Chapter 18

“Yo, Gracey girl, I didn’t expect you to really turn up for my party,” a rather good looking guy said in a happy-go-lucky way, and reached out his hand to stroke Grace’s hair.

“Kevin, you better not touch me,” Grace’s calm voice belied the disgust she felt towards this overgrown piece of weed, “and don’t call me Gracey girl.” Grace cursed herself for letting down her guard, allowing him to near her without her noticing it.

“Alright then, how bout a smile?” Kevin said leisurely, placing his arms on either side of Grace, trapping her between him and the bathroom wall. He has her right where he wanted, and this time, he wasn’t leaving without a taste of her. Or at least, her phone number.

Grace felt a trickle of panic crawl along her spine. Suddenly, every sound and every sight faded into the background, and all she could see was her father’s sinister face juxtaposed with Kevin’s. Her pupils dilated, and her breathing began to become more erratic. She knew a panic attack was building, but she couldn’t help herself. She slammed her eyes shut in anticipation of a stinging slap.

“Grace! Grace, are you alright?” she heard a familiar voice said, the concern thick in its tone. She opened her eyes and found herself gazing straight into Daniel’s, and immediately felt her breathing began to calm down. She looked around and saw Kevin picked himself up from the floor, rubbing on his sore bottom. She glanced back at Daniel, and suddenly realized that he was holding her by the shoulders, the palms of his hands felt warm against her skin. Warm, and safe.

Daniel released his hold and turned to Kevin, his expression turned from concerned to angry.

“What were you doing? Can’t you see that she’s scared of being trapped like that, you bastard?!” Daniel shouted at Kevin, who was now looking a little disorientated, “and stay away from my girl!” Daniel added, with a hint of vicious protectiveness in his voice.

Daniel turned back to Grace, and stretched out his right hand to her, “Let’s go,” he said in a gentle way.

Grace unthinkingly placed her left hand on Daniel’s outstretched palm and allowed him to lead her through the crowd and out of the house. She just wanted to go somewhere where she wouldn’t be hurt. Where she could process her thoughts, memories and whirling emotions and package them away, so nobody could see how vulnerable they were making her.

Daniel stole a sideways glance at the girl who tightened her grasp on his hand to stop her own from trembling, but she didn’t know it only made the trembling more pronounced. He tightened his grasp on her hand in return, completely regretting leaving Kevin relatively unharmed. How could that insensitive creep not have seen the fear in Grace’s eyes, when he could see it from across the room? He should have punched that creep good in the face, damn it!

Daniel’s thoughts were disrupted when he felt a tug on his hand. Grace has crumpled into a heap on the ground, her hand still held in his. Her head was hung low, causing her long ebony hair to cover her face. Daniel knelt beside her and pushed the curtain of hair behind her ear and asked softly, “Are you alright?”

Grace had her eyes closed tight. She nodded mechanically, while mentally, she tried to push all the horrifying memories to the back of her mind. But her eyes startled open when she felt fingers trailing along her jaw and down to her chin. Her chin was tilted up so that she could only look into a pair of gentle eyes.

“No you’re not. But it’s okay to be not alright,” Daniel said with a smile. He reached over to tuck the remaining stray strands behind her ear, letting his fingers trail down the silky locks that fell beyond her shoulders.

Grace couldn’t think anymore, looking into his eyes like that. For the first time in her life, she felt that she could let herself fall apart before another man. She saw her vision blurring through the growing moisture in her eyes, but she refused to blink. She refused to let them fall so easily. She didn’t cry five years ago after that slap; she wouldn’t cry now for the gentle caress of his fingers over her cheeks.

Daniel slipped his hand to the nape of her neck and gently pressed her towards him, her chin resting on his shoulder.

“I think it has started to rain,” he said, as he felt a warm drop of moisture hit his bare shoulder and slid down his back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 17

The moment Angel stepped foot into the bungalow-like house, she recoiled and hid behind Grace’s back. There were just too many people inside, people she had never seen before. She knew coming for Kevin’s birthday bash wasn’t such a good idea.

“Kevin!” Emily greeted the birthday boy cheerily, “Happy birthday! I got you a little something; I know you’ll just love it.”

“Thank you for coming,” Kevin said, and then grinned when he saw Grace, “I see you’ve brought some friends. Well, enjoy yourselves okay? I’ve got to attend to other guests for now.” He said, and deliberately brushed against Grace as he left.

Grace resisted the urge to lash out. She was only staying for ten minutes, and then she’s off. She watched as Emily bounced away to another group of guys who were waving to her, and turning to Angel, she asked, “Shall we go get a drink?”

Angel stuck close to Grace as Grace weaved them through the crowd. The crowd was making Grace a little nauseous, but she supposed she could hold out a bit, since she was leaving in a short while. She saw that Angel was looking a little green as well, but that was only to be expected. Looking around the house, she spotted a few familiar faces, including some lab mates, and Andrew and his gang. Of course, Andrew would be a friend of that Kevin creep; they’re like the same species.

Before she could turn her attention elsewhere, a group of four to five guys bumped into her, looking slightly alcohol intoxicated. Grace fought the new surge of nausea down and spoke to Angel, “Hey, I need the bathroom. Will you be okay on your own for a while?”

Angel nodded, slightly concerned that Grace looked very pale. Angel watched as Grace disappeared among the crowd. She took a glance at the roomful of strangers, and felt her anxiety levels climb. She was about to run in the direction Grace went when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around like a frightened animal.

“Hey, Angel!” Andrew greeted, “I saw that you were alone, so I came over here. Do you mind if I joined you?” he smiled politely. He didn’t expect to see Angel at a party like this, but he was extremely elated when he spotted her.

Angel smiled in relief, and then felt her nerves act up again. She covered it up by taking a sip of her punch.

“I didn’t know you go for parties,” Andrew said, looking adoringly at the blush on Angel’s cheeks.

“I came with Emily and Grace, you know, just to see how it’s like,” Angel replied in a soft, shy voice, “Are there always so many people in parties?”

“It depends. But Kevin has a lot of friends; so naturally, his parties are usually this crowded,” Andrew took an appraising look at Angel’s apparel and smiled, “you look really pretty tonight.”

Angel took another long sip of her punch, and blushed heavily into the glass.

“How’s your cough? Have you been taking the cough syrup?” Andrew enquired. He thought Angel still sounded a little hoarse.

“I’m much better, thank you. The cough syrup’s really good.” Angel smiled and maintained eye contact for the first time that evening. It was making her jittery, but it was a good kind of jittery that made her toes curl in anticipation.

“You better be fully recovered when you come to sit with me for Astronomy lecture tomorrow,” he said in a friendly warning.

“Or what?” she asked playfully.

Andrew took a step closer to Angel so that he was practically towering over her and whispered into her ear, “You wouldn’t want to find out, trust me.”

Angel couldn’t breathe. She also couldn’t hear or feel anything. All she could register was the scent of Andrew’s cologne and the warmth that was emitting from his closeness. She turned her back to Andrew in the context of pouring herself some more punch, and tried to breathe properly again.

Andrew grinned broadly behind Angel’s back. Why was this girl so damned cute?

His attention was drawn to a sudden commotion in the direction of the bathroom. He turned, only to see a furious Daniel push Kevin roughly onto the floor. He took Angel’s hand and dragged her there for a closer look.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 16

The lecture theatre was filling itself with students again, and there was 15 minutes more till the start of the lecture. Once Emily settled into the chair next to Grace, she asked enthusiastically, “So how was Saturday?”

“Weiwei’s really adorable. You don’t suppose I could talk your friend into giving it to me, do you?” Grace said as she sat in her chair.

“Hmmm… I suppose there is one way you can make Weiwei yours,” Emily stoked her chin thoughtfully.

“What is it?” Grace asked ecstatically.

“You can marry Gabriel,” Emily said brightly and Angel sniggered uncontrollably.

Grace mentally flipped her the finger while she narrowed her eyes at Emily.

“Anyway, that wasn’t exactly what I was asking, Grace. I was talking about Gabriel.”

“Him? What about him?”

“What do you think about him?”

“Okay, let’s see. He’s decent, can cook splendid spaghetti, and his cat is a darling,” Grace clamped down on a grin, “so I’d say he would make a good boyfriend.”

“You like him too?!” Emily exclaimed, unaware of the knowing looks Grace and Angel were exchanging when they heard the ‘you like him TOO?’

“Oh no, the boyfriend comment was for you. He is not my type. Dating him will be like dating my brother.”

“Is Gabriel a Cancerian too?” Angel enquired.

“Wow, you’re really good with the horoscope stuff, Angel,” Emily said reverently, “How could you tell?”

“Grace just seemed like the type who was receptive to Cancerians in a purely platonic way.”

“What is Daniel’s sign then? You know, the guy who was always with Gab and Andrew.” Emily asked.

“I’ve only talked to him once, so I couldn’t be sure. But Andrew told me that he’s a—”

“Scorpio,” Grace answered dreamily, not fully aware that she had spoken aloud.

“How did you know, Grace?” Emily was astounded.

“Huh?” came the reply.

“How did you know Daniel is a Scorpio?” Emily asked again.

“What?! I don’t know anything!”

“But you just said ‘Scorpio’!” Emily pursued.

“No, I most certainly did not!” Grace insisted.

“Ask Angel!” Emily pulled in a witness, “Angel, tell Grace you heard her say it too.”

Angel nodded her head meekly at Grace, wearing an apologetic smile. Sometimes Grace said things that she obviously didn’t plan to say. And boy, are her Freudian slips illuminating. Angel wondered what underlying subconscious elements are in play this time round.

“You girls must have heard it wrong,” Grace persisted in her denial, suddenly uncomfortable with the speculative glances Angel was giving her.

“Deny all you want then,” Emily shrugged, “and before I forgot, Kevin’s birthday party would be next Wednesday, you two are coming right?”

“I suppose I am, but I need help keeping Kevin off my trails. Even my poker-face doesn’t work on him. What is he, facial expression-blind?” Grace complained.

Emily laughed, “It’s his birthday, I’m sure he will be too busy running the party to stalk you.”

“Alright then, I’m going,” if only to avoid another hospital trip, Grace thought to herself.

“I supposed I’m going too,” Angel said with a smile. Grace and Emily exchanged incredulous looks. Had their baby Angel grown up while they weren’t looking?

Wait, did Angel mention Andrew’s name just now? Grace wondered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 15

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Gabriel addressed Grace as he ushered the girls into his home, “my parents aren’t home yet, but that pig over there is my brother, Benjamin. He’s like a perpetual pain in my butt, just so you know.” He said with a grin.

Gabriel led them to his room and bent to scoop up his beloved pet when the phone rang. He picked it up with one hand while trying to adjust his cat into a more comfortable position.

“Hello? Oh hi, Daniel! You hold on a sec,” Gabriel looked down at his cat to see it pawing towards Grace. He turned to Grace and said, “Hey Grace, would you mind holding it? I think it wants your attention.”

Grace went over and expertly carried the silver cat in her arms. She fell in love with it instantly. It truly was the most beautiful cat she had ever seen. The way it caressed her skin with the tip of its nose was simply lovable. Grace smiled warmly as she tickled the cat’s chin.

Gabriel had never seen a sight that felt this ethereal. Why had Grace stowed away her smiles when obviously they did her pretty face much justice? And he had never seen Weiwei warm up to anybody that quickly, except for Daniel perhaps. The pair of them, cooing at each other in their own way, looked so indescribably intoxicating. But the noises from the phone caught Gabriel’s attention before he could breathe an inappropriate “Wow.”

“Sorry Daniel, you were saying?” Gabriel turned his attention to the phone call. He sneaked a few glances at Grace and couldn’t stop his chuckle when he saw Weiwei lick Grace’s neck, causing her to break into giggles.

“Oh no, I wasn’t laughing at you, “Gabriel said to Daniel, “it was Grace, she’s so cute with Weiwei.”

“Gabriel! Help! He wouldn’t stop licking me!” Grace’s merry voice bounced from the walls of the bedroom.

“Hey Daniel, I’ll talk to you another time okay? See you at school!” Gabriel hung up the phone and crossed the bed to where Grace was. He took his cat from Grace, and lovingly chastised it for molesting his friend.

“He’s beautiful,” Grace smiled as she rubbed the top of Weiwei’s head.

“How did you know it’s male?” Gabriel asked, but blushed at the stupidity of his question. But Grace merely chuckled and continued her massage for the contentedly purring cat.

“Where is Emily?” Gabriel asked when it suddenly dawned on him that the room lacked the usual bubbly laughter whenever Emily was around.

“Here,” a strangled voice came from the door. Emily came through the door, holding three cups in her trembling hands, “a little help please!”

Gabriel was there in a flash, “sorry, I’m such a poor host,” he handed a cup to Grace, “it’s a lucky thing Emily is a great hostess.”

“Yeah, we’ll probably die of thirst before you remember to bring us drinks,” Emily pounded Gabriel lightly on his shoulder. But she took two steps back when Weiwei reached out a paw to scratch her.

“Ha! Maybe Weiwei doesn’t like you because you kept ‘bullying’ Gabriel. Maybe you should act nicer to Gabriel.” Grace suggested, tickling Weiwei’s ears.

Emily stepped forward gingerly and petted Gabriel’s head, stroking his hair as one would a baby. The cat, however, leapt out of Gabriel’s arm and only Emily’s chest, frantically clawing at her shirt. Emily shrieked, but before she could reflexively pry the cat away, Grace removed it and calmed it down with the slow rocking of her arms.

“Apparently not,” Grace shrugged as she tried to suppress a smirk.

“Thanks, Grace,” Emily said dryly and took three steps away from the offending creature.

Gabriel laughed. “Do you two want to stay for dinner? I can cook up something for the four of us. You girls could watch a VCD in the meantime.”

“Okay! I want to eat spaghetti,” Emily grinned broadly.

“Alright,” Gabriel smiled indulgently at Emily before turning to Grace, “So, is spaghetti okay for you?”

Grace paused to look at Emily, and then at Gabriel. How in the world can Emily treat a guy who dotes on her like that as merely a brother? She was beginning to feel sorry for Gabriel. Somewhere along the line, it became clear to her that Gabriel was undeniably in love with her oblivious friend.

“Grace?” Gabriel called again when he saw Grace just staring at him.

“Oh, yes, spaghetti would be great. Thanks!” Grace smiled kindly. She had always appreciated a guy who could cook. They really are an endangered species.

“Okay then. You girls make yourselves at home. I’m going to the supermarket to get some fresh onions and tomatoes,” Gabriel said, and left his room in the capable hands of the girls.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 14

“So, how do you find the movie?” Emily asked Gabriel as they strolled out of the cinema.

“The plot is kind of lame, but I guess I like the action,” Gabriel replied, loving the way Emily naturally leaned into him as they walked.

“And did you see the guy? He was so HOT!” Emily crinkled her nose playfully, “oh yeah, we’re meeting Grace at Delifrance, let’s hurry, I think she’s there already.”

Emily and Gabriel widened their gait and reached Delifrance in no time. Grace was already sitting at the corner table, and motioned to them to join her. Emily made a quick introduction, and then made Gabriel take their orders and queue for the food.

“Are you guys together or something?” Grace couldn’t help but ask. The way those two strolled in, locked at the arms, wasn’t something Emily usually did.

“No! Why would you think that?” Emily asked in a genuinely surprised way.

“You two seemed much too close to be just friends.”

“That’s because we ARE closer than friends. Gab’s almost like the brother I never had!” Emily beamed.

“I see,” Grace said simply, looking between Emily and Gabriel, as if trying to put together the missing pieces.

“Yup! He’s a really great guy. Reliable, and extremely loyal to friends, and he takes good care of me. He’s really funny sometimes too, and his cat is the cutest feline I’ve ever seen.”

“He has a cat?!”

“Yeah! A real darling, that one. It’s a uniform silvery grey, with white chest and paws. Really elegant, especially when it sits with its forepaws placed dignified in front of its belly. You should go see it someday.”

“See what?” Gabriel interrupted as he gently served their lunch and sat down to join them.

“Emily says you have a beautiful cat,” Grace said, the excited gleam in her eyes betrayed the usual coolness she employs in front of guys.

“Yeah I do, its name is Weiwei,” Gabriel said with an obvious love and pride for his pet, “it is really intelligent. It could crack peanuts on its own. And its silvery coat has a really pretty shine to it. The pure white of its belly makes it look really innocent and adorable.”

“Wow,” Grace breathed.

“Yeah! You should go see it for yourself!” Emily piped in, “You’ll love it so much, I just know it.”

“Go see it?” Grace was taken aback. How could she see it, unless…..

“You two can come over to my place later if you like,” Gabriel offered, “I’m sure Weiwei wouldn’t mind the company.”

“Yeah right,” Emily pouted, “that cat just hates me.”

Gabriel laughed apologetically, “Maybe it’s partial against popular people. It doesn’t like Andrew very much either. So how ‘bout it Grace? Want to see it?”

Grace looked to Emily for reinforcement, and the profuse nodding of her head made Grace smile meekly at Gabriel and nodded in agreement.

“Perfect!” Gabriel exclaimed after looking at the smiling Grace a little longer than necessary. He has never seen Grace smile before and boy should she smile more. It softened her features and gave her the most innocent girl-next-door feel that would appeal to any emotionally-unattached guy in the vicinity. Unfortunately, he wasn’t one of them.

Emily noticed the lingering look Gabriel had on Grace, and felt her heart stop for a moment.

“Gab, have you thought about what gift I should get for Kevin?” she said, trying to break them out of the inexplicable impasse, “and let’s get going before it rains.” Emily said as she stood up, schooling her face into her usual amiable expression. She decided that sensitivity didn’t suit her.

“Rain? How would you know? Don’t tell me you could look through ceilings now.” Grace raised an eyebrow.

Emily looked up and scolded herself for being such an idiot, “I, err, knew it from the weather forecast.”

Grace nodded weakly, and allowed Gabriel to lead them towards the bus stop, not wanting to question Emily further.

When did Emily ever watch the news?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 13

Grace groaned as she stirred awake from the strangest dream she had ever had. She pulled the blanket over her face to block out the offending sunlight that was, in Grace’s opinion, shining a little too cheerily for her moods. Cuddling closer to her favorite pillow, she let herself delay the inevitable waking to the harsh realities of her world. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming towards her. Flinging the blanket away from her face, she spoke before she even opened her eyes, “Yes mum, I’m up.”

As if on auto-pilot, she brushed up and commenced her breakfast.

“Remember to bring the oranges. They’re your father’s favorite,” her mother said plainly, “and don’t be rude, he is still your father.”

Grace reigned in a particularly nasty comment with a huge stuffing of sandwich into her mouth, not trusting another other form of silencing. Her mother should not be subjected to the profanities she reserved for that man. She merely nodded in acknowledgement, and chewed her sandwich a little more viciously.

“Shouldn’t George be awake by now?” Grace asked. If she had to face that slime ball, she didn’t want to face it alone.

“George is not going with us today. Let the poor thing sleep, he came home quite late last night.”

Poor thing? Grace scoffed mentally. He was having his unfair share of fun with his friends in some club while I was killing myself with the tuition kid last night. Poor thing indeed. But Grace knew enough to keep her comments to herself. Her brother will always be the perfect boy in the eyes of her parents, because naturally, anything he did wrong was accredited to her. She would feel sick of such injustice if not for the fact that she was growing numb to everything.

“I am going out with some friends after eleven,” Grace informed her mothering a tone that didn’t allow negotiations.

“But I told you we will be there till lunch. You can’t just go there for 5 minutes and leave!”

“Be thankful I’m even going,” grace said with a sense of finality.

The journey to the hospital was pure dread to Grace. She felt that the taxi driver was driving unnecessarily too fast for her liking. At this rate, she would have to spend more than 5 minutes in the same room with that man.

All too soon, they arrived at the hospital. Grace followed as her mother led her through the chlorinated corridors of the hospital, feeling slightly nauseous as they past numerous wards. It reminded her of the time she followed her mother through similar corridors, only to reach the ward in which her grandfather had passed away. A loud click of the door handle alerted her to the dreadful knowledge that they had reached the ward. She peered in, and to her utter relief, found that the man was lying prone, his eyes closed in a deep sleep.

Grace placed the bag of oranges on the small table and fished out the apple she brought for herself. She settled herself in the chair near the window and contented herself with the juicy fruit. She could faintly hear her mother enquiring after her father’s condition from a passing nurse, but didn’t pay any attention to the details. All she felt was a sense of annoyance when the nurse assured her mother that the slight concussion her father had was nothing to be worried about.

Taking another bite off her apple, she checked her watch. There was still four minutes to go, and she hoped the heavens would be kinder to her and keep that man asleep. He was marginally more tolerable when unconscious. She fixed her attention outside the window and saw a wheelchair-bound old man staring blankly at a bed of yellow flowers. That vacant expression on his face made him look sicklier from this distance. Hospitals don’t do anyone any good, Grace decided. Her own grandfather had died in a hospital, right under the noses of the nurses and doctors that swarmed the place. She didn’t like doctors too, she decided bitterly. Grace got up from her chair, stalked to the table and grabbed her bad roughly before turning to the door.

“I’m off,” Grace said simply, “I hate hospitals.”

“But you only just came!”

“He isn’t awake anyway. Don’t wait up for me tonight, I’m going to be home late.” And with that, Grace stormed off, leaving her mother shaking her head sadly.

The moment she stepped out the door, she heard someone call her name from the other end of the corridor. She turned and saw a guy running towards her. It was Daniel.

“Hey Grace! I didn’t expect to see you here. What are you doing here for?” Daniel smiled genuinely at Grace.

“Visiting someone who hasn’t died yet,” Grace replied in a dull voice and started walking away from the ward she just exited.

Daniel must have picked up on the negative vibe coming from Grace, because he refrained from asking who she was visiting.

“I’m here to see my grandma. She slipped and fell, and injured her back the other day,” Daniel said in a falsely calm tone, and when Grace did not say anything in response, he continued, “You know, I saw this really cute cat roaming around the cafeteria. Maybe you want to go see it with me?”

Grace didn’t even look at him and said in that same dull voice, “No thanks. I’m meeting a friend.” Then she walked a little faster as they neared the hospital exit, and without a goodbye, she left; leaving Daniel to stand and watch as she disappeared around the corner.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 12

Andrew lay on his bed, trying to think about nothing in particular. But that irritating thought kept coming back, like an itch not properly scratched. He punched his pillow into a more comfortable shape. Surely, that was just an ordinary chat.

Wait a minute, when did Angel have chats with guys she barely knew? And she was smiling throughout the course of it!

He had a sudden urge to run ten laps around his room, but refrained from doing it because that would just prove that he was flustered. And Andrew never got flustered, especially over a girl. No, it was probably just the usual sugar rush after dinner, he decided.

He peered at the clock on the wall and rolled his eyes in defeat. There was no way he could wait another hour to call her at the usual 11pm. Picking up the phone and his resolution, he dialed the familiar number without looking at the number pad.

The phone rang in his ears, and already he was having second thoughts. What was he going to talk about? How was he going to ask her about Daniel? Maybe he shouldn’t talk about that at all. Maybe he should have just called at 11pm. But before he could hang up, the sweet voice poured into his ears.

“Hello?” Angel said sweetly.

“Hi, Angel, it’s me,” he said, sounding a little stiffer than usual.

“Oh hi!” came the excited voice, “is anything the matter?”

“What? Nothing! What could possibly be the matter?” Andrew laughed dryly.

“Then why did you call so early today?” apparently, Angel’s mind-reading powers extended through phone calls.

“Oh, I err…” Andrew stuttered, but before he could continue, a series of cough vibrated through the phone, “why hasn’t your cough gotten better? Have you been taking the cough syrup I got you?”

“Erm… it was much better this morning, so I—”

“Angel Sim! You better start taking care of yourself, or I will!!”

“You will what? Hang me by the hair?”

“No! Take ca— never mind!! Go take a spoonful of the syrup now!” He heard Angel put down the phone obediently and waited for her to come back.

“Done,” Angel said cheerfully.

“Good girl. How was lab today? I saw you talking to Daniel,” he said.

“Yeah, he was talking to Grace when I interrupted.”

“Grace? The girl who could kill just by staring at people?”

“Rubbish! She isn’t that scary,” Angel laughed. But she resolved within herself to make Grace smile more. That girl could seduce kings if only she smiled.

“Grace aside, what were you talking to Daniel about?” Andrew groaned to himself. He hoped that didn’t sound too jealous.

“Nothing much really, can’t remember anything important.”

“But you two were chatting so happily!!” Andrew cupped his mouth shut with his hands before he could say something more pathetic.

“Really? I didn’t notice. I barely know him,” Angel paused for a while before continuing, “is he a Scorpio?”

“How did you know?” Andrew said with a frown. And she said she barely knew Daniel. Hmpf.

“Lucky guess. Anyway, he asked me to join you two for Astronomy on Thursday,” she said shyly.

“He did?” Andrew felt suddenly angry with Daniel.

“Yeah. Are you alright?” Angel was shocked at the hostility in his voice, “you don’t mind me joining you, do you?”

“Of course not! I’ve been asking you to do that for ages. Why is it that you only agreed when he asked you?”

“Why does it matter? You aren’t jealous, are you?”

“Of course not!”

“You ARE jealous!! How cute!!” Angel giggled uncontrollably. It was refreshing to know someone got jealous over you.

“Am not! I was just asking!” came the indignant voice.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I understand,” she teased.

“I’m telling you—”

And so the two squabbled for the next ten minutes before Andrew realized how childish he sounded, and then sulked like a child until Angel coaxed him into talking again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 11

Friday evenings were meant for chilling out with friends and looking forward to the weekends, but Grace found herself dragging her feet to the laboratory. The aspect of a torturous tuition later in the evening hung heavily over her, and she felt like even her favorite biodiversity practical couldn’t cheer her up.

After an extra long sigh set out to purge her soul of the day’s frustrations, she started to read the protocol. Except that she wasn’t really reading the words at all, what with her brain registering only every other word in every other line. She let her head drop onto the table defeatedly, her arms haphazardly strewn over the table.

“Hey girl, don’t look so dead. We’re doing vertebrates today! Andrew just told me all about the reptilian gut,” Emily said with a clear bounce in her voice. Grace never figured out what makes this girl look happy all the time. Surely anyone would have run out of cheer someday.

“Wow. Amazing. I am so impressed,” Grace said in a rather sarcastic snort, looking deader than ever. How interesting can a peristaltic tube of muscles be? Although it would be interesting to find out how a snake felt about looking exactly like it’s own intestines.

“Come on, it’ll be great. The displays look more decent than last week’s batch.”

Grace sat up and surveyed the room of its displays of stuffed birds, fossilized turtles and glass jars with live animals she hoped they could play with. Her spirits lifted slightly and managed a weak smile at Emily. Nothing should prevent her from enjoying her biodiversity lessons, she resolved within herself.

When the lesson began, the professor gave them a ten-minute briefing, of which seven minutes were dedicated to reminding students to handle specimens with care. Andrew broke out with uproarious laughter the moment the professor said, “Last lab, someone must have thought they were helping the starfish to reproduce by breaking off one of its arms. But he forgot that dead starfishes do not procreate.”

Daniel had to help him stifle his laugh with a hard pinch on the thigh while trying to physiologically suppress a blooming blush when he saw Grace turning to look at him.

Then, the students began to walk around examining the specimens. When she got to the mammal’s section, she couldn’t take her eyes off the stuffed cat and its kittens, hanging by their necks from the strings that secured them to the board. She had always been a sucker for cats, but dead and stuffed weren’t her idea of an ideal state of being for cats. She could almost see it, Nini getting caught and shipped off to have its carcass preserved, probably neatly sliced open to display its mammalian reproductive system for the education of her fellow Homo sapiens. Utterly horrified with that mental picture she had just painted, Grace didn’t realize the approach of another presence.

“Lovely cats, pity they’re stuffed,” a male voice startled her. It was THAT guy again. He wasn’t looking at her, but fixed his eyes on the cats, a genuine pain shimmering in his eyes. He loved cats too? Grace felt her attitude towards him soften. She managed a tentative smile in return, but only because she thought he would not see it out of the corner of his eyes.

“You like cats too don’t you?” he spoke again.

Grace was taken aback by the conviction in his tone. It was more of a statement than a question, spoken with such confidence it seemed like he had

known her for a long time. Grace didn’t know what to make of it. She was pretty sure people didn’t carry around with them an “I’m a cat lover” sign on their foreheads. She tilted her head to study his expression, her eyebrows dented downwards in contemplation.

The guy smiled even wider, the twinkle reaching the black of his eyes. “I saw the way you petted the cat that roamed around campus,” he said, “it seems like Tommy likes you too.”

Tommy? Grace thought to herself, her eyes fleeted to the ground for a moment before flicking back to his face. What did he mean by he saw the way I petted the cat? He was watching me all those times? Grace frowned incredulously.

“Tommy won’t respond to any other name. That cat’s got a personality I tell you,” He continued speaking, as though Grace’s silence didn’t deter him at all, “and I wasn’t purposely looking at you. I was looking at the cat. You just got in the way,” he shrugged.

Grace nearly dropped her jaw. It was as if this man could read her mind. Sure, she was used to Angel’s mind reading, but to have a stranger read her like an old friend? Her inner turmoil was disrupted by his chuckle.

“You’re pretty easy to read,” He said jovially, “you don’t happen to speak, do you?” his eyes trembled with playfulness.“Erm, hi?” Grace started lamely, she was still whirling over this strange encounter, “Who are—”

“Hey Grace!” Angel interrupted them, “knew you’d be stuck at the cat’s section. Oh sorry I interrupted. Do you know him?” she asked as she slinked to the back of Grace, putting a little distance between the guy and herself.

Grace took a fleeting look at him and said, “Can’t say I do,” in a matter-of-fact way, which made Daniel’s shoulders droop a little.

“You’re Andrew’s friend right?” Angel blushed as she spoke to Daniel. Grace was surprised. Angel seldom initiated conversations with people she didn’t know well, much less with guys. How many more strange things are going to occur today?

“Yup,” Daniel turned his attention to Angel, “I’m Daniel,” he said, indirectly introducing himself to Grace, “you must be Angel, the sweet shy girl Emily always talked about.”

Angel blushed furiously, “You know Emily too?”

“Sure do. She’s Gabriel’s good friend,” Daniel pointed to the mentioned couple, who were both sticking their fingers into the basin and prodding at the lamprey. Emily looked fascinated by the lamprey while Gabriel looked fascinated at the fascination on Emily’s face.

“Oh, so that’s the Gabriel Emily was always talking about,” Angel said, voicing the same sentiment Grace had, “oh, and this is Grace, you know that right?” Angel pointed at Grace, who was getting more and more bewildered at the turn of events. Since when did Angel do introductions? It was most unnatural.

It was like watching a gazelle chase down a lioness.

“Yeah, I know she’s Grace,” Daniel smiled at Angel, and then at Grace, “say, you take Astronomy lessons on your own right? I always see you sit alone in the lectures,” he spoke to Angel.

“Erm, yeah, couldn’t get Grace to take that module with me.” Angel blinked her eyes a few times in shock.

“Why don’t you sit with us the next lecture? I’m sure Andrew wouldn’t mind.”

Angel froze on the spot, but quickly recovered, “That’ll be nice,” she muttered, “Where do you guys normally sit?”

Grace gave a barely audible gasp. Was this the Angel she knew? The Angel she knew would never arrange to sit with people she barely knew, but here she was, agreeing to sit with TWO guys whom she barely knew?!” Grace felt that that she can’t be given any more shocks for the day.

“In the middle block, left aisle, somewhere to the back of the lecture room,” she heard Daniel reply, “call me if you can’t find us,” he said, taking Angel’s practical protocol and scribbling a series of numbers on it.

Grace frowned. So that’s the new tactic to get girls nowadays huh? She knew that twigs don’t fall far from their trees, what did she expect from Andrew’s friend? To think it was her who almost fell for his charms. She had to talk Angel out of this.

Grace pulled Angel away and asked, “Are you really going to sit with Daniel and his friend?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?”

“But—” Grace stopped. Okay, so there really wasn’t anything seriously wrong with it. It wasn’t like Angel would get pregnant sitting next to Daniel and Andrew, right?

“Well, you barely know them!”

“I can’t possibly stay reserved all my life right? So I figured I might as well get used to guys. Besides, Daniel’s a friend of Andrew’s, so I’m sure he’s a decent guy.”

Alright, Grace decided, she has officially had enough of the warpness of her world.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 10

Daniel felt that he was on the verge of stumbling to a solution for his biostatistics tutorial question when he saw a familiar figure sweep in through the library door from the corner of his eye. That nearly-would-be-solution was instantly demolished, but Daniel was too preoccupied to care. He watched, as inconspicuously as possible, Grace and her friend Angel, take their usual seat. Daniel shifted his eyes down to his tutorial just before Grace glanced his way, closely averting from an awkward eye contact moment. It was uncanny how she always seemed to know when he was looking at her. Daniel kept his eyes on his tutorial, counting down to a time that would be safe for him to look up at her again.

The perfect moment came when Angel gave a series of earth-quaking coughs. He shot his head blatantly towards Grace’s table, and instead of looking at Angel, he took the opportunity to take an un-concealed look at Grace.

Beside him, Andrew clenched his fist under the table. Didn’t he pass Angel the cough syrup already? Why didn’t she take it? He watched as Angel took out the cough syrup and beamed an inconspicuous smile at him. Apparently, Grace made her take the syrup right in the library, for which he was thankful to Grace. Andrew visibly relaxed after Angel took the medicine, ignoring the deadly glare Grace was sending his way. For some strange reason, Grace seemed to hate him. He could always feel this negative vibe coming strongly from her every time they were in the same space.

But he couldn’t care less about what Grace felt about him. After all, she wasn’t Angel.

Daniel reluctantly withdrew his attention from Grace after losing a legitimate reason to continue to stare. He let his eyes wonder over his statistics tutorial, but nothing was registering in his mind. Somehow, he thought that studying in the library should increase one’s productivity, but it was having an opposite effect on him. He didn’t feel like asking himself why, incase he didn’t like the answer. But he had a vague idea anyway.

Almost involuntarily, his eyes flirted towards Grace again. She was writing in that baby blue book of hers again. Daniel couldn’t fathom what could upset her so much, the way her eyes gleamed with deep loathing and disgust. He wished she didn’t screw up her eyebrows like that. It made her look so much less palatable.

Without a single notice, Grace looked up, and for a solid moment, Daniel saw murder in her eyes. It was either that, or the suddenness of the action that made Daniel’s elbow slip and knocked over his pencil case. Great, Daniel thought to himself, I just drew her attention to my clumsiness. He bent over the table to collect his scattered pens, hoping the opaque table will shield as much of him from Grace as possible. He took his time with it, completely unaware of the incredulous look on Andrew’s face. From Andrew’s point of view, Daniel was moving in a comically slow-motion.

“Daniel, is that you under the table?” Gabriel’s voice made Daniel turn his neck towards him at an awkward angle, for Daniel was still trying to hide from Grace.

“Where did you go? I didn’t even notice when you were gone.”

“I had to meet another friend. I did tell you guys at lunch, but apparently the roast duck rice was more engaging,” Gabriel said dryly.

“Well, it is,” Andrew admitted nonchalantly and grinned, “Let me guess, was it Emily?”

“Emily what?” Gabriel grew defensive.

“The one who you had to meet.”

“How did you know?”

“You came in right behind Emily, duh! Everybody knows two plus two equals to four,” Andrew tilted his head towards Emily’s table with mischief in his eyes.

“I don’t like the way you said the two-plus-two-equals-four thing,” Gabriel narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Surely Andrew was too thick to notice anything right?

“So are you two going out?” Andrew couldn’t resist pursuing the matter. Ever since that day at the library, he was at least seventy percent sure something was brewing between the two. Gabriel had never snapped harshly at Daniel before, much less snapping at Daniel for staring at a girl. Andrew was most amused at the sharp look that Gabriel was giving him now.

“Yeah, we’re going out to shop for a gift on Saturday. In fact, we’re going out for a movie before that too,” Gabriel pinned Andrew with his look.

“That’s not what I—”

“Oh, you’d like to come too? I’m sure Emily wouldn’t mind.”

“No thanks. I admit that I am ‘bright’, but that was restricted to mean ‘intellectual’ only.”

“Huh?” Gabriel feigned ignorance, “by the way, can I borrow your biochemistry notes for Thursday’s lecture?”

Andrew sighed and resignedly flipped through his unorganized file for the notes. It was nearly impossible to get Gabriel to admit anything with regards to love interests. But at least now, he was ninety percent sure Gabriel has a thing for the bubbly girl.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 9

Grace never paid much attention to how guys smell, but the dozen of men she was trapped in a lift with made her curse her delicate sense of smell. She coughed deeply once she stepped out of the lift, hoping to expel any manner of vile pheromonic particles out of her respiratory tract.

“Are you okay? I didn’t pass you my cough did I?” Angel looked concerned.

“No, it was… it wasn’t you.” Grace stopped herself and allowed the guys to herd into the library before continuing, “the lift was rather… you know, with the guys.” She made a face.

“Oh, I see. It’s a lucky thing my nose is blocked then,” Angel said cheerfully.

“Lucky, right,” Grace said, uncheerfully.

The girls walked to their usual spot. It was rather deserted, which was a good thing because it meant that THAT lift-ful of guys is in another part of the library. Grace took a seat and when she looked up, she found herself gazing right into that biodiversity class guy’s eyes. He’s at that table again, Grace thought to herself, as she casually averted her eyes. She had accidentally noticed how he always occupied that table ever since last Friday. He probably was there all along and she just never noticed him. Whatever, it’s not really important.

Without warning, Angel burst into a series of coughing again.

“Angel Sim! Did you see a doctor?” Grace asked harshly, all the time feeling like every head in the library has just turned to her table. She found that she was right, because both heads from Andrew’s table turned towards them. Andrew looked particularly disturbed, which totally put Grace off. The last thing a girl with a bad cough needed was to be glared at. Grace shot a glare twice as poisonous at Andrew.

“Hang on, I have a cough syrup in here somewhere,” Angel fumbled through her bag, “there,” she held out a bottle of syrup and beamed at Grace.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Take some now?” Grace was truly surprised. When has Angel ever bought herself medicine? She narrowed her eyes as she looked between Angel and the cough syrup.

“I didn’t buy this, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Angel expertly read her friend’s mind. Grace could be very easy to read. All you had to do was look straight into her eyes. They said it all.

Grace raised an eyebrow at Angel, asking a silent “Then?” she has gotten used to Angel’s telepathic abilities. In fact, she had sometimes enjoyed the feeling of having a friend who knew her so innately well.

“Someone bought it for me,” Angel said after swallowing the sticky medicine.

Grace rolled her eyes, “Of course someone bought it for you, since you didn’t buy it yourself. But who? Your mum?”

“Mmm…” Angel mumbled non-committedly, her eyes drifted to Andrew’s table and quickly darted back.

“Okay, just remember to take it,” Grace said, and then pulled out her diary and began writing. 27th February Friday 1.05pm

[I am not upset over that creep. I am only depressed because his hospital fees aren’t going to come cheap, that’s all. He deserves to be knocked down by that truck. He deserves to die (so why doesn’t he just do that, goddamnit!). I will not be missing him if he does. I won’t even cry a single tear over him. Never.

Because I hate him.]

Grace capped her pen and looked up, only to hear Angel gasp. Grace immediately blinked her gaze away and softened the look of murder from her eyes. Almost instantaneously, someone from Andrew’s table knocked a pencil case off the table and its contents spilling out in a resounding clash of metal and plastic. Grace glanced over and saw the biodiversity guy bending beneath the table to gather the stationery.

A sudden dropping of a stack of textbooks on the table caused Grace and Angel to direct their attention to a grinning Emily, who has just taken a seat.

“Hey Grace, Gabriel and I are going to shop this Saturday, for a gift for Kevin’s birthday, do you want to come along? Your brother’s birthday is coming soon too right?” Emily asked good-naturedly.

“Erm, okay. I could use some help with picking gifts. I’m only free in the afternoon is that okay?” Grace had promised her mum that she will go to the hospital in the morning, to visit that man.

“Why? Having a hot date in the morning, are we?”

“Hot date. Right,” Grace replied bitterly, “so where do I meet you guys?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 8

It was barely 9pm when Angel felt her entire collection of voluntary muscles screaming for rest. She said her goodnights, turned off her lights and crawled into bed. Having found herself in the most relaxing posture, she closed her eyes and feel sleep take over almost immediately. Suddenly, her room phone rang. She groaned and cursed, but she still mustered up all of her remaining cooperating muscles to get to the phone. Only her most important friends know the number to her room phone. Still, she was going to kill whoever it was.

“Hello?” Angel croaked miserably, intending to guilt the caller for imposing on her get-well sleep.

“Angel? Are you alright? You sound horrible!” a deep soothing voice drifted into her ears and chased away any sleepiness she had.

“Andrew! Why did you call at this time?” Angel’s voice brightened up by fifty fold. She was pleasantly surprised, because he usually called at 11pm.

“I didn’t see you in school today and thought that maybe you’re ill, so I’d call early tonight in case you’ll be sleeping early,” Andrew said with an apparent concern in his voice.

“Wow, it’s as though you can read my mind. I was just about to go to sleep when ---” Angel disengaged from the conversation when a series of cough forced their way out. She tried to calm her cough down before speaking again.

“Excuse me, bad cough. I was saying, I was just going to bed when you called, but I suppose I can spare a few minutes.”

“That was a nasty cough! Did you see the doctor?” he asked, sounding really skeptical of an affirmative.

“Erm… I just need a rest. The doctor can’t do much for a cold, you should know that as well,” Angel shifted into a fetal position in her bed.

“You could have at least gotten something for that hell of a cough!” he said in a more demanding tone.

Angel burst out laughing, but couldn’t sustain it due to another session of violent coughing.

“Are you okay? What are you laughing at anyway?” his voice oozed with worry and indignation. The two made a very usually emotional combination and elicited another giggle from Angel.

“It’s just that you sounded just like Grace when you said that,” Angel’s smile could be heard through the phone, “so what’s up?”

“Nothing much, just wanted to check up on you. I think you really need to rest well tonight, so I’ll call you again some other time?” Andrew paused for a while before e continued, “say, could you meet me for a minute tomorrow after biochemistry lecture? I want to pass you this cough syrup that always works for me.”

“I… I really shouldn’t. Thanks anyway,”

“I insist,” Andrew said authoritatively. There was no way he’d just stand by and watch her cough like that.

“Erm. Alright, so I’ll see you in school tomorrow?” the shyness was so thick that even Andrew could “hear” it, because he gave a chuckle.

“Yup! Take care of that cough alright? Goodnight!” he said tenderly.

“Goodnight,” Angel replied, feeling like her cough was better already.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 7

Grace was just lying on her bed and doing some ceiling gazing. There was this particular pattern of cracks in it that really resembled the sugar phosphate backbone of DNA. She must be losing it; Grace thought to herself and closed her eyes. Three hours of biochemistry tended to do that to anyone.

She turned her head towards her closed bedroom door and sighed. She couldn’t even get out of her room to get a snack from the fridge because of some asshole in the living room. She could still hear mumbled insults and accusations through the opaque door, things that sound like, “ungrateful brat…. Just like her mother…. Ugly mum-of-a-b**ch….”

Grace reached over to her table and turned up the volume of her CD player. Ahh…. Finally some peace and quiet. She took out her diary and began to write.

25th February Wednesday 4.30pm “Fucking awful”

Grace forgave herself for the occasional, well-deserved vulgarity.

[It started out as a beautiful morning. I woke up, fully refreshed and ready to study for the rest of the day. I was ultra productive, breezing through 2 tutorials and a lab report. Then I stopped for lunch, and from there everything went wrong. He came home, apparently having lost his job for the eighth time this year and started hurling insults at everything he saw.

You know, I’d give him credit for his 3-hour tirade if not for the fact that he lacked creativity in his choice of vocabulary. I mean, how interesting can “daughter-of-a-f*** tart” sound when you’ve heard it at least a hundred times? “f*** tart” sounds like a masculine noun anyway.

I really don’t have to put up with this. I think I’ll just go meet Angel earlier.]

Grace took a shower and left for Orchard road. She was an hour early and decided to just wait at the bus stop for Angel. Anything beats staying home and listening to bullshit.

And so Grace just sat there, unmoving, barely aware that her butt has gradually lost its sensation. Suddenly, a bout of violent coughing from somewhere behind her brought her senses back. She turned instinctively towards that alveoli-shattering cough and saw that the cougher was doubled over and trying to catch her breath. When she straightened up, Grace gasped.

“Angel! That ghastly cough was you?!” Grace rushed to Angel’s side and patted on her back.

“I’m ok, it’s just the rain yesterday you know,” Angel gave one hard sniff and rubbed her nose. She had always been susceptible to the common cold, and the recent weather didn’t help much with the sudden pourings.

“You should have told me and rested at home. I could get the present for you,” Grace shook her head in disapproval, “when will you learn to take care of yourself?”

“I’m fine really. Nobody dies from flu. And pneumonia doesn’t count,” Angel pre-empted Grace’s retort, “let’s just go get the wallet fast okay?”

That silly girl was going to be the death of her, Grace was sure of that. She was always putting herself last where her family was concerned. Angel definitely needs a boyfriend to take care of her, since she wouldn’t take care of herself.

“Did you at least see the doctor?” Grace asked, although she was sure of the answer already.

“Erm… well, you know that a good rest is all you need for a cold. There is really no need to see a doctor.”

“You could have at least gotten something for that hell of a cough!” Grace raised her voice a notch higher, with that increasing concern for her stubborn friend.

“Those syrups don’t do any good. And I’m too lazy to remember to take them,” Angel shrugged it off. It wasn’t like this was the first time he had a terrible cough. She’d live.

“Some day, Angel, you’re going to cough out a lung, and I will be there laughing my ass off,” Grace totally gave up. She wasn’t even sure why she had to always get to irritated.

Angel froze in her steps, “did you cross paths with your dad today?” she asked.

“How did you know?” once again, Grace marveled at how her friend displayed her psychic mind reading powers.

“Because you said ‘ass’. You never said anything vile unless you’re really pissed. And I can’t think of anyone else who could do that besides your dad,” Angel paused to consider if she should ask what happened.

“I see,” Grace said passively, “it’s no big deal, just the usual shit. But I don’t want to talk about it. Anyway, the wallet I saw was just around the corner.”

They made their way to the shop, paid for the wallet and Grace steered them towards the bus stop, “Now let’s get you home and you better rest well or else,” she admonished, “and I better see you get some cough syrup in school tomorrow.”

“We’ll see. My bus is here, I’ll see you in school tomorrow,” Angel ran towards the bus, which was a big mistake because the cough took over again.

Sleep. Plenty of sleep was what she needed now, Angel thought to herself as the bus started to move.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 6

A reverberating thunder roared through the silence of the library as three guys pushed their way through the glass door. Andrew took a swipe across his fringe, which was dripping insistently with the rain water he soaked up on the climb up the library slope. His friends were also shaking off as much water as they could from their arms and hair; earning a nasty look from the counter librarian for dirtying the carpet. The librarian looked about to tell them off when she dismally watched a whole swarm of ten other undergraduates stampede their way past the counter, each seemingly more soaked than the one before.

“Where the hell did that rain come from nowadays? Andrew said exasperatedly, “It totally ruined my hair, “he complained while picking at his limping fringe.

“Yeah, I didn’t even see the clouds when we came out of the lecture, and then suddenly it was covering the sky,” Daniel replied reverently. He has never seen clouds spread so fast before; it was like watching Judgment Day unfolding right before his eyes.

“Hey guys, have you all done your biochemistry tutorial? There are four questions I can’t do,” Gabriel looked hopefully at his friends.

“Erm… aren’t there only five questions in the tutorial?” Daniel raised an eyebrow at Gabriel.

“Well,” Gabriel scratched behind his ear, “see, I have this project report to rush, and didn’t have time to read through the textbook for this tutorial. Can I just borrow yours?” he looked pleadingly at Daniel.

“You think you got it bad? I’ve got a 3000-word essay and a lab report to finish by Monday. And they expect us to finish reading Jane Melson in a week!! All 300 pages of it!” Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose as he recounted all the assignments still on his To-Do list.

“Jesus Christ!” Gabriel whispered sharply, “This is a library, keep it down for God’s sake.”

Andrew mouthed a couple of ‘sorrys’ to the dozen eyes shooting disdain at his inconsiderate intrusion. As they continue to sail past occupied tables, Daniel scanned the vicinity, subconsciously searching for a particular presence. It was so subconscious that he had to attribute the disappointed down-tugging of his stomach to a particularly heavy lunch he had that afternoon, although in truth, he only had a bowl of macaroni.

“Hi Emily! What are you doing studying alone? Can we join you?” Gabriel smiled wider than he usually did when he was talking about his laptop.

Flashing her eyebrows, Emily beams an equally enormous smile, “Hi Gab! Sure, you guys can sit here. Angel’s not well today and Grace doesn’t have lessons on Wednesdays.”

Gabriel felt Andrew stiffen slightly beside him and hypothesized that it was because of Emily’s sweet smile, the thought of which made his trachea constrict significantly. The guys settled in their chairs and Andrew immediately buried himself in Basic Biodiversity Book 1, studying with the tenacity that explained his essay results.

“I thought you have an essay and a report to finish?” Daniel noticed how Andrew had conveniently forgotten about his inhumane workload.

“I just want to prepare for the Biodiversity lab on Friday, “Andrew winked mischievously, “just watch me impress all the babes with another ingeniously complicated illustration of the reptilian gut.”

Emily stifled a giggle. Everyone at the table knew biodiversity had this supernatural allure for Andrew, but he will never just admit it. What’s with guys and public displays of affection for a favorite module?

Daniel wouldn’t dignify that comment with a retort, and so pulled out his biostatistics tutorial. He tried to concentrate on the questions, however, Gabriel (who was reminding them a while ago to keep quiet in the library) had been chatting with Emily ever since they met.

“Yeah sure, this Saturday’s perfect. We could go for a show, then a quick lunch. Then I need to get a birthday present for my god-brother. Will you go shopping with me?” Emily said, hoping Gabriel will help her pick a gift. She never knew what to get for guys, besides the boring wallet, T-shirt or watch.

Gabriel didn’t reply immediately but stared straight at Emily.

“I promise I won’t take too long. Just help me pick out a gift and then we could go for a coffee or something,” Emily implored cautiously, afraid that Gabriel didn’t really mean it when he said he enjoyed shopping with her and was finally going to turn her down.

“Whose birthday is it for again?” Gabriel didn’t like the idea of shopping with Emily for a present for another guy.

“Kevin. He was at the forum outing that day, do you remember?”

“Was he the one who wouldn’t stop flirting with Grace?” Gabriel could only remember vaguely, and he remembered nothing positive about that guy.

“He wasn’t flirting. He was just being his usual friendly self. Besides, he has great taste in women.”

“Ah well, Grace is attractive, but she’s too… cold and aloof. Hostile, even, “Gabriel recoiled slightly as if Grace-the-untouchable was just in front of him.

“What do you mean she’s hostile?!” Emily cried indignantly, “She just doesn’t like to talk to strangers, that’s all.”

“Especially guys right?” Gabriel had often seen her joking around with Emily uninhibitedly, but he did not recall a time he saw Grace do the same with any guy.

“Ah… that… She has her reasons, and it really isn’t my place to tell. But she really makes a good friend,” Emily said with much conviction, “anyway, why is your friend staring at me like that?” she pointed uneasily at Daniel.

Daniel realized that he had been successfully distracted from his stats tutorial. “Er Emily, I mean, Gabriel, can I borrow your staple please?” he attempted to explain his staring.

“Don’t be lazy; you always carry one in your bag. Get it yourself,” Gabriel hissed in a rather hostile tone. He didn’t like the way Daniel was staring at his Emily.

“Oh, right. Haha, lazy me,” Daniel finished lamely and searched his bag for the staple.

Satisfied that he had gotten rid of Daniel’s attention of Emily, Gabriel turned to Emily again, “So what did you have for lunch today?”

“I didn’t really have lunch today ‘cos Angel and Grace weren’t with me. Anyway, you haven’t told me if you’ll shop with me on Saturday.”

“What?! It’s 2.30pm already and you haven’t eaten? I won’t allow it. Come on, let’s go get you some food,” Gabriel sprung from his seat and packed his and Emily’s notes into a neat stack.

“So are you coming with me on Saturday or not?” Emily wouldn’t budge unless she got her answer.

“Yes of course I will. Now let’s go,” Gabriel said as he reached into Emily’s bag and pulled out her wallet, and then grabbed her wrist to pull her from her seat. Emily complied, since she was getting a little hungry. “Guys, we’ll be back soon,” Gabriel informed the other two at the table, and walked out of the library with Emily in tow.

Andrew watched the whole Gabriel-Emily-Daniel scene with a fourth-party amused puzzlement. He didn’t miss the way Gabriel carelessly dumped his textbook and Emily’s notes roughly on top of his laptop. Neither did he miss the blue staple that was left forlornly at the corner without ever been used at all by the boy who said he needed it.

Bending his head back to his biodiversity textbook, Andrew hid the smile he smiled to himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 5

Grace hugged the bowl of Tuna Delight as she approached the cats that always assembled at the play ground at her void deck. The cats leapt off the benches and came swarming to her.

“Here you go, Fifi, it’s your favorite Tuna Delight today,” Grace scooped a spoonful of tuna and dropped it in front of a white-cream cat, “Dipy, you look like you need a diet. Man, what have you been eating?” Grace poked gently at the orange tabby’s sagging stomach, “Oli, no fighting! There is enough for everybody,” Grace went over to the fighting cats and tapped Oli sharply on the butt. She spooned another ball of food especially for Oli, and then took a seat next to a black kitten with white chest and paws, which she called Oni. Oni was by far the newest addition to the family. The adorable little thing was pawing its food into a mesh before licking the juicy portion. She stroked the little kitten tenderly, turning around to look for a certain mosaic-colored cat.

Nini was not here again, Grace frowned worriedly. The last time she saw Nini was last Monday, and Nini looked ghastly that evening. She didn’t move or eat much, and she kept meowing laboriously, practically sleeping through the whole meal. Grace sighed helplessly.

Grace watched over her cats while they feasted, all the while maintaining a gentle caress across Oni’s back. When the kitten has had his fill, she picked him up and went over to the swing. As she rocked herself gently, she allowed her mind to wonder. She thought about Angel and Emily; she thought about her family (quickly skipping over her father); she thought about that creepy friend of Andrew’s; she thought about world peace. She has always found it extremely therapeutic to just take time out and ponder over things like that, stretched out in a comfortable position and gazing at the stars. Except that the swing wasn’t all that comfortable, and the night’s sky was heavily overcast. Still, this was a luxury most modern men seem to neglect.

Suddenly, she felt like she was being watched, a cold shiver causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand. She turned instinctively towards a dark corner of the HDB apartment somewhere to her right and saw a figure leaning against the postboxes. She could barely make out the outline of a guy, who seemed to be staring straight at her, although it was too dark to decide if he actually had his back facing her instead. Grace sat slightly straighter and tenser. Maybe it was this sudden movement that caused the cats to start sprinting away from her, and towards that stranger.

The stranger apparently HAD been facing her (and probably had been staring at her as well, Grace thought displeasedly) because he squatted as soon as he saw the cats approach him. From the silhouette, Grace could tell that HER cats were rubbing blissfully against his legs while he was returning the affection with purr-inducing scratches under the chin. She never felt more abandoned in her life.

Then, it thundered. It was a low, rumbling sort that forecasted an incoming storm. Grace looked up and saw the storm clouds, hanging so low in the sky that she felt she might be able to touch them if she stretched her hand out. After taking a last lingering look in the direction of the intruding stranger, she turned and started home. She tried to shrug off that feeling of heavy gloom. She tried to shrug off the feeling of being forsaken.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 4

“Hey Gab! Am I late?” Emily paused to take a deep breath to calm her panting down. Damn stairs always killed her, especially when she took two at a time. “Sorry, I was caught up with eating with the girls.” Emily smiled as she placed her bag down and sat beside Gabriel.

“Hi! You’re slightly early, as usual,” Gabriel smiled as he pushed his laptop aside so that Emily could have his hundred percent attention, “So how’s lunch with the girls?”

“The usual load of gossip. Oh! We were talking about Andrew’s love life,” Emily giggled, “Hey! You haven’t told me who Andrew likes.”

“Why are you so interested in Andrew’s love life?” Gabriel scrunched up his eyebrows.

“I’m interested in love lives in general. Besides, Andrew is your friend. Why wouldn’t I be interested in knowing your friends?” Emily tossed the question at Gabriel good-naturedly.

“Oh, I see. For a moment there I thought you like Andrew,” the sentence tasted bitter on his tongue.

“He is too colourful for my liking,” Emily scoffed, “I prefer guys who are more down to earth, mild-tempered. Basically, a family guy. Someone like…” Emily ran through her list of guy friends, not noticing the way Gabriel was hanging onto her unfinished statement, “someone like Daniel I suppose.”

Gabriel’s smile faltered, but he hid it quickly with a cough, “Daniel’s alright.” He offered, reluctant to plunge into a long essay on his friend’s qualities.

“I never asked you about your love life, have I?” Emily was shocked that it had never occurred to her that Gabriel might have a girlfriend. It just seemed so natural that he was still single.

“Er, nope, you haven’t,” Gabriel shifted in his seat and hoped that the sudden interest in his love life would stop there.

No such luck. “So, do you have, like, a girlfriend?” Emily asked.

“Nope,” Gabriel shrugged, and hoped the conversational topic would move on.

No such luck again. “But you must have some girl you like?” Emily pursued, completely ignorant of Gabriel’s discomfort.

Gabriel didn’t answer immediately. He had to find a way to sway this focus on him to someone else. “I had a crush in high school, I mean, every guy does. Andrew had a crush in high school too.” Gabriel counted on Emily’s interest in Andrew’s love life to help him tide over this interrogation, while hoping Andrew would forgive him for this betrayal.

“Oh,” Emily said in a passive tone, “well, what kind of girl was she? The one you liked.” Gabriel groaned within himself.

“Just the normal seventeen-year-old girl. She smiles prettily. And she’s the president for my interact club. It didn’t last very long, so I’ve sort of forgotten about what it was like. How about you Emily?” Gabriel briefly swept over the more technical part of the affair and popped Emily a question before she could ask him a more difficult question, like “So you like any girl now?”

“Well, I just felt that friendships last longer than relationships. So I prefer a guy friend to a boyfriend anytime. Besides, I’m too high maintenance to be someone’s girl.”

“Rubbish! You’d make a wonderful girlfriend,” Gabriel gaped slightly at what he had just said, and added quickly, “I mean, you’re fun, you’re pretty, and you’re… well, I’m just saying that, you know...” Gabriel trailed off before he could say something totally stupid. Emily, on the other hand, was pleasantly amused.

“So you think I make a wonderful girlfriend?” Emily smiled and her right cheek dimpled demurely.

“Yup, that’s what I said,” Gabriel had a feeling he would not like where this was going.

“So you think I’ll make a wonderful girlfriend for you too?” Emily couldn’t resist teasing this guy. There was this blissful sense of accomplishment seeing how flustered he was getting because of her.

However, Gabriel recovered quickly from this stressful situation. He forced himself to get a hold on himself before he spilled anything that would tip the equilibrium of this precious friendship. He willed a smirk on his face and said, “You’re not trying to woo me are you? I thought you prefer a guy friend anytime?” Gabriel grew more confident as he saw Emily’s face blank out from surprise, “But if that’s what you want, I suppose I can sacrifice myself and let you kiss me.” He said, gulping at the delectable imagery he has just conjured in his mind.

Emily laughed out loud. “So, where would you let me kiss you?”

“Oh, that’s very hard to say. Maybe you can tell me where you have in mind and I’ll think about it.”

Emily blinked her eyes a few times. When did Gabriel become so flirty? “Okay, I don’t know what you did to my pal, but you best give him back. I’m missing his little school-boy awkwardness.”

Gabriel laughed. But secretly, he was relieved to have tided over that traumatic experience. “Okay, I’m back,” He said cheerfully.

Emily smiled at this new side of Gabriel she had never seen before, and Gabriel smiled back.

“So you like any girl now?” Emily suddenly asked.

Gabriel felt as if he had just been viciously bombed. He was not expected to give an honest answer right? This was the sort of questions where you can get away with just by smirking right?

And that was what he did. He gave the most conniving smile he could muster and said, “Maybe. Maybe not.” And he smirked again, for good measure.

“Oh come on, you can tell me. Please?” Emily batted her eyelids.

Gabriel just grinned and shook his head. Before Emily could protest, he continued, “We guys prefer to keep the object of our fantasies secretly guarded. Especially from the ob— their best friends.”

Emily pouted, “So does that mean you have a girl you like, and you just don’t want to tell me who?”

Gabriel wondered for a second if Emily’s frowning was because she thought he liked some other girl, or because he didn’t want to tell her. “Maybe, maybe not,” he replied elusively.

Emily looked really indignant, but she didn’t press further. She knew how Gabriel could keep a secret and no one could coax it out of him no matter what. Besides, she wasn’t sure she if she wanted to know.

Not wanting to anger Emily, Gabriel spoke again, less playful this time, “Hey girl, don’t be angry. If I really have a girl, I promise you’ll be the first to know. How’s that?”

Emily nodded in resignation. At least he didn’t have a girl yet. “You brought the statistics textbook like I asked you right?” she asked when she didn’t see it anywhere.

“Oh no, I left it in my locker. I’ll go get it for you.” Gabriel started to get up.

“Thanks.”

Gabriel started towards his lockers, thinking about the girl he had grown so fond of.

Emily was truly one of a kind. He had often marveled at how easily Emily related to her throng of friends and managed to keep in touch with all of them, and their on-goings. She knew all their birthdays by heart, and could list their siblings in ascending order of age.

He had never met a girl who even measures close. She’s really pretty, especially when she smiles, her dimples softening her features. She was very witty and could always make him laugh, even after discovering a new scratch mark on his laptop. But most importantly, she could bring out the best in him; all those faces of him that he would never show anyone else, he could freely bare before her. He knew that he would never find another friend like the one he found in Emily. She would never know how important she was to him.

After all, he was only one of the many guys she fraternized with. And if he was honest with himself, he would say that it was a miracle that they became such close friends. She has so many guy friends who were at least five times better-looking than he was, and a hundred times more out-going. But look at him; he could barely make it to the top eighty percent of that whole cohort of guys.

Gabriel deflated slightly in his confidence department. There was no way he would ever tell Emily just how much he liked her, because Emily would never regard him as anything more than a friend. Ah well, Gabriel comforted himself, at least you get to see her everyday. What more could you want?

He just hoped that Emily would not bring up the topic of his love life again. Ever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 3

“He did what?! How can anyone get full marks in an essay test?” Grace exclaimed in utter disbelief, eyes popping out of their sockets.

“What? Someone scored full marks? Who’s that monster?” putting down her tray of sizzling clay pot rice, a rosy-cheeked girl joined the table.

“Yeah, his name is Andrew, a friend of a friend of mine. I think we just passed his table,” straining her neck this way and that, a girl with nearly tied hair said rather excitedly, “Ah, there he is, that blue table just in front of the western food stall. Angel, can you see him? The guy in jeans.”

“Erm, Emily, there are three guys at the table and they are all in jeans,” Grace raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, right. I wasn’t looking at the other guys, sorry for that,” Emily chuckled, “He’s the one with the chicken rice, the one who’s raising his fork, dipping his chicken into chili sauce and is now popping it into his mouth. And he is not cutting the cucumber with his-”

“Thank you for that interesting commentary, I’m sure we got the guy, right Angel?” Grace stopped her friend before she could get to the intricacies of the way he is chewing his chicken.

“Yeah, saw him. Guy in jeans with cucumber rice,” Angel said without as much as a look in that direction.

“Actually we usually call it chicken rice, but I guess that’s close enough,” Emily poked fun at her friend.

“Er yeah, that’s what I mean,” Angel said with a hint of a blush.

“He’s rather cute you know. I heard from a very reliable source that he’s still unattached,” Emily grinned mischievously, “Maybe I’ll ask him out sometime.”

Angel and Grace shot their heads up at the comment, one face showed slight horror and the other extreme amusement.

“I was just joking. I’m not stupid you know. A guy like that is totally not my style. Besides, the very reliable source told me that he is single solely because he likes some girl from his high school but is too shy to ask her out,” Emily said, not quite believing in the last part of her statement herself.

“Shy? Is that even possible?” Grace snorted. She had always caught him flirting around with the girls after class, charming them with his good looks and brilliant mind, though she doubted those bimbos cared as much as she did for intelligence in a guy.

Just this morning, Cindy had called her at 2 am, bitching and crying about how she was brutally rejected. He didn’t seem shy at all from the way he rejected a girl. She knew for sure from the way Cindy cursed him to hell. Shy my foot. Grace mentally spat at him and numbered him among the To-Avoid list of people. She was about to roll her eyes away from the table when someone else caught her eye.

The guy from her biodiversity class had just joined the table with his steaming hot what-ever-it-is in the big green bowl. Andrew said something and made him laugh. Although he was not as dazzlingly handsome as Andrew, no one can deny the hypnotic magnetism of his sunshine smile.

Not even her.

He looked up and their eyes met. She saw the same seductive shine in his eyes as was in Andrew’s. Birds of the same feather, Grace thought to herself, as she chucked the guy under her mental Maybe-To-Avoid list.

Grace noticed how Emily has just erupted into a brisk-eating worthy of a Guinness World record. “Emily, why are you gorging yourself? You don’t have any more lessons for the day right?” Grace stared in disbelief and horror as Emily successfully engulfed the last of her laksa.

“’M meet’n fwen fer ‘tardyin’ ‘n ‘m ‘ate,” Emily spoke through that mouthful of food and made a massive gulp, swallowing that lump of partially chewed bean curd and zoomed off without even saying goodbye.

Grace looked at her watch, which said a quarter to one, “didn’t Emily say she is meeting a friend at one?” Grace double-checked with Angel.

“Yeah she did. Why?”

“It’s only a quarter to one and she said she’s late. Did I hear that wrong? Since when has Emily been even on time when she meets us?” Grace exclaimed in slight indignation.

Angel shrugged.

The two girls finished the rest of their lunch in silence as Grace wondered who exactly Emily was rushing to meet. Then they made their way to the ir next lecture venue. Grace took out her diary to continue writing where she left off on the bus that morning. She flipped open the diary and the pages opened up to where she had slipped the poem paper that guy on the bus returned to her. She read the poem again and was utterly amused by it.

The poem read:

In a bell jar a sea sponge’s on display

“Do not touch” a sign on it says

To Mr. Sea Sponge’s absolute dismay

That didn’t keep a boy’s curious hands away

Another black invertebrate slug

Had the honour of his fingerly hug

Then his friend came and gave it a tug

Poor Mr. Slug’s dented where their fingers had dug

A cute little starfish with five tentacles in sum

Lay in a basin, dignified and calm

That boy gave it a handshake and did it great harm

Now poor Ms Starfish is left with four arms

Grace smiled at the last stanza. She remembered having nearly bursting out in giggles in the laboratory when she wrote it. The vivid memories of the guy’s sheepish and apologetic smile while holding the decapitated starfish has made her laugh to herself the whole of that day. Putting the poem aside and picking up her favorite purple pen, she continued with her diary entry:

[I’ll have him enrolled in a class to learn how to treat a lady right. To think a handsome, intelligent guy like him would have manners to complete the package. Urgh! And he has this really creepy friend. How did he know my name when I barely even noticed his existence? And I certainly don’t like the way he looked at me on the bus this morning. It was very…….. invading.]

Grace frowned at this thought. She remembered feeling watched during biodiversity practical last Friday and wondered if he was the one who was looking at her. How else would he have noticed her dropping the poem? Shaking away that disturbing speculation, she continued writing:

[I wonder what kind of guy he is like, although I’d probably not want to find out. Any friend if Andrew’s not going to be a good friend of mine, I’m sure. No matter, I still prefer a cat to a guy any time. Which reminds me, Nini didn’t seem well the last time I saw her. Maybe she’s going to give birth soon. I hope the babies are alright. I’ll have to start thinking of new names! Oh I wonder how many kittens she’ll be having this time.]

Grace closed her diary and went on her daily business, all the while trying not to think about that perplexing guy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 2

“Unbelievable I tell you, there can never be a lecture as boring as that! I swear, watching my toe nail grow is twice as accomplishing,” rolling his eyes, a handsome young man spoke in a mocking tone. He had a pair of sparking eyes, adorned with double eyelids and long, curved lashes. As he spoke, his larynx bobbed in synchrony, accentuating his masculinity.

“Hell, yeah. Lucky thing I brought my wife here to entertain myself. Andrew, would you hold my wife for me for a sec? I’m desperately urgent,” said another more average-looking guy, as he pushed his Toshiba laptop to his friend.

“Sure, you go do your thing while I get familiar with your wife,” Andrew replied, a mischievous smirk formed on the handsome face as he flashed his eyebrows.

Turning to a dazed comrade standing beside him, Andrew swept his open palm in front of his friend’s face and said almost exasperatedly, “Hey? Hello? Can you wipe that weird smile off your face now? You’ve been grossing me out for the past half an hour.”

“Hey dude, I was in the middle of my most erotic fantasy and you just totally demolished it. Why don’t you go disturb someone else for a change?” the guy looked around for something, “And where is Gabriel?”

“He went to relieve himself. What? You want him to accompany you to the washroom?” Andrew sniggered and pointed in the direction of the gents, “There, he’s done. Man, he’s fast for someone who’s desperately urgent.”

“It’s called superior plumbing my friend. Ah, I see Daniel’s not smiling to the air anymore. I don’t know what you did but I sure am glad it worked. He’s been grossing me out for the past half hour,” Gabriel laughed.

Andrew burst out laughing and when it died down enough for him to speak, he patted Gabriel on the back and said, “Spoken like a true brother. Come on, let’s go get my Biology of the Body text from my locker before we get lunch.”

“Hey, I’ll just wait for you guys here, it’s too far to crawl,” Daniel said.

“Alright, then hold my wife for me,” handing his laptop to Daniel, Gabriel suddenly pulled it back into his arms and continued, “Don’t let me see you drop it again or I’ll-“

“Crucify me. Yes, I get it,” Daniel said dryly.

Gabriel followed Andrew up the stairs. Daniel sat sown at the study table and placed the laptop by his side. He smiled incredulously to himself. He had known Gabriel for a long time but he didn’t realize that Gabriel was a man very protective of his treasured possessions, for Gabriel had always been a mild-tempered guy. His temperament had always been as calm as a sheltered lake, gently rippling in sync with his circadian rhythms.

Indeed, he had never seen Gabriel get angry or upset over anything at all. It seemed like nothing could move him. Yet ever since Gabriel bought that laptop, he had been unfathomably attached to it, and his emotional tides rose and fell according to the welfare of his “wife”. Daniel wondered if his friend would show the same devotion to his future girlfriend. It would be such a sight to behold, he was sure of it.

In fact, he was also absolutely certain that the Andrew-in-love would be equally, if not surpassingly, phenomenal. He could almost imagine Andrew teasing the hell out of his girl, balancing her thinly on the verge of crying and laughing. He could scarcely believe how any girl is able to handle a guy you can love and hate at the same time.

Daniel could hardly suppress a grin as he pictured his friends holding their girls and gazing tenderly at them. He mentally added himself to the picture, but he needed a girl.

What kind of girl? A face began to solidify in his mental sketchpad. Long hair, fringe delicately caressing her brows. Eyes as innocently pure as a newborn child’s, growing more sparkling with each blink.

Daniel smiled as he replayed the girl’s smile in his mind for the hundredth time. He had seen her on the first day of school, clasping her phone in both wavering hands and looking around anxiously. He remembered they were all waiting for their turn to be matriculated and there was a massive crowd outside the halls. People were standing with their cliques and chatting excitedly.

And then he saw her, backed to a pillar by a stream of people alighting from the shuttle bus. He remembered how her head was lowered in a rather defensive manner, flinching every now and then when someone brushed past her, frowning ever so slightly. She only managed a flicker of a smile when a senior handed her a can of coca cola. Daniel breathed a sigh of amusement when he recalled how cute he had thought that lip-nibbling girl was at that time.

He never figured out what hit him but when he saw her again at the library, he was mightily surprised. There has got to be forty to fifty students in there, yet he had spotted her the instant he stepped in.

It was almost as magical as the time he saw her on the first biochemistry lecture, amidst the three hundred faces.

“Hey!” a really loud voice shattered Daniel’s daydream and ear drums.

“What?!” Daniel snorted vindictively. This guy was always interrupting his blissful thoughts in the most destructive of ways.

“What what?” Andrew was taken aback by the hostility, “I’ve been calling you for like three, four times?”

“Oh, sorry. I was just trying to recall if glycine is an acidic or basic amino acid,” Daniel said lamely, “Where’s Gab?”

Gabriel tapped his shoulder from the back and Daniel jumped. Gabriel picked up his laptop and hugged it to his chest, “What’s wrong with you? You haven’t been yourself the whole day. First that creepy smile, now this out-of-body experience thing. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about….” Gabriel contemplated his words for a moment while Daniel held his breath in suspense, “what to buy for me for Christmas already?” Gabriel beamed.

“Er yeah, I was thinking of getting the anti-wrinkly moisturizer for your wife. She needs to conceal those scratch lines, “Daniel retaliated.

“She does not!” Gabriel scrawled very much insultedly.

“According to my professional analysis,” Andrew spoke in a deeper than usual voice, “there can only be one reason why Daniel is acting as if he is in love, and that is he hasn’t been getting enough sleep and vitamin C.”

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with me!” Daniel denied vehemently, “Now let’s head for lunch, no more funny business!”

They weaved their way through the unusually crowded canteen and procured for themselves a table, littered inconsiderately by its previous occupants. But they were desperate in the race against time to be picky.

Queuing for his food in an impossibly long queue, Daniel let his eyes wonder around the buzzing of the canteen. There was order in the chaos, and it was almost entertaining to watch people follow the “traffic rules” in the crowded canteen.

Suddenly, he caught sight of the girl he had been sort of thinking about today. He tried not to stare, but found himself do the look-don’t look-look routine every three steps she took. He took a step forward in the moving queue and turned his eyes back to the girl.

He let out a silent gasp when he saw her glance his way and they exchanged eye contact for a split of a second. And then, it was gone. She fleeted her eyes away as naturally as if she had just locked eye contact with a stranger.

I think she still doesn’t remember me; Daniel thought rather hopelessly and gave a most disconcerting sigh.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*