Chapter 08 - Graduation Blues: Towards the end of school

As days went on, I began to forget about Jess’ rejection and continued my observations on her. Though, I knew that someone else was also doing the same. Yes, I meant Alex and Alex alone. He was still doing what I hated most, diving in Jess’ crowd and showing off his beloved arts.

There was one girl among Jess’ gang showed major interest towards Alex’s arts. She was none other than “The Fly”. One of the major reasons she was interested would be because she was an artiste herself and seeing another major competitor made her spirit burn. However, I had other strange thoughts of my own, thoughts that weren’t necessary to be said here.

In the month of February, the 3rd official BBQ of the IMF was held. This BBQ was nothing different from the past one. The only major difference was that Dave was now an organizer rather than a guest. We had a lot of fun during that BBQ. I still remember the time where Dwayne was asked to invite Teethe by phone. He was so shy that he did not make it. In the end, Jul had to invite her.

The BBQ was also held on a Saturday afternoon. We thought we were the only ones around but later, Teethe showed up. It was to everyone’s surprise that she did show up. Dwayne thought that she wouldn’t but at last she did. Jul was glad that the only guest he invited showed up. We had quite some fun taking photos of Teethe and Dwayne. Jul also had his photo taken with Teethe. Teethe left before the BBQ ended. After she left, the party continued with more fun and photo shoots. We started the BBQ at around 10am and ended at around 2pm.

Aside from the BBQ, things still were going on as usual and these included studies. I had to force myself to study everyday as another public exam is coming soon in a few months time. There was a nearer and more impending crisis approaching, the mid-term exams. Everybody was studying hard for it and as the week of it approached, everyone seemed to be in an extreme studying mood. This was exceptional for the 5 of us. We still had our regular tea Saturdays or as we call it ‘yamcha’ and going to cyber cafes for some counter-strike matches. At that time, Jul’s counter-strike skill was unbelievable but it deteriorated as time passed by.

It was finally the week of the mid-term exams. We were semi-ready but we still went for it with our best efforts. As I went through each paper, I began to understand how secondary 5 exams worked and I began to be confident that I would not flop as much as in the last year. When the results came out, I was surprised to see that I passed every single paper that came to me. I was happy that I managed to grab hold of my studies for the least.





That wasn’t the case for Dwayne as he was still not happy in his studies. He always felt that he should be granted a chance in the science classes. So, he flopped in every single exam that came to him including this one. He was never able to pass his accounting paper and was the record breaker in his class for not doing so for a couple of times. Not only that, he did not do well in his Economics paper as well. Though, he could still juggle with mathematics, English and the Malay papers well.

Dave was the same as me but a little less talented. His weakness was always in mathematics and his greatest failure would be in additional mathematics. He always studied hard but still he wasn’t too good in complicated formulae and that dragged him down in his studies. Another problem was on his prefect duties. He was too busy on his duties that he would have lesser time on his studies. However, he still excelled in some papers like the Malay and English language papers.

Jul on the other hand was talented in science subjects. He is talented but others usually overcame him with more talent and extra hard works. He was the always the one getting the best results among the 5 of us. He always excelled in science subjects especially in the chemistry paper. His ambition was always to enter into a science course related to chemistry. He could also easily juggle with the 2 language papers and had no problem with any of them.

I never had much chance to enquire on France’s academic achievements during secondary school but he seemed to be doing averagely in his science subjects. Additional mathematics was also his problem as it was too for many others. He was the only one among the 5 of us who did Chinese language in secondary school. I never knew how he faired in his mother tongue but I had some confidence in him.

Month after month, days passed and it was already nearing the public exam days. In the month of September, we were given a mock exam to prepare us completely for the real thing. The questions were more difficult than the ones in the mid-term exams. Those questions were killer questions and I had a harder time dealing with them. This did not happen to me alone as other people were complaining on the same matter.

It was on the same month that we met another interesting person. He goes by the name Tony. He was quite popular among us and we always talked about him. He was actually an old friend of Dave who was also from my old primary school. He felt that we treated him as true friends and thus, he was always sticking with us. He was the playful type and not much into studies. His codename in our group is ‘DNS’. DNS represents a 3 word mocking phrase in cantonese which Tony often used to greet us whether on phone or when we bumped into him.



During the months of secondary 5, I noticed something peculiar regarding Jess. Jess got close to a girl whom she didn’t in the previous year. Her name was Charnel. They were very good friends for the whole year and never knew how it happened, not until today. Charnel was also quite close to an IMF member. It’s not me I am referring. It was Dave. Dave was always seated behind her in exams due to their names. Every exam in secondary 4 will see Dave helping her with her bags. For your information, during school exams, we were required to cast out bags out from the class during the whole paper’s duration. Dave would help her from placing the bag outside to taking it back inside. She would do the same for Dave on some occasions as well. I thought they had things planned out but Dave denied on that. I thought that if Dave could be close enough to her, I can get more information regarding Jess, but Dave refused me outright saying that he isn’t interested in girls. He has been saying this for the past year and we regarded him as the IMF monk.

As I received my mock exam results, I was amazed by what I could achieve. I made it and passed all the papers even though the papers were tougher. Everybody did averagely but not to Dwayne. He still couldn’t figure out how accounting works and failed that exam again. The following months were also busy months where many retiring were seen. The first group to retire was the prefects. Dave and France were also part of the retiring and all the morning session students were to watch as each of them received their certificates of participation.

On that day, we had an extra long assembly. This was because the retirement celebration was held directly after the assembly. After the usual assembly, we were asked to remain seated as they began setting up the stage for the ceremony to begin. Not long after, the ceremony began with the head of prefect on that year giving his final speech. Things continued with presentation of certificates to each prefect that was going to retire. As each and every one passed by, photos were taken by their friends. Jul managed to snap a few shots of Dave and France when they were receiving their certificates. It was such a memorable day for the both of them as they finally completed their duties as a school prefect.

A few weeks later, a small ceremony was held in accordance for the retiring of the media board members and the librarians. This was held in the media room after school hours. The certificates were handed out in a semi-formal ceremony with the media board teachers and the principal. Jul was part of the media board but would not receive the certificate because he promised to return the next year for another 2 years of service. The junior members did give the senior members a hug where Julian was still qualified.

It was still the month of August where something bizarre turned up. I found out a big secret of Alex. Alex had actually given up on Jess and began to have feelings on Ross. This was the same Ross from the days of secondary 3 that were always with Dwayne. I went on to ask Alex on why he would fall for a flirtatious type of girl. He said that he liked the times when he chatted with her. He also joked that she was the type he liked, big bottoms. I never knew if Alex furthered his intentions but all I knew was he had been getting very close with Ross as of lately.




On the same month, Dwayne did an unspeakable thing. He bought a gift from a nearby gift shop and planned on giving it to Kelly after school hours. I remember that event was very funny. It was a Friday where Dwayne decided to pass the gift to her. He chose a Friday because on Fridays, prefects would stay a bit later for duties as school was off early on Fridays. Dave, Jul and I were with him at that time. As Dwayne was shy, Dave had to ask a friend to call Kelly out before he could pass her the gift. After a few minutes, another girl prefect came out. She was Lime and was confused on why she was called out. Dave went in and asked his friend about it. His friend had actually made a blooper and called the wrong person out. To set things right, Dave personally called her out. Kelly came out moments later and received the gift from Dwayne with a smile and thanking Dwayne. Dwayne was glad that she accepted it and decided that he should continue his pursue.

Finally, it was almost time for our graduation ceremony. Everybody was waiting for it while still in their study mood as the public exam was just a month away. When graduation day arrived, everybody was looking smart in their ties for the very last time. That was the last day of official school as study leave would start on the day after. Each and everyone were having fun as the party started from early in the morning.

The ceremony began with a long speech from the principal and his 2 assistants. Their speech lasted for a whole hour. We were then allowed to return to class for some relaxation before we begin our meals at around 10am. We had to pay for our own share of the food as each class would be having a different set of menu according to their own choices. Everybody was running across classes to do chatters with their friends. Jul and France came over to my class for a long chatter before the official meal began.

The meal lasted for about 2 hours as we had our share of food. I forgot what the food we had was but I remember it was an unforgettable meal. Everyone was enjoying that meal as they will be parting with each other soon. People were seen trading autographs with each other so that they could contact them after leaving the school.
At around 12.30pm, students begin flocking the teachers’ room and the front gates. Everybody was busy taking photos with each other and with respective teachers. I had some photos taken with a few teachers and with Jess. Dwayne did something stupid on that day. When Jul asked Kelly for a photo shoot, Dwayne wanted to pose together but the photo ended up having only his hand seen. That was the funniest joke at that time as it was supposed to be a 3 person photo. My photo with Jess was even worse. A friend of her passed by and she asked her to join in the photo and I had to stand at the corner to accommodate them in the photo. Everyone headed back home at around 12.45pm. I intended to invite Jess to lunch but I chickened out at the end.