Called Mel with a special international card number; I had to call back about twice after using up all its talk-time. I remembered all the things that are possible, like having our houses just a bike-ride apart in a dream, or eating green-bean soup both in a house in Adelaide and in a P1 classroom at the same time.
So despite having another dragon-lady teacher to deal with (though that metaphor's inappropriately strong), I am always lucky. So, so lucky. Through sheer maneuvering, I got to miss the real storm by shuttling to Swensen's for lunch with the guitar comm, where blatantly unorthodox, hyperactive antics brought respite. Yu-Hsin was determined to create a real Earthquake out of the ice-cream version (hey, he was the one who wanted dramatic bucket-loads of dry ice for our concert) and be HCN, while Zhixuan remained fascinated by salt-shaker inertia. Enlaced with conversation about "where you want to go next year", the genuine warmth teamed perfectly with laughter that goes right down into your stomach and aches.   
When I returned, the storm was over, and half-guiltily I stayed with the drenched-not-demoralized victims. The weather was soft and cool (there really was rain that morning). Kaimin drew cars, Rachel and I studied, the LTP judges came to their decision, and there we were, not knowing why we were waiting.
I unloaded my junk on my desk table; my mum had left a Kinder Bueno for me.