Orson Scott Card's trip to Jakarta, Indonesia
Stories from students at Jakarta International School
Maarten
We were all surprised about how smart Melissa was and wondering if she could do
the homework for. So we went to her and asked her if she could, of course at first
she didn't want to but when we started to talk about money she shifted into our
direction.
We were all in 10th grade and were all 16. I was sort of interested in her but she
didn't seem to be interested in any of the people in our own grade, actually she
always went to the 7th grade and tried to talk and get to know this 7th grader called
Garret.
One day when I tried to talk to her she asked me if I thought that it was weird for a
16 year old going out with a 12 year old. I of course said yes because she wasn't
that small to look normal if she would be walking with him around school. The
next day I could see that she was sort of on the sad side. When I walked up to her
she said that it was because no one thought it was normal for him or her to go out.
But then I asked her if he actually knew that she liked him. And she told me that
she had tried to flirt with him but that he didn't seem to notice. I told her to try
asking him out but she started to shout at me that I was crazy and that it would
never happen.
That is when I lightly slapped her and said, "Look at you why are you always
based on someone else his or her opinion." She looked away and said that she was
afraid that people would think that she was totally uncool and that she would
never have friends like this.
When I told her that it didn't matter what other people think she got all depressed
and sat down. I was thinking about what to say to her but nothing appeared to be
appropriate at the moment. For starters I had never been in a situation like this
and wasn't capable of making her feel better. When she stood up and walked
away I shouldn't walk after her, I decided to go talk to the 7th grader who she had
liked for a while.
When I was at the ramp I remember how much fun I had when I was in 7th grade.
But I couldn't find him anywhere until I went to the soccer field and found out
that everyone knew him there. When I saw him I walked to him and told him
about her and what had happened. Surprisingly he said that he already knew and
that he wished she would just ask him because he was too ashamed to ask out a
girl that is 4 years older than him.
So I told her the great news and she didn't believe me but when I kept persisting
she finally believed me. She went to the 7th grade area and talked to him once
more, I was looking from a distance and saw them fall into each other their arms
and I knew that she had asked him. And of course he had said yes.
I walked away because I didn't want her to see me spying on her. I was sitting in
a hut when she quickly came over and sat next to me and told me the great news,
when I heard the news I couldn't of course say that I already knew so I listened to
her and how excited she was.
So you can see that it isn't weird for a older girl to fall in love with a little boy.
http://www.hatrack.com/research/student-papers/jakarta/maarten.shtml
