The first college semester is zipping by rapidly. The students were fervently going through the days without a minute to spare. In between the lectures, tutorials, assignments and exams, some were naively falling in love while others committing themselves to temporary best-friend-forever bonds. More often than not, neither will last through the end of the year. Sex and booze are all the rage and made more so by the fact that both are so easily attainable in today’s ungoverned society. To be involved is to fit in and hardly anyone dares to defy the status quo. The more daring ones were busy getting intoxicated by experimenting on substances readily made available by Josh. Frequently lounging in the alley beside the 7-Eleven store, the pusher is at all times secreting beneath his trademark crimson Timberland cap. The bright colour acts as an easy beacon for his customers to home in to. The unnatural ‘high’ guaranteed, coupled with the excitement from breaking the law infused an irresistible addiction in his regulars. Their insatiable hunger for more makes business very good for Josh indeed.
On the whole, the college community is exploring the limitless avenues granted by their new found freedom. Once a preferred avenue is found, they will tend to push the boundaries. For most, the phrase, curiosity kills the cat fails to come into play.
Anna and Wei Yee made a pact to keep each other grounded on the morals which they were brought up on. Each will police the other’s behaviour to make certain that neither one will be tainted by the sinful temptations offered beneath life’s mask of false veracity. Anna didn’t need reminders to recognize how difficult it was for her mother to slave through the job she so despised to afford Anna a comfortable education. Furthermore, Anna has been missing her mother lately. They hardly had the chance to see each other apart from dinner time. Locking herself up in her room on most evenings to complete her assignments, she would appear later in the night to find Claire already fast asleep, sometimes as early as 9:00 p.m. Times like these, she would be overwhelmed with guilt for not being able to help ease her mother’s fatigue.
Their little band of misfits consisting of Steve, a religious Trekkie and a devotee of all things science fiction, Katie, arguably the most intellectual human Anna and Wei Yee have ever met, Ivan, Katie’s acne prone twin brother cum die hard fan of Japanese music pop groups and finally, Jung Ho, an extremely bashful Korean exchange student who hardly speaks any English would spend their time in college hobbling between classes, the library and the cafeteria. On the rare occasions where weather permits, they would relax beneath a shady 65 year old Angsana tree towering high within the college compound, enjoying a silent game of people watching.
Three long days stand in between the girls and their first trip with the Outdoor Society. A two nights three days camping excursion at a forest reserve along the borders of Pahang (a state in Peninsular Malaysia) does sound awfully appealing since it gave them the opportunity to momentarily liberate themselves from the burden of lectures and assignments. Wei Yee had only ever camped once throughout her 18 years existence on God’s green earth and that was only in her school’s field. Anna is a self confessed camping virgin. So their rising enthusiasm as the day drew nearer was understandable.
On the night before the camping trip ...
‘You packed everything?’ enquired Claire. ‘For the hundredth time, YES Ma,’ Anna punctuated. ‘What about your insect repellent? The diarrhoea meds? You never know what they’ll feed you in the jungle,’ pestered her worried mother. ‘Oh and will you be having your period then? You need pads?’ continued Claire. Anna rolled her eyes and said ‘Yes Ma, insect repellent’s already in the bag. So are the meds. You packed them in yourself remember. Just so you know, we’ll be surviving mostly on canned beans, bread and instant packet curries and cup noodles, not leaves or any creepy crawlies. And no, I won’t be having my period seeing that I’ve just had it last week’. She gripped both her mother’s palms and soothed ‘It’s only for three days. I’ll be back before you know it’. ‘But it’s the jungle and a mother always worries. You’ll call me each night right?’ Claire replied. ‘Errr … I don’t think my mobile will have any signal in the middle of the jungle Ma,’ said Anna to her wide eyed mother.
At 5:30 a.m., the thirty seven eager beavers gathered at the designated assembly point, ready to board the bus that will ferry them to the camp site. Two members failed to show up and the annoyed group leader, Bruce was trying to get through their mobiles to no avail. Anna and Wei Yee were chatting animatedly as they chewed on lukewarm fishballs on a stick they had earlier bought from 7-Eleven. Steve was still deciding between a can of Milo or Nescafe. A gleaming Mercedes S Class screeched to a halt and everyone turned to stare. Gabriel climbed out from the back seat, flashed a grin to Bruce and ran over to him to apologize. At that instant, Wei Yee nudged Anna to close her opened mouth which revealed some rather disgusting mashed up fish paste. ‘What is he doing here?’ exclaimed Anna to her friend. ‘How should I know,’ answered Wei Yee before popping the last fishball into her jaws. Less than a minute later, Bruce announced ‘Ok listen up everyone. As I’ve explained earlier, we’re going by the buddy system here, meaning you pick a partner and you look out for each other. If your partner is M.I.A, you report to me. If your partner is ill, you report to me. If your partner goes berserk in the middle of the jungle … you report to me. Am I understood?’ Majority murmured ‘Yes’. Now if there’s anyone who doesn’t have a partner yet, raise your hand,’ Bruce instructed. Everyone looked around and two hands were up. One belonging to Steve and the other, Gabriel. ‘There you go fellas, a match made in heaven. Now let’s get a move on. In an orderly fashion, store your belongings into the bus’s storage compartment and then board up, one pair at a time. Nobody leaves the bus once their in. Janice here will be taking your attendance,’ Bruce said gesturing to the petite bespectacled gal standing beside him. Janice waved at the rest of them cartoonishly.
Anna and Wei Yee were amongst the first few on board and they chose to sit two rows from the front. When Steve came up, he said to Gabriel ‘Hey, these are my friends, Anna and Wei Yee. Girls, this is Gabriel’. ‘We’ve met,’ answered Wei Yee frostily. ‘Great. Lets sit here,’ Steve said to Gabriel as he settled into the seat behind the girls, obviously not detecting the coldness in Wei Yee’s words. ‘Only if that’s ok with you?’ asked Gabriel looking at Anna. ‘It’s a free country,’ Anna responded.
The journey took a strenuous six and a half hours. Throughout the ride, Steve was painstakingly trying to get the three of them to warm up to each other. At last, he gave up and slept instead. Anna could feel the back of her neck prickling, as if Gabriel was sending electric pulses through his gaze from behind.
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