NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

"What?" Betty asked, surprised. "Did you just say, win him back??"

"Yes," Beatrice said with a soft smile.

"But ... but ... you ..." Betty stammered.

"But but What? Me what?" Beatrice asked, her eye twitching. Was Betty going to still go on about her feelings for Sam? When will this girl learn?

Beatrice was starting to get a bit annoyed but she knew Betty wouldn't be able to change overnight. She would still consider her, Beatrice's, feelings before doing anything.

So right now, when she is waiting for Betty to say the words, her eye twitched.

Betty gulped, seeing that twitch. She looked down, then took a deep breath.

"I ..." Betty began slowly, "If I succeed ... will you be okay seeing us together?"

Beatrice took Betty's hands in her own, held them tight and looked at Betty in the eyes.

"I won't lie to you," Beatrice said, "I will feel the pain if I am to see any loving scenes between the two of you. I may even feel like crying sometimes. I may cry."

Betty's lips trembled.

"But I will get over it," Beatrice continued, "I do not resent you. I do not hate you for being the one that Sam loves. He chose you, not me."

"I am fine with that. You can't choose who you fall in love with and I certainly can't force Sam to love me," Beatrice insisted, "However, I do ask you ... please. No PDAs in front of me. Not yet."

"Give me time," Beatrice said, "Is that okay?"

Betty let go of Beatrice's hands and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered as she held on tight.

Beatrice patted Betty's back, consoling her.

Beatrice wasn't a Saint, but she knew what was right. She wasn't selfish either so this course of action is the best for everyone.

"Whatever it is, just promise me. You will talk to me from now on. We must always be honest with each other. This won't be easy, so why make it difficult and complicated? If I am uncomfortable, I will tell you. If you are worried over something, ask me," Beatrice insisted, "If we keep second-guessing or acting all 'martyr' like, we may be straining our friendship without realising it."

Betty nodded, understanding.

Getting a boyfriend did not mean leaving behind your friends.

"However, there is one thing I need to do first," Beatrice began hesitantly.

Truth be told, what she was going to say next is difficult, but she had to say it. She had to tell. This was, after all, their first step in establishing the new 'rules' of the friendship.

It's evolution, so to speak.

Betty waited patiently while Beatrice gathered her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Before anything else, I need to confess to him."

Betty's eyes popped wide open at this.

Suddenly, a part of her started feeling afraid. Beatrice was so much better than her in many ways. If Beatrice was to confess ... would he choose her instead? Betty couldn't help the fast beating of her heart at that thought.

Beatrice could see the myriad of emotions flashing on Betty's face. She noted it this time, taking a close look at the expressions Betty was making. She wondered why she never really noticed it before. Betty may not say the things out loud but her expressions were more than enough to reveal what was in her heart and mind - if you only looked.

Beatrice felt ashamed at herself for not noticing it before.

She put a hand on Betty's shoulder and said, "What did I tell you before? You must always be honest with me. I told you about my intention to confess, and that is me being honest with you. Now, it's your turn."

Betty struggled with it and this time, it was Beatrice who waited patiently until Betty gathered her thoughts.

"What ... what if ... he accepts your confession?" Betty asked, "You're definitely much better than me."

Beatrice shook her head at that, "First, I am not better than you. Betty, do you not know how good you are? You're always putting yourself down like that. If Sam was to hear you, would he be happy about that?"

Betty's face flushed at that and she slowly shook her head. She knew Sam wouldn't like it. He had scolded her for it before.

"Secondly, if he does accept my confession, then I'm going to dump him straight away," Beatrice said firmly.

"What?! Why??" Betty asked, completely shocked.

"He just confessed to you and in less than a day, he accepts mine? How fickle minded is he?" Beatrice said with a huff, "But honestly, I know he won't accept. How can you doubt his feelings for you, Betty?"

Betty bit her lower lip, knowing what Beatrice said was the truth. Trust is the foundation of any relationship and if she questioned his feelings for her, wasn't she just demeaning him? Sam was way better than that. It was just her own insecurity that made her think that way.

With this thought, Betty understood that Beatrice simply wanted to have her feelings known so that she can get over him. She truly appreciated Beatrice telling her for if she heard it from someone else, she would start doubting Beatrice.

That cannot happen.

Being open and honest with each other is the key to strengthening their friendship.

"I understand," Betty said, "I'm sorry for even doubting you and him."

Beatrice nodded, satisfied.

"But ... erm, after that ... so, how do we go about me getting him back?" asked Betty tentatively.

Beatrice shrugged, shaking her head and looking just as lost, "Honestly, I do not know. I've never had a boyfriend before either. I wouldn't know how to get one."

They looked at each other in despair.

This requires a lot of thinking.

?? Sam ??

By the time Sam got back home, he was soaked to the skin. The distance to home from the bus stop wasn't far but it wasn't near either. Added to the fact that Sam was walking slower than normal as well.

He was so immersed in the feeling of the cold rain falling on him, numbing his body, that he didn't' realise that he was shivering by the time he got home. His parents hadn't returned yet either, so he simply trudged into his room, leaving a trail of water on the floor.

Seeing that, he took off his wet clothes and put a towel around his waist. He went to get a mop and cleaned up the area before finally going for a bath. Too tired to care about anything, he went straight to bed after the shower.

~ The next day ~

Sam's mother, Rozita, was starting to get worried. Sam was always at the breakfast table at this time. He was like clockwork.

She looked at the clock on the wall and quickly dried her hands. She had been washing up the pots and pans, and did not realise the time.

Knocking on Sam's door, she waited a while before opening the door a crack. She saw a bundled up Sam, still in bed. Worried, she entered quietly.

"Sam?" she called out but he didn't answer. His face was all flushed and scrunched up, as if in pain. She touched his forehead and was appalled at how hot he was.

She sighed and went to the kitchen to make some chicken porridge. Once it was simmering, she took a basin with some water and a small face towel. She entered Sam's room again and started wiping his face and chest.

Rozita sighed.

Sam rarely got sick, but when he did, it would be bad. He was also the clingy, whiny type of patient. Sam's personality changed when he's sick. He's like a hopeless, dependent baby. Although she didn't like Sam being sick, she liked that part of him a bit. He was a good son but too independent at times. She was unable to spoil him.

She could now.

When Sam felt the cooling sensation of the damp towel, Sam started snuggling closer to that source of comfort. He felt his head being patted and something cool was placed on his forehead. It felt nice. His whole body was aching and he felt so hot, so the careful and gentle care made him feel more comfortable and he fell back asleep.

?? Sakura Academy ??

Beatrice took a deep breath right outside Sage Class.

This is it. This would be the first test. To look at Sam, be next to Sam and talk to Sam normally. To force herself to treat him as normal as before. She held her breath as she opened the door and walked in.

To her surprise, Sam wasn't in yet. She looked at the time and noticed that it was 10 minutes after the time Sam always comes in. This ... was strange. She noticed that the other Elite Five weren't in yet, but that was normal. Their timing was haphazard and sometimes they came before Sam, though more often than not, it was after.

Beatrice went to her desk and started work, thinking that the 'bomb' was delayed for now. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to Sam and if he was alright. He wouldn't skip school just because he had his heart broken yesterday, would he? He didn't appear to be that type, as he took his responsibilities as a student seriously.

By the time school officially began and Sam hadn't turned up, Beatrice's started getting really worried. She went over to Kyle to ask him.

"Oh, Sam?" Kyle said, "He's sick, so he won't be coming in for a few days."

"Sick?" Beatrice repeated, surprised.

"Yeah, can you believe it?" Kyle replied with a shrug, "We're going to visit him this weekend. Wanna join?"

Beatrice nodded, then asked, "Can I bring Betty along?"

Kyle gave a smile that Beatrice noted was the Macbeth smile. The smile that meant he had something up his sleeve. Her eye twitched.

Kyle looked surprised at that eye twitch, then laughed while shaking his head, "Will she need any help?"

Now it was Beatrice's turn to look surprised. So Kyle figured out why Betty wanted to come along? Then Beatrice mentally slapped herself. Why wouldn't he know? It was obvious, if one knew all the facts - which Kyle did.

"No," Beatrice said, "Well, yes but she has to do this on her own. Do you think it's a bad time though? As he's sick?"

Kyle's mouth twitched at that as he was busy suppressing a laugh.

Bad timing? No. It was perfect timing. When Sam makes up his mind, he's as immovable as a mountain. Stubborn to a fault. From the way Sam resolutely threw away the paper bag, Kyle knew that Sam had made a firm decision to cut Betty out of his life.

Sam would not change his mind easily - if at all.

However, when he's sick, he's much more susceptible to following his heart. His defences would be down and it would take 70% less effort to get him to change his mind. Kyle had been reviewing his plans last night on how to get Sam to accept Betty, should she take that step in getting together with him. When he got the call from Sam's mum this morning about Sam being absent, Kyle couldn't help but grin widely.

Now, Beatrice said Betty would want to visit Sam so he can scrap the earlier plans he had made in manipu-... er, persuading ... Betty to visit.

"Oh, no no, not at all," Kyle said, "It's best that she comes when we're all there, right? Less awkward and all that."

Beatrice agreed.