Tina’s P.O.V

The end of the school

It is kind of fast enough for today that school ended so quickly. Wait! Maybe because I didn’t spend my first section in class, that’s why I think of it as a fast school day? Perhaps yes. My morning with Aom isn’t bad at all, but I feel like she ruins me. You know, getting punishment, walking around to the bookshop just only for her and I don’t know why I did all of that just for her. Sigh.

“Tina?” Aom calls me.

“Huh?” I finally wake from my thinking when Aom finally decided to call me.

“Are you going to unlock the car door?” huh? Oh yeah, we’re at my car’s parking spot now.

“Oops, sorry.” Then I unlock the door and she opens and enters into the car and so do I.

I try to be as quick as I can because I’m afraid that all of those girls will get to the gate before I can get out of school.

“Aren’t you going to put your seatbelt on?” she stares at my seatbelt side.

“I’m in rush” I make my face serious so that she will believe in me.

She remains still until we get to the gate then we realize that there haven’t any girls there so I can relax myself then drive normal and relax my face. Aom notices my relaxing face then laughs then look back to the window.

I raise my left eyebrow confusingly then sigh.

“What?” I ask her.

She’s still laughing and I have to be patient until she stops.

“Do you live like that everyday?” she laughs a little bit compare to a moment ago.

I laugh at myself then answer her.

“If I told you yes, would you believe in me?”

“Don’t you want to explain them that you’re bored with it?” she suggests me.

“Don’t you think that I have told them that? Oh well, you totally don’t know how crazy they are. They totally think that I want to talk to them instead of asking them to stop.” I sigh.

She nods then asks me again.

“How long have you been in this kind of situation?”

I give myself some time to think for a moment then answer.

“Probably one and a half year. The first half- year of studying at Rangsit was the best period of my life because they didn’t actually notice my existence. But my appearance has been told by one mouth to one mouth until those girls gather up just only to see me at the front gate everyday” I smile then continue. “And now, I might have to thank you because those girls might think that you’re my girlfriend and they might wanna stop” I smirk to her. Ha ha.

“They’re thinking of me as your girlfriend?” she laughs at this idea.

“Didn’t you notice all the stares you had to endure while you were at school?” I chuckle.

She sits and thinks for a while then comes up with another different topic.

“Let’s forget about those girls, let’s focus on this morning. Why? All of those things, why?” she’s getting serious now.

“What do you mean?” I look at her then look on the raod.

“You made yourself broke the rules then broke another rule to get the books for me. Why?”

I stare at the road for a while then look at her then get back to the road.

“Don’t think of anything too much, I just don’t want you to get punished by the next teacher. Dad will scold at me if I got you into trouble by this very first day. What? A tomboy looks doesn’t have a heart to help anyone?” I laugh.

She is as if she notices that I have a tomboy looks or something so she gets back to hating-tomboy again.

“Yes, a tomboy doesn’t have a heart!” she stares at the road as I do.

I sigh then look back at her.

“You haven’t answered my question earlier. What if I’m not a tomboy, what if I’m a simple person?” then I look back at the road.

She remains silent for a while then back to answer me.

“How can you assure me while you’re having this look?”

I shake my head when I turn back to the road “Assurance is only something people make when they don’t have enough proofs for another people to believe. I don’t have to assure you but I can prove you though I don’t look like a normal girl.” I explain.

“That still doesn’t change my mind.” She’s staring at her fingers.

I exhale then look carefully to the road as I’m driving but I also have to explain her.

“Do you concern it as abnormality?” I ask her confusingly.

“Perhaps.” Her short answer can shut me up. Haha.

I laugh then stop the car.

“Why are you stopping the car?” she’s starring at me now.

“Look around the car next time before you ask me. Don’t recognize your own home?” I let my eyes point to her house while she tries to follow where my eyes are looking.

“Oh” she answers then about to pack her bag.

 “Will we have classes or something by tomorrow?”

“You usually have classes on weekends?” I laugh at her and she seems to realize about it then laugh with me along.

“Whatever you want, I don’t care.” Then she picks up her bag and leaves from the car. I chuckle and wait until she gets into her café shop then drive back home.

Aom’s P.O.V

What if I’m not a tomboy, what if a simple person? This question’s still running in my head and I still can’t find a right answer to answer to Tina. She asked me twice and I tried to change the topic twice as well. Tina’s looks surely confuse people, her behaviors and so on. The way she behaves is pretty manly and I can’t deny the fact, neither can she. I just met her and I’m trying to judge her? I can witness it that Tina is not like other tomboys. Other tomboys’ concern is only to flirt other girls while Tina tries to help me when I get into trouble. Well, once or twice. She stood outside of class, broke the rule running to buy the books for me then carry the books back for me. WAIT! Talking about books, I forgot it that I left them inside her car. Great! What am I going to do? Tina is not gonna come tomorrow and I need to at least read them a bit. Oh well, let’s wait until Monday when Tina comes to pick me up then I can at least have a chance to read them before class a bit.

“Aom?” a voice breaks of my thoughts as I enter into the shop when Tina has gone away.

I try to find the owner of the voice by looking around then I finally found.

“Dew!” I shout until the people in the café shop put their interests on me. I apologize to them then they forget it and go back to their business. Luckily, mom isn’t here yet or I’ll get scold.

I run to the table where Dew sits. Dew stands up and hugs me so tightly.

“How have you been?” I ask her gently.

“The same. Fashionable, insane in traveling.” She laughs and I laugh too.

Dew is my very old friend and we share a lot of things to each other. She once told me that she wanted to fulfill her wish by traveling around Asia and sooner to Europe and around the world. She’s more like traveling than studying. I guess now she has completed a part of her wish by traveling around Asia.

“How’s the trip? I haven’t seen you for 6 months and now? Look at you! Your skin is darker and you look even thinner!” I complain.

“Well, Aom, there’s no such thing as gaining weight while you’re walking a lot!” she laughs. She’s always my best friend and my best comedian.

I sit down and so does she then she takes out a small gift from her bag and hands it to me. I take a few minutes analyze the gift then I finally decide to exhale.

“Dew!” I turn to stare at her.

She sighs then speaks “Ugh, Aom, it’s not really my fault, okay? I really try to find the English scent perfume for you everywhere but I really couldn’t find. So I guess this brand should at least make you happy?” she complains.

“You know that I won’t use another scent except the English scent” I complain back to her.

“Well, at least think of how hard I was! At least smile at me for my gift!” she tries to make fun of me.

I smile at her poor joke then she chuckles.

“Anyway, who was that driving that fancy car?” Oh, so Dew noticed that.

“Um, actually she’s my dad’s friend’s daughter.” I low down my voice.

“She? Don’t you mean He?” she’s in shock now and I know she would.

I laugh then continue “Yeah, she’s a she not a he” then I laugh louder.

“A tomboy?” Dew takes a guess.

“Who else?” I answer while I’m trying to take a piece of cookie on the plate, which she ordered.

“And do you still feel awkward to be near a tom?” she tries to study my face and emotions while I try to hit her. Dew knows a lot about me and she does know that I don’t like tomboys.

“Well, sort of.” I take a bite of the cookie.

Dew sighs then explains me in a serious emotion. “Aom, look, what century is it now? People have their own ways of dressing, so do toms. A tom or not, it doesn’t matter. The looks are not important but why do you have to hate them so much? At least be normal to them?”

I inhale then explain her back. “Dew! It’s not that I don’t like their looks, but I just feel that they were born in a meaning to be heart breakers! I just hate them all when they make their same gender crying!”

“So is it about love issue? It’s not as if you got betrayed by a tom before? You’ve never had a boyfriend, anyway.”

I stare at her glass of café then continue.

“I don’t know, Dew.”

“How’s she like?”

It takes me a minute to summarize back of Tina’s appearance and her personality.

“She is pretty handsome and charming, kind and so on.” That’s all I could think of.

“Her background?”

“She’s rich, actually. Her dad is my dad’s boss. And really, her dad owns a big company.” I stare at the door where Tina stood when she first came in.

“How do you think about her?” Why Dew asks me a lot about this?

“Well, a rich tomboy like her is not safe. That’s all I can explain you.” I turn back to her.

“Aom, you believe on what you see but you don’t get it. Don’t judge the book by its cover, take a look for a while then you might find it interesting. Just like you and her. How can you judge her so quickly if you don’t spend your time to be her friend? Perhaps, your time spending with her might change your thoughts of hating toms.” She explains in a serious way.

By the moment Dew explained me that, I suddenly realized what she did to me this morning, helping me a bunch. Perhaps, Tina is something different from other tomboys. Just maybe.

“What’s her name, anyway?”

“Tina.” I whisper.

“Cool name.” she laughs then I continue to talk about her life when she was taking her vacations traveling around Asia.

Tina’s P.O.V

It seems quiet back to home because my dad’s car doesn’t usually contain cd for songs playing. I should thank to Aom for getting me through all these. Getting late in class, running like an idiot to the bookshop, enduring the weight of those massive books, driving silently to home. Tina! Your kind heart will never be paid! But still, I can’t stand watching people getting into troubles.

As I arrive home, I drive my dad’s car to park at his car spot then get out of the car. As I try to take my bag with me, I can see that Aom’s stuffs are still in the car. I manage to take them all with a laugh of the idea of “Clumsy Aom”. I open the car door with so many books on my hands then turn my face to the door and close it back. As I’m trying to close it, someone runs in and hug me from behind. Ah ha! Air must be playing with me again, she always do that when I arrive home.

“Air, when can you stop doing that?” I laugh after I finished of the sentence.

The person puts her head on my back and shakes a bit to make me know that she won’t let go then turn back to see who it is. But…

“Welcome home, Tina” a different girl from my imagination, she isn’t Air, she is someone else that I have never known before. But why does she have to hug me? Who is she? How does she know me too?

“Who a- ” I try to ask but she cuts me off.

“Who am I?” she laughs at my almost-question.

I’d love to have a small chat with her but the weight of the books can’t make me endure anymore and she seems to realize it that I feel uncomfortable with all those books around then she suggests me to get into the house.

I think to myself that I should return all those books to Aom by tomorrow so let me just put them inside of my car. She goes into the house first then I go to my car then put all those books inside then go back to the house.

I walk slowly to the living room then I realize that her suitcase and stuffs are there too, well, are we having a guest here? I expect to have my mom explains me of what’s going on and who this girl is but mom isn’t home, where is she?

That girl is sitting on the couch and smiling to me as if she has known me a long time ago. I don’t want her to feel disappointing so I just smile back to her and go to the couch, which is located in front of her.

“You haven’t changed a bit.” She smiles again to me.

“I’m sorry, but I really got no clues of who you are.” I told her everything.

She laughs then goes back to the conversation.

“I’ve never forgot you, Tina. Since I left to America, I have always missed you.” She gives me a clue now.

America? Missing me? Me? Never changing? I have only known one girl so far, who my parents sent her to America 10 years ago, and that was my adopted sister. That means she’s…?

“Mean?” all I could think of is this name because nobody else left me to America last 10 years.

She gets out of her seat then walks closer to me and hugs me tightly and gently.

“Finally, you remember me!” then she sits beside me with a smile on her face.

Mean is my adopted sister apparently her age is just around mine so we don’t have to show our respects to each other. My parents adopted her because it was a request from my mom’s friend before she died, asking my mom to take care of Mean. After Mean’s mom funeral ended, Mean on her own, decided to ask my parents for going to America because she wanted to know about other countries not just here. Because she was too young, my dad hired someone to look after her over there and report him and my mom back every month of the process of Mean. My parents have never mentioned about Mean, though. They might think that my sister and I already forget Mean, in fact, I still remember. Mean likes to speak in a low voice, that’s one of a thing I can remember her. Before she left her to America, I left her a quote as well and this…

“Be strong, don’t be afraid of anything because you always know that Tina supports you here and now.” Mean speaks this quote out while I’m trying to think of it in my mind.

“You still remember it?” I smile back to her.

“This quote is my motivation, Tina. I keep it in my mind all the time that I at least have this adopted sister to cheer me up.” She turns her smile to a grin now.

“Good girl” I laugh and she laughs along with me as well.