Je m'appelle Gummy Bear

Category: One-shot

Note: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons,living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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It's orientation day in my new school. I transferred this year.

The auditorium is packed! I hurried over to a seat. But I still have time to spare before the program starts so I stood up, left my book on the chair and went out to breathe some fresh air. I saw a guy entering the auditorium with a bag of sweets in his hand.

Looks yummy.

When I came back, everyone is already settled on their seats. I went to my seat and opened my book.

There between the pages of the book, was a piece of paper.

'Welcome!' I silently read the handwritten words. It was signed simply, 'Je m'appelle Gummy Bear'

I didn't understand that. I couldn't even pronounce those words except for the 'Gummy Bear'.

I looked around. No one looked suspicious. And nobody else had a piece of paper sticking out of their books or notebooks.

Oh well, maybe its just some organization/sorority promotional thing.

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It's the first day of class.

I don't feel it, though. This is a huge school so I get by unnoticed. I feel insignificant, like no one would notice if I disappear. My schoolmates regard me with a little curiosity, nothing more, most of the time, less.

I trudge to my next class, nervous. I might get lost. You see, I'm not good with directions and just my luck, this university is like a labyrinth to me.

Just then, my classmate caught up to me and gave me the assigned readings.

“You forgot it,” she said.

I nodded and thanked her. She walked away.

I looked at the photocopied material at my hand and began to read while walking. On the back of one of the pages, something was written.

I looked at it closely.

It was a sketch of the map of the school! Then at the bottom, there were the words - Je m'appelle Gummy Bear.

Huh?

It's the same person from the orientation day!

What does 'Je m'appelle' mean anyway?

Weird.

I got a pen and was about to cross the words out but I hesitated. The stranger did help me by sketching the map of the school so better be grateful.

So I left it like that, stuffed the readings in my bag.

Soon enough, I forgot all about the weird note.

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A new semester had started. This time, I have language elective as a subject. I chose french because well, I like the Eiffel Tower and it's in France so that pretty much justifies that in my mind.

The first thing the professor taught us was the greetings. Bonjour!

Then he taught us how to introduce ourselves.

“Say 'Je m'appelle' followed by your name,” he said while writing the french phrase on the board.

My eyes widened.

The same words!

So that what it means! That person was introducing himself as 'Gummy Bear'.

Unconsciously I said, “Je m'appelle Gummy Bear”.

The whole class laughed while the professor good naturedly smiled.

“Bonjour, mademoiselle Gummy Bear,” he said.

I was called Gummy Bear for the whole french class that day.

Stupid Gummy Bear.

A month had passed since then.

Mistery person still sends me messages from time to time. Still with the same words at the end of each note.

Je m'appelle Gummy Bear.

The circumstances which I received those letters were often peculiar. One time, I even found the note on the bulletin board, next to the lost and found section!

But then, it was kind of amusing. Before I knew it, I started looking forward to the next note and where it would appear. The notes itself were amusing too. It was getting longer. Occasionally, it'll even have some cute drawing or caricature.

I still don't know who 'Gummy Bear' is and I don't even know anything personal about him actually, except that he's a guy because aside from his gender, he doesn't say anything else that's related to him. I don't even know whether to believe what he says because of course, it eould be easy for him to lie or make up stories.

All I know is that he's witty because you can't fake that kind of thing in the way you write. He's also artistic (considering he didn't let anyone else draw those sketches for him) and creative (based on the location of the letters).

Sometimes, I leave replies in the places he left the letters in.

My friends told me I had a crazy stalker and that I should be cautious. But then, I can't find it in my heart to be wary of 'Gummy Bear' because after all, the letters made me laugh, smile and took away the boredom I so often felt at school.

That afternoon, I was walking back to the dormitory when a guard called my attention.

Puzzled, I walked over. I didn't break any rules, right?

The guard gave me a friendly smile and handed me a letter. He said someone asked him to gave it to me. His eyes were teasing but he wouldn't tell me who gave it.

I opened it and a smile instantly made it to my face when I saw who it was from.

At the back of the envelope was the unmistakable Je m'appele Gummy Bear.

Inside the envelope was a bond paper and when I unfolded it, I saw a sketch of the eiffel tower.

You've always wanted to go here, right? Go to the french department. A genie has granted your wish.

Surprised, I went to the french department.

Someone gave me a form at the department when I told them my name and that someone told me to go there.

I thought it was weird. I mean, how often will you see a student coming to a department, asking for 'I don't know what it is' from 'someone. I don't know his name'?

But to my amazement, the girl who I asked didn't seem surprised. She just gave me the form and told me to fill it up.

Still a bit dazed, I complied.

When I handed back the then completely filled form, she told me, “Your flight to Paris will be a month from now. The academic program lasts for three months. The subjects you will be taking there will be credited here when you come back.”

She might had said more but it was completely lost on me because the only thing that registered to me was,

“Flight to Paris?!”

The girl smiled. “Yes.”

“But I'm not a french major!”

The girl gave her a look that clearly said, 'I know'. “Someone recommended you.”

“Who?”

She told me the name.

But I still didn't get it. Why would he recommend me? He didn't even know me beyond academic grounds.

As I was about to leave, she told me, “Oh and he left a note for you.”

What was written on the bottom of the note, in very small letters that I almost missed it, made me run hurriedly out the door.

Je m'appelle Gummy Bear.

My instinct was right because just a few meters away from the department, I saw him.

“Sir!”

He turned and smiled the same smile.

The End