NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

At 2.30pm, Kyle was already waiting at the gate to welcome Master Xin, the Wing Chun instructor. She was scheduled to arrive at 2.45pm, and it was Kyle's habit to always be at least 10 minutes earlier than the appointed time.

As he often told Kay, 'I can wait for people, but I do not want people to wait for me.'

Kyle didn't want Master Xin to wander in by herself, so he purposely stood by the gate. He was leaning on the wall of the gate, busy tapping messages into his phone while looking up once in a while to see if she was arriving.

He cut quite a dashing figure as he lazily leaned on the wall, the sunlight glistening in his hair - creating such a wistful and dreamlike picture. It was unfortunate that the front gate was blocked by the administration building, for the students couldn't pretend to be 'in the area' just to stare at Kyle.

They were supposed to be at the fields, or in their respective co-curricular activities room. Still, lots of them did sneak out to stealthily take pictures of him. Kyle was oblivious to it all, as he had more important things to do.

'So, guys. When will it be? I propose this evening' - Kyle

'Of course. Sam doesn't stay in the dorms so he has more chances of escaping' - Ali

'Most importantly, where? Our room?' - Xing Han

'You think he's going to go in there willingly?' - Kyle

'You never know' - Xing Han

'It's Sam. He's probably thinking of 1001 ways to escape' - Ali

'So we have to think of 1002 ways to capture him' - Kyle

?? Student Council Room ??

Sam was tapping the table with his pencil, staring at the notebook in front of him. He hardly managed to get the work done.

He glanced at the clock. It was not yet 3pm. Right now, Kyle would be at the gates so there was no way he would be able to slip out then. He would need to wait until Kyle was busy with Master Xin before he would even make an attempt. Or should he?

Sam was in a dilemma.

On the one hand, he wanted to get it over and done with. On the other hand, he wanted to run away as fast as possible so that they wouldn't catch him. He knew the latter was merely delaying the inevitable but he didn't care at that moment. He wasn't quite ready to introduce Sam Jr to the world.

Sam looked up and saw that Beatrice was busy looking through some files, trying to make the arrangements for the upcoming Valentine's Day. If left unchecked, things could get quite unruly but the rules can't be so strict that the students would feel that it was unfair. You can't clamp down on people wanting to express their love, can you?

He smiled as he saw Beatrice scrunching up her face, and he thought she looked rather cute when she was concentrating so hard like that. Lately, he noticed that she was not as nervous as she normally was whenever she was around him. That made him happy, for it showed that she was becoming more open than before.

They heard a tentative knock on the door. Sam turned to look at the door, and saw it slowly creak open and a head slowly emerging. As if the person was worried about coming in.

"Betty?" Beatrice said in surprise, recognising her even though only 1/3 of her face was being shown.

The moment Sam saw that vision at the door, he quickly closed his notebook. He got up and immediately headed to the bathroom without a word, closing the door firmly and locking it.

Beatrice watched him go curiously, figuring he really needed to go. He even brought his notebook along, so it must be a long one.

"What are you doing there? Come in," Beatrice coaxed when she realised that Betty was still lingering at the door. Betty blinked and she slowly slid inside, closing the door behind her.

"I'm not bothering you?" she asked hesitatingly, her eyes darting around and briefly at the bathroom door.

"No," Beatrice answered, closing the file, "I could use a break."

Betty nodded and skipped over, sitting on the chair and leaning onto the table, staring at Beatrice, "What time will you be done?"

"Why? Have you finished choosing your co-curricular activities already?" Beatrice asked back.

Betty bit her lower lip and looked down, shaking her head, "I can't really decide yet. We have two days, right? I'll figure it out by tomorrow."

"So did you survey all of the activities available? You need to make an informed decision," Beatrice advised, "Sakura Academy has so many available, so you are really spoilt for choice."

Beatrice then began to list and explain all of the activities that she felt Betty would enjoy, and Betty listened diligently while asking some questions now and then.

Meanwhile, Sam, who had escaped to the bathroom, was sitting on the toilet seat. He had closed the lid, so he wasn't there to do any 'business'. He just felt uncomfortable continuing what he was doing when Betty came in. He thought he could continue in the privacy of the bathroom, but he was so wrong.

He could clearly hear Betty's clear voice and he just couldn't concentrate. He looked at the notebook, seeing the crude sketch of Sam Jr and he closed his eyes with a big sigh. There was no way he could do this while hearing her voice. He decisively closed his notebook and leaned back.

Sam tried to concentrate and think of an escape plan but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. His concentration kept getting broken whenever that darn bunny's melodious voice was heard. Sam sat up straight, furiously scratching his head.

'Stupid hormones,' he cursed to himself.

On the plus side, it was only towards Betty. If he started getting all flustered with all the girls around him, he'd probably be very worried.

Suddenly, he got an idea.

The moment it came to him, he dashed out without hesitation. Opening the door, he said as he walked out, "I'll show Betty around and maybe that will help her decide."

Beatrice, in the middle of explaining yet another activity, paused and thought about it, "Yes, that sounds like a great idea."

"Oh no no no no!" gasped Betty, shaking her head quickly, her twintails flinging about like whips, "I can't trouble you with this at all! I'm fine on my own. I'll be going now!"

Sam grabbed her arm as she ran by, as he frowned and said to her, "I am the one who suggested it, so it's no trouble."

Then, suddenly realising that he had grabbed her, he quickly let go and said, "Sorry. Perhaps I'm the one who is troubling you."

Betty gasped, her eyes wide as she quickly grabbed his hand with her hands, saying, "No no no!! It's not that at all! You're not troubling me at all! No no no!! I'm just worried I'm troubling you!!"

Betty looked at Beatrice, asking, "Is it really okay?"

Beatrice looked at her strangely, wondering why Betty was asking her that. She shrugged, and said, "Samuel's the one who suggested it. Why wouldn't it be okay?"

Betty nodded, relieved.

She was so worried that Beatrice might not like Sam to accompany her and she didn't want Beatrice to misunderstand. She didn't want Sam to misunderstand either and think that she was being mean in rejecting him.

Betty let out a breath of relief, and was going to put her hand on her chest when she realised that she was still holding Sam's hand. She squeaked and let go, apologizing profusely. She tentatively looked at Sam's face, only to see him staring at her.

She gulped, feeling mortified. He looked angry. He should be. She pulled on her twintails and twitched her nose, biting her bottom lip in embarrassment.

"Let's go," Sam said tersely, walking ahead.

Betty followed with a small pout, watching the firm back of Sam in front of her. She had to run a bit to catch up with him as he took really long and quick strides.

Sam mind was in turmoil.

First, he had grabbed her arm to stop her from running away. When she rejected his offer of help, he felt upset so he had grabbed her arm before he could think about it. When she grabbed his hands, he couldn't help but notice how small and soft her hands were. Yet, firm. Such nice hands that he could hold on forever.

When she let go, he felt upset again.

When he realised what he was feeling, he felt angry at himself and walked off before she could notice his strange behaviour. However, as he walked, he rationalised his feelings and he mentally slapped himself.

Of course, he would feel upset. He only made that offer to Betty in order to use her as a shield against the other guys. They wouldn't attack him when he's with her, right? There was no other reason than that.

Once he figured it out, he stopped walking for he became aware that he was walking too fast. As he did so, he felt someone smash into his back and he instinctively turned. He saw Betty losing her balance and was about to fall, so he reached out to grab her.

His arm snaked around her small waist and he pulled her up to a standing position, as he leaned down. By doing so, their bodies touched and their faces became so close that he could see every eyelash on her eyes. He could even feel her breath on his face.

His brain worked overdrive, as he felt how small her waist was and how soft her body was. He gulped, as these slight differences between a guy and girl went through his mind. His eyes landed on her lips, noticing how it was slightly apart as she breathed through it. She had thin lips, but they looked rather moist and enticing at the moment. Without him realising it, he brought his head down...

"SAM! There you are!!" boomed a voice nearby.