Students kept on walking past us busily looking for friends they haven't seen since the 3rd term holidays. Then, out of the blues, one student walked up to us and asked: "Excuse me, where is Mrs Sothy?"."In the office lah", I coolly answered, not knowing who on earth was Mrs Sothy but assuming that she must be a teacher. My brother stared at me in confusion. I must admit that the word 'mischievous' was too nice a word to be used to describe me those days. As nervous and anxious as I was on that first day, I didn't want to resemble a 'new student'.
Somehow the bell rang and a while later, I ended up in my class - 6P, nervous as a wreck and praying that there'll be other new students as well. Prayers answered, I was assigned a place at the back of the class next to Evelyn - another new student. A sense of relief overcame my nervousness and we became friends fast. Right at the front over the next row were these two girls who kept on looking back and staring at us every now and then. Suddenly that 'i know so well' stomach ache came crawling back into my tummy. Why are these two girls starring at Evelyn and I? Were they mini gangsters? Were they gonna give us a hard time in this new school? Gosh, there were so many questions going on in my head.
I think it was on the 2nd day of school when we got the answer. We received our first 'official letter'. Eve and I read the letter from Sook Ching and Joo Yee - the two 'staring' girls. They wanted to be friends with us. I had my doubts at first. Would these two girls get us into trouble? Sook Ching had this mischievous look in her. Actually that was what made me like her. Good! Now I have someone just like me. Since Eve and I had not made any other friends yet, we thankfully accepted their invitation. That, was the start of a wonderful friendship. Eventually we came to be known as the JJ sisters - each of us picked a name starting with 'J'. Sook Ching was JOSEPHINE, Joo Ye was JULIE, Evelyn was JADE and I was JENNIFER. We probably didn't realise it then, but I think we were quite popular. Or was it notorious? Josephine was the leader, Julie was the quiet one (until today apparently), Jade was the no-nonsense type and me, the oh-so mischievous one. Together we had so much fun and sometimes, at the expense of other students.
The one person who suffered most from our pranks was our class teacher. Wearing the same shirt 3 times a week, he was affectionately given the name Stinker. And boy did we (the JJ sisters) give him one hell of a time. We used to throw crushed papers at him whenever he made us angry - (he chose to ignore papers being thrown at him). I even remember trying to puncture his motorcycle tyres one day by placing thumb tacks under it. My parents would have had a fit if they knew what their daughter was doing in school!!! Two years later, my brother had the misfortune of having Stinker as his class teacher and I don't think he had a pleasant year, thanks to me. Stinker used to remind Melvin at every oppurtunity that he knew Debbie was his sister and what a hard time I had given him 2 years earlier. Also, most of the students in our class had a nickname given by us (not very pleasant names). Looking back, I wonder how was I brave enough to do all those things. And to think that I was a 'new student'.
Another favourite passtime of ours - writing nasty letters and leaving it inside the desk for the morning session to read. We never met those students. And believe me, we had our share of nasty responses from those letters too.
The year passed by very quickly (it always does when you're having so much fun), and soon we parted and went our own ways to different secondary schools. We were soon to be high school students and I don't remember how I'd lost touch with my treasured sisters. I went through high school, college, worked for a while, got married, had 2 kids, started a business, watched my children grow into teenagers and was contented with life. But there was one thing missing - my friends. I longed for a reunion with the JJ ssiters.
I used to nag at my kids for being so hooked on the computer and talked endlessly about this 'Facebook' thing. Little did I know that Facebook would put in the jigsaw that has been missing from my life for almost 3 decades.
One fine day, my daughter kelly told me to give her names of my friends that I would like to get in touch with and said that Facebook was a way to look for friends. I went like "Yeah Right!" How do you look for friends that you haven't seen for so long? And how in the world would this 'Facebook' thing be able to know who my friends are. I had no idea how ignorant I was. But thankfully my daughter was persistant and kept on pestering me to give her names of my friends. Unconvinced but since I had nothing to do at that time, I sat down and wrote the names of these 3 people.....
One week later a surprise was in store for me when I logged in and found a message from Evelyn. Butterflies were sommersaulting in my stomach and I could feel my heart pumping out of control. While reading her message, two other notifications popped up (from Sook Ching and Joo Yee) and within seconds, I was linked back to my past. There was a commotion in my home as I ran out of my room screaming to my daughter: "I've found my friends, oh my God I've found my friends!":...I was a 12 year old once more.
Apparently, the 3 of them had kept in touch all those years and I was the odd-one out. It was so interesting to see them as they are now, with their own families. Browsing through their photos, it was a treat to be able to see those faces that had been missing for so long. The resemblance is still there and they all look stunning. I felt so proud just looking at them. That was the best Christmas present for me. And now, as I patiently wait for this hectic December month to go pass, I look forward to meeting these 3 wonderful ladies for the first time after 28 long years. And no, we won't be carrying any thumb tacks with us this time. Cheers, ladies.
