Afraid of being late for Mr. Ananda’s class, Anna broke into a sprint towards Lecture Hall 2. A text message from Wei Yee just came in, informing her that the burly lecturer was already arranging his slides on the projector and was about to begin. Pushing open the door as quietly as possible, she slithered into the hall and instantly spotted Wei Yee waving at her. Anna tip toed and settled herself into the seat her friend had earlier saved for her. ‘Phew,’ sighed Anna as she paused to breathe before taking out her notepad. ‘Living life on the edge huh,’ teased Wei Yee. ‘You know me,’ retorted Anna smartly.
As they were busy taking down notes, someone from behind tapped Anna’s shoulder. As she turned around, that stranger handed her a piece of folded paper and whispered ‘For you’. ‘Errr … thanks,’ replied Anna softly before turning around with the piece of paper in her hand. She unfolded the paper and read the scribbling
Hey, just wanted to apologize on behalf of Maya for what happened the other day. Would like to make it up to you. Coffee after class? My treat.
Gabe
Anna knew Wei Yee had read the note as well. She turned towards her friend and raised her eyebrows. Wei Yee responded by rolling her eyes and carried on jotting down notes on the molecular structure of methyl bromide.
He stood waiting for her at the entrance of the college. She halted her walking to savour the moment. He was almost picture perfect. The breeze was blowing gently lifting his hair up for a moment before dropping them lightly across the sides his face again. Gabriel reminded her of a leading male lead in one of those tragic Korean drama series. An upward curl escaped from her lips uncontrollably.
She tugged on his sleeve and trying to sound as casual as possible, said ‘Hiya.’ He turned around and at once, gave her a heart melting smile. ‘Don’t blush Anna, don’t you dare blush,’ the thought to herself. ‘So where’s this coffee place? Is it near enough for us to walk to?’ she asked. ‘Yea. It’s just two blocks away. It opened a couple of months back. Just wait a moment k. Maya should be here any minute,’ he said looking around obviously for Maya. Anna felt as if she had been stabbed in her gut. ‘Actually, I just remembered I’m meeting someone else. I really got to go,’ she stammered. Crossing the street hastily, Anna heard Gabriel shouting her name. She turned around to offer him a half hearted wave and saw Maya sashaying towards Gabriel from behind, directing a smile most sinister at Anna. A bus stopped in front of her, erasing her view of Gabriel. She got in without caring if it is the right bus taking her home. Staring out at the window through teary eyes, Anna was trying in vain to put back together pieces of her broken heart.
Later that night ...
‘Aiya, forget about him la. He’s hardly worth it. Guys with looks like his, they’ll be flirting with the next girl in a short skirt the moment you turn your back on them,’ comforted Wei Yee. ‘Besides, you two have hardly spoken ten sentences to each other right?’ she added. ‘Yea, you’re right. He’s not worth it,’ Anna answered, trying to convince herself of the fact. *Pause* ‘But you know, it just feels different whenever I see him. It’s like the insides of my stomach are doing cartwheels, my heart beats a little faster and everything around me suddenly appears more … colourful. I know it’s stupid of me to feel this way but it’s just the way it is,’ Anna explained over the cordless phone tugged between her cheeks and shoulder. ‘Okay, okay, so you’ve got a major crush on the guy. It’s not hard to see why but how sure are you this is going to lead anywhere? I just don’t want to see my best friend getting hurt. Then I’d be forced to kick his ass and I really prefer to keep a clean record in college,’ Wei Yee responded. Anna couldn’t suppress a smile when reminded how wonderful a friend Wei Yee is to her. ‘Alright, I’m going to forget ‘bout him,’ exclaimed Anna. ‘You do that,’ Wei Yee replied. ‘I will. And thanks for hearing me out. Don’t know what will I do without you babe,’ Anna said trying to sound adorable. ‘You can buy me lunch tomorrow and I need to go shave my legs now before the WWF declares it the next protected rainforest reserve. G’nite girl,’ uttered Wei Yee before clicking the phone off.
The last thought Anna had before drifting off to sleep was how ridiculous it was to allow herself to feel so deeply for someone she barely knew.
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