Rediscovering Ourselves
Part One - An Introduction
The alarm clock was ringing endlessly. Every minute seemed like years, and all I yearned for was more sleep. (just give me more sleep please) It was then, I realised subconsciously that…today was 1st Jan! I had school. Dammit! Rushing out of the house after a quick shower, I ran down the road towards the bus stop.
The year was an extremely important one and I knew I couldn't afford to be late. The teachers had emphasised again and again on how punctuality would affect our conduct, and I certainly didn't want it to stain my excellent conduct. More importantly, O'Levels was round the corner, and it seemed as if I had unknowingly acquired an unfathomable sense of urgency.
There, I saw a girl, sitting on the benches, also anxiously waiting for the bus. She stood at about 165cm, with a relatively small build. Surprisingly, she was clad in the same school uniform as me. I was puzzled, for I had never noticed her, not for the past 3 years of taking public transport to school at least. Thankfully, the bus arrived within minutes. Hurriedly, she stood up and turned to walk nearer towards the usual place where buses would stop. She had a pair of beautiful, large eyes, with natural, slightly brownish, shoulder-length hair. She was a demure, quiet, lovely looking girl. We rushed up onto the crowded bus, squeezing for space. During the hour-long journey, we brushed each other accidentally several times. On one hand, I would quickly apologise, while she on the other, would blush and smile back.
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Back then, I was an innocent young boy (seriously!) from a reputable secondary school. None of the content, whether Internet, books, photos, etc, I surfed/read/etc were above M16 ratings. None. Simply put, I did not understand what sex was about, had never been exposed to porn, and very rarely did dirty thoughts engulf my mind.
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The bus arrived outside school seconds before assembly, and we rushed briskly towards the parade square. It was then, I realised, she was in Secondary Four as well, as she stood in the Sec 4 contingent 5 classes away from mine. Soon, I forgot all about her, deeply engrossed and intrigued by the new content we were learning in class.
Time flew by quickly, and school ended faster than I had expected it to. As I trotted out together with my band of brothers, I saw her, once again, in the near distance, walking alone towards the bus stop.
"Hey guys, look at that chio bu (pretty girl) there!"
(oohs and ahhhs followed…)
"Eh, I heard she's in the Top 5% of the cohort. Really intelligent."
"Wa…definitely John (my name is John)'s cup of tea man. Totally comparable in terms of studies. As for looks…John is lacking slightly…HAHAHAHA"
I slapped their backs to indicate my disapproval, and we continued along the same path towards the bus stop. Countless of buses came, and one by one, all my friends soon left. The girl was still there, and it looked as if she was going to board the same bus as me again.
To be continued...