NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

The moment Kyle walked out of the lift at the dorms, he was immediately greeted with a whole crowd of girls waiting.

They were the girls from the dorm and had been waiting for him to come down. Kyle smiled amicably at them, taking whatever gifts were pushed into his hands while internally cringing and screaming.

[Kay, if you love me, please please please GET DOWN NOW] Kyle begged while getting another token from a girl.

Each time he got one, he would take it with a smile, thank the girl sweetly while looking into her eyes and then pass the gift to whichever Elite Five guys were nearby.

They, in turn, would put it into their backpack. Sam's gift was protected well (wrapped in a small towel) and in the front pocket, while Kyle's gifts were placed in the main compartment.

[I'm in the lift already, dear brother. Hold on]

Of course, when the lift doors of the girl's part opened and Kay walked out, it was the guys this time that swarmed over to her. Kyle and the rest quickly went over to shield her from the more enthusiastic ones, making it possible for her to actually move.

Sam watched all of this with a mental shrug.

It was the same scene as before, though now it was intensified? However, there was a slight change to his surprise.

It wasn't just Kyle that received gifts (though granted, he was the one that received the most). In fact, he had also got some gifts, as well as Xing Han and Ali. Xing Han was jumping around like a kangaroo when he got something, which made the girls who gave it to him blush even more.

His experience from primary school was that all of them would be for Kyle. He accepted the gifts with a smile like Kyle did, but didn't encourage anything else. His heart was with a certain bunny, so he didn't want to lead anyone on.

When they entered Sage Class, Kyle practically bounced to his table and hugged it.

"SAFE!"

"Until lunchtime and then again for two hours from 3pm," pointed out Kay with a laugh.

Kyle groaned.

Sam went to his desk and took out the three gifts he got. He stared at it, his feelings a bit conflicted. It would be a lie to say that he never received any Valentine's before, but this was the first time he got it while standing next to Kyle.

Most of the time, people were more engrossed in trying to give Kyle their 'hearts' that the other Elite Five (except for Kay) was as an afterthought. This time, however, the three gifts were from people that only gave it to him.

He wasn't feeling conflicted about his feelings for Betty, but rather, he was starting to feel he understood (a bit) what Kyle was probably feeling. Sam did not know the three girls at all, yet they acted extremely familiar with him and even gave him gifts.

It was weird.

Sam sighed and placed the gifts in a row on his table.

Beatrice came by and passed his table on the way to hers. Her sharp eye caught the chocolate boxes on his desk and she frowned a bit. It was to be expected, right? Yet, knowing and seeing it were two different things.

She sat down as Kay came over and gave her a box.

"What's this?" Beatrice asked in surprise.

"Friendship chocolate," Kay said with a smile as she then went to the next table and gave out one box to every person. Kyle was the last and he stared at her.

"What are you giving this to me for?" Kyle asked as he took the box curiously. Kay had never done such a thing before.

"Well, if you don't want it," Kay said as she reached out to take it back.

"NO! It's miiiiinnneee!" Kyle shouted, putting the box close to his chest while shaking his head, "No take backs. Once given, it's given."

Kay rolled her eyes and Kyle excitedly opened the box. He popped a nut in and practically moaned in pleasure, "This is to die for. I could suck on them all day."

"Gross-out Kyle!" Xing Han protested from his desk, standing up and pointing at him, "Stop making such lewd noises and suggestive captions when you're just eating nuts!"

"Why?" Kyle said with a grin as he put in another in his mouth, "Is the sound of crunching as I bite into the nuts disturbing you? Or is it the fact that I like sucking it first that gets to you?"

"Ew ew ew ew, Kyle," Xing Han shuddered, "The image is something I certainly can do without. Now how am I going to eat this without that thought in mind."

"Oh please, Xing Han," Kyle said, "These are much smaller in size, you know. Your nuts are bigger than this. Or are they?"

"KYLE!!" Xing Han roared, thundering over to Kyle, who nimbly avoided him. And so began the first 'Xing-Han-chasing-Kyle-in-Sage-Class' for the month. Everyone else just ignored them and started their work.

?? Valentine's Day Event ??

It was THE moment that everyone had been looking forward to ever since it was announced. Although a lot had been unhappy at first over the stringent rules, they began to see the wisdom behind it.

It certainly was much easier to give the gifts during the designated times. Classes were also not disrupted, so the teachers were in a much better mood - and in turn, homework wasn't given for the day so that they could enjoy the 'event' at 3-5pm without worry.

Unknown to them, that was something Kyle had managed to get the teachers to agree to. He convinced them by saying that it would be an experiment to see that if things went by smoothly this year, then the students were less likely to be a nuisance the following year.

If they had something to look forward to, it was more likely that they would behave in class and this, in turn, would optimize their learning experience. Some teachers even began using the Valentine's Day event as a reward or motivation.

It worked.

Right now, Sam was busy monitoring the gift-giving event for Kyle.

It was set-up similar to an idol signing event. A table was set up in front, and a line was formed on his left. People had to line up in order to meet up with Kyle, who was sitting on a chair behind the desk. Behind him, was a table that all the gifts were placed.

Sam had arranged that the line would be controlled by having a barrier. They couldn't get those belt-barrier stands, so he made do by having several traffic cones placed several metres apart, and have a rope tied to the cones.

It was arranged horizontally so that when lining up, the people would enter the queue, go to the right until the end, go up one step then to the left until the end then up one step and to the left again. In short, it was akin to how a snake moves from left to right.

Six people were deployed to monitor and man the whole place. One was at the end of the line, to ensure that everyone lined up properly. Two were at the end of the queue to give the sign when they could approach Kyle at the table.

Two were behind Kyle, who would move the gifts Kyle received to the table behind him. One was at the other side of Kyle's table to guide those who had given the gift, to exit.

Betty was helping out Sam and she watched the entire scene in awe.

"I didn't think Senior Kyle was this popular," she whispered to Sam as they stood at the front of the line.

"Yup," Sam said with a sigh, "Imagine my life being his friend this entire time."

Betty giggled, her nose twitching. Sam noticed that her nose would twitch not only when she was embarrassed or nervous, but also when she's exceptionally happy.

"I'm sure you're popular as well, Sam," Betty said, trying to placate him (or so she thought).

Sam snorted, a sound that Betty was surprised to hear, "I can do without this, thank you very much. It's like living in a fish bowl."

"Yet, you're still friends with him?" Betty asked curiously.

Sam smiled, "Of course. What friend would leave their friend just because he's more popular?"

"I didn't mean that," Betty said, her face flushing.

"I know," Sam said with a smile, "I am only teasing you."

"You're so bad!" Betty said, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

Just 10 minutes before time was up, Sam whispered to Betty, while gesturing to one of the people who was behind Kyle, "Let's leave early. The crowd has already thinned down, so there's no need for so many people here."

"Okay," Betty said with a smile.

"Come on, there's a place I want to show you," Sam said nervously, his voice shaking a bit but Betty didn't notice.

"Sure!" she replied with another cute smile, sending arrows into his heart even more.

Sam grabbed his backpack from behind Kyle and Betty followed Sam. Unknown to both of them, another pair of eyes saw this and started following them.

Sam brought Betty to spot that was away from prying eyes, but still out in the open. He didn't want to bring Betty to a secluded spot for he feared Betty would misunderstand. Still, now that he had her here, he was getting all nervous again.

"This is the place you wanted to show me?" Betty asked curiously, looking around. What was so special about this place?

"Er, no, I lied a bit," Sam admitted sheepishly.

"What?!" gasped Betty, looking at Sam in surprise.

"It wasn't a place that I wanted to show you," Sam said slowly, his voice getting slightly softer, "But something."

Betty cocked her head to the side, not understanding.

Sam reached behind him and took out the paper bag that had the music box in it from his backpack. He handed it to her and said, "Happy Valentine's Day. This is for you. I hope you like it."

Betty's eyes went wide with shock as she looked at the paper bag, then at Sam and back to the paper bag. Her mind was numb. Never, in a million years, did she consider that the person Sam had wanted to give something to, on Valentine's Day, was her.

Wait. Was this a friendship gift? Maybe she's thinking too much about it. She needs to ask him, but how?

A lump formed in her throat as she looked at Sam, "I - I - "

"I like you," Sam said, confirming her worst fears.