NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

A month flew by, just like that.

After being away for so long, there were quite a few things that Kyle had to do and finish up before he set off again in February. He needed to set things in motion and made sure everything was finalised so that he could concentrate and focus on the things he had to do on the promotional tour.

After all, the promotional tour wasn't just about the movie itself. He had to dig information for Big Bro Nic and check out girls. The latter being something on that he wasn't really serious about but he had to leave the option open.

Kyle sat at his desk, sighing as he closed the Community Outreach Programme file and placed it on his desk. The things were set and would be up-and-running during the semester break, so there wasn't anything for him to do now.

He went over to Beatrice's table and handed her the file, saying, "I'm handing this over to you now. I doubt I'll be around to do much, so you be the main liaise from now on. After all, they know you more than me."

Beatrice took the file and nodded.

He basically left the Community Outreach Programme entirely to Beatrice, telling her that she was more than capable of handling it.

Kyle then sat down at the edge of Beatrice's desk, causing her infamous eye twitch as she looked at him, her eyebrow raised.

"I plan to abdicate the Student Council President position, and pass it to you," Kyle said slowly.

Beatrice stood up, her face in horror, "NO!"

Kyle looked at her, tilting his head to one side and asked, "Why not? You've been doing most of the work last year when I was hardly around. I may be equally busy this year as well, so why don't you just take the position properly? Make it official?"

"I may have been around physically, but you still did the work!" Beatrice insisted, sitting back down, "And grab a chair, will you. Looking up at you is killing my neck."

Kyle did so, with an apologetic smile. Sitting next to her now, he was serious as he said, "Look, this is your final year, right? Being Student Council President on your school leaving certificate will also be much more impressive. Let the hard work you're doing be seen in black-and-white."

Beatrice wavered, but despite the fact that she did cover up for Kyle last year, she didn't acknowledge that the work she did was all done by her. Kyle still did a lot, and she felt that he deserved the position more than her.

"It's only for this year," Kyle pressed on, seeing her hesitation, "You be President and I'll be Vice-President with Sayuri as the Acting VP while I'm not around. After all, her test results were very high as well, right? If you weren't around, she would be VP anyway."

"That's true ..." Beatrice said, thinking but still wanted to reject it. After all, she was quite satisfied already with her CV.

"Then it's settled! Great! I'll go tell Principal Godric right now!" Kyle said quickly and dashed off before Beatrice could finish her sentence.

She sat there, her mouth agape as Kyle disappeared. Why did it feel like she had been duped, just like how it had been when she somehow accepted the Vice-President position?

Sam, who heard the whole thing, just sat at his desk with a smile. He was busy himself, trying to juggle Kyle's schedule. Just looking at it made his head spin.

While Kyle managed to somehow juggle all three positions : Student Council President / Smith Heir / Actor, it was all due to Sam's meticulous planning and scheduling as well. He made sure Kyle remembered all the notable points to be done for the day, plus gave him a weekly report of what was pending and what had been achieved.

Kyle abdicating the President position and putting Sayuri as Vice-President was Kyle's idea, but only after Sam pointed out that his schedule for the year didn't leave him much time to spend as President. Both of them worked together, like one well-oiled machine - with Sam being the oil to make sure Kyle's gears could work at its optimum.

Kyle never regretted hiring Sam, and Sam has become indispensable to him even now. Sam never regretted taking the offer, for his life was so much more fulfilling and enticing as before. Him being rich as well was just icing on the cake.

Sam remembered the day he handed his parents the keys to the house he had bought. All this time, they had stayed in that small rented house, but just by working with Kyle for a year, he had earned enough to buy a house!

After all, his living expenses were very low while at school, and when he followed Kyle around, he also received living expenses allowance (which was insanely high). Sam felt Kyle was being overly generous to him since he is an Elite Five but when he had raised the issue once, Kyle smacked him on the head.

Literally. He even has the bump to prove it.

Kyle said simply that he paid according to ability.

"Don't think I am blind to the amount of work that is on your plate, Sam. Ever since you started, my life has become more organised and smoother. Simpler. Your efficiency is one thing, Sam," Kyle had said, "Your loyalty and dedication is another. Your pay hardly reflects how valuable you are to me. So don't you ever raise this again."

Sam rubbed his aching head and nodded, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside though he didn't show it.

"Unless you think I'm not paying you enough, then you can ask for a raise," Kyle finished with a smile.

Even thinking about that made Sam smile. It gave him even more drive to do all he could for Kyle. Right now, Sam was busy arranging his promotional tour schedule and making sure that all that was arranged properly.

As Kyle was a new actor, there was a lot of information that Sam needed to dig up. Simple things that people tend to take for granted, like the silent rules when walking the red carpet.

To walk the red carpet sounds simple. You literally walk the red carpet. It allows photographers to snap pictures of them on the way to an awards ceremony or party, and some also give interviews.

However, what was the positioning - that is, who goes first? What sort of outfits were allowed? How long was one allowed to linger on the red carpet, if any? All of these would surely be told to Kyle at the event itself but Sam prefered to be prepared beforehand.

Why wait until the last minute, right?

While all of this was going on, one particular girl at the other side of the classroom was still in a state of shock.

What just happened? Why did she hear Kyle say she was to be the next Vice-President? Why wasn't she informed? How was this done?

She was so confused.