Hm. I’ll think about it,” She said.

She left the garden. Hao Hao got started on the garden, planning on finishing what the others had started before Emily rained on them (pun.) Taeyang came by and helped her out.

“Were you here before, too?” Hao Hao asked, thinking back to when she thought she saw his spirit, the one that Emily ran after.

“Yeah,” He said, “I wasn’t sure if I should try to help, but I thought that maybe my spirit could help, if I was nearby.”

“You were right,” she said, and then she wondered. “Can you still see your spirit?”

“Only when it’s just you and me.”

She nodded. So he wasn’t like her. It really was her that gave him to ability too; how odd. She wished she knew what caused it, or that it came with some sort of indicator so that she could tell. She wondered if anyone else had seen their spirits too and just didn’t say anything.

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