The Class Clown

01 - Aboard the Starship

The room begins to fill with morose teenagers. A lean young girl with smiling eyes and lovely heart-shaped face takes an empty seat at the hindmost. Flanking her on the sides are two familiar students.

The girl extends a hand to the boy on her right, saying, "Hi, I'm Lara."

The boy quickly scans her from head to toe and returns a small smile.

The girl on her left speaks up, "I'm Pearl, and you don't have to talk to him."

Lara turns to Pearl, surprised. Pearl has a pretty nose and big, wavy hair. Rumors have been that academic achievement, rather than beauty, remains the de facto rule for admission in this cohort. With her congeniality and pleasant manners, Pearl may still be a valuable package.

"I was with Section B in Grade 11," Lara says.

"I know. You're Lara Chan," Pearl says. She offers her hand with an elaborate flourish, saying "Pearl Fariñas, from Section D."

The subjects pass by quietly. When lunch break came, the two girls share a table and opinions of their stiff classmates in Section A.

Lara leans over, her voice subdued to a whisper, and tells Pearl about the rumors around the clique of honor students. Section A is the crème de la crème—top 30 of the entire graduating class, pooled by aptitude. However, internal politics is inevitable; and existing subgroups have been competing with each other, not necessarily for class standing.

"So you mean, the Top 5 don't mingle with us peasants?" Pearl asks. "How had they survived group projects with that attitude?"

Lara shrugs.

"I mean, that's absolute crap. We don't tolerate that in Section D," Pearl says.

"Everyone in D seems very nice. You're nice," Lara says, raising her eyes to Pearl's.

Pearl turns to her cold steak and stabs a chunk. "Thanks. You're nice, too."

Lara admires the delicate manner Pearl wields her knife to cut through the meats. Even more admirable is the fact that her new friend just got massively promoted from the last to first tier.

"Pearl," Lara says, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"How did you do it?"

"What?"

"Get from D to A."

Pearl lifts her gaze and meets Lara's eyes.

"I don't know," Pearl says, shrugging, "I just had to do it."

"You're not on scholarship."

Pearl's face illuminates with a smile. Her mind wanders, but just within school premises. "You're right, I'm not."

"Everyone knows what kind of aliens inhabit the Star Section," Lara says. "I've been on and off the top 30 since Grade 3—B to A, A to B—so I'm kind of familiar with most people. Why do you want to be here?"

Pearl's hearty laughter pierces through the monotonous cafeteria humming. She says, "For someone who just got tagged 'Smart Enough' officially, I have the dumbest reasons to be in Section A."

The bell rings for the fifth period. Students shuffle to their buildings.

After the girls clean up and head to the Physics laboratory, Pearl links an arm with Lara, saying, "I'm going to be class valedictorian."

♠ | ♥

"Don't screw this up," Jay says to Lara from across the table. He then slides a paper to her.