“What a cool shape! Are you gonna use it for a pendant?”
“You’re not supposed to wear bismuth because it’s too soft. I was told there’s a way to harden it with a thingy called resin, but I dunno how.”
“Oh, I know all about resin. I have a friend who, like, swears by that stuff. I’ll need to ask her about it sometime.”
The moment she walked through the door that evening, Yue went to show her sister the bismuth crystals. Her sister was so beyond taken with them, she promised to go with Yue to the 100-yen shop and buy a jar to put them in. Opportunities to go on outings with her sis had dropped off precipitously as of late, so Yue was gladder than ever that she had chosen to go to the science club today.
Leaning up against a pillow stamped with the logo of a social media company, Yue’s sister snapped pic after pic of the crystals.
“Hey, Sis?” Yue said. “Do you know what a jewel-er is?”
“You mean a jeweler? Yeah, why?”
“Today the teacher said she has a friend who’s a jeweler. I guess I don’t get how jewels can be a job, you know? What does a jeweler do, exactly?”
“Sells jewels and jewelry and stuff. Right?”
“Is that it?”
Like, a person who worked at the jewelry counter in department stores? Just a clerk in a jewelry shop?
Yue’s sister was about to nod before she thought better of it, frowned, and shook her head. “No, it’s more like a specialist. Jewelry store workers are basically retail workers that just so happen to sell jewels, you know? I don’t think they would call themselves jewelers. Jewelers are, like, people who know everything about gemstones and jewelry. I think they’re more like the folks who buy jewels from the suppliers to sell to jewelry stores.”
“You sure know a lot about it.”
“That’s ’cause I’m the queen of the internet.”
She signaled for Yue to give her a sec and scrolled through something on her phone. Yue figured her sister was about to make her watch another video of her friends dancing, but when her sister passed her the phone, she saw a photo of green gemstones with an astronomical number of likes. The gemstones formed a three-strand necklace draped across a black bust.
“Whoa! That’s so cool. What is it?” Yue asked.
“An emerald necklace. It’s a new item from a company called Gargantua. I hear the designer is a Japanese lady. Isn’t it brilliant? I’m in love. There’s, like, no way I’d ever afford it, but at least looking is free.”
“Whoa.”
“The people who hunted down the stones for this bracelet would be jewelers like the guy you were talking about.”
“…You mean they go out and find jewels in the ground?”
“I can only guess, but I would imagine they’re not the miners themselves. They, I dunno, buy gems from the miners and sell them to big companies like Gargantua. Sorta like intermediaries? I guess. Maybe.”
“What are intermediaries?”
“So, like, basically, imagine you’re running a three-person relay race. The second runner is the one who ‘connects’ the first and last runners, you know? That’s the intermediary. It’s a company that connects two other entities. Get it?”
“…I think so.”
Yue’s sister chuckled with pride. “Now this is why I have top marks in language class.”
“We get it, Sis. I heard you the first twenty times you bragged about it.”
“Oh, let me have my fun.”
Yue looked back down at the emerald necklace on the phone screen. The bismuth crystals were beautiful in their own way, but when it came down to it, Yue realized that both types of beauty—the bismuth’s and the emeralds’—came from the stones. Theirs was a world of beauty born from humans and stones coming together to transform the stones into something new. In her mind, Ms. Tanimoto smiled.
“…I think my science teacher would like this,” Yue said.
“Oh, the one all your friends like? Why, does she wear a lot of blingy jewelry?”
“No! You’re way off.”
The unusually stern tone in Yue’s voice startled her sister. Yue felt the stirrings of pride—she was in junior high, and her sister had better believe it—and softened the sting with a smile. “No, Ms. Tanimoto’s just…someone I think I could talk about stones with.”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I dunno. Just the impression I get from her.”
“Huh.”
It was an odd thing to say, but her sister didn’t tease her for it. For that, and for accepting it at face value, Yue felt grateful. She was sure that she was right about Ms. Tanimoto, and at that moment, her decision was made.
“So anyway,” she said, “I’m going to join the science club.”
“Huh, really? I thought you said it’s nothing but guys.”
“Yeah, well…once I join, it won’t be. And maybe,” she added shyly, “then other girls will join, too.”
Her sister beamed. Her smile was bigger and brighter than when their mom announced they were having her favorite—curry—for dinner. “Really? Well, I guess I don’t need to ask—you look like your mind’s made up. Good for you! You’re a brave kid, Yue. Seriously. Major props. Still, you know you can come talk to me if you ever get tired of hanging around boys all day, okay? You can bring me along on Saturdays if you need backup.”
Yue didn’t respond.
“Oh no, are you crying?” her sister asked.
“I’m not.”
“You so are.”
“I’m not!”
Yue’s sister sent her the photo of the emerald necklace that night after dinner. She just couldn’t get enough of looking at it. It was so beautiful it made her sigh in wonder, no matter how many times she came back to it. Running the English caption under the photo through a translation app gave her: “This necklace was once owned by Indian royalty. It has been remade upon request.” India. That was right next to Sri Lanka, the place where Ms. Tanimoto’s friend lived.
Ms. Tanimoto said pretty and cool were magic words. It was that very magic that made Yue feel the first drops of water seeping up through the soil in the dry stepwell of her heart.