Chapter 05 - Do you Remember Love?

It’s here, it’s finally here. The first day of secondary 4 has arrived. That was what I thought when I made my journey back to school in a fresh new year. When I reached the school, I can see many old classmates that were anxious on where they will be drafted to. I was especially worried as I hoped that I would get into the sciences stream.

The first week in school was disappointing. Everyone was asked to stay in their ex-classes before the results of the official drafting are out. It was heard that the results will be announced in the following week. We remained with our old mates for a whole week. The teachers however dare not teach much as they do not know where most of us would be drafted.

Eventually, it was the 2nd week of the new school term and came the first day in the 2nd week where the results were officially announced. At around 7am, the principal and his fellow assistants stepped forward to us and slowly announced the road that might lead to our futures. As each name was called towards the science streams, I was nervous as I wasn’t sure if I was qualified to be one of them.

I couldn’t express how excited I was when my name was announced to be in one of the science classes. Not many from my ex-class were drafted in to the same class so I thought I needed to make new friends there.

On the 2nd day, we were asked to be positioned into our new classes. I was so shocked to see many familiar faces in the class. Among them were Dave and Jess. I couldn’t believe it. Jess would fall into the same class as I. It was from that year where I started befriended Dave.

The new class was also quite full of surprises. A talented artiste was among the surprises. He goes by the name Alex. He was always referring himself as the hero SkyDragon as his self-drawn comics were named so. He is a person with a short temper but anyhow, I managed to befriend him as well, all thanks to Dave.

Dwayne however wasn’t so lucky. He hoped that he would end up in the science classes but he was drafted to the arts class. Unsatisfied by the result, he and Jul met with the principal to discuss on the matter. The principal told them that he was unfit to do laboratory experiments so he had no choice but to be placed in the arts class. Although unhappy with the answer, they were forced to accept it. This was because Jul heard that laboratory experiments could be replaced with written practical reports when necessary.

Jul was also drafted into the science class, but a different one than mine. There old mates of his such as Val. He also made new friends in the class especially to a girl named Koori. Jul’s class was rumored to be the 2nd best science class whereas mine was the last among all.

In the year of secondary 4, I was seated with Dave where we exchanged many topics. I felt desperate at that time and decided to try on a one last go, which was to express myself to Hooey. I knew that I hadn’t the courage to do it so I asked Dwayne to tell her. Hooey was in the same class as Dwayne so I thought things would be easier. I guess things didn’t work out in the end.

Hooey never talked to me ever since as Dwayne told me that she was still quite infatuated with Jason. I was in no position to succeed as she wasn’t even a little interested in me. Disappointed but relieved I continued my life and my studies.

It was 2 months later that I suddenly remembered the feelings I had for Jess. They came back and were calling for me. This could be the result of seeing her everyday. I knew that I might be stepping on another mine but I couldn’t stop myself from moving forward. I began to observe her again whenever possible.

In the month of April, the school had a special event known as the General Knowledge quiz. I volunteered to participate and was shocked to find that Jess was also chosen to participate. On the day of the quiz, we tried our best on the questions. At that time, Jess was unsure about most of the answers and was always turning to me for confirmation. I felt appreciated for once but that lasted for a mere 20 minutes. After the quiz, Jess and I walked back to class alone and had a nice chat. That was the longest talk we ever had since primary school and I enjoyed and treasured every minute of it.

Dave was paying attention to my every move and knew that I liked Jess from almost day 1. That day wasn’t any different. He began asking me weird questions about what I talked about with Jess during our trip back to the class. I couldn’t answer a thing as I did not remember every topic we touched during that conversation as I was already infatuated.

While I was having quite some enjoyable moments, Dwayne on the other hand suffered yet another rejection. He was once again on the verge of giving a gift to Val. He went to a nearby gift shop and bought a gift that was worth 50 bucks for Val. He went to school next day and asked a trusted friend to pass it to her. In the end, she rejected the gift and it returned back to the hands of Dwayne.

Dwayne did make a few new friends in his secondary 4 year. His best new friend, Roach, was a very kind fellow. He would help Dwayne in and out of the class almost everyday without any complaints. He was a generous looking man but was actually a bit slow to react on events. Another friend that followed Dwayne from secondary 3 was Terry. This guy has a body of a giant. Although having a big build, his heart was kind and was always helping Dwayne from time to time.

Jul didn’t have a very good start in his secondary 4 days either. His rough start wasn’t on his studies but in his private life. He was yet again been reminded of the wound that Vanesse had given him. Jul was actually a member of the school’s media board from secondary 1. The board’s duties were simple. They were totally responsible for any setup of equipments such as microphones and speakers for any upcoming occasion like morning assemblies.

That year, Vanesse had also joined the board and became part of Jul’s team. Jul had actually treated the board as his sanctuary but when Vanesse were in his sanctuary, it wouldn’t be one any more. He would be constantly reminded of the day he was threatened every time he looked at her. This however was still in Jul’s control and Jul still felt that the board was still a sanctuary for him somehow.

Dave, as we all know was seated to next to me in the same class. He was a quiet person and seldom talked about his stories. He was a prefect from secondary 1 up till today and was considered one of the kind prefects. He would befriend most of the delinquents in the school and would be constantly counseling them so that they would stop being notorious. He was also very helpful to Dwayne as he always assisted him during times of need.

Dave had 2 good friends he knew from secondary 3. One of them is Alex where he was an artiste. Dave knew Alex during secondary 3 when Dave was on his regular duties as a prefect. At that time, the topic that bonded the 2 together as best friends were games and games alone. They would be seen talking on games all day long without feeling the boring scenery they would create to the environment. Another good friend of Dave was also a prefect and is known as France. France is a very good looking guy and a minor flirty attitude. Dave knew France when France joined the prefects in secondary 3. Dave would be telling about France’s stories most of the time as France had a lot of old crush stories that never materialized.

As the year went on, studies continued to burden me more and more. The subjects were going out of hand. My worst achievement was in an additional mathematics test. I couldn’t cope with the extra formulae that were introduced as I began slacking after 3 months of total enjoyment after the secondary 3 public exams. Still, I tried my best to go for the best but to no avail.

It was reaching the weeks of mid-term exams soon and I was still not sure about the subjects. I had no choice but to continue revising hard. As each day passed, the mid-term exams came nearer and nearer. I wasn’t worried of the language papers as I would ace all of them easily. The science papers were the ones I was worried.

The week of the mid-term exams have finally arrived and to my surprise, I was seated next to Jess. I knew it was the best time to communicate with her. Thus, I waited each exam day full of excitement where I nearly forgotten that I needed to study for the exams.