Two | Childhood

Today was presentation day for Orion’s group. About two weeks ago, the fourth-grade class in which Mara and Orion were was divided into four groups. Each group was assigned one fairy tale to act out in costumes.

Mara was ecstatic when she heard that her group’s fairy tale was Cinderella. Based on her uplifting attitude and princess-like appearance, it was a unanimous decision among the group members that she would be Cinderella. Although they were also nervous that they’d be the first to perform, their feelings were mixed with excitement for the mini-play to come.

Within the duration of those two weeks, the class consisting of twenty-four students would spend English period, recess time, and a bit of dismissal time to prepare for the mini-play. Others would make fun of their friends who are practicing their acting, and others would solemnly memorize their lines.

The Cinderella group, however, was mostly a mix of both. They were the loudest group, but they were also the most hardworking. Their rapport and cooperation, partially thanks to Mara’s leadership, resulted in a successful performance.

Because the Cinderella group had done so well last Monday, the next three groups felt like they were under a lot of pressure due to high expectations. Tuesday was for the Rapunzel group, who had a good performance so they were also able to get a high grade. Wednesday was for the Hansel and Gretel group, who almost messed up their performance because one of the members had forgotten their lines (luckily, he bounced back and saved them from a failing grade).

Thursday is for Rumpelstiltskin, Orion’s group. As a very reserved and sheepish child, he had developed stage fright. It was good that his fear of performing in front of an audience prevented him from playing the titular character, but he still needed a role to play.

The only person willing to play the greedy king in his group was already chosen to be Rumpelstiltskin himself, and Orion was the last one without a role assigned. Orion got to play the king by default.

Minutes before the performance, Orion’s knees were quivering and his hands were intensely shaking. He was frightened about making mistakes and messing up and forgetting his lines.

What if… what if they perform worse than the last group? What if he might forget his lines and what if he might never remember during the performance? Then his classmates would laugh at his failure, and his teacher would be very disappointed, so she would give them the lowest grade ever, then his fellow group members would feel hostile towards his whole being, and then… Oh dear, everyone would regard him as the school loser and that means he will never make any friends, and he will have to spend the rest of his life all alone with no one beside him and man, can he really handle it–?

“All hail His Majesty, King Orion!”

Suddenly, all this overthinking and his never-ending thoughts went away in a split second the moment a loud cheering voice echoed throughout the classroom. When the trembling stopped and his head was clearer, Orion sighed in relief.

“Thanks, Mara.” Though his whisper was not heard by anyone but himself, Mara guessed accurately from reading his lips. She put her thumbs up in reply.

As someone who loves brightening up the room, Mara would proceed to cheer for every other member in the group, just like she’s always done with all the other groups. The teacher, Miss Davidson, would initially scold Mara and tell her to lower her voice. She eventually gave up knowing her actions benefit the students since it boosts their morale and promotes support in the classroom.

As the rest of the 10-year-old students cheered along, Orion’s nervousness started crawling back again. But this time, he was more ready.

The classroom quieted down when a single person walked from the left side of the room (where the “backstage” was) to the right side. “There once lived a miller with his daughter…”

The mini-play went on for a good fifteen minutes or so, and when the cast held hands together and bowed their heads, everyone clapped. Orion rushed back to his seat and felt so dizzy as a result of his heart beating rapidly. While he was glad that their Rumpelstiltskin performance was a success, he was secretly lamenting in his thoughts and wanting to go home as soon as he could instead of celebrating their success.

After the performance of the day finished, Miss Davidson would start up a class discussion about the particular performance. English class was not just about the language itself, because there was reading and literature included. Thus, Miss Davidson would ask the students about the elements of the story, such as the characters, setting, and time.

In spite of his stage fright and lack of self-confidence, Orion was one of the best in English for the whole year level. In fact, he’s gifted in all the school subjects. He would always get the highest grade on some tests, most especially those that have essays. No one else knew about this though, not even his best friend Mara, for he’d rather not have the spotlight on him.

He even feels bad for lying about it, but he has little to no trust in himself that he’d rather keep everything to himself. The version of himself that he shows to the world is who he thinks is the worst version of himself; clumsy, scared, and too dependent for his own good.

Lacking the courage to open up to people means he gets to stay inside his comfort zone. Even if… that would mean his only friend would be the popular and cheerful Mara.

He stopped focusing on his thoughts after realizing that he was no longer paying attention to the class discussion. He listened intently this time.

“So, class. After all that we have mentioned about the elements of the story… What would you say is the best moral lesson of the story?”, the teacher asked.

'Do not be too greedy for money and power,' he thinks to himself.

There was silence in the room. The other students were still thinking. “...Anyone wants to answer?”

He knows the answer.

He knew, yet Orion would not raise his hand. The teacher glanced all around the room. “...No one at all?”

He will not raise his hand. He might be wrong. They will all laugh at him if he’s wrong.

“Yes, Miss! I have learned that people must not be selfish for money and gold.” Mara excitedly stood up with her right hand still up in the air.

“Very good, Mara!” The teacher clapped and signaled her to sit down. “That's right, the–”, ding-ding-ding-ding! The school bell rang, signifying that it was now time for dismissal.

“Goodbye and thank you, Miss Davidson!”, the whole class recites. As the teacher left the room, the students were packing up their bags. Orion did the same at a faster pace and rushed to Mara’s side when he was done.

“Um, are we gonna eat some ice cream after this?” Orion asked, his two hands clutching his backpack’s straps. In the four years since they both started to go to school, Mara befriended everyone in the fourth grade and she would take turns hanging out with a different friend every day. Despite this fact, he still asked hoping they would celebrate his job well done.

“Sorry, Orion! Today, I’m going to Noah’s house to play cards together. I already promised him. Wanna come with?” Mara said as she wore her backpack around her shoulder.

“No… No, it’s okay.” Orion smiled, though he was hurt on the inside.

“We see each other every Sunday, anyway! It’ll be fine, go hang out with Perseus for today, okay?” Mara waved him goodbye and went to another classroom to look for the boy named Noah.

Orion stood still in silence, taking in the loneliness that he felt. “...Perseus, it is.” His eyes looked down at the floor, and it stayed that way as he started walking.

The downhearted little boy walked to the usual place where he would meet up with the other kid, the playground. Not the one near the school where dozens of children would play hopscotch or ring-around-the-rosy – the one he passes by on the walk home.

Though he seemed like a measly child, he had extraordinary stamina enough to be able to walk for twenty minutes. It was no big deal for him. Plus, he got to kill a lot of free time.

When Orion reached his destination, he would sit down by the swing and take out his water bottle to hydrate himself.

“Hello, Perseus.” He wiped the water off his mouth and closed the bottle. “Just you and me again today. You know that I’m not the best when it comes to doing anything onstage, I didn’t think I had the guts to do well in the performance.”

He finally looked up at the sky and went swinging. “Mara gave me the guts I needed and hehe, yay! You’ll never guess that I actually did well.”

Anyone would expect to hear congratulations in return, but Perseus was a quiet kid. Still, Orion appreciated how noiseless Perseus is. It means that someone actually listens to him, and he liked it that way.

“You’d also think that Mara would choose to hang out with me today. I kind of deserve it after I tried hard to put on a good performance though, don’t I?” His expression was back to being low-spirited.

“It’s okay, Perseus. It’s always nice to have someone to talk to, and I’m glad you’re here for me.” He said, not looking to his side.

“Who’s here for you?”

“Gwah!” Orion was caught off guard and almost fell off the swing. He managed to save himself by bracing his feet off the ground. He looked at the person who came up from behind.

“Oh… It’s just you, Mari. Hm, Mara said she wouldn’t hang out with me again… As usual. So every day after school, I hang out with Perseus instead.”

“Where is he? Did he go to buy some snacks?” Mari looked around the empty park.

“No…” His mouth opened, but Orion stopped himself from continuing the sentence. He couldn’t bring himself to do so. Either way, he knew that Mari was old enough to understand.

“Ah… Perseus is…” His teenager friend scratched her head awkwardly. She sat on the unoccupied swing beside him. “Sorry, I’m the only one who knows?”

“Yeah…” He looks away in shame. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? Perseus is still a precious friend.”

“We may not seem like it, but we Bancrofts are good at keeping secrets.” When Mari started swinging, Orion followed. It was still too soon for him to go home, so he initiated another conversation and asked what she was doing here.

“Ah, I was hanging out with a bunch of my friends. We went to buy some school supplies from the bookstore, then we ate some ice cream that we bought from the convenience store.” These were mundane activities, but Orion felt jealous.

“You know I have a bad sense of direction so I ended up walking around looking for the bus stop. That’s when I spotted you talking to yours– I mean…” Mari bit her lip and felt bad.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. You have to pass by there to go to the bus stop.” He pointed out his finger and gave her the directions. He’d look at her sometimes to make sure she was paying attention.

“I can’t believe a 10-year-old is giving me directions.” She sighed disappointedly. “Just kidding! Daddy’s teaching me how to cook croquettes tonight, so I’ll go ahead and leave. Thanks, by the way!”

She hopped off the swing and walked away, waving her hand to the boy. “Bye, Orion! See you this Sunday!” She took off at a faster pace and jogged to the bus stop.

“Good for Mari,” Orion said happily. “You really should be like your sister, Mara.” He said to himself though it was directed to his best friend.

“She’s competitive and a glutton, but she’s kind and mature and…” Feeling that his face was getting warmer, his mouth dropped open wide.

“Perseus, it’s not what you think! I’m not in love with Mari or anything!” He was greeted with silence but he was still flustered and decided to think about something else.

The random memory that came to mind was something that happened years ago, Mr. Wilder’s fight. He remembered he felt fascinated at the new sight, and it was the first fight he had seen in his life. But because Mr. Wilder has fought many times with not only his son but even his wife, his interest disappeared and what was left was only indifference.

“Wow. It’s already been five years since then but I still look the same… Well, maybe I look like a 7-year-old.” He paused and pondered a bit more.

“...at least Mara and Mari actually look their age.” Both of them had beautiful golden hair, and it grew longer over time. Mari was about 145 to 150 centimeters, probably the average height for teenage girls. While Orion used to be a few inches taller than Mara, they were maybe about the same height now.

He hates how they're growing up so fast... He even wishes that he could change himself. He doesn't want to stay like this anymore.

He was not only envious of how they looked more mature now, but the fact that they had each other as sisters. He imagined what his brother would look like if he had one.

Would he get his mother’s or father’s genes? Maybe he would look like Perseus. He looks a bit like Orion too, so maybe that’s it.

Orion noticed the color of the sky had slightly changed, so he checked to look at his watch. “Oh, it’s already 4:30. Hup!” He hopped off the swing and fixed himself.

“I’ll see you again, Perseus.” Without looking behind, he waved his hand before leaving for home.