August 19th 2626 (from Nardho's journal 38 years ago)

NS1: Hey Dho, what are you gonna bring to tonight's mixer? I don't wanna bring the same thing you'll bring, so let me know. Tony and I are undecided about the menu.

I received a text from Nardhia this morning at nine fifteen when I was in the middle of helping Moira order some textbooks online. Today marked the official beginning of the fall semester and at six in the evening us sophomores were supposed to meet in the lobby of biochemistry building to attend a ceremony meant to welcome new faculty members and incoming freshmen. I guess you could call it a departmental open house or an orientation of some sort, although it was also co-hosted by the Intercultural Forum and the Iota Rho Sigma society. I knew a bit about the former because I was elected as their secretary, but I had very little knowledge of the latter apart from the fact that my sister's boyfriend had formed it with the ex-boyfriend Wyatt.

It was kind of weird how Wyatt went from someone I seriously despised to someone I did not mind hanging around. It didn't happen overnight, of course not, but it was still bizarre. He had to earn his place before Moira and I acknowledged him as the seventh person in our friendship group, but as far as we were concerned his second apology to Nardhia was good enough to grant him a spot in our inner circle. The first apology was a total disaster, though. Shoot, my mind drifted off. Okay, time to reply to my twin before she floods my message App with infinite amount of "bro, bro, bro, bro!!" and angry emoji. That girl can be very impatient at times. Sigh.

NS2: Eh, I dunno. Something sweet maybe? Or something savory. Both?

NS1: Why are you so vague with your answer? C'mon, you're not being helpful.

NS2: At least give me some options, like chicken vs tuna, mushroom vs tofu.

NS1: Okay, okay. Sheesh. Tony and I are thinking of barbecue vs stew.

NS2: Stew sounds great. How much veggies should I put, though? You know we have someone who hates vegetables around here *cough* my girlfriend *cough*

NS1: Why are you asking me? Ask her yourself, you silly old Pooh.

NS2: Okay, I will. Meet you at yours and Tony soon? Like maybe half past ten?

NS1: Alright, see you. Rain and Vannie said they will join too.

Moira was reading the texts along and I immediately could tell she was not pleased that I had brought up her dislike of vegetables. I just grinned and she shook her head while shrugging. "You know, honey, if you're the one cooking, I'll eat anything because it's your cooking. I'm not gonna enjoy it, but I'll tolerate it," she said while squeezing my shoulders. I smiled triumphantly. Moira can never really get angry with me, she is quick to forgive my teasing.

"Good, Neesa will be sad if you don't eat any veggie. Are carrots and potatoes okay?"

"I prefer Vidalia onion and a bit of red bell pepper. I like sweeter flavors."

The thing about Moira's developmental disorder is that it also causes her to have avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. I have never tried to coax her to try foods that are out of her comfort zone because I could only imagine what it was like to be averse to certain smell and sight, but Neesa was concerned about her cousin and so I took it upon myself to convert Moira into a vegetable lover. No such luck so far, but at least she has never turned her nose up at my cooking. I have always tried to incorporate things she does like: garlic, ginger, or mustard seeds.

We arrived at Nardhia's and Tony's at the agreed upon time and I was surprised to see the kitchen were crowded with young students I have never seen before. My assumption would be that Tony had invited them to potentially be inducted as new members of his society. I was right.

"Hey, mate! I'm glad you could make it! Here, let me introduce you to everyone. Everyone, this is my best pal Nardho. Nardho, these are Hamza Alhurriya, Alex Reynolds, and Izumi Sakamoto. Hamza is a transfer student, so he's our age, and the other two are first-years. They have expressed an interest in joining Iota Rho Sigma and we'll talk more about it during the mixer later. For now, let's mingle and cook up a storm!" Tony greeted me super eagerly. I gave him a quick fist bump and then tried to figure out which names belong to whose faces.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Hamza, also known as Rain's cousin. I was a community college student before I applied to Blue Orchid. I hope to learn a lot from you!" a boy with a white cane and prosthetic legs approached me. I looked up to see that his eyes were colorless. I knew he wouldn't notice my smile but I smiled anyway and took his hands in mine.

"The pleasure is mutual. Rain, you never told me that you have a cousin transferring!"

Rain just signed I want you to find out on your own and I signed nicely planned. My sign language skills had developed quite a bit over the few months of being their friend and I have memorized some of the most common signs they regularly used, but I do want to learn more advanced signs. Sign languages fascinate me because of how expressive the signers could be. I wonder about other accessibility tools and methods of communication too, obviously. I made a mental note to ask Hamza later about Braille or screen reader. That is, if he does not mind my asking about him being blind. I know that blindness differs from one person to another.

I moved across the room to approach a girl with a cherry blossom necklace and neon blue hair. Hair color and age aside, she looked like she could be Ayumi's daughter.

"Hi, Nardho-senpai. I'm Izumi. I already know who you are and I'm beyond honored to finally meet you! You are a hero to the Gaburs and the Golden Valley community at large. My aunt and Deandra-san couldn't thank you and Moira enough!" the girl bowed and I was taken aback. I never regarded myself as a hero as I was simply following Moira's lead.

"Um, thanks? You shouldn't idolize me, to be honest. It's Moira who initiated everything."

"Is that so? Well, I better get her autograph!" Izumi tuned his attention to Moira and I could see my girlfriend turned as red as a boiled lobster. Sorry about your unforeseen fame, I mouthed. I remember the night we found out that we won a case against Mr. Milton and how upset Moira had been that our names suddenly were renowned throughout the solar system. I was ready to see her go into a panic mode and recoil, but she just took a pen out and started talking with Izumi.

"I'm happy that the Gaburs are okay now! Let your Auntie Ayumi know that I miss her, okay? I'm also glad that she is back together with Deandra, they are a cute couple and hopefully they'll last this time. How are your Grandpa Ardiansyah and Grandma Kahoko?" Moira asked.

"They are doing fine! I'm gonna study hard and make them proud! Moira-senpai, I want to be like you! Please teach me your way!" Izumi exclaimed in an admiring tone. I was not sure how Moira managed not to show how uncomfortable she was when even I found it difficult to keep a poker face. I decided to just leave the two girls conversing among themselves and I made my way to the other end of the kitchen to say hello to the last of the three new students.

"Your name's Alex Reynolds, isn't it? So, are you related to Vannie? Tell me about yourself."

"Hey, Nardho! Yes, I'm her step-brother. She hasn't mentioned me much, has she? I understand. The family dynamic between us is complicated, but that's a story for another time. Anyway, I'm into classical music, especially Mozart and Bach. I play piano and violin."

"Cool. Funny that you mention those two composers. My middle name's Amadeus, by the way, and my older brother is named after Bach, but his name is spelled with just one N."

"Nice to know. Does it mean your twin's middle name is Amadea?"

"You bet. Our parents really weren't that creative, haha. We have similar names just because we happened to be born on the same day. I've grown to like our names, though. By the way, where is Vannie? Isn't she supposed to be here in the kitchen too?"

"I'm here! I brought supplies!" the girl I've been asking about appeared out of nowhere, carrying canvass bags full of groceries. I helped Vannie with the bags and realized that she, too, had been recruited by Nardhia to contribute something to the mixer dinner. Judging from the ingredients inside the bags, it seemed she would make either apple cider or apple crumble. I could already picture Moira's delighted face—my honey's always been a sucker for sickeningly sweet desserts.

"Hey, I'm gonna be cooking too!" Wyatt came in with a box full of frozen meat and dry pasta. "I'll make tuna casserole if that's okay. If anyone can't eat tuna, let me know!" he added before giving me a curt nod and went on his way to see Tony.

All the foods were ready roughly an hour before the orientation event in the biochemistry building. Moira was in charge of cutleries while I was in charge of the sound system, so we were the first to be in the event's location. Tony caught up with us a few minutes later, carrying pamphlets full of information about the Iota Rho Sigma society. To kill time while organizing the equipment on the stage, I asked him the specifics of this new society he has been developing.

"I really can't take all the credits because Wyatt was the original initiator and I was just a facilitator who drafted the by-laws, did the initial administrative duties, and registered the society with the office of student extracurricular clubs. It all started when Wyatt began to think that he needed to atone for his bad behavior by educating and warning other guys about the danger of hypersexualizing girls. As we discussed more details, he and I agree to also expand this into a society where everyone can learn about sex positivity, consent, safe sex, and above all how to be a decent human being. We then agreed to extent invitations to all students regardless of gender. So, while this society is technically a brotherhood, it is more of a non-segregated fraternity."

"I see. That's remarkable how you and Wyatt were able to work side by side to educate everyone about sexual health and responsible sex. Disclosure, I'm against pre-marital sex but that doesn't mean I'm going to be preachy—I'd rather see someone be secure with their partners rather than being so curious and clueless about sex that they resort to irresponsible sexual practices."

"Thanks, Nardho. It's not all about sex education, though. We plan to do charity work too. If you happen to have some ideas for charitable activities, feel free to text me or Wyatt."

The anticipated event began on time and, as the student representative for the biochemistry department, Moira was given the job of introducing two new professors, one of whom took Lee's vacant position. I still feel heaviness in my heart about his passing, but I trust that whoever fulfill the empty space he left behind is as qualified or even more so than he was.

"Friends and teachers, fellow learners and educators, we have been blessed today with clear sky and crisp autumn air. On this beautiful day, let me welcome two new additions to the biochemistry family! First, we have Dr. Risma Valentina who will become the new Dean of our department. Secondly, we have Dr. Chayadar Gibran-Kumar who will take the late Dr. Lee Kinoya's post as the Department Chair. Let's give them a round of applause!" Moira announced.

When the applauding audience had stopped clapping, Dr. Valentina gave her introduction.

"Following the tradition of having professors and teachers being equals, I want you to just call me Risma. I am actually not just a biochemistry lecturer but also a xenobiology lecturer. This means if you're a double major, you'll probably see my name pops up a lot in your class schedules and syllabus. I'm also the new advisor for the Intercultural Forum, representing students of Asian ancestry. I myself have Malaysian-Chinese blood, so if anyone wants to learn to speak Malay or Hokkien, come see me in my office. I'm sorry, I truly want to be able to speak all the languages of China, but I have yet to master Mandarin, Cantonese, and other dialects."

"It is okay, Risma, it's already impressive that you speak more than one language!" Moira reassured the professor and the rest of the students in the audience murmured their agreement. Chayadar was up next and I could not help but wonder if I really have to call him by that name. No offense intended, but I pictured a block of cheese when I heard his name. Yum.

"Hi, students, it's good to finally see everyone in person! First thing first, yes, you're welcomed to joke around about my first name, I'm used to it," the professor laughed exuberantly. "My name got spelled wrong and mispronounced all the time as Cheddar, so I'm immune to jokes."

Oh, crap, this professor has mind-reading power. I quietly muttered an apology for my thought.

"Second thing," he continued, "I prefer to be called Gibran. If you don't know already, it happens to also be the name of a Lebanese writer from many centuries ago back in Old Earth. I know what you are thinking. No, unfortunately my ancestors weren't from Lebanon. I'm Indian-Iranian by blood. By the way, about my research interests. I am going to be leading an expedition to Black Elm five months from now and anyone who wants to go with me can register for a preparatory honors course called Valiant Voyagers. The registration is open until the end of next week. What's in Black Elm, you ask? There is a hybrid species of seahorses and dolphins, the Kulambas. I'll be studying how the rising ocean salinity affects them. If you have further inquiries, see me in my office tomorrow."

I definitely would like to see him in his office soon and it seemed Moira and Tony wanted to do the same. Part of me want to study yet another hybrid species because I miss Lee, but another part of me is just happy that Black Elm gets the recognition it deserves. I am from Black Elm but that does not mean I know all facets of my own home planet. Heck, I don't even know something like the Kulambas exist! This is going to be a great start to my second year of college.