NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

Sam fell asleep while Kay was stroking his hair and she gestured towards Kyle.

[Help me put his head on the pillow]

Kyle brushed the biscuit crumbs off his hands and quickly went over. He slipped his hands under Sam's head while she loosened his grip that was around her waist. Despite both of them being very gentle, Sam still woke up.

He glared at Kyle, got his head away from Kyle's hands and hugged Kay even tighter, mumbling, "Mine. My pillow."

Okay, Sam had to admit to himself that he was behaving atrociously but he couldn't help it.

One, he was in pain and he wanted comfort. Two, he had this perverse desire to show to Betty that he had people who wanted him, even if she didn't. At least he had the Elite Five who would appreciate him and would pander to him.

Was he being childish?

Yes, but at that moment, he didn't care.

Betty watched the rather loving scene jealously. She wanted to be the one that he sought comfort with but then again, she had pushed him away, right?

"I swear, Sam, if you weren't sick, you'll be flat on your back right now," Kyle muttered.

"I am already flat on my back," Sam retorted back, not really meaning it the way it sounded.

He was exhausted emotionally and he wasn't strong enough to resist the attraction he felt for Betty. If he was not sick, he could put up his walls and handle his feelings for her. Right now, it took all of his energy to stop himself from reaching out to her. So instead of succumbing to that feeling, he held on to Kay.

He hated being so weak.

Kyle let him be for another 10 more minutes. In the meantime, while Baby Sam was snuggling up to Kay, everyone else was making small talk and laughing in the room. Betty kept giving glances over to the seemingly sleeping Sam and her nose kept twitching while she played with her shirt.

Suddenly, Kyle got up and announced, "I have some Student Council matters to talk to Sam about. So, if you don't mind, could you guys please wait for us in the living room?"

Everyone nodded. Kay patted Sam's cheeks and he grudgingly lay back on his pillow. She headed towards the door like everyone else.

Kyle grabbed Beatrice's arm as she passed him by and said, "Beatrice, you stay. You're part of the Student Council too, aren't you?"

Beatrice stopped in her tracks. She was, but she didn't think Kyle was including her in this so-called Student Council talk. There wasn't anything on the agenda, so she was under the impression that he wanted to talk privately to Sam about something.

As everyone else left, Beatrice had an ominous feeling. Kyle wouldn't be ...

"You guys talk," Kyle said as he headed to the bathroom.

Beatrice's eyes widened again. Her eyes should be dried out by now, judging by the number of times it did that. She glared at Kyle who walked away, thinking that Kyle used the bathroom to hide way too often. Perhaps she should start locking the Student Council bathroom as well?

Sam's eyebrow went up and he reluctantly sat up on the bed, running his hand through his hair. He crossed his legs and leaned on the wall behind him while hugging his bolster.

"What's up?" Sam asked, looking at her with curiosity.

Beatrice gulped as she looked at this unusually sexy Sam.

Somehow, the way he simply sat there, with his hair not in its usual combed down version but rather messily (which made her want to smoothen it herself). The way his shirt was unbuttoned a bit and revealing some of his collarbones, unlike the usual 'buttoned all the way to the neck' look he sported.

The way his sleepy eyes looked rather smokey and alluring, unlike the intense and clear look he always had.

The fact that they were two people, alone, in his room also didn't escape Beatrice's thoughts. Sure, Kyle was in the bathroom but for all intent and purposes, it was only the two of them. With Sam on the bed, giving off an extremely different vibe. It was a side to him that she had never seen before.

Well, okay.

The entire day was her witnessing Sam acting completely different than how he usually was, but this was on an entirely different level completely. She blinked a few times while taking deep breaths.

Kyle created this window of opportunity and she was not going to waste it. There must have been a reason why he was kinda forcing her to do it right now, but she trusted his judgment. Perhaps he knew that the longer it took, the harder it would be for her to do it - even to the point of avoiding it completely.

The best moment, as according to Kyle, is to strike while the iron is hot : while Sam was still reeling from the rejection. When he's vulnerable. She saw the wisdom in that. She had to see how Sam would act when he's at his lowest.

"Samuel," Beatrice began.

"Yes, Beatrice?" Sam replied.

Urgh. Sam wasn't making this easy. She could imagine how hard it must have been for him to confess to Betty and she was experiencing it right now. Just that one sentence from Sam and the words got stuck in her throat.

She tried again, this time saying it all in one shot, "Samuel, I like you."

Sam sat there, frozen.

He looked at Beatrice who was standing there, being all nervous and such, not daring to look at him in the face. Her hands were gripped tightly together,

So is this how it feels like to hear a confession? A part of you is flattered but yet, another part is horrified? Horrified because you have to reject the person?

If Beatrice had been someone he didn't know, it would have been easier. So much easier. Yet, this was someone he respected, admired and liked as a friend. Someone he interacts with all the time and enjoyed the company of.

Is this how Betty felt like, when she had to stand firm and reject him?

Sam sat up straighter and put the bolster aside. He clasped his hands together and leaned on his thighs. He looked up then, and focused on Beatrice even though her eyes were downcast.

"I'm really flattered, Beatrice. I really am, but my heart belongs to another," Sam admitted.

At this, Beatrice brought her face up to look at him, a sad smile on her face.

"I know," she said.

At this, Sam was surprised.

"You do?" he asked.

"Yes," Beatrice confirmed, nodding her head and this time, smiled a little bit bigger, "Betty told me."

"So you also know that she rejected me, right?" Sam said with a bitter smile.

"Yes," she replied.

"So, you ..." Sam began, not sure how to phrase the question. Did she confess because she wanted him on the rebound? What was her purpose for this?

"I just needed to tell you," Beatrice said, "For closure. I ... just needed to let you know. More importantly ..."

Beatrice hesitated at that. Yes, she confessed partly as a test for Sam as well but that wasn't the major part of it. She felt that Kyle had been right. That she needed to let Sam know so that she could let it go.

Another reason was that she wanted Sam to know why Betty rejected him, without actually telling him. Betty had to cross that bridge herself but Beatrice wanted to smoothen it for her a bit. However, would her actions make it worse?

She didn't know.

"More importantly...?" Sam prompted.

Making a decision that she hoped would not be detrimental to Betty's chances, Beatrice said, "Betty knew about my feelings for you."

"That's only to be expected, isn't it?" Sam said with a slight smile, "After all, you're close to each other."

"Yes, I thought we were," Beatrice said.

"What do you mean by that?" Sam asked, curious. Was there something more to this?

"She knew how I felt, but I never realised how she felt," Beatrice admitted with a sigh. Sam's head started hurting a bit. There was something there that Beatrice was trying to tell him but he couldn't quite understand.

His head was foggy with medication so he couldn't quite get the hints that he is sure Beatrice was trying to give him.

Beatrice smiled then. A genuine smile as she said, walking to the door, "The music box is very beautiful, Samuel. You must have really spent a lot of time on it."

Sam watched the door close behind Beatrice, his eyes darting all over as his mind started connecting the dots.

Music box? How did she know about the music box? Even Betty didn't know it was a music box since she never took it from him. He had even thrown it away. Did it mean Betty took it out of the trash? Did she take it back with her to the dorms? Did that mean ... his eyes widened when he finally got what Beatrice was trying to say.

Why would Betty take the music box when she had firmly refused it before? Did that mean, she had never wanted to refuse it? The pain of refusing him wasn't due to her looking at him as a Big Brother? That there was another reason why she had to reject him? Beatrice?

No. That couldn't be.

His heart started beating hard when he thought of the possibilities. When the hope started to blossom again, he quickly clamped it down.

NO.

It cannot be. It couldn't be.

He cannot handle the flame of hope to be snuffed out again.

Sam grabbed on to his blanket, pulled it over his head and went into a fetal position as he hugged his knees and closed his eyes tightly.