Dear Diary,

I’ll be receiving my school report soon…and it seems like I’m moving to Leander instead of Coldrethan. It’s not how I wanted things to go, but as much as I want to go to Coldrethan, I still think my parents’ financial stability is more important than any school. I’m grateful that I can even go to school in the first place, and at least, I won’t have to deal with Kendall (and the entire school) being against me anymore.

Bye,

Liesel.

–

Walking through the halls for the last day of exams, I felt the other students eye me spitefully. It was akin to a predator with their gaze piercing their meek prey.

But I’m not their prey.

I’m unfriendly, quiet, smart, and hard working– eighteen months here and I’ve already got the highest grades; which, unfortunately, only earned me the all-time-popular Kendall’s sense of hatred (and thus, the entire school’s). Anyone who tried to act friendly toward me was unsurprisingly treated with ignorance and ostracised, so eventually, no one tried to approach me anymore and this became the norm. I was, for a lack of better words, abandoned. 

The people whispered and snickered as I entered the classroom. Only Rougena smiled in my direction as a greeting. This Rougena was a special case: she was one of the three highest scoring students in the school…and also the one with the heaviest pockets stuffed with money. It’s no surprise that even Kendall dared not contradict her.

She was the only person that I’ve told about my imminent departure.

But aside from the loneliness – that I’d never admit out loud – this school has a terrible curriculum, and the teachers are terribly rampant and disorganised: sudden announcements and changes of schedules happened almost as frequently as their absences, which could have been redeemable in some way if they’d been successful in disciplining their students away from becoming gossipers who were so busy making enemies and failing tests that they had to take endless remedial classes. 

I’ve never felt apple to apple or orange to orange with them, and everything that happens here is so monotone that I’m entirely convinced that it’s withering my creativity – which is why I thought it was spectacular that my parents had talked me into moving out of it.

They decided Coldrethan would make an enticing second option if Leander wouldn’t accept me. At this rate, it seemed highly unlikely. My parents were to meet a representative of the school foundation soon, and my current principal, Sir Chris.

My mom approached me after I finished showering after coming home from school. 

“Liesl,” she called, catching my attention.

Having just checked my answers from the most recent exam, I put the textbook down.

“I’m sure you know that Coldrethan’s fee is quite…heavy for your father. If we instead moved you to Leander High, where you’ll meet your old classmates from Primary School,” she muttered it all to me slowly, enunciating her words like a warning, “Would you be okay?”

For the first time in a while, much to my own surprise, I smiled. I had decided. “It’s fine, really. What matters the most is my education, right?”

I truly didn’t mind. I was certain of my decision. That’s why it surprised me when my mother suddenly bawled and pulled me into an embrace. I blinked up at her. I’ve always been closely bonded with my family – especially to Mom.

It only hit me then that it hurt her terribly that she couldn’t give me the one thing that I wanted most.

Wiping her tears, she released me from her embrace. She cupped my cheeks and asked me softly, “But, if you could choose, you’d take *The Cold?”

I gambled it in my mind momentarily. In the end, I chose to be honest with her.

“Yes,” I said, “But I’ll accept it either way.”

I had prayed that night.

“Our Father who art in heaven, if it is in Your will,” I whispered, “Please allow me to go to The Cold, where I’ll be able to study well with the right support. Please. But, if it’s in Your plan for me to go to Leander, then I’ll accept it. I will entrust this to You, Lord. Amen. “

Now, I’m sitting at my desk, finishing this diary entry. 

Signing off, Liesl.

–

Suddenly, Dad storms into the room with anger etched all across his face. 

“I can’t believe it!” he roars.

My twin – Leigh – shares a nervous look with me. We aren’t in the same school, but during my periods of loneliness, she was the one who always stuck around with me; to me, that made us undeniably close to each other. She understands just as well how much The Cold means to me, anticipating the meeting’s results just as much as I did. She frowns at the sight of our father. “What happened?”

The single question signals Mom into the room with us. She sighs, looking at us almost pitifully. “You know…how your current school and Leander are under the same foundation?”

Leigh and I nod mindlessly in unison.

“It shouldn’t have been any trouble moving you to Leander,” she looks at Dad with frustration in her eyes. “Well, for some unreasonable and some unclear excuses, they’ve rejected you, Liesl.”

My eyes widened as much as Leigh’s, and next to me, we looked entirely matched and identical. 

“She was as dull as a toad,” Dad remarks, remembering with a shudder the representative that he’d met earlier, “She said that it wasn’t that Leander didn’t need any more smart students, so I’m not sure why–”

He groans, a deep grovel eliciting from his chest, “That arrogance will be sure to bite her back someday!”

Leander was, in fact, one of the top schools around. It didn’t beat The Cold, but it was definitely no loss in prestige. I looked at Leigh, her expression etched with unbridled fury as Dad continued to rant about how unclear Leander’s reasons were. From what my parents had mutually concluded, I had almost thought that they would rather I stay in this current school even though it lacked any merit. I was utterly dumbstruck. 

It was then when my mother’s beam broke me out of my worry. She’d taken the liberty to bite the bullet and look at the brighter side.

“So,” she starts off giddily, her voice growing casual with every passing word, “Just as we’d told the representative…we’ll just have to move you to Coldrethan, then.” 

The realisation crept in slowly, and then dove me deep into it all at once. My jaw dropped at Mom’s statement, and my twin grinned. Dad brightens up his face – he’d wanted me in The Cold, too. 

“We must celebrate,” Dad announces grandly. “Who wants some cheesecake?”

Leigh and I jumped for joy, and Mom wore a beautiful smile.

A week after taking the entrance tests for The Cold during the school break, I still wondered if God had made the representative stubborn so that I’d get the opportunity to go to The Cold just like He did to the pharaoh when he needed Moses to show His power to Egypt and free them. I’d grown more cheerful and enthusiastic, wiping off my sulking attitude at the drop of a pin. Just hearing Mom say that I’d be going to The Cold back then…it was an experience that changed me for the better.  Amen!