5 MEMORY: A Special Pair

“... A human cell carries two copies of a chromosome, creating two versions of each gene, which are called alleles. These alleles can either be dominant or recessive...”

I still couldn’t get over with the nickname. Not a lot of people become comfortable enough with me to call me that way. This is the first time, I guess... I was filled with such thoughts when I finally let a persistent voice through.

“...Rin... Irene!” It was a rather loud whisper from the girl next to me.

“What?” I threw a sideways glance to my seatmate whose surprisingly large eyes were looking intently at me. She gestured that I pay attention to our Biology class teacher who seemed to be looking in our direction as she explained today’s activity.

“You’ll need to work by pair to hypothesize an imaginary offspring based on your physical traits,” Ms. Mila said. “It’s just so I can see whether you really understand the lesson. For the sake of the activity, you can choose whomever you like to pair with.”

What? This is ridiculous, I thought to myself. Not really pertaining to the nature of the activity, but to the act of finding a partner. Group activities had always made me feel as if I were a lost kitten.

“Hey, Rin.” I was surprised when Yana grabbed me by the cheeks and turned me towards her. “You have pretty straight hair, huh… Hm, is it black or...” She was throwing me glances in between writing.

So she has it already decided while here I am getting worried over nothing.

“I said look at me. Are you spacing out again?” she said, her partly irritated grade-conscious side showing.

I sat still for her sake, wondering how she could get so serious over a simple class activity.

“Hm…” She moved closer to examine my hair. “Did you have it colored or is it natural?”

“Didn’t let anyone do anything to it except cut it off,” I answered, startled by the sudden closeness.

“Amaaziiing.” Her eyebrows arched upwards. “It isn’t obvious but when you look at it closely, you can see shades of brown in the layers.” She sounded genuinely in awe while I was thinking those might just be dried strands. My hair tends to get dry easily, you see.

“And for the eyes...” Her face was only a few inches away that I began holding my breath. I stared back at her eyes which made me think of those brown marbles I had played with as a kid.

I felt my chest deflate the moment she turned back to her pad to jot down my traits.

“Hm... I wish to have dark chocolate eyes like yours. They’re very pretty,” she was still writing as she talked.

“So I’ll give the baby: eyes like yours; the hair black with brown highlights like yours, but wavy like mine; and the complexion mine. So it’s on a lighter tone.” Yana then beamed for having accomplished such a feat.

I looked at her notes and read our kid’s traits for the lips, nose, hairline, etc. and they were quite detailed as well.

“Soooo it’s good, right?” She proudly smiled while waiting for my comment.

I gave her a nod of approval. “So, we’re done now?”

“Geez, you weren’t really listening. We need to give her a name and draw her too.”

“Her? So it’s a girl then. Name and portrait too? Isn’t this activity getting too... um... ridiculous?”

“C’mon, it’s quite fun when you do it. Imagining how your future kid will look like. Don’t you want to have a kid of your own someday?”

“I... um... haven’t thought about it. Ever. How ‘bout you?”

“Well, I want to know how it feels like to have one, at least.” Her gaze stopped midair. “Maybe that’ll answer some of my questions.”

“Oh, about what?” I followed up, curious about her thoughts.

She seemed to hesitate at first, as if having a hard time choosing the right words. “I mean, if it is really possible for a parent to forget his child? Whose fault is it supposed to be? I... I don’t understand...”

“I-I see...” I muttered, picking up the sudden change in the atmosphere. I didn’t let go of my gaze to urge her to talk more if she wanted to. At times like this, I’d always believed that silence was the best gift I could give to people.

I expected to hear more of her thoughts but she brought her attention back to the activity. I knew I wasn’t good with comfort talk—heck, at talking in itself in the first place—but I guess I had to try. I wanted to lift up her mood again.

“So, how about naming her after you?” I said, smiling at Yana. “Your parents did a good job giving you a pretty name that suits a pretty girl like you.”

She laughed a little and looked at me with those eyes again, those gentle eyes, and I knew her good mood was back. I praised myself for a job well done.

“How about Julia?” I asked, thinking of a kid Yana.

“She’s your daughter too, you know. Let’s get something from your name, too,” she told me.

What she said made my insides feel funny.

“How about Rina? From Rin and Yana?” she continued while I spaced out for a while.

Imagining a daughter...

Putting up our names together...

It feels strange, and yet...

“So what ‘cha think?” Yana tilted her head, waiting for my reaction.

It feels good.

“Um, just Rina? Don’t you think it’s too short?” I said. My parents just named me Irene (after my sister), so if ever I would have a daughter, I’d like to give her a longer name to play with nicknames as she grows up.

In the end, Yana had come up with a longer one. I looked at what she wrote and my eyes went wide; the last two names not leaving my sight.

Irina Lianne Sevilla Sebastian

“Oh, wow. Not only do we have a child, but it turns out we got married too!” I said, laughing at my own joke. “Why a complete name, by the way?”

“Ms. Mila said it would help her check the assignment with the pair’s last names on it.”

“Oh, well. It’s great! I mean, the name is... beautiful. I like it.”

“Yes, and so I expect you’ll make our daughter beautiful too.” Yana gave me a trusting look.

Ah yes, the portrait. Assigning the tough part to me was sneaky of her.

“It’s due...?” I paused, trying to remember what the teacher said about the deadline.

“On Thursday. So we still have two nights to complete the assignment. You can do it, right?” She looked at me as if reading my thoughts. “You can’t make me draw unless you want it to look horrible.”

“Alright, alright. I will.” I said, hoping I would be able to give justice to our 'kid'.

At home I was imagining our future kid based on Yana’s description matrix. Maybe she'd be as quirky as her. I laughed thinking about it.

With my seatmate in mind, I drew Irina Lianne as best as I could.