xhappyfamily-blog

[xhappyfamily-blog]

“The envelope has your timetable, map of the school, student handbook, activity group number and members. You’ll be in room 22, Block B. Here is your key.”

Dora nodded and thanked the office lady as she wheeled off and out the building, ready and set to go to her next destination: Block B. She was glad she wasn’t put in Block A, or Block C, simply because she quite liked the ring of Block B.

As she wheeled on, she stared at her surroundings; people already pooled and almost cliqued, talking amongst themselves. There weren’t too many people, considering it was still quite early at the ripe time of 10:15, so they must’ve been those who had just settled in and were waiting for their friends, or to make friends before the gathering at the gym, or maybe other reasons. But that wasn’t what Dora was concerned about. As the concrete bumps started to make scratches on the wheels of her suitcase, a nagging feeling crawled up to her chest.

Two nagging feelings in fact. 1) If these people are making friends already, where can I find my place here? and 2) Why is everyone dressed so fashionably? Is it just me or does this look like a gathering of celebrity airport fashion?

Dora continued to become more and more self-conscious as she laid eyes on cropped tops, designer sunglasses, high waisted Cheap Mondays, studded jackets and pleated miniskirts. This was because she was in a rush this morning (she thought she was late) and put on whatever clothes at arms reach in the morning. And only a few minutes ago, she unfashionably arrived at school with a panda tshirt, knee-length pants and – thongs?! Why in the world was she wearing thongs?!

Right. A new school is all about first impressions. Since I have time and I’m going to the dorms, I’m going to change! she whispered, frustrated, and picked up her pace to Block B. Once inside, she tried to dart inconspicuously to her room; avoiding the line of vision to other people. It wasn’t until she arrived inside that she let out a sigh of relief. She set her suitcase down without a sound and calmly began to undress.

Okay, so I still have a lot of time. Which set of clothes is going to put me in a good mood today?

“Hmmm?” a voice was heard from outside the door, but it was probably a passerby.

Kachunk.

“So this door isn’t unlocked- uh.”

A pair of eyes stared back at hers. She screamed.

The boy promptly slammed the door shut.

Dora stood still for a moment; half squatting, half standing, half taking out a shirt and half undressed.

Finally, she slowly turned her head to her task at hand with a million thoughts racing inside; all consisting of the phrases WHAT JUST HAPPENED OH MY GOSH I AM SO SCREWED and its variants. Even as she clumsily slipped on her new clothes, her head was still dizzy and she felt rather disoriented with embarrassment.

So it was not surprise that she almost ran into the boy bowing ninety degrees in front of her.

“I’M BERY SORRY!”

Dora looked uneasily at the tuft of hair in front of her; the boys arms staying stiffly at his side. “Umm, it’s okay.”

 “I’m bery sorry! I wasn’t wearing glasses - I swear I did not see you in black underwear – uhhh – I mean –“ he stutters in his accented English. With which accent exactly, Dora didn’t know. “Because I wasn’t wearing glasses, I thought I was in room 22, but I’m actually in room 23.”

The now-bespectacled boy tentatively lifted his head up to meet her eyes before promptly bowing back down again.

“It’s okay, please stop, um, bowing.” Dora smiled nervously while inside she was still a wreck because, this person had the nerve to run into her in the middle of changing because he wasn’t wearing glasses? Dora, what did you say about first impressions again? Am I now going to be eternally embarrassed to face this person for the rest of my high school life?

He returned the nervous smile, and in his full height, she noted that he was pretty tall. Probably a whole head taller.

“I’m really, very, sorry. I’ll repay you a favour.”

“It’s ok-“

“I’ll be in room 23 whenever you need me to fulfill your favour!” he grinned, and oh boy Dora did not miss the many connotations of what he was suggesting. He, of course, seemed blissfully unaware of everything. The selected word of ‘favour’ just didn’t sit right with her.

“Hahaha...” she nervously laughed.

“My name is Kim Hyojun – uhh, I mean, Hyojun Kim. But it’s hard to say, so you can call me Hyo. Or Jun. I don’t know. I’ll get an English name soon. Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too.”

There was silence for a few moments when she realised he was looking at her expectedly.

“Oh, yeah, my name is Dora Mao.”

He grinned again with his moon shaped eyes framed. “Like Dora the Explorer?”

I knew it. “Yeah, like Dora the Explorer.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then!” he grinned one last time as he enters Room 23, his suitcase wheeling after him.

The sound of the door shutting remained with Dora for a few moments more. With the bad luck she’s had that morning, she was starting to accept that things almost never goes her way. Is this how she starts her day? Is this how she’s fated to start high school? Could this be an omen of a series of embarrassing moments yet to come?

As she gathers herself together again, the door to room 23 thrusts open.

“I’m bery sorry!”

---

Shortly after, everyone departed from one another as they scrambled to find the groups they were allocated in. Group 14. She scanned her eyes across the hall until she found the big red sign with the number 14 adorned on it.

As she walked, she felt a bit nervous being by herself in such a new environment. While not having forgotten her earlier embarrassing moment, Dora dearly hoped that the people she would be getting to know first weren’t scary people. And weren’t people who would accidentally open other peoples’ doors and see them changing.

“Oh, are you Xin Yuan Mao?” The teacher in charge said first thing when he saw her approaching.

She felt like she was being thrown pebbles. Couldn’t she be at least introduced to these new prospective friends, her actual name?

“Call me Dora, please.”

“Like Dora the Explorer?” A different voice piped up, belonging to a made up girl with purple highlights.

She smiled back awkwardly. “Hahaha, yes.”

“Well,” the teacher adjusted his glasses, a stern look across his face. “Now that everybody is here, I would like you all to introduce yourselves and say a hobby. And talk to each other. Okay, starting from you.”

The boy he was pointing to looked a bit timid. His body looked a little closed, and his eyes faced the wooden floors. “I’m... Ethan Xie. I like to...” he cast a glance to the teacher, who returned it with an unimpressed face. “Err, I like kiwis.”

“Okay. Next.”

Next was the girl with makeup and purple highlights. She crossed her arms and leaned back. “My name is Abby Yu and I like strawberries.”

“Next.”

Next was another girl, who was secretly texting in her bag. She jumped up from the sudden attention. “I’m Maria Douglas. I like bananas.”

An immature chuckle came from one of the boys, who was abruptly shut up by a strict stare from the teacher.

“I’m Dora Mao. And I like... watermelons.”

Another chuckle came from the same boy, except I know why he chuckled before, by why is he chuckling now?

“I’m Isaac Yamato. I like blueberries.”

The teacher raised both eyebrows. “When I said hobbies, I didn’t mean fruits. Why are you all saying fruits? I told you guys to talk, too. So why aren’t you guys hurrying up with your pointless teenager spurting?”

“Sir,” started the boy who was chuckling before, “maybe it would help if you left us to our talking. I mean, you’re like middle aged, so obviously we wouldn’t be comfortable, you know. Generation gap and all.”

The teacher opened his mouth to retort, but instead he stood up to walk away. “I’m not dealing with immature children,” he muttered as he left.

“Good riddance, Zach!” Abby rolls her eyes, but smiles a bit flirtatiously at the boy.

 “What did you expect?” he laughs along good-naturedly.

Great. Now everybody must’ve been friends with each other in the time that she was late. Might as well establish her identity as the sulky quiet late girl in the corner now.

“Dora, right?” Zach smiles. “You weren’t here for the roll calling, so if you don’t mind I’ll introduce myself. I’m Zach Lee. And I like watermelons too! Say, does anyone here like jackfruit?”

#wc:1504

[xhappyfamily-blog]

Sharon burst into the administrative office to find that she could only make it two steps into the room before joining the end of a very long line of students whose surnames began from A to D. She glanced at her watch impatiently to find that once again, she was late. Well, not really. It was suggested that students arrive at the administrative office at 10am, and now it was 10:25am, so technically, she wasn’t late. 

She wondered to herself where the others were, and pondered upon this thought until it was finally her turn.

"Name?" enquired the middle-aged female redhead.

"Sharon Chen,"

The woman's fingers typed in Sharon's name, and a frown appeared on the woman's face. "I'm afraid we do not have a student with that name," she met Sharon's eyes with an apologetic glance, before asking loudly, "Are you sure you're enrolled here?"

"What?!” She felt the penetrating stares of the other new students. “Umm...m-maybe I'm like, y-yeah, you know, thanks," Sharon stuttered meekly, shuffling away quickly.   Almost out the door, she remembered something. She raced back to the desk, earning many raised eyebrows, all of which she was completely oblivious to, shouting, "Xin! My name is Xin!".

The redhead lady laughed at Sharon's humorous manner, pausing in the middle of serving a guy in a baseball cap, dark blue puma hoodie, and grey sweatpants. “Sorry, this will just take a sec,” she apologised to him. She turned her attention back to Sharon and handed her a key. “Room 18, Block B. Inside the bag you will find your student handbook with information on the school, a map of the school, your timetable, some rules and regulations as well as your activity group number and the members in it. There is a meeting in the gym at 11am. I hope you enjoy your time here at Fairlight Senior High School, Xin!”

Sharon thanked her and hurried towards her designated room, wondering if she said the same thing to every new student. She threw her luggage into her room, unbothered to start unpacking, and headed towards the gym.

She heard echoes of her footsteps, only to find it was someone else.

"Xin, right?" the guy questioned with a smirk, "Or should I say, blockmate?" Seeing that Sharon was speechless, he continued, "Hi, I'm Aiden Cao from Block B, Room 9."

Sharon attempted a smile, but her wariness showed through her eyes. Was the whole school filled with creeps like this? How did he know where she dormed only a little after she herself knew?

"What's your surname?" he asked casually, taking out his phone.

Well, I would've expected the creep to know that much already. Maybe he's pretending he's not as creepy as he actually is.

Noticing her hesitance, he added, "I'm not trying to be creepy or anything ("Wow, creepy without even trying," she thought to herself), but it's just that dorms were based on surnames and I wanted to see if we had the same surname." As he talked, his eyes stayed glued on his phone.

"Oh...Chen," she replied easily, somehow believing him. "I guess we don’t have the same surname then.”

He finally unglued his eyes from his phone and grinned. "You remember my name? Anyway, I made that up because I wanted to find you on Facebook...do you even have Facebook?"

She couldn't help but laugh, while turning around and walking away.

"Hey!"

She slowed her pace.

"Don't you want to know how I know your name?"

She stopped, turning around to meet him in the eyes. "Yeah?"

"I was behind two places behind you in the line! Behind the guy with the baseball cap, dark blue puma hoodie, and grey sweatpants," he recounted proudly, “at the administrative office.”

Not knowing how else to react, she nodded slowly.

"Why do I remember exactly what he was wearing?" he continued, "Because he was the only thing standing between me and you." He wiped a fake bead of sweat off his forehead. "Dayum, I waited so long to use that line." Placing a hand on her shoulder, he veered her in the direction of the gym.

* * * * * The gym buzzed with a mixture of excitement, anxiety and anticipation. Sharon scanned the crowd urgently, wanting to find her middle school friends and tell them what had happened. She spotted Jessica first, who had been waving her as soon as she walked in. As she settled down on her seat, she noticed who she was coincidentally sitting in front of. Aiden Cao.

Dora left to take a call, and Sharon resorted telling the unfunny jokes that she had acquired over the summer, receiving pitiful laughs from Ling and Jessica, who probably wished someone would call them too.

The grandfather clock struck 11am, and Lisa settled in the seat next to Sharon, just in time.

“As the principal of Fairlight Senior High School,” the voice of the speaker on the podium boomed, “I’d like to formally welcome you here today. Year 11 is the year where you can make mistakes, where you can try out the things that work best for you. Actually, that’s Year 10 but I just wanted to make you feel better.” The laugher of students echoed around the room. “Today, we have a series of group activities, which involve games and competitions. Get to know your cohort, make some new friends, and most importantly, have fun! May the games begin!”

The students applauded for their easy-going principal, and approached the section designated for their group number. As Sharon headed towards her group, she noticed someone following her. Before turning around, she already had quite a sure feeling about who it would be.

“Are you seriously following me?” she asked lightly.

He grinned. “I’m glad you asked! Have you checked out who’s in your group?”

She shook her head. She had forgotten about the student handbook as soon as she had received it, occupied by other things such as, well, Aiden.

“Well, we’re in the same group!” He flung casual arm around her shoulder. “Guess we’re fated to be.”

They arrived at their designated area, and as Sharon found a place to sit, Aiden went around the circle, evidently already acquainted with most the members.

“Burton, my man!” Man hug.

“Oh yeah Katie, I got your text, but I was too lazy to reply. Hehe,” Cheeky smile.

“Howard! It’s been ages.” Fist bump.

“Yo dawg,” Head nod. This one caught her attention. ‘Dawg’ had on a baseball cap, dark blue puma hoodie, and grey sweatpants. Sound familiar?

A teacher arrived and the group settled down. “Okay kiddos, time to mark the role. Xin Chen?”

“Sharon!”

Aiden raised his eyebrows in her direction comically.

“Excuse me?”

For the second time today, Sharon was faced with the penetrating stares of her peers. “Sorry, I mean, I’m here! But my preferred name is Sharon.”

“Oh, I see. Aiden Cao?”

“I’m present, Miss!”

“Henderson He?”

“Dawwwwg!” chimed Aiden loudly.

‘Dawg’ rolled his eyes, and replied monotonously, “Yeah,”

“Burton Ho? Howard Ma? Katie Wong?”

“Here!”

The teacher folded up the roll. “Okay, I guess you’re all here! Now, you have the next half an hour to get to know each other, you know, talk about your middle school, your old friends, your girlfriends— oh, I don’t know, whatever!”

Immediately, Aiden started to talk. “So, guys, I believe I am very acquainted with you all already, but I’m sure there is something about me you don’t know.”

The girl, Katie, Sharon remembered, replied, “You talk so much, how can there be anything that about you that we don’t know already?”

“Well guys, I have a girlfriend!”

His news received mixed reactions. Amusement from Sharon, respect from Howard and Burton, shock from Katie, and total boredom from Henderson.

Katie’s eyes narrowed and her lip quivered a little. “Who?”

The glint in Aiden’s eyes and the way that they skimmed over Sharon’s, gave her a terrible feeling somewhere deep inside that something very bad was going to happen next.

“Well, you guys know Sharon, right?” He left it there, and grinned cheekily at Sharon, watching as she face-palmed herself to avoid the penetrating stares for the third time that day.

Oh, what the heck.

“Actually, I prefer Shaz,” she stated, lifting her head.

* * * * *

#wc:1388 #shaz #merry christmas!

[xhappyfamily-blog]

“That should be it,” Lisa thought out loud to herself, hopping nervously from one foot to another.

It was nearly 11am, well it was 10:42am to be precise, and she had finally finished unpacking the essentials from her suitcase. Her room still looked bare, but it certainly held much more personality as compared to its state about an hour ago.

Absentmindedly, she patted her fringe into place, eyes darting around the room to find the poster of One Direction stuck firmly on top of her bed. She locked eyes with Zayn and clenched her hands, wishing wholeheartedly for the day to be a good one. With one final sweep around the room, she took a deep breath and walked out with as much confidence as she could muster.

It was going to be a good day – she could feel it.

Ӂ

Glancing impatiently at her watch for the umpteenth time, Lisa sighed loudly. She glared at the map in her hands, a pristine sheet of messy lines, indecipherable writing and a few pathetic patches of colour here and there. She had been walking around for what seemed like ages (it had really only been 11 minutes) and she felt her erratic heartbeat rise and her palms go clammy as the notion of being late swirled around her brain.

“Maybe I should just ask someone where the gym is,” she murmured to herself desperately, as she examined at her surroundings.

To her dismay, there was no-one in sight – which was understandable, really, as the Year 12s didn’t start school until tomorrow. All the other Year 11s were probably already in the gym, meeting new friends, already creating the social circles which she obviously wouldn’t be in since she would never reach the stupid gym. And she couldn’t call her friends for help because she was out of credit. The situation she found herself in was ridiculous, almost déjà vu to the time when she couldn’t attend the first week of middle school because she was overseas.

She looked down at her watch again. 10:54AM, the watch mockingly displayed.

“Oh my god I’m going to be so late. I don’t even know if I’m in the courtyard, or the quadrangle, or if I’m still near the dorms, or-“

“Hey, uh,” a voice called out from behind her.

Lisa swivelled around on the spot and saw a tall, lanky guy making his way towards her.

“Uh, hi,” she replied tentatively, her eyes secretly lighting up at this timely opportunity. “Do you know where the gym is?”

The boy laughed sheepishly and ran his hand through his tousled blonde hair. “Nope, sorry. I was going to ask you that.”

He pulled out a map from his jacket and opened it. “I don’t even know where we are on the map, so…”

Lisa stared at him, wondering if he was oblivious, plain stupid or just out of it today, seeing as it’s the first day of school.

“Your map is upside down,” she said to him with a pointed look.

He craned his head to look at the front. “Right you are,” he smiled, unfazed, as he turned his map the right way around. “I’m not very good with directions I guess.”

He shrugged and looked back down at his map.

“Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy-“

Lisa jumped at the sound of her ringtone, unaware of the boy raising his eyebrows. Thank god her friends had noticed she wasn’t in the gym yet.

“Hello? Dora?”

“Hi Lisa, where are you? Everyone’s here already!” Dora’s voice crackled through the phone, faint amongst the loud chatter and buzzing drone of the background. Lisa could almost hear Sharon telling an unfunny joke while Jessica and Ling laugh pitifully.

“I think I’m lost,” Lisa stated dully, peering sadly at her surroundings yet again.

“Yeah, well no kidding,” the boy put forward sarcastically. “We might as well not go to the meeting y’know.”

Lisa stared at him and started edging away, turning away from him. What was he thinking? They can’t just, not go the first meeting!

“Where are you near? There should be signs around!” Dora’s voice chimed into her ear.

“Well, I’m next to this weird, twisted metal-y silver structure thing… It’s really tall and like yeah…”

“Hey I was just there! Basically, facing towards the thing, you keep walking left until you see this wall with super pretty art and then there should be signs from there on.”

“Oh okay, thanks a bunch Dora. You’re the best!!”

 “Well you have 4 minutes to get here and the teachers haven’t arrived so…”

“Alright alright. That’s great, fantastic, see you soon!”

Her phone screen blacked out and she slipped it into her bag.

“So?” the boy was leaning against a tree, a bored look plastered on his face.

“Uh, so what?” Lisa asked distractedly as she glanced at her wrist again. 10:57AM, her watch taunted. Three minutes to get there.

“So, do you know where we’re meant to be?”

“Uh, yeah I do,” Lisa called back to the boy as she hurried away.

“Hey, hey! Don’t run away,” the boy jogged up to keep in pace with her speedy legs. “What’s up, moody two shoes?”

“Moody two shoes?!” she gave him a weird look. Man, this boy is worse than Sharon.

“Yeah! Like goody two shoes, but moody! And besides, you also seem like one of those people who hate breaking rules and stuff like that.”

“You’re not funny,” Lisa dryly replied, unimpressed.

“Hell yeah I am,” he grinned.

Too tired and anxious to reply, Lisa just rolled her eyes at his obnoxious absurdity which was annoying, yet strangely comforting at the same time.

As they neared the gym, they both slowed down to catch their breath.

“Ah, sorry I never introduced myself!” the boy exclaimed. “Let’s start over. Hi, my name is Aaron.”

Lisa looked at him amused and stiffly replied, “Hi Aaron, my name is Lisa. Nice to meet you.”

“You too, Lisa. I hope we’ll get along well this year,” he responded, extending his hand to her.

Lisa awkwardly reached out to shake his hand. Just as their fingers were about to make contact, he abruptly pulled his hand away and smirked.

“Jokes! Well, I’ll see you later Lisa Pang!” He called out to her as he dashed off, disappearing around the corner of the building.

“What the he-“ Lisa started in irritation, but he was already long gone and she would just be wasting another breath on him.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down.

It’s okay. Whatever, what’s most important right now is this meeting and making a good first impression. You can do it Lisa, yes you can.

She raised her arm to check the time. 10:59AM.

Good, I’m just on time.

Ӂ

#wc:1139 #idk i have no comment

[xhappyfamily-blog]

High School AU HF: A new beginning

Today was January 31st, a seemingly ordinary day with no universal celebration nor festival attached to its name. However, for a handful of teenagers around the state, it was the day they had been anticipating with a mixture of both nervousness and excitement. It was the first day of senior high school. Jessica was no exception; her body, her mind, her physical and mental state had been at unease since the night before. The unwelcome combination of contradictory emotions that had plagued her mind and restricted her sleep had left her body in an agitated and restless state as evident by her sweaty palms, heavy eyebags and inability to stay still. Calm down. She told, ordered, herself as she felt her nerves intensify as she waved feebly at the retreating rear of her family car.

 She cast a sweeping glance at her surroundings, although her eyes were searching for the administrative building, she couldn’t help but notice the throng of unfamiliar faces scattered on the school entry grounds.

As much as society loves to emphasis on the fact that personality matters a whole lot more than looks, the human brain is hardwired into assessing and formulating an opinion on a person within thirty seconds of meeting them. Since these were the people she was going to be with for the next two years, it was absolutely crucial that she made a good first impression. With that thought in mind, she swiftly leaned over to grab her luggage before straightening her back and strengthening her gaze. Keeping her eyes in front and head lifted, she walked past the students and headed straight for the administrative office. Upon entering the office block she was greeted an air of excitement which seemed to drift from the loud chatter of students. She followed the large signs which lead her to a room for newcomers and then to a line for students with last names from A-D.

Much to her surprise the line was short and only consisted of two other waiting people, a girl and a guy who were chatting amiably together. Although Jessica couldn’t clearly see their faces, their shiny hair and long lean bodies paired with a stylish dress style were reminiscent of runway models and left Jessica staring in awe.

“They look amazing huh?” A sudden voice jolted Jessica out of her daze. Her eyes snapped to the source of the voice and found an unfamiliar guy standing right beside her. She blinked and loss for words, gave a small nod in reply. “You know they’re twins?” The guy said conversationally. Jessica instinctively averted her eyes from his face. “Oh wow, really??” “Yeah, I went to the same middle school as them, you wouldn’t believe the amount of people who had crushes on them!” He spoke at ease, his voice carrying the words smoothly out his mouth. “Oh, wow.” Jessica felt like a blundering idiot next to him as she struggled to form proper conversational words, “Um, are you new here too?” His head tilted as his lips turned to an amused smile “Yeah, of course, I’m in this room aren’t I?” Right. Duh.

 She mentally berated herself as she gave an awkward laugh. As she avoided her eyes from his face, she noticed the line was now empty. “Oh um I better go sign up for my room!” she muttered as she hurriedly took her chance to escape from the conversation which was most likely about to escalate into awkwardness.

“Hi, my name is Jessica Bi and will be in year 11 this year.” She said smiling to the friendly looking person sitting behind the sign in table. She made her sure her voice was loud and clear as if redeeming herself from her previous encounter.

“Ah, Welcome to Fairlight Senior High School Jessica!” She lifted a bag from behind her and handed it to Jessica, “inside the bag you will find a student handbook with information on the school, a map of the school, your timetable, some rules and regulations as well as your activity group number and the members in it.” Jessica nodded, she had been told about the activity groups on orientation day. In order for the students to get to know each other, the very first day of school involved an activities session which involved games and group competitions. She figured it was probably similar to peer support camp and just hoped that she was in a good group. “You’re expected to gather in the gym at 11am so you do have around an hour to settle in and get to know your room neighbours! Here is your key, you’re in room 20, Block B which you will find if you head out that exit and walk straight down.” She said systematically as she raised her hands and indicated to the exit on the far right. “Any questions?” Jessica shook her head. “Alright then, I hope you enjoy your year here!” “Thank you!” On orientation day, Jessica had learnt that each block had the two upper level dedicated to singular dorms and the bottom level for classrooms and facilities. There were three blocks for each grade; A, B and C for year 11s and blocks D, E and F for year 12s. Each block had sixty dorms and four classrooms as well as two recreation rooms, a kitchen and toilets on each level.

Jessica had hoped to quickly meet her neighbours and see what kind of people they were, but to her dismay, she didn’t see anybody loitering around the hallway near her room number.

Although she had toured the dorms before, she still felt a small sense of thrill as she turned the doorknob and opened the door to her room. This was it. She closed the door and placed her luggage against wall before falling onto the bed with a gleeful smile. Her life as a senior was about to begin! Fairlight Senior High School was going to be a drastic change from the life she had grown accustomed to since young and that was part of the reason she had asked her parents to allow her to come here. As Jessica lay on bed, she opened the bag which contained all the information she needed to know. Eager to find out the names of her future group mates, her hands instinctively reached for the paper titled “Activity Group”. Her eyes scanned the sheet and picked out the important information. Group 5. Jessica Bi, Abby Liu, Ella Kim, Tim Chen, Danny Lee, Alan Yoon. She frowned at the list, no one from her middle school was in her group, which meant that she didn’t know anyone in her group. Unless… her brain relayed the conversation she had with the guy before and she immediately cringed in embarrassment at the memory. What the hell was that Jessica? What happened to being social and confident? What happened to making a good impression? The conversation replayed in her mind and each time she thought up better things she could have said. She could have asked him what middle school he went to, his name, the subjects he was doing or even better, she could have introduced herself! Jessica sighs and buries her face into the pillow.  The conversation with the guy was a reality check on the fact that old habits were truly hard to change.   

#wc:1229 #jessb #so sorry #worst thing i ever written #srsly not even lying #sooooo sorry #shower of apologies #idk how to write anymore tbh

[xhappyfamily-blog]

Showtime, showtime, showtime, managers begin to yell insatiably and Jess readily packs up the poster by pulling it down, shoving it in the corner of her empty locker and runs out with a hand in her hair combing down stubborn fly-aways.

She stands backstage, on the side watching the host yelling wordy excitement and the moshpit consists of vicious animals perhaps a little too drunk to be sane.

“First day, huh?” a girl at the sound and music bay right behind her says in a hushed voice. She rocks on the backing of the plastic chair and eyes lined with thick liquid eyeliner. She looks older than Jess is, more experienced than Jess is, as she scans her up and down.

Jess does the same to the girl; her volunteer t-shirt is cut to a muscle tee with low frayed arm holes, all-out distressed denim shorts and clad with extreme platform heels. Jess furrows her brows, gives a how-did-you-know face: “yeah.”

“Curtains; it’s always the starter for newbies,” she smiles and urges her forward to check out the crowd and fog machines in action. What she says isn’t a lie; Jess is assigned to open them when the host heats up the crowd, then close them once the band members walk out to the front. And well, that’s it.

Fortunately, Jess does everything on cue, with the constant nagging of the sound girl to “hurry up on the rope” or “no, not now, ok, now,” constantly chanting in her ear. Her hands run smoothly along the rope, as she dwindles under the pressure of being looked upon by the sound girl.

“Not bad,” the girl smirks, nodding in delight. She ruffles Jess’s hair in which Jess doesn’t react to. “Thought you’d be like the past newcomers, big headed and crappy. Guess not.”

-

The music isn’t exactly Jess’s taste; with a heavy hand on an electronic keyboard and some eclectic mash of stringed instruments. The timbre is indeed cosmic, like a never-ending array of stars and space, and when Jess closes her eyes, she finds herself lost in something she can’t put her finger on.

-

Once the show’s finally ended and the crowd slowly dissolves through the back doors, everyone calls it a night, pulling out plugs and bunching up streamers in handfuls.

Jess’s ears are practically ringing sleigh bells, and her eyes are adjusting to room lighting from hours of darkness and mood-lighting. She solitarily stands on the stage, now bare from floor to ceiling and rolls up her sleeves from a hectic night.

“Afters in an hour,” the sound-girl throws an arm around Jess like they’ve known each other for years, not hours, and drags her to the volunteer room to pick up her stuff.

“It’s already 11?” Jess asks, dumbfounded by the fleeting time.

“Well actually it’s 10:58, that clock is fast.” She gives a know-it-all look.

“Uhhh,” Jess slurs softly, all ready to leave for home. After all, she won’t really know anyone there, and being stuck with this girl is not really her cup of tea.  

“Come on…” and she pauses to look at her name tag, “Jess. Loosen up, will you? We’re friends because you’re fun, not boring.” “Errr…”

“Everyone’s going, you’ll see.”

-

“Jess, hurry up. And I’m Leah.”

Jess pulls on her denim shirt and white circle scarf and follows her to the door, a hand on her buttons and the other holding on her bag.

They sit at the bus stop with a couple other volunteers and suddenly Jess is reminded of the weird guy earlier, and how there has been no sign of him for the entire night.

“So where is it?”

“Dunno,” Leah shrugs without care.

“What is that supposed to mean…”

“Eh.”

“Ok…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I wonder...” Jess pulls an unamused look and rolls her eyes sarcastically.

“Just follow everyone else.”

-

He sits back on the cushioned seat, impatient fingers tapping the dashboard, a hand on the edge of the wheel. The look splayed on his face is grim and focused.   

Looking upon the car in front, a silver BMW, watches for its engine to start up. Awaiting for any sign of the wheels to move, his fingers continue to tap irregular rhythms. Once it does, he revs up his own, pushes down the shade-board on the overhead and puts pressure on the pedal.

It takes a couple frisky swerves to follow the BMW’s tail, and finally the car makes a detour into the hospital’s driveway. It’s the emergency exit where he awaits for an ambulance to come in any second now, as he’s parked in a secluded park space underneath a willow tree.

Bingo, and a roaring siren crescendos closer and closer until it’s making a turn into the same driveway, all planned and expected. He forces open the car door and surreptitiously runs behind the ambulance, managing with agile fingers to flick open the boot lock. The door opens with ease and he jumps in, rolling into his back and closes it behind him.

-

“This is actually the worst thing I’ve ever watched,” a voice yells from behind the sofa. Jess is welcomed into a stranger’s house filled with people there already, crowding around a little laptop.

As she walks closer, she realises that the owner of the voice is the guy from earlier, learning against the sofa leg sipping from a glass of lemon soda.

“City Hunter again guys?” Leah has a hand on her hip, sighing blatantly and knocks on the guy’s head. “This is a party, not a sleepover.”

Jess stands there with her arms awkwardly crossed, before the guy turns around and catches Jess looking at him.

“So you came?” he says with a smirk and pours her a drink.

#dontknowcityhunter #hf #jessb #madeupwhatisaw #sorrythissucks #wc: 969 #actiondunmakesense

[xhappyfamily-blog]

The melody started off scornful and scarred; sounding like spooky whispers in the night. The trees breezed along with it, and Lisa was stuck in the dark of the night. It was characteristically cold and goosebumps were skipping across her skin and under her sleeves, prickling at her arms. The hoot of the night owl was a cue for the music and at once it became loud

Became?

Became is a transition word over a period of time. For example, He became evil, She became understanding, or Lisa became a stick. But, ‘at once’ is an immediate change.

‘at once it became’ was a strange choice of words.

He took his eyes off his laptop screen which burned brightly amongst the darkness of his room. Taking his aching eyes off it, he rolled into bed and buried his face in his pillows. He felt a foreign object pressing against him tummy and with little strength, pulled it out.

Oh. His phone, which was out of battery.

He chucked it to the side and continued burying his face in his pillows.

∞

“H-Hello?” Lisa tiredly rolled her tongue into her phone. She was tired, but she was still quite ticked off because it was on an early Saturday morning where an unknown number had been calling her repeatedly. She ignored it partly because she was tired and partly because this was a stranger in a foreign country who was calling her. Still, she kept in mind to be wary.

“Uhhh hello. Is this – uhh, Lisa... Pang...?”

Her eyes opened fully as she tightly gripped her phone. How did this person know her name?

“Who is this?” she asked into the phone with a hostile tone.

“Uhhh – I’m Sharon Peng- I mean, Chen, haha. I just saw your ad that you wanted an uhh roommate.”

Right.

Roommate.

Lisa pinched herself. No wonder why she was being called. Totally not a stranger, but now she has scared her potential future roommate. Plus, she didn’t pick up the first few calls and sounded mean on the phone. Good going Lisa!

“Sorry? Did you say something?”

Whoops, hopefully Lisa didn’t just say that aloud...

“Oh, yeah, sorry! Uh, hi... Sharon. Do you want to take a look around soon?”

“Actually... would you mind if I could come right now?”

--

“Sorry for intruding.” The girl smiled. On first glance, Lisa noticed her hair first; black, messy with some stray hairs sticking out but some that was pulled behind her ear.

“No, it’s okay.” Lisa smiled back, her voice octaves higher than normal. Which wasn’t out of the ordinary. “Nice to meet you, my name is Lisa...”

Her voice trailed off just as her vision trailed to the person behind the girl, who was a noticeably taller presence, looking down. Just as she was about to avert her eyes back to the girl, the guy looked up and they made eye contact.

At once, she recognised him.

“...Pan-Dylan?!”

“Oh,” chuckled Dylan, nodding in acknowledgement. “Oh look, why if it isn’t Lisa! You actually took my advive?

“Yeah I did, and wow, would’ve never guess you would be here!” Lisa uttered.

“Huh? You guys know each other?” asks the girl, looking back and forth.

“Ish. We talk, sometimes, in the morning.” Dylan flashed a grin.

“Huh? What is happening.” The girl half-groans.

“Don’t worry.” Dylan ruffles her hair. “Quickly introduce yourself and we can go in.”

How comfortable they look, Lisa noted.

The girl shoots him a wary look before smiling at Lisa again. “Hi, I introduced myself on the phone, but I’m Sharon Chen. Nice to uhh, meet you too!”

“Hahaha, yeah, come in. Sorry, my place isn’t really that big, which is why it’s cheap...” said Lisa, opening up a way for them to walk in. They slipped off their shoes and entered the carpeted apartment. Walls were dully white and the room was underfurnished; with only a sofa at the side.

“Sorry, it’s a little messy.” Lisa commented, more out of reflex when anyone enters her house rather than anything else.

“Are you kidding me?” Dylan exclaimed. “There’s barely anything here!”

“I just moved in here,” she said nervously. Sharon nodded, her eyes travelling to every nook and cranny of the room.

“Do you want to come into my bedroom?” Lisa asked. It was not until the loud PFFT escaping from Dylan that she realised the connotation of her words. Much to her dismay, Dylan started bursting out in really loud laughter.

“You are so rude.” Sharon commented blandly, but let out a tiny giggle. Lisa flushed red. “Anyways, sorry Lisa, he’s kinda weird – OW! STOP POKING ME! Okay yeah scrap that, he’s a big fat butt and – OW!”

“I mean, uhh – you should see the bedroom, yeah,” Lisa started, as she felt so very awkward. “sorry, it just came out of my mouth and – yeah.” She opened the door, knowing that it was about time she stopped stuttering.

“And over there’s, the, uhh, bathroom.”

“Hmmm,” Sharon says listlessly. “$70 a week right?”

“Yeah. We split the bills, which should be okay, as long as we use it equally. And stuff.”

“Ahh, okay. When can I move in?”

Huh, this girl was so quick! “As soon as possible?”

“Alright, I’ll move my stuff in tomorrow or the day afterwards?” Sharon grinned.

“Umm. Yeah, okay, if you want,” Lisa chuckled nervously. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Mmmm.” Sharon replied, a warm smile spreading across her face.

While watching this exchange between two like minded girls, Dylan raised his eyebrow. “Aren’t you two forgetting something here?”

“Huh?” Lisa and Sharon replied in unison. Surprised that it was in unison, they exchanged a laugh.

“Like, I dunno, maybe the whole freaking contract and the legal stuff?”

Both girls lit up in realization.

“Oh my God, Dylan! What would I ever do without you?” exclaimed Shaz.

“What you would do without me, indeed.”

“Ooops, my bad,” said Lisa awkwardly. “I’ll print the paperwork tonight and you can come over tomorrow to sign everything and stuff?”

“Sure,” grinned Sharon.

They proceeded to exchange their phone numbers.

I really want Dylan’s phone number, thought Lisa. No reason, though. Because we’re friends. Still, Lisa snuck some tentative glances at Dylan’s phone, which he was holding out and probably texting someone. Ahh, I kinda want to be the person who he’s texting right now.

Just as she finished saving Sharon as a contact, her phone beeped with a text message. Which wasn’t anyone from her contact list.

Haha I sneakily saved your number when you were giving it to shaz :P now that I have your number I can send you unwelcome texts! From yours truly.

Lisa looked up at Dylan, who flashed her a smirk.

You are way too sly dylan.

Dylan’s phone rang with a text message alert. If Sharon understood the little message exchange going on, she certainly didn’t mention it or show any expression of acknowledgement.

“Yay, ok! I’ll contact you soon. By the way, you can call me Shaz.”

Just as they were leaving and Shaz was slipping back into her shoes, Dylan looked back at Lisa. “I’ll see you soon,” he whispered.

#lisap #hf #wc: 1195 #this is really bad

[xhappyfamily-blog]

Missed Chances

Knowing that the phones had been mixed up at the police station did not make things better. For all she knew, it could’ve belonged to a terrorist who had killed even more people than she had met in her life, or perhaps it belonged to from a little old lady who had had her purse stolen (or, more likely, had forgotten where she put it). It also did not prompt her to go back to the police station to return the phone (which was what she probably should’ve done). Instead, she chucked the familiar (yet unfamiliar) phone into her clutch. 

The heels of her platform heels clacked irritatingly against the concrete pavement. Though she exuded the sophistication and aurora of an elite socialite on the outside, that was certainly not in sync with how she felt on the inside. The most frustrating migraine had been following her around for what felt like months, but had only, in actual fact, been a few hours.

The original plan had been going to the bar to get some drinks with the new acquaintances (for there was no better that could entail their light relationship and awkward conversations) she had made. It should have dawned on her that drinking would only make her migraine worse, especially if she acquired a hangover the next day, and maybe she should have simply stayed at home, but this notion simply did not occur to her. Furthermore, a lack of a phone that she could actually use (considering the one she picked up was secured by a PIN code which she hadn’t gotten around to attempting to hack) put her in a potentially perilous and uneasy situation.

It was only arriving at the door of the pub did she hesitate, her hand lingering just a fraction away from the glass panels. If the sound of her heels was enough to annoy her to no end, the loud and chaotic atmosphere of the bar probably wasn’t ideal.

To her surprise, and perhaps even to her dismay or excitement, or even both, the door was opened from the inside. The shorter man was being dragged by the ear, his protests ignored by the taller, obviously stronger, man.

“Lemme go bruh,”

The taller man scoffed, “Can you even stand straight if I let you go?”

“I promise you brah, I didn’t drink! Not today! I had only been there for seconds before you arrived, I swear! It was just an innocent meet-up with some friends. Legit.”

“Really, you still have friends? Like, ones that aren’t actually friends with your money? Well, you weren’t exactly supposed to be there in the first place, in case you’ve forgotten the good-behaviour condition you’re on right now. If I hadn’t told that bloody useless officer that you were studying to be a pharmacist and made up some crap about a lack of pharmacists around here, you’d probably still be sitting there whining abut your stupid bald ex.”

“She had hair when we were dating, okay?! Can’t blame me she decided to wax it off it in a sprout of ‘inspiration’...”

“You want to talk about hair? Mate, you dyed your hair rainbow.”

Ling inspected the two men closer. Somehow she had never noticed, but indeed, the shorter man adorned a rainbow head, his royal blue blouse and electric crimson jeans acting simply as a monochromic, if not juxtaposed, background in comparison, his amethyst (shade of violet) Vans only adding to the effect.

The other man, on the other hand, seemed fortunately much more civilised, dressed in maroon jeans and graphic tee. Both men though, had their back turned away from Ling. Which was a shame really, if you know what I mean.

They left the scene, leaving behind a phone which had a striking similarity to the one in her bag. By the time she had noticed it though, they were far, far, far away.

She fiddled with the phone which she claimed hers, preparing to inform her acquaintances of her withdrawal. Considering that her aggressive attempts at turning on the phone all failed, she admitted that the battery had well and truly depleted.

Great. Now she had two useless phones!

And with that, she went back home.

#lingy #never gunna be a writer #wc: 722 #hf

[xhappyfamily-blog]

The next time Dora landed back into reality, she was opening her eyes to the afternoon sun fading to a brilliant orangey-red as it dipped down the horizon, making way for night to take over. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, surprised that she had slept for so long- the whole day was practically wasted. Looking over, she noticed her phone, sitting patiently next to her. She picked it up, staring at the black text on the soft white glow emitting from the screen.

First name: The awesome guy

Last name: who saved your life

Mobile number: XXXXXXXXXX

She read it, raising her eyes at the name, bizarre thoughts dashing through her mind as she wondered if the guy had watched her sleep, because that would be extremely creepy. On the other hand, perhaps he held some sort of explanation to why she had woken up early that day in a hospital- which she was now having second thoughts about, since she had not seen a nurse or doctor for the whole day, but then again, she had been asleep. She decided to call the mysterious guy anyway.

The dial tone rang a few times before a smooth voice answered, “Good morning, or should I say, good evening.”

Dora ignored him, “Umm, who are you?”

“Why don’t you stop looking so miserably at the bed and find out for yourself?”

She paused for a moment, his words sinking in slowly and she looked up slowly to find a boy leaning against the now open door, his phone next to his ear and his eyes staring at her in amusement. He grinned at her, placing his phone into his pocket before walking towards her.

“Hi…” she eyed his name tag clipped to the front pocket of his shirt. “Jake…”

“Hi Dora!” he replied cheerfully.

She stared at him dumbly, unsure of what to say.

“What, see something you like?” he smirked at her.

“Umm, no. So who are you again? And where am I…”

He sighed dramatically and sat down on the bed. “I’m a nurse here, still in training though.”

There was a slight pause. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah, can’t a guy be a nurse?”

“I never said that!” she insisted indignantly.

“You thought it!”

“No I didn’t!”

“Ok whatever! Anyway, you’re in one of the spare bedrooms in the local hospital,” he said, running his hand through his hair.

“Ok, I see. How did I end up here?”

“Don’t you remember?” Jake asked her, eyes wide with surprise.

“Uhh, no.”

“Well, I don’t know. Go ask Kieran or something. I mean, he’s the one who dumped you on me.”

Dora narrowed her eyes at Jake, not buying the words spilling from his mouth. “What do you mean? Why would Kieran do that?”

“I don’t know okay. You were passed out, and he had to go to work so he called me at like 2AM and told me to look after you in case it was something serious.”

“What… Since when did I pass out?”

“How would I know?? You’re not even meant to be using this room, okay!! I had to smuggle you in and since you were unconscious, it looked like I was carrying a dead person, and not to mention that I’m not even employed yet!”

She stared at him, startled by his outburst. “Uhh, thanks I guess… Still don’t believe that I passed out though… but okay, whatever.”

“Thanks, I guess?” He shook his head incredulously.

“Thank you, Jake. You’ve been a wonderful person,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Satisfied?”

Jake shook his head and stared at her with remorseful eyes. “Nope, you have to put more sincerity and thought into it.”

“Well, what do you want me to do then?”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Sleep with me maybe?”

Dora eyed him in distaste and shook her head. “Um, okay I’m gonna go home now, bye.”

“Hey! Hey! Don’t leave yet!” he grabbed onto her arm as she stood up. “Ok I know what you can do. Treat me to dinner.”

“No.”

“What!”He leaped up in disbelief.

“No, I just got fired, why would I want to treat a complete stranger to dinner? Are you out of your mind?”

He rolled his eyes and tutted, “Okay, just accompany me then.”

“No, I have to go home.”

“Man, if I knew you were so boring, I would totally not have bothered to do all this! I could’ve gotten fired you know! I could’ve just been irresponsible and left you on the streets! You could’ve been kidnapped and sold as a prostitute and then you-“

“Okay, okay! Shut up! I’ll go with you, alright.”

Jake’s face lit up and his mouth formed a grin. “Yay, you’re the best! Stay here for now. I need to get my stuff but I’ll be right back!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Make it quick!” she called out to him as he dashed out of the room.

She flopped back onto the bed, eyes studying the plaster which was slowly peeling from the ceiling – something she hadn’t noticed before.

But no matter how hard she stared, she couldn’t get the image of Jake’s excited face out of her head. He was like a little boy who had just been offered a life-time supply of candies and toy cars.

Ӂ

“Wow, that was such a nice dinner! The pasta here is really good!” Dora exclaimed happily, placing her fork down on the empty plate.

“Yeah, I know right! I always come here to eat,” Jake replied, taking the last sip of his soda.

“Ooh, I should come here more often,” she said, looking around the restaurant. “What is the place called again?”

“Piazzo’s Café.”

“Oh ok, thanks! Uhh, so I think I’m going to go home now.”

“Ahh, yeah sure.”

They both stood up and walked to the cash register.

“Here’s your bill. I hope you enjoyed your meal,” the cashier said, boredom obvious on her face as she chewed her pink bubblegum.

Jake took out his wallet and threw down a couple of notes onto the table. “Yes, thank you. Keep the change.”

Dora, a second slow in realising that Jake had just paid for both of them was about to protest, when she felt him lean down to her ear.

“It’ll make me look bad if you pay, and that chick is hot, so,” he whispered before standing back upright and smirking at her.

She stared at the girl with her dyed blond hair, double D’s, caked on makeup and many piercings. So that’s the type of girl he likes huh. Your typical, fake bimbo.

The girl handed a receipt to Jake and twirling her hair, said, “Have a good night.”

“Oh, I sure will,” Jake replied, winked at the girl before walking out.

“Wow, I can’t even…” Dora muttered under her breath, following Jake out the door.

She reached into her bag and took out her wallet. “Here, you can take my money now since there’re no more fake girls around anymore, right.”

“Hey hey, what’s with your tone. Don’t worry! I think you’re hot as well,” he smirked at her. “Probably not as hot as the other girl though, but I’m sure a wardrobe change and more makeup will do the trick.”

“I don’t need that coming from you. Are you going to take the money or not?” She stared at him icily, wanting to punch him in the face.

“Wow, why are you so mad? Man, I was kidding okay. Since you’re fired though, you might want to use that money for something else. Jobs are hard to come by these days.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled at her. “Anyway, gotta run. See ya around!”

He gave her a little wave before walking off into the distance. Dora glared at him in annoyance and put the money back into her wallet. Her anger disappeared quickly though, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was meaning to pay for dinner the entire time.

Oh well, whatever. I got better things to worry about. Like losing my job. Why did I have to lose my job?! She mentally hit herself, before resignedly turning around and walking back home, because in all reality, paying for a cab was way too expensive these days.

#can't believe what I just wrote omg #dialogue so choppy #dont h8 me dora ;_; #i cry #storyline so choppy #wc:1382 #wow #wow wrote so many words about nothing really JUST DIALOGUE OMG KILL ME NOW #Doram

[xhappyfamily-blog]

Sharon had been sprawled on the couch, one hand cradling a bowl of rice with curry (homemade, she thought proudly) and the other hand mindlessly flicking through television channels, searching for something that grab her interest and finally settling for a rerun of ‘How I Met Your Mother’. She’s probably watched this episode in her young teenage days but that’s okay because she’s not actually focusing on the television screen but more on the thoughts running through her mind. What has she been done for the past two weeks? N o t h i n g.  Absolutely, terribly, horrendously nothing. It had started off as a reasonably good idea; after all she had just completed the HSC, which had been deemed the biggest academic obstacle of all since early childhood. The test that she had been studying to succeed for the majority of her life. The test which (or she had thought) decided the fate of the rest of her life; whether she becomes homeless or the mother in the picture perfect family. And it was, the HSC, it was a huge obstacle. It had been the sole cause of the countless sleepless nights she had spent in front of her computer screen, gulping down her 5th cup of coffee while feverishly typing up an essay that was due in 6 hours, because absolutely everything counted then. She had gotten into her chosen university (as expected by her peers and family) and it felt surreal that it was all over, but it was. So of course, the first week of having this unfamiliar freedom, Sharon had decided to quickly find a room close to future university (they were hard to come by), which was how she had met Tia. All Sharon really knew about Tia was that she is the single child and thus the sole successor of her mother’s widely successful and ever expanding health insurance company, Jecoeur, which had countless franchises throughout the country. Her parents had bought her the penthouse of an apartment close to the university which she was to study at, the same university as Sharon was going to attend. It was by sheer luck that while Sharon had been searching for a place to live near the university, her friend had introduced her to Tia. To her, it had been a dream come true. The penthouse was absolutely spacious and beautiful, a quick walk to the university and very, very cheap (Sharon had even insisted to pay more). To be honest, she didn’t know why Tia had taken such a liking to her. In fact, she didn’t really know Tia at all. In the two weeks she had spent in the apartment, she had only seen Tia about ten times and during those encounters Tia had been either drunk, with a guy or both. Which was why she almost dropped her bowl of curry when Tia entered the apartment at 8pm on a Friday night. “What happened?” Is the first thing she asked because something must have happened for Tia to be home so early in the night. Once Tia is out of the shadows casted by the walls, there’s a small smile on her delicate features and a smile that just doesn’t quite reach her eyes, “I have big news!” she says as she moves to sit on the edge of the couch. Her voice is chirpy, but it’s missing its usual beat. With a flick of her finger, Sharon turns off the noisy television.“Good or bad news?”  Tia’s fumbles with her fingers and Sharon is unsure as to whether Tia was thinking about her question or if she was attempting to prolong answering the question. Finally, Tia looks up, “Good,” she says, “good news” she nods this time, as if reassuring herself of her words, “and bad,” she adds as an afterthought. Sharon wonders how one can look so doubtful over good news. “I’m...” Tia hesitates and this really is the first time Sharon has seen self assured Tia looking so uncertain of her words and actions, “I’m going to Korea.” Sharon blinks, “what? Korea? You’re going to Korea?” Tia gives a quick nod and she’s unconsciously fiddling with her fingers, “I’m going to Korea,” she repeats. “For how long?” She stops fiddling and suddenly her body is tense, “For, for a couple of years at the least, perhaps forever.” “What,” is all Sharon manages to get out because really, how else is one meant to respond? “My mother’s company is starting a new branch there and she wants me to manage it in the future, she’s sending me there to first familiarise myself with the country to learn Korean.” Tia explains in one quick breath and before Sharon could reply, she drops the bombshell, “I asked my mum to let you stay in this apartment but she wouldn’t allow it.’ She paused again and glanced at Sharon, “I’m really sorry...” Sharon frowned, “no no, it’s okay! Don’t worry about me!” she tried to smile reassuringly at Tia who had sunk into the sofa in a defeated manner, “when are you leaving?”

Tia sighed and brought her hands to her face “in three days,” she quietly mumbled into her fingers.

Sharon wondered what she could say to make Tia feel better. It must be terrible to be forced to move away from everything you’re familiar with and into a foreign country with such little prior notice. For once, instead of envying the things Tia had, Sharon actually sympathised her. She had everything most girls dreamed of, yet she lacked the fundamental right that nearly everyone had—freedom.

Although Sharon hadn't known Tia for long, she still liked her. She was a welcomed change from her boring high school life and she had given Sharon a glimpse of the real world. Sharon slung her arm around Tia’s shoulders, “Hey, why so glum? I hear Korea has a lot of hot guys!”

When Tia didn’t respond, Sharon stood up and pulled Tia up, “Come on, let’s go!” “To where?” “To have fun!” Sharon didn’t really know where they were going to go, but she figured that anywhere would be a better place to cheer Tia up than staying in the apartment and that was exactly what she was planning to do. -x- Early Saturday morning, Sharon finds herself eating a slice of toast and scanning the Suburban Times (her local newspaper) for her potential new living place. She feels rather sophisticated with the warm sunlight streaming through the blinds, pen in one hand, legs crossed and the smell of coffee wafting through the air.   She scans listlessly through the multitude of ads. Too expensive. Too far. Sounds like a man. Dodgy area. Can’t move in soon enough. Too many people.  She had just about given up when the words “$70/week” caught her eye. She brought the ad closer to her eyes and intently read the advertisement.                                            WANTED ROOMMATE

Female, apartment has one bedroom one bathroom and living room. Not furnished. 5 mins away from train station and shopping centre. $70/week and split the bills. Call XXXXXXXX.

Thank you very much. Sincerely,

Lisa Pang. “Hmm” Sharon thought aloud as she considered the e advertisement. The rent was extremely cheap...but then the apartment sounded rather small. Which was okay if her roommate was an okay person but it was definitely not okay if her roommate was a bore and judging by the words, the person sounded quite old...sincerely? thank you very much? Sharon shrugged, she didn’t exactly have a lot of time and she supposed she could always move out later if the roommate was really terrible. With that resolution in mine, she reached out for her phone and dialled the number. 

#filler chap lul #omg such bad writing i sobbing soz #shazc #smh #wow bad writing is bad #wc:1293

[xhappyfamily-blog]

She carefully dipped her toes into the soft water, the ripples dispersing as a calm canon. Despite the raging environment, Lisa found her solace through the icy feel of water at her toes. The mound of grass she was sitting on was no longer poison; but it was grass. Just grass, just that comfy cushion of velvety green grass, inviting her in with its sharp tips.

He frowned again. It didn’t really feel right, describing the grass as sharp just when he made it a cushion. He pondered over rewriting that section, before he pondered onto other things, i.e Would it be good to include that contrast? It sounds nice and poetic though, maybe he should keep it?

Better to be safe than sorry, he groaned.

Just grass, just that comfy cushion of velvety green grass, inviting her in with its sharp tips offering her the magic of a single moment.

∞

It had taken a crabload of mental arguing over whether to take the newspaper with her to the café or not. It was the only thing on Lisa’s mind since when she opened her door to find a rolled up piece of newspaper nestling at her doorstep. For a second she wondered if it was there before or not, and if she was meant to have it sitting this comfortably at her doorstep until she saw the same rolled up newspapers perching comfortably at almost, every doorstep.

Funny country this was, delivering free newspapers. Not that she was complaining, of course. She could use the newspaper to a) wrap gifts (if she had any friends here), b) be disposable table cloths and of course c) to make origami (not that she knew how to).

Lisa went back to the café again for breakfast (because after all, they really did have nice stuff and the walls were baby pink) and newspaper in hand. She wondered if that made her look like an old lady because she would be reading the newspaper while drinking coffee, but it was something that she had never done in Sydney before and the café had a cool reading atmosphere to it. And anyways, she knew nobody here (as sad as it was) so she would not be judged.

So when she saw the same guy from yesterday, wearing different clothes but sitting at his same spot, she instantly became wary. Subconsciously, she inched her newspaper behind her and crept past his table, being sure not to steal his attention from his notebook.

“Americano, please.” Lisa made her order and sat patiently at a table behind yesterday’s guy.

She looked at the newspaper, which was sitting awkwardly on the table and wondered if she should read it. So she picked it up and started reading it while sipping her coffee. It was when she was lost into reading about the happenings of a tragic bus hijack in Norway when she heard a chuckle behind her, followed by a gentle voice.

“So you like Americano, huh?”

“Haha,” laughed Lisa awkwardly. If she was surprised by his outburst, she would've shown it (funny thing was: she was surprised, but she didn't show it.) “Kinda. They don’t have it much where I’m from.”

He smiles. “Hold on a second.”

Lisa watched as he walked to the counter and she wondered if she should keep on watching. She didn’t need to wonder for that long, though, as he scooted to the left and turned over, leaning on the counter and offered a small wave to Lisa.

It was her instinct, then, to look behind her to see who he was waving at. When she saw nobody behind her and she turned back around, he was guffawing at the ceiling.

Great, Lisa grumbled. Nice guy.

Still, she politely smiled at him and returned to her newspaper. Just when she was starting to get lost in the black words on white, her nose perked to the smell of bacon.

“So where are you from? Americano should be everywhere.”

“I don’t see it very much around, anyway.” She paused, should she tell her where she came from? “I’m from Sydney.”

“Oh, Sydney? No wonder your English is good! Thought you were from China. You on holiday now or something?”

There was something with the way the guy was presenting himself. It was rather... comfortable. He emitted comfortable vibes. “China? No! But yeah, on holidays. Summer holidays.”

“That’s cool! This neighbourhood isn’t very interesting, though. By the way, can I sit here?”

Lisa nodded, smile still in tact. “Sure, you can sit here.”

They started talking to each other about pointless things and having mundane and awkward conversations. They didn’t click instantly, no matter how outgoing and comfortable the guy was, and no matter how Lisa tried her best to match up. Still, when the guy had left, Lisa still could not stop replaying Dylan’s laugh, or the way his face lifted into a smile whenever Lisa said something that she didn’t think was funny, but he did. It was only when he was sitting across from her at that breakfast did she realise how attractive he really was; big, cool eyes that calmed her... a complexion that wasn’t paler than hers.

Still, it was her excuse to think of his face as she sent an email to the local newspaper, per his advice.

To: [email protected] From: [email protected]

To Suburban Times,

My name is Lisa Pang and I would like to send an advertisement for publish in the newspaper. I’ve sent the payment via credit card under the name Lisa Pang. Please insert the following advertisement.

WANTED ROOMMATE

Female, apartment has one bedroom one bathroom and living room. Not furnished. 5 mins away from train station and shopping centre. $70/week and split the bills. Call XXXXXXXX.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Lisa Pang.

#hf #lisap #wc: 943

[xhappyfamily-blog]

“Do you have any form of ID on you, Miss?”

Against her better judgment, she waivered her response for a moment, uncomfortable under the pending gaze of the officer from across the table. She nodded quickly after, hoping that the end of this ordeal was somewhere in the near future. Of course, it would have been much more preferable if she needn’t be in the situation full stop, but, all thanks due to the evidently drunk man beside her, that had never been an option.

Accepting the driver’s license from her grasp, he compared the small image to the figure sitting in front of him. “So, Ling Yang, why do you so adamantly deny your relationship with this man here?”

“No, I—”

“If you need any extra reminder, I am a policeman. You are required to share any knowledge about the case at hand. You may think that by refusing to tell me your boyfriend’s contact details is protecting him from any possible punishments, but no matter what, we will find out in the end. So, you may as well ‘fess up now and, if you’re lucky, we won’t charge you for retaining crucial information.”

“No really, I—”

“You know, a young lady like you should not be involving yourself with such a bad influence, but now that you have, I don’t see why you are refusing to admit to it. If you were going to break up, okay! That’s fine with me.” He surrendered his palms towards her in emphasis of his point, but only encouraged the hate that was flaring inside of her; an additional catalyst to the reaction.  “But the moment you let him get in that car, having drunk significantly more than the driving limit, may I add, it became my problem.  If I had not intervened, the main sitting to your left may not be alive today.”

A vile curse had almost escaped her lips, but was stopped when her eyes flickered upon the gun slung on the policeman’s belt. One deep breath was enough to momentarily dampen the raging fire. “Why won’t you believe me?”

Before he could answer with yet another smarmy lecture, the drunken man grabbed the sleeve of her blouse. “W-w-why are you doing this to me?” whined the drunk man, “Babe, I love you.”

In the same instant that Ling had jerked away harshly, shrieking a loud, “Get off!”, the policeman gave a smirk, as if to say “Well, that certainly answers your question”, which was the exact same instant he ran in.

He was somewhere between a teen and an adult, his black hair messed from the wind and was dressed in a simple black tee and jeans. As his eyes fell upon the drunken man, who was still in process of recovering from a moment before, his aura darkened. Grabbing the drunken man’s collar, pulling him up, he yelled in his, “Tyler, what the fuck are you doing here?!” As he dropped the man, or ‘Tyler’, back down, he muttered under his breath, “Again.”

Between the three, the policeman was the first to react. “I hate to break up the sweet reunion and all, but wh—”

The guy in the black cut him short. “Here.” He emptied his pockets of belongings and tossed them in the general direction of the table. “It’s not the first time I’ve had to go through this protocol, okay? Just let me handle him.” Turning his attention back to the Tyler, his voice reformed to the harsh tone he had used before. “I asked a question, I want an answer.”

“I’m s-s-s-sorry,” he whimpered softly, “b-b-but…I found her. I found her.”

“Where?! If that bitch thinks she can just…” His incoherent mumbling faded to a silence as his friend lifted a pointed finger towards the girl, and the spotlight was drawn. The only response was a stunned silence.

The policeman intervened, smugly pointing out, “If you had let me finish talking, you’d know that she,” he pointed at the girl, “is his,” the finger travelled to the man on the floor, “girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend, considering she—”

“The fuck, Tyler? You thought she was your girlfriend?” He rolled his eyes. “Your girlfriend didn’t even have black hair. Officer, I think you should let her go. I doubt he even knows her name.”

Tyler rubbed his eyes, finally seeing the girl in front of him, stripped of the veil of hope had previously blinded him.

Ling noticed the subtle embarrassed nod of consent from the policeman and wasted no time in leaving, admittedly embarrassed from the vague tone of the guy which left much to be interpreted.  

 The guy in the black tee stared at Tyler in disbelief. “Dude, your girlfriend didn’t even have hair.”

“Oops.”

“Tyler, you are such a fucking idiot. Just…just get out.”

With a meek smile, he turned to the policeman and whispered softly, “Sorry, man.”

*****

What did he mean by that? Was there something strikingly wrong with black hair? Was there something strikingly wrong with her? What…happened?

After grabbing back her belongings, insecure thoughts streaming through her head like an episode of a meteor shower.  Not once did she turn back as she ran into the night, eager to let the wind take with it her worries to a better place.

Though, perhaps she should’ve, because by the time she had realised that the phone she held in her hand wasn’t hers, she had already arrived home.

#lingy #hf #wc: 912

[xhappyfamily-blog]

The morning sun fought a battle with the newly bought, white Venetian blinds, as it threatened to pierce through the slits in between the identical horizontal strips of vinyl. Naturally, the sun won- just like every other morning and the streaks of sunlight pounded against the face of the figure sleeping in the bed across the room. The girl produced an incoherent sound, as she unwillingly rolled herself off the bed (which was much higher than she remembered), her arms reaching forward like a zombie as she searched for the alarm clock which her subconscious was instinctively and eagerly telling her to shut up.

“Ahh… What the hell,” she muttered blearily, as she felt around for her usual bed stand which did not seem to be where it usually stood.

The irritating noise was still playing and it took a moment (quite a long one), before the girl realised that the sound was not produced from her regular alarm clock, but as an incoming call from her phone. She had just changed the ringtone yesterday- it seemed fitting at the time, seeing as her favourite band had finally produced new song, but now the music just provoked her as she struggled to remember the name of the song as well as finding the cursed object playing it. It took her another moment (shorter than the one before, thank god) to notice the presence of something vibrating angrily the front pocket of her jeans. As much as she was puzzled and greatly aggravated by the strangely familiar, yet alien surrounding, the continuous ringing of her phone was becoming too much for her to handle.

“What?” she snapped, her previous groggy self, slowly disappearing- but not quite fast enough.   

“Woah, buddy. Someone obviously got up from the wrong side of the bed this morning,” the voice sounded distant, even cheerful, and the girl felt a rush of fear run through her as she realised that although the person on the line sounded really, really familiar, she couldn’t quite place her finger on who it was.

Am I going insane? What the hell. What is happening to me? Is this a dream? She felt bile rise in her throat as she stumbled backwards and fell onto her bed, frozen, looking around the room. Where am I? Her heart clenched in fear and her lungs stopped short of breath. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to remember what had made her land in a hospital of all places- but it was useless. Broken fragments of recollections taunted her as they scurried along her mind, not unlike mice, undoubtedly in a messed-up and scrambled order. It was like there was a gigantic boulder in her head, blocking her off. At least I’m not hurt, right? She comforted herself, even though the thought was immensely strange because why would she have woken up in a hospital if she bore no injuries?

The person on the other end of the phone was talking again- if that was the right word to describe what they were doing. If talking was equivalent to walking, it would probably be safer to describe the other person as running or perhaps even sprinting.  

“Right,” the girl interrupted the incorrigible string of nonsense she was hearing.

She had decided that it was too difficult to explain her situation to this possible stranger, so instead opted for a simple, but blunt question, “So uhh, who are you again?”

There was a pause before the other person slowly said, “This is Rochelle.”

Dora heaved a sigh of relief, ignoring the hint of offense laced within the other girl’s voice. Oh yeah, I remember now. She’s the new girl from work.

“So Rochelle,” she continued on, content that at least one thing was figured out. “Why am I here?”

 “What do you mean, Dora? Aren’t you at home?”

“No, I’m uhh, in some hospital room.”

“Goodness, are you alright?”

 “Yeah I’m fine,” Dora replied, completing another mental check on her body. “So… why am I here?”

“I don’t know.”

 “Wait, so why did you call me?”

“Oh, did you not hear me before? Boss wanted me to tell you that you’re fired because you didn’t turn up this morning without previous notice. Which would make it the third time this month, and that means strike three.”

Dora could swear that Rochelle was grinning as she relayed the news to her.

“But I’m in hospital! I don’t even know where I am. What, let me talk to him.”

“Hey hey, don’t shoot the messenger! I’m not the one who decided- he did. And it is kind of your fault, you know. Plus, he’s not here right now and-” she was cut off by someone talking to her, “Oh sorry, I have to go now. Good luck with your recovery and all!”

“Bye. Have a nice day,” Dora curtly replied before hanging up and throwing her phone at the bed in fury.

She leaned back to lie on the bed as feelings of anger consumed her every fibre and she thought of all the nasty things which she wanted to do to that little girl. Rochelle had only been working at the coffee shop for a few minutes before she started batting her heavily mascara-ed eyelashes at every male customer which entered. Her strawberry-blonde hair was permed into gentle waves and she showed up every morning in her big ‘It’s Versace, not Gucci’ sunglasses, not looking less perfect than the day before. She wasn’t the one who had to cover for two people’s cleaning and cooking duties (which included taking out the garbage and cleaning the filthy bathrooms). She just had to wink at the manager, or as she called ‘Boss’, and he would relieve her of everything and let her take the counter for the whole day.

Dora sighed to herself trying to push away thoughts of how unfair life was and why luck never seemed to land on her. She yawned widely as feelings of exhaustion replaced her bitterness. I shouldn’t sleep here, though. I don’t even know where I am. She stared at the blank ceiling. But it’s not like I have anywhere to go, seeing as I don’t even have a place to work anymore. If someone wanted to kill me, they would’ve already done so. And I’m so tired… just… so… tired…

Her eyes involuntarily closed as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Which was why she did not see a boy walk into the room- the same one who had been leaning against the wall outside for the past half an hour.

He hovered over her, smirking as he picked up her phone and tapped a series of digits into the screen, saving it as a new contact. He kept the screen open on that tab – ready for her to see when she would wake up a few hours later – and then left the room as silently as he had entered.

Which was just as well, really, because if Dora had been awake, she might’ve died a bit inside from how attractive he was. Just a bit.

Ӂ

#doram #hf #wc:1189

[xhappyfamily-blog]

Sharon woke up with a hangover from the deepest realms of hell. Her head pounded violently as elephants stomped through her brain, turning all thoughts and logic into nothing but one vicious headache. This intensified as the sunlight that streamed through the cracks of her age worn blinds came in contact with the pupils of her eyes. She groaned as she turned to bury her head deep underneath her blanket, only to throw it off seconds later as the unbearable stench of alcohol hit her. “Fuck,” she groaned, wincing at the raspy sound of her voice, courtesy of her burning throat. Her mind reeled as she searched her memory for the slightest idea on how she had possibly managed to end up in her current state. Unfortunately all her mind was able to communicate to her was how she was never going get drunk ever again. She wasn’t some alcoholic or juvenile delinquent or wild party animal who suffered hangovers every second day. No, she was good, she kept out of trouble, she studied and got good grades. This was the first time she could remember being so hung over that she couldn’t even recall yesterday’s events.

She stumbled out of the bed (which was thankfully hers) and dragged herself to the adjoining bathroom. The reflection that greeted her in the mirror was one that definitely did not want to see ever again. Her hair, which was often messy enough, had decided to go all out and now resembled a bird’s nest crossed with a hurricane. Her wide eyes were bloodshot and the dark bags sunk her eyes in. Her complexion was sickly and uneven, smudged with makeup. On top of that, she was clothed (if you could even count it as clothing) in only some skimpy night dress (since when did she own that?) which was much too short for her liking. So all in all, she looked like shit.  -- One shower, two panadols and four cups of water later, Sharon had managed to make herself into a just presentable state. The dress had been replaced with pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, her hair had been combed and all of yesterday’s remnants had been washed away. Her headache had slowed to a dull thud and the redness in her eyes had faded.  Sighing, she bundled her long wet hair in her towel as she headed out to the kitchen for some breakfast (or brunch, considering it was just past midday). Focused on drying her hair and still slightly disorientated from her hangover, she failed to notice the presence of someone foreign until-- “Hey you.”  Sharon yelped and jumped about a foot into the air at the unfamiliar and definitely masculine voice; her eyes snapped up and searched for the source of the voice. However, when she located what, or whom, the voice belonged to, she let out another yelp and dropped her towel.  Because standing a few metres away from her was a shirtless guy. A very good looking shirtless guy but that of course, was beside the point. “I-I, what w-who are you?” She stuttered as her mind attempted to conjure up possibilities other than the dreaded obvious as to why there was a half naked man in her kitchen the morning after she had gotten drunk out of her mind. Perhaps he was a thief who had accidently gotten his shirt torn on the window sill.  Perhaps he had mistakenly gone into the wrong apartment and never realised. Perhaps she was actually still drunk right now and the man was in fact all a mere illusion. Perhaps he was a nice person who had found her dead drunk on the road and brought her back to his house because she was unconscious and he just didn’t happen to own any shirts. A look of confusion passed the strangers face before it was quickly replaced with one of amusement. “Baby, don’t you remember me from last night? I thought we had something special!” He walked closer to her, biting his lower lip as the corners of his mouth upturned.  Sharon felt her face flush, “I, did we –?” Sharon mumbled, her head automatically lowering in apprehension of the stranger who had suddenly gotten oh so very close to her.  The soft sound of his footsteps came to a stop, leaving the room in silence as he lowered his head so that he was eye level with Sharon and she could feel, just feel the warmth of his breath against her skin.  A pause.

 “Haha, you’re cute.” He gave a low chuckle, breaking the silence and atmosphere as he straightened up, “you should’ve seen your face,” he smiled good-naturedly at her, his eyes creasing slightly at the edges as he patted her on the shoulder.  What the hell? Sharon thought as she lifted her head only to see that he had already walked back to behind the kitchen counter.   She picked up her towel from the floor and followed him, noticing for the first time the white t-shirt he had slung across one arm, “what? So we didn’t...?” she asked hesitantly, “nothing happened? I’m not screwed for life?”  The guy laughed again, “Nah, I was just messing with you.” Sharon brought a hand to her chest and exhaled deeply in relief, “Oh thank God!”  “What, am I that ugly?” The stranger asked jokingly with a half smile. “What? No!” In fact you’re kind of hot, you have very nice eyes and you smell very nice too, Sharon added silently in her mind. “I’m just relieved I didn’t do such an uh...—“she abruptly paused as a sudden thought struck her mind, “wait...then who the hell are you?”   The stranger let out a short laugh “Me?” he asked as he pointed to himself, “I’m Luke, Tia’s one night stand.”   Tia.  Tia. Tia. Tia. That was right, Tia, her roommate. Tia, who had relationships shorter than her name. Tia, who partied all night and shopped all day.  Sharon frowned as recollections from the night before started flooding her mind. She remembered grudgingly going to ‘The Party’ (anyone who's anybody shows up!) with Tia after being called a stuck-up-no-fun prude, which she most definitely was not, thank you very much. She remembered being persuaded into wearing one of Tia’s designer outfits and she remembered that the location of the party was absolutely huge and packed with hundreds of unfamiliar faces. She remembered the loud, deafening music and the heated atmosphere, an unpleasant mix of alcohol, sweat and cigarettes, an atmosphere that practically screamed adolescence and fun. She briefly recalled taking tentative sips of a cup of beer someone had thrust into her hand, sips which gradually turned into gulps and shots as the night wore on. She recalled the heat of dancing in between the masses of bodies and she recalled the unbelievable enthralling feeling she had felt as the alcohol buzzed through her bloodstream and the music pounded in her ears. She recalled how good it felt to lose track of all her worries on the future and past and just live in the present.  But that was about as far as her memories could take her and she could only hope that drunk Sharon did not do anything horrendously embarrassing. Oh God, what if she had jumped onto a table top and started dancing with inanimate objects whilst singing Chinese songs? And when people tried to stop her, she had kung fu-ed them off the table with her own added sound effects? What if people had taken-- “So at this point you’re meant to be like, hi nice to meet you Luke, my name is—“Sharon’s imagination was cut short by the sound of Luke’s voice.  “Oh um, I’m Sharon...” she replied, slightly unnerved by how nicely the white t-shirt he had just put on fit him.    Thankfully, before she could embarrass herself any further, Tia chose to show up. “Good morning you two! Shaz! Girl, you should’ve seen yourself last night! Wasn’t it just awesome? You looked like you had a blast!” Tia grinned widely as she swung and arm around Sharon’s neck.  “Yeah, I had so much fun I don’t remember what happened!” Sharon grumbled as she pulled away from Tia’s arm and sat herself down on the kitchen stool. Laughing, Tia moved to stand behind Luke, who was glancing at the contents of the fridge, “Hey gorgeous,” she purred and started to wrap her arm around him From her seat, Sharon cringed and started to get up to avoid seeing yet another intimate make-up session involving Tia and some guy because gosh, she had seen enough of those to last her for this life time and the next.  But instead of reciprocating Luke turned around to face Tia and took a step back as he held both hands up, “Whoa hold on, I didn’t sign up for this”  He turned back to inspect the contents of the fridge, “Damn, you really have no food huh.” He said as he shut the fridge’s door. Tia looked slightly put out by his words, “But—“ she began but stopped as Luke smoothly stepped past her and headed to her bedroom, shortly emerging with a loose black hooded jacket over his t-shirt and a phone in his hand. He walked to the front door, paused and turned around, gaze focusing on Sharon, “see you soon...Shaz,” a light smile played on his face as he gave her hesitant wave before he stepped out of the apartment and disappeared.  Sharon’s mouth dropped open at his words. See you soon? See you soon SHAZ? Well, that’s a first! In all her time of being Tia’s roommate (about two weeks) none of Tia’s guys had ever bothered to acknowledge. In fact, she had never seen Tia’s guys more than once. She turned to look at Tia, who her eyebrows furrowed and her lips formed into a pout, “hey are you alright?” Sharon asked, worried because while it may be true that Tia’s relationships rarely past the one week mark (she preferred the friend’s with benefits option more), Luke had been rather terse and rude to her. Tia looked up at her, “Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine...” she moved to sit in the stool beside Sharon and turned to her with a sigh, “I’m just trying to remember his name.” Sharon couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh, Tia and her really did live in completely different worlds

#hf #wc:1745 #shazc

[xhappyfamily-blog]

Jess is awoken by the light sun on her feet, an overly humid blanket and her alarm beeping, beeping until she swings her arm, for the clock to click to a silence. She yawns a little, wipes her eyes and aimlessly heads for the bathroom to brush through her hair.

When she leaves the house, she takes a quick glance into the nearby store, full of branded-clothing. There, she encounters a rather pixelated Rolling-Stones-look-alikes poster (with over-grown moustaches, styled gelled hair paired with unfitting blazers – something she’d like on a shirt), hung from the inside of the glass, advertising for helping hands at the concert hall. I’ve always wanted to do this, Jess thinks, and as she ponders, fumbles through her bag for her phone to take a photograph of the advertisement. As her phone focuses, she hears a voice calling out to her.

“Excuse me dear, you should take it!” The middle-aged shop assistant is on one leg, leaning from the inside and as if inevitably attached to the door frame. Jess looks at her blankly, unsure whether she should pack away her camera or pull a face that made it seem like she knew what the woman was talking about.

“Take it, the poster, today’s the last day anyway. You better make the call by 5pm.”

-

The sun is due to set, and streetlights are awaiting their moments of glory. So Jess makes the cut, after enthusiastically filling in identity forms, and now standing at the Gastra Concert Hall, she promises to not volunteer there too long before the sounds of deep beats beneath rooting voices of amateurs defines her life. OMG, what?! This is a HOLIDAY Jess, not some i-help-others-wipe-their-ass-cause-I-finished-wiping-mine-with-one-of-the-most-life-changing-exams-of-my-life, her friend texts back when she vents her excitement.

Foine, she thinks, as she walks through the delicate hallway, with a chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling, leather sofas and is greeted by an usher perhaps.

“That way please, Jessica, the theme is intergalactic universe,” his glasses hang off his nose, and his shaky hand urges to make a left turn. Jess raises her brow in disbelief; what even.

She walks onto the stage; the floor is sprayed with a cosmo-pattern. As she follows the others’ motions of avoiding the running cables on the floor, she sees someone struggling with the gristly mess of paper stringers centre-stage. He pulls a confused face, his eyes in fixated focus, and Jess hears an arduous voice yelling from the depths of backstage - please finish soon, it’s almost 7, it’s almost show time, time is ticking, and goodness, Jess thinks, it would be unhuman to not be on the verge of ripping your hair out.

She decides to escape problematic problems by avoiding them. She heads to a small room backstage, down the stale-white hallway, allocated for volunteers to put their belongings. Jess delves through her bag for her Ipod, but finds the tall rolled-up poster of the Rolling Stones look-alikes. She pulls off the elastic, unrolling it and resolves to stick it inside her square locker door. She looks around the neighbouring lockers; filled with eccentric quote-badges and cool retro banners and she feels at loss with her boring advertisement.

As she searches the room for sticky-tape, a voice interrupts her.

“Uh, what are you doing?” the voice is inquisitive and comes out rather dubious.

Jess turns around to see the guy who was struggling with the mess of paper stringers on stage and she smiles automatically, despite his off-putting attitude. He’s leaning against the door frame, which gives Jess a chance to observe his appearance - how he’s clad with a mandatory shirt, trackies and identity lanyard, but still looks fitting; his hair is an almost-black brown.

“Umm, I’m looking for tape; do you know where there is any?” Now that she has a better look at the guy, he’s not too bad, his nose is sharp, and his jawline is prominent.

“No,” his response is dull and raw, but he pries again. “What do you need it for?”

“Oh, just sticking something,” Jess stands awkwardly, unsure whether it would be ignorant to keep searching, but she gives the coffee table surreptitious looks anyway.

“Nah, I thought it was cereal,” his mouth turns slightly upwards, and Jess swallows a gasp because people really do look billion times less forbidding when they look happy. His eyes narrow slightly before they return to his unamused façade, and he grits his teeth. “A few mouths you want to tape shut?”

Jess thinks he’s reasonably menacing, so she pretends like she knows what he’s saying by letting out a phony chuckle and nodding in an “I understand” manner.

“Did you nod just because you have a head and a neck?”

Jess is speechless. She glances at him again, because he doesn’t exactly look bad or murderous, and surprisingly, his face has softened as he looks back at her with his dark eyes. He has prickly words, but a composed appearance.

“That concert-manager-guy pisses me off a hell lot,” he continues and walks to the back cupboard, opens the door and pulls out a new, unopened roll of sticky-tape, yells a think fast, before he hurls it over to Jess. She realises that he indeed knows where the tape is; he seems to know his way around the place like the back of his hand.

“Can I even use this?” Jess says, unconvinced after catching the roll on a full.

“Sure you can, but will you?”

“Uhhh…I don’t know…?”

“No one’s going to watch you commit your little crime besides me,” he laughs - laughs, Jess notes. He’s leaning against a chair back, now miraculously with a straw in a can of Mother.

“So, can I?”

“Can you decide?” He jokes.

Jess nods and picks at the tape, suddenly feeling embarrassed putting up the advertisement. She feels his eyes on her, and she imagines that he’s probably raising his brow or holding in a guffaw.  

“You’re a fan of them?”

Jess suddenly feels too warm for comfort; she’s put on the spot, and what can she say when she doesn’t even know who they are?

“Uhhh, I guess…” she stammers as she sticks the last corner down.

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah, they’re cool…” she says, like she’s ever seen them before today, like she stalks them like she used to stalk bands...

He walks over and points at the guy second from the left, with shades and a burgundy blazer. “What do you think of him?”

“I...uh...like his blazer...”

“Wow, uh thanks,” He looks flattered, before smirking to himself. “I don’t really know what to say, haha.”

He starts again. “Aren’t you going to ask for my autograph or something now? I’ll even sign it as hot-blazer-guy if you want.”

And then Jess processes that the guy standing in front of her is in the picture, and she is unbelievably flushed and confused and irresolute whether she should keep pretending or come clean. He is unrecognisable behind the shades, and he looks kind of cool now that she looks at him in burgundy. She also coughs at his last statement.

“Oh-uh-ok-yes...?” After all, he’s got to be somewhat famous if they wanted him on a poster.

“Where?”

“On the...poster is ok.”

“Hah, alright.” He smiles, “not my famous back autograph?”

Jess watches as he grabs a marker from his pocket, wondering what in the world was going on. She shakes her head, as she waits to see his oh-so-exciting signature. Why would he be helping out if he was some singer, she thinks.

“Alright, that’s that,” he throws the pen back into his pocket. “The manager’ll be calling us all again for show, so come out soon.” He fixes his hair and simpers out of the room, empty Mother-can on the table.

Jess leans for a closer look at his fine pen strokes; they are messy and coarse and there is an arrow pointing to the burgundy guy’s head, a caption - You're much of a fan to know he's the lead singer ;) This is Johnny Weffer; I am not Johnny Weffer. 

#hf #wc: 1349 #jessb

[xhappyfamily-blog]

Lisa sobbed quietly as she held her head in her hands; a small, slow and steady stream of slime cascading down her grassy textured cheeks. There was a moment of pause before she wiped away the slime with her webbed limbs and continued crawling, sounds of pop one after the other as her suction limbs lifted off the ground and back on. She had to keep moving.

It was her responsibility, after all. To keep on moving and be the one to find food for her tribe. It was all she’d ever knew. But others, had told spectacular stories of the outside. The world, the universe outside of Mars; what her planet was apparently called by extra-terrestial beings. It was all confusing, really, but was taking its explosive mental toll on Lisa. Rather, she’d thought

“Do aliens have mental process thinking?” he wondered aloud, lifting the pen from the paper and his inspiration back into his head. Except now, the inspiration was all lost as he was bring interrupted by this mindblock. He glanced sparingly at the dim light that was coming from outside, but blocked by the drawn curtain on the window. Sunlight came at its small cracks, thin lines that drew the shape of a rectangle on the floor. He idly drew the rectangle on the other blank page of his notebook, before frowning in frustration.

It was all confusing, really, but was taking its explosive mental toll on Lisa. Rather, she’d thought nothing of it until

Until what?

And until when could he continue staring at the sunlight that creeps past his curtains?

∞

Lisa shielded her eyes from the sunlight that was streaming on her bed, through the window. Her eyelids cracked open as she yawned and reluctantly sat up. She really needed to move her bed again soon, or she’d start getting even tanner, and without even knowing! Something else she knew without even knowing was that the time was 7am and her body clock always woke up at his time.

It was weird, that she could still wake up so comfortably, even though it was a new bed.

She wasn’t really thinking, and never in her character had she been so spontaneous when she’d decided to hitch a flight somewhere else, live on her own for a few months.

It was to get away. Just to get away from everything, release all the tension she had been building up from the past... year of stress. Now, she doubted herself as she scanned across her small rented room, boxes of her stuff still on top of one another and unpacked.

But all that was done is done. Quickly, she dressed herself and wondered to the nearest café, idly thinking about spending the rest of time here, in a new place... with nobody around. Quickly, Lisa started becoming very insecure about her actions. Was it a really bad idea to do this? Was it too late to go back home? Why does she need a break in the first place anyways? She could just-

“AH!” she squealed, the cup of coffee she was holding was instantly knocked off her hands as she accidentally stepped on someone’s foot which was sticking out in the middle of the aisle.

CRASH! Landed the cup of coffee as the dark brown liquid spilled across the floor and onto the shoes of the other person’s offending foot. Lisa looked at the sight in horror, before she turned to find an equally surprised... boy, maybe the same age as her (maybe older?!) who had his mouth into a small o shape.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” squealed Lisa. The waitress of the café instantly came with the broom and shot a glare at Lisa before returning to her work.

“Oh- uhh. It’s okay...?” he said tentatively as he slowly and awkwardly pulled his foot back in.

“No, but, the coffee went on your foot! It must’ve been burning! Did any of the glass break through your foot? Oh gosh mister, are you ok?”

He turned slightly and gently chuckled. “No, it’s ok! I had holes in my socks anyways so it was time to throw them away.”

Which wasn’t exactly why Lisa was asking about or anything she wanted to know, but ok.

“I should be the one saying sorry!” he continued and frowned slightly. “It was my foot... uhh, I’m sorry.”

Lisa nodded politely. “It’s okay, I hope you’re okay,” She turned to walk away, but then he started talking again.

“I’m sorry about... your coffee though. I think I should owe you one? Haha.” He said tentatively and she only just smiled back politely.

“No, it’s alright, really.”

“Uhh, you sure?” he raised an eyebrow, his fringe shifting over his eyebrows.

“Yep,” she replied quickly and walked off back to own table in embarrassment, before she realised that she was now sitting coffeeless at her table.

How awkward would it be to go back to the counter now and order it? Oh and tell the waitress on the way, Sorry but I broke your cup and I ignored your glare and I didn’t say anything to you when you came?

She sighed at her empty table and finally stood up awkwardly, back to the counter.

“How may I help you?” the staff asked with the customer-friendly smile.

“Sorry for breaking your cup earlier,” Lisa started. “I would like... another Americano please? And a cinnamon scone.”

“Sure, and that’s fine, we’ve cleaned it up!” she pressed a few buttons on her screen. “Please go over there wait for your order.”

Lisa handed over a few coins but the staff just smiled. “Oh, no it’s okay, your order has already been paid for. By that gentleman over there.”

She followed the staff’s gaze to meet eyes with the boy from before. He instantly lit up from whatever he was reading and waved enthusiastically at Lisa, who smiled and waved back.

Ahhh, he’s such a nice person, she thought as she waited for her order.

#hf #wc:998 #lisap