Thursday, August 5, 2010

A Fairytail : Chapter 4

Over the next few days, Anna avoided Gabriel the best she could. She would go into class at the very last minute and sit as far as possible away from him. When the lecture is done, she would be the first one out, not giving him the opportunity to approach her. Many a times, in the classes they shared, she could feel his gaze piercing into her very soul but she brushed off the feeling, persuading herself that it was no more than a figment of her silly imagination. Then there are moments she could have sworn she heard him calling her name but she crudely dismissed the thought before she has had the chance to confirm it. Anna was resolute to expunge him from her life and so far, it’s going according to plan. This pleased and saddened her at the same time.

The college organised a fair for its clubs and societies to recruit their respective members. Tents of all sizes and colours were pitched in the open assembly area. With the latest songs on the pop chart booming from the speakers, it looked more like a carnival. Existing club members were trying their best to entice newbies to sign up with them. Pens, key chains and candies were the common bribes used to lure in potential recruits and it’s no surprise how efficient these insignificant hand-outs get the job done.

After spending hours, literally rubbing shoulders with the rest of the college community and putting the fine art of verbal rejection to good use, Anna and Wei Yee finally put their name down for the college’s Outdoor Society. The panoramic photos of happy campers beneath a gushing waterfall and the view of the sunrise taken from the summit of Mount Kinabalu promised an abundance of adventure ahead. Besides, they got a water tumbler each which they both thought was rather neat.

Anna saw Gabriel hanging out with a couple of jocks at the Soccer Club’s booth. The guys were generally gorgeous looking and blessed with matching physique. They were talking and laughing without a care in the world, knowing full well the effect they were emanating to the rest of the envious people around them. The rays of the afternoon sun bouncing off this group of immaculately groomed individuals radiated an aura of absolute coolness. Anna couldn’t help being bedazzled and she hated herself for it.

As if tugged by unseen forces, Gabriel suddenly stopped chatting, turned and looked directly at Anna. Their gazes locked and he offered her his trademark smile. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered furiously. This overwhelming sensation panicked her and she hurried towards Wei Yee who was already on her way to get a vanilla milkshake from the cafeteria. Her hasty action caused Anna to miss the look of dejection that registered on Gabriel’s face when she ignored his genuine show of affection.

Queuing up at the drink counter, Anna pleaded ‘Wei Wei, you need to help me get a grip of myself. I saw him and all my defences just crumbled’. ‘Just be like me. I saw him too. So just ignore him la. What’s it gonna be ... strawberry or vanilla?’ countered Wei Yee. ‘Vanilla ... no, wait, strawberry,’ Anna replied sheepishly. ‘Two milkshakes please. One vanilla and one strawberry,’ Wei Yee told the grumpy looking Chinese lady behind the counter who in turn screeched to her teenage daughter cum helper standing no more than three feet away ‘Meelk sake! Vaaneela chee pueh! Stobelee chee pueh!’. She faced the girls and said ‘Lak kor (Six Ringgit)’.

They chose to sit at a quiet corner and the only audible sounds were emitted from their straws as they sipped on the blend of artificially flavoured fluids.

Out of no where, a figure towered over them and said in a shrilly voice to Anna ‘Hi, I’m sure you remember me. I’m Maya. For some reason, Gabe thinks that I’ve offended you the other day and insist that I apologize. So here I am ... apologizing for his sake’. Anna didn’t know how to respond. She only thing in her mind was that gazing up at Maya, she could observe her neatly trimmed nose hair very clearly. ‘Yeap, you were right. She looks like a bitch. She dresses like a bitch and now she acts like one too. No doubt, a bitch through and through,’ said Wei Yee out loud as she glanced up at Maya and shot her a very phony grin. ‘HA. HA. Jealousy breeds idiocy,’ snapped Maya as she strutted away. Anna reached across the table to grip her friend’s hand and said ‘Thank you’. ‘Believe me, it was my pleasure,’ replied Wei Yee warmly with a cheeky wink.

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