Feelings
Deja vu
I. Known you before!
By Emmanuelle
From birth to the eighth year of their young lives, they weren’t aware the other even existed. They grew and lived in towns or provinces or even oceans apart; they had distinctly different kinds of world; they grew up with the most extreme opposites of beliefs, values, attitudes, etcetera.
From pre-school to college to post-college, Bien will go through education so private, so privileged, so orderly, so uncluttered. A simple sequence of stepping from one gate to the other – one same school for prep, elementary to high school; another for college; then one abroad for post. On the other hand, Aimee would shift from private to public to indefinite leave of absence to accelerated as the winds of fate-and-whim blew this-and-that-a-way.
His family’s fortune is solidly founded on business and savings; her family had lots of ancient lands but hardly any money to spare – a royalty in rags.
They were similar in one way – they were both inherently witty and smart. Later in life, there would again be a difference – he didn’t have to hone his body and his mind and his wits to arrive where he comfortably is now; she musts sharpen hers to survive a disease-prone body, bohemian parents, double-majors of physics and math and a crippling medical internship taken both at UP.
With so much details abounding, how can you doubt that this is one true story?
She first entered his life at the age of eight, straight from public school. Aimee tagged along when her brother Adrian (five years older) chose to take the high school entrance test at Bien’s. But, what the heck, while waiting, Aimee also took the test for Grade Two. The snooty teachers shook their heads, “it would be okay if you kids fail this test; there are other schools.”
The siblings topped both tests with near-perfect scores.
Aside from the entrance results, Aimee would also be known and remembered in BienÆs school for her consistent fierce defense of the public-school system – from age eight to ten. If any of her teachers would be so tactless as to begin a comparison with ôprivate education is better than public schools. . .ö Aimee would promptly wave her left hand (she was, and still is, ambidextrous), stand up straight at the aisle, and with voice outrageous would proclaim ôthat is not true, miss!ö
And, of course, she would always end the three school years at the top of her class.
Why they gravitated naturally towards each other? No one knew why, but everyone saw it was so. Cute, chubby, chinky-eyed milky-skinned Bien; taller, slender, pretty, rose-complexioned Aimee with her long, wavy light brown-hair – teachers and pupils would smile at the beautiful picture they made. They would walk or run errands around campus, holding hands, or one of them dutifully following the other, naughtily stepping on the other’s heels. Hear the peals of laughter, giggles, and chortles in the air.
Scenes so innocent, so fairy-tale pure.
Parang sine. But not.
(To be continued next week.)
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/feelings/)
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