Their common classes were Chemistry, Physics and Modern Maths. Wei Yee stuck with Biology while Anna opted for Accounting. Anna’s better with numbers and besides, dissecting a live frog last year made her lose her appetite for the entire week. Nothing could persuade her to go through that gut wrenching experience ever again. Wei Yee on the other hand aspired to pursue medicine ever since she sat in her cousin’s fiancé’s flashy BMW. The way Dr. Eric discussed medical procedures over the phone with his colleague set an everlasting impression on the teenage Wei Yee then. Anna hasn’t set her target on her career choice, so she figured it would be best to select general subjects that will equip her with the broadest range of knowledge.
Since Accounting has less than fifty students all together, the lecture was conducted in a large classroom rather than a hall. Anna selected a seat three rows from the front and positioned her notepad and stationeries neatly on the table. The rest of the students were taking their places when someone occupied the seat next to her. She peeked and it was that guy. Her heart skipped a beat before he said ‘Just for the record, I was late for class because my car broke down. I had to wait for the tow truck to haul it to the workshop. So if you can, please convey my message to your friend, the wise one.’ She desperately wanted to say something but she was again spell bounded by his boyish grin. He swiped his hair, tucking it suavely behind his ear and stared at her.
Her mouth moved without words, like a fish out of water, gasping for air. Something clicked in her mind and she stuttered ‘Oh, I saw you. I mean I saw your car by the roadside when I was on the bus to college.’ Just then, the lecturer, Ms. Tan walked in and said ‘Alrightey class, page three on your textbooks please.’ ‘I’m Gabriel,’ he whispered. ‘Annabelle. Friends call me Anna,’ she replied as rushing blood reddened her cheeks.
The minutes ticked excruciatingly slow and by the time the 53 year old tutor ended her teaching, more than half the class were on their way to dreamland. People started making a bee line towards the exit of the class when a girl came and stood in front of Anna and Gabriel. ‘Hey Gabe,’ she said beaming her megawatt smile. ‘Hey there,’ replied Gabriel not matching her enthusiasm. Dressed to impress, the girl wore a short chequered skirt and a white shirt with four of her top buttons opened revealing the scarlet tube inside. Her attire magnified her physical attributes particularly zoning in on her legs that seems endless until it reaches her vivacious buttocks. She is what college society would generally term a hottie. ‘She your new plaything?’ asked the hottie obviously referring to Anna without looking. Anna who was attempting to ignore her while packing up her stuff couldn’t help but to glare at the girl, stunned at the disrespect directed towards her. ‘What? No!’ answered Gabriel at once. ‘This is Anna and she’s just a friend,’ he continued. ‘Whatever! The gang’s heading to Starbucks at the mall. Wanna come? We have loads to catch up on,’ she said suggestively. ‘Sure,’ Gabriel replied briskly. ‘Hey Anna, you wanna join us,’ he offered. Anna just shook her head, stood up and left abruptly. For some unexplainable reason, she felt upset by his statement ‘she’s just a friend’. Not far behind, Anna could hear the hottie laughing uproariously and on reflex, walked faster away.
‘So tell me all about your first day in college,’ enquired Claire as she made preparations for dinner. ‘It was nothing Ma. Just like high school except no uniforms and longer breaks. The hall was freezing though. Remind me to bring along my cardigan tomorrow ok,’ said Anna as she drank the milk straight from its carton box. Her tastebuds registered a vile sourness that naturally caused her face to contort. ‘The milk’s bad Ma,’ squeaked Anna as she rushed to the sink to gargle on tap water, ridding her tongue of the nauseating aftertaste. ‘I’m so sorry dear. I’ll get fresh ones tomorrow ok,’ said Claire as she quickly tossed the carton box with its expired liquid into the trash.
In the next three hours, Anna had made five agonizing visits to the bathroom. It’s evident that the milk is not going to go down quietly. In fact, her stomach was churning so badly that the doctor had to give her an injection in addition to the usual diarrhoea pills. Anna is terrified of syringes but comparing that to the piercing stirring in her belly, she gladly endured the former. Back home and resting on her bed, she texted Wei Yee ‘TERRIBLE STOMACH UPSET. NEED HUG :( WON’T BE GOING TO COLLEGE TOMORROW. SAVE ME YOUR NOTES’. Two minutes later, her mobile vibrated with a reply ‘REST WELL. DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE NOTES. WILL VISIT AFTER CLASSES. XOXO’. Anna switched off her night light praying that she won’t need to use the bathroom until morning.
Anna spent the morning slurping on tasteless noodle soup prepared by Claire before she headed out for work. For lunch, it was cream of mushroom from a can and some re-heated honey & oat bread. In between meals, she was channel surfing on the devil box and was pleased that she only needed to go to the bathroom once. The doorbell rang and she picked her weary self up to greet a smiling Wei Yee who had brought along a packet of tau foo fa (bean curd dessert) to share. They enjoyed the sweet pudding as Anna lazily browsed through the photocopied notes her friend had compiled according to subject. ‘Oh, dunno-what’s-his-name asked for you today,’ Wei Yee said out of the blue, her eyes still fixed on the TV. The image of Gabriel immediately floated into Anna’s mind and she casually replied, pretending not to care ‘Ummm, what did he say?’. ‘Nothing much. Just asked how come you weren’t in Accountancy today,’ Wei Yee said as she flipped to the Discovery channel. ‘I see, Errr ... was he with anyone then?’ Anna said while stirring her spoon in the empty dessert bowl. ‘Didn’t notice. Why do you care anyway?’ Wei Yee eyed Anna curiously. ‘OHH. You’ve got a thing for what’s-his-name!’ she gasped dropping the TV remote. ‘No la! And he’s got a name for crying out loud. It’s Gabriel,’ Anna replied a bit too loudly. ‘Yesterday, one of his girl friend referred to me as his new plaything. So I just wanted to know if that bimbo is still hanging around,’ Anna offered the explanation. As soon as she said it, even she herself couldn’t deny how lame the excuse sounded. ‘If you say so,’ replied Wei Yee with a naughty smirk.
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