NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

"YOU?!" Beatrice nearly shouted. Sam simply looked at her without any reaction and she was embarrassed over her outburst. Clearing her throat, she apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. I was just surprised."

However, when thinking about it, she shouldn't have been so surprised. After all, Sam had skipped a grade in primary school and was actually a year younger than Kyle. Added to that, she always saw him reading advance books on programming and robotics, which meant that his intelligence was far higher than most people. He also fits into her pre-conceived mentality of what a smart person should look like.

So just why was she surprised to find out that he scored the same as her? That was something that she found puzzling once she thought about it. Why hadn't she considered it before?

"Why else do you think he even offered to help you choose?" Kyle asked, "That boy would never do anything that he didn't need to."

Sam nodded as he took a box and opened it.

Kay placed a shredder next to him and he thanked her, then plugged it in.

"It's quite simple. First filter - they need to be in the top 50 in school. Student Council duties are not easy and we need smart people who can balance studies and club duties."

"Second: applications by third and fourth years require experience. If they have never had any sort of experience in the area they are applying for, then reject them. What makes them think the Student Council is a place to train them? So those that apply for the Treasurer's position must have taken accounting as a subject in class while the Secretary position requires one who has been a manager for any club activities."

"Applications by second years is a bit tricky. They would not have taken accounting yet as that is a third year subject in the non-science stream and being managers at the second year is a bit stretching it. Though it is possible. So we need to widen the net. Their maths scores must be high to be in the Treasurer's position while English is the benchmark for being a secretary. Jotting down notes and so forth can be taught."

"As for applications by first years? Haish. That is the toughest. Only those that were in the top 20 of the last mid-term will be looked at, with the scores in Maths and English being As."

"So stringent? What if there are no candidates left?" asked Beatrice.

"We'll cross that bridge if it comes to that," said Kyle.

Beatrice looked at the shredder, "So should we not shred the rejects just in case?"

"No," Kyle said firmly, "If they don't meet the minimum criteria, there is no point looking at their applications again. It's only two positions out of three boxes of applications. It can't be THAT bad, can it?"

**Several hours later**

"Oh. Apparently, it can be that bad," Kyle mused as he looked at the lone piece of paper that was left.

"I TOLD you that we shouldn't have shredded the rejects," Beatrice said, quietly enjoying Kyle's predicament.

Kyle sighed and leaned back on the chair, tilted his head and closed his eyes. He had actually flipped through all of the applications before handing it over to Beatrice but he didn't process them as yet. He ignored the first and second-year applications and only focused on the third and fourth years.

It was going to be tedious and he had hoped that Beatrice and Sam would have been able to find better candidates based on the initial screening. This time, he merely focused on high scores for Maths and some sort of basic club duties. Picking those out and then picking the top 9 wasn't easy. It's just that he really didn't think the results would have been so dismal. His own fault for being so over-confident.

"Francis, please jot down these names and call them for an interview," Kyle called out. Francis acknowledged it and Kyle began prattling about 10 names, which also included the name on that lone piece of paper Beatrice had given.

Beatrice was about to say something when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. She turned and gulped when she saw Sam's face is quite close to her. She just noticed how long his eyelashes were and how smooth his skin was and despite his young age, he was actually the same height as her. She had to keep reminding herself that he was only 12 years old and she severely chastised herself for getting so affected by such a young kid.

Sam then leaned in closer, making her heart beat even faster as he whispered, "Kyle always has a back-up plan. Those names he's listing out are the applicants that had been rejected previously, so he probably lowered it a bit for this."

"But what about all that 'if they do not meet the minimum criteria' speech then? So he is back-tracking on his words now?" Beatrice asked while she stared at Kyle and taking deep breaths. She felt really stupid right now to be so jittery next to Sam.

Beatrice looked Kyle in disbelief. If Kyle could have done it all by himself, why even bother to get them to go through it? However, after observing how tired Kyle looked just for those few minutes of 'work', Beatrice realised that whatever he did, had been extremely taxing on him. Kyle probably would not have done it if he could avoid it.

"You guys handle the interview," Kyle said tiredly, rubbing his forehead. Kay came over and started massaging his head and he leaned back on the chair, tilting his head to make it easier for her.

[Thanks Kay]

Kay just smiled. Beatrice watched all of this with a slightly envious heart. As an only child, she didn't have such a bond with a sibling. Though she did have her cousin-sister, it wasn't the same. Her cousin-sister didn't live together with her family but when they did meet, it was wonderful. She couldn't wait for her cousin-sister to attend the school next year, even though it meant that they would only be together for a year. It was better than the current situation.

"Are they always like that?" Beatrice asked Sam without looking at him.

Sam had sat down by then and picked up his book again. He glanced up to see what Beatrice was talking about and he shrugged, "Isn't everyone?" He grew up watching how those two interacted with each other and felt it was a normal thing. He didn't have that close a relationship with his siblings but then again, he wasn't a twin.

"I wouldn't know," admitted Beatrice, "I don't have any siblings. Do you?"

Sam put down his book and looked at Beatrice, who then turned away. He noticed with interest that her ears were a bit red and wondered what happened.

Beatrice found that she couldn't seem to be able to talk to Samuel if she was looking at him. Even though the latter wore glasses, his eyes seem to pierce into her and see deep within her and that flustered her. She felt like she was a little girl, giddy for some reason.

She seriously could not understand why she was so affected by him. Granted, she was not used to being around people and even talking to them but it was different with Samuel. She wasn't like this with the others.

Beatrice looked at Kyle who looked like he was in pure bliss while his head was being massaged. She had no trouble talking to him although he always did manage to push her buttons for some reason. Perhaps it's because he was constantly teasing her that she found it easy - and almost natural - to get along with him. If you could call that getting along, that is.

She looked at Kay who was patiently massaging her brother's head, hardly looking tired or fed-up for having to do such a thing. True, she did it without asking but still, it was a mystery to her that Kay would just do it willingly without a question. She knew many girls and all of them - other than her cousin-sister, of course - were these irritating species that seemed to have nothing on their minds other than boys. Lately, it's always been about Kyle most of the time.

Of course, Kay wouldn't be interested in Kyle like the others so perhaps that's why Beatrice found her behaviour bearable. Then again, why wasn't she interested in any guys when she could have anyone? Even Beatrice could see how beautiful Kay was. Yet, she wasn't arrogant or act all coy like. It was a mystery.

Ali and Xing Han were both easy going, in their own ways. Ali didn't seem to be bothered by anything and just treated everyone the same while Xing Han was like a lovable teddy bear. Beatrice often found herself wanting to pet him for some reason. Or feed him.

So why did Samuel invoke a totally different reaction from her? Was it because he appeared much more matured than his actual age? Her mind couldn't quite grasp the difference of what a 12-year is like and what Samuel is like. It wasn't a creepy thing but just ... weird. Could it be because he was what she considered hot, while the others were just 'mainstream' hot?

BUT HE IS ONLY TWELVE! Beatrice felt like hitting her head on the table at this point. She felt like a pedophile. Would appreciating the beauty of a person and being affected by it meant that she was a craddle snatcher? It wasn't that she liked him in that way but she cannot deny he did affect her in some way. She felt so confused.

All of this went through her mind very quickly and she thought that the best way to overcome this strange state she is in every time she talked to him, was to get to know him better. After all, he's her classmate and he'll be in the Student Council next year. She couldn't keep on being so jittery facing him, right?

As for Sam, he found this all so fascinating. This was the first time that Beatrice was actually initiating a conversation with him, despite the fact that they were classmates. He could tell how hard she was trying and he felt she was really cute to do so - red tip ears and all. He could still remember the first day that Sage Class was formed. It was about two days after the initial announcement had been made.

**Flashback**