Fate
This is a story of 2 people who turned from total strangers to friends and from friends to lovers. They went through many obstacles just to be together, but Fate never seemed to be satisfied by the number of jokes it already made. Ironically, it was Fate who brought them together and it was also Fate who brought them apart. It all happened on a day, April fool's day.
It just so happen that the girl, Jessica, was having her orientation at a particular polytechnic. The guy, Justin, happens to be her senior and her OGL (Orientation Group Leader) for her orientation camp. As it was April fool’s day, the OGLs decided to randomly picked a student and inform the student that he or she was in the wrong school. They randomly picked an Administration number and Jessica was the lucky one. Justin went over to ask for her name and Administration number and tried his best to display a frown on his face. Justin went over to the other OGLs and they started acting as though they were scanning through the record of students for a particular thing. Then Justin went back to Jessica and told her with an expressionless face that she wasn’t in the right school. They couldn’t find a record of her within the freshmen records. Jessica started to worry and rummaged through her bag to find her enrollment package. She showed it to Justin who was grinning from ear to ear. Jessica couldn’t figure out why Justin was grinning until Justin suddenly said: “Happy April Fool’s day!” Jessica was shocked and angry at the stupid joke Justin played on her but her anger quickly subsided when she remembered that it was April fool’s day. Jessica thought Justin looked cute but a little on the arrogant side. Justin quickly offered a handshake as an apology when he saw Jessica pouted her lips in an act of anger. He couldn’t help but notice how pretty Jessica was. I guess you can say this is Love at first sight. Maybe it’s not real love, maybe it’s just infatuation. But who can define love?
Anyway, the freshmen were supposed to write down their contacts on a name list in case the OGLs need to contact. And Justin saved Jessica’s number into his phone without her knowing. After some administration matters to be handled, the orientation was ready to begin. The OGLs each brought their respective classes for a tour around the school. Jessica’s class had 3 OGLs, Justin, Derrick and Jasmine. Derrick was the tour guide of the group and so he took the lead. Jasmine was the last in line as she had to make sure everyone was following. That just leaves Justin to mingle with the class and try to know more about them. But somehow Justin had his attention only on Jessica; he talked to her about everything throughout the whole tour. He learnt that she was 17 years old, a year younger than him. And that she had some friends in the school also but was in other course. Soon it was ice breaking; the class had to play some games so that they will remember each others’ names. They were asked to sit down on the floor and Justin chose a seat next to Jessica. They were still talking when Derrick and Jasmine are explaining the rules. Finally when it was Jessica’s turn to introduce her own self, she didn’t know what she had to say so she started blurting many things about herself. From her hobby to what her parents did, she mentioned almost everything about herself. Justin was amused but what she did but didn’t stop her from talking as he saw that Jessica spoke with confidence and she look amazing. Justin spent the rest of the day chatting with Jessica and he found himself enjoying every single moment with Jessica. But Time waits for no man. Very soon, 2 days passed by and it was the final day of orientation camp. Justin sent a message to Jessica early in the morning asking whether she will be coming for the orientation and he acted as though it was part of the job for the OGLs. She replied with a simple yes and Justin somehow managed to ask more and more questions about Jessica. Justin asked about literally everything; from the kind food she likes and to the kind of guy she prefers. Justin was so absorbed with the conversation that he didn’t even notice he was running late from an OGL meeting. Justin was 30 minutes late by the time he found out. He still received a scolding even though he tried to give some stupid excuse. And Jessica couldn’t help but laugh at Justin’s silliness when she knew about what happened. After spending 2 days with the class, Jessica could blend in with the class quite well already. Although some of the guys still remain quite shy around her, it could probably be due to Jessica’s good looks and popularity that she was gaining. Finally the day ended with a long speech from the principal which caused many students to yawn profusely. The sky turned grey as soon as the speech ended, thunder could be heard in the distance; rain is approaching. Then suddenly, raindrops fell from the skies above without any warning. Many blamed the principal for causing the rain; some even referred his speech as a “Rain-inducing ceremony”. Very soon it was pouring heavily; it was difficult to see anything beyond 100 m radius. Jessica’s means of transport home was by walking, and so she had to wait in school for the rain to subside before making her way home. Some of the students came prepared with umbrellas while others decided to make a heroic run towards the bus stop or train station. Some didn’t want to get themselves wet so they stayed in school and waited for the rain clouds to disperse. Justin remembered to bring his umbrella along when he came to school today; or rather, he seldom packed his bag. The umbrella had been in his bag ever since a year ago, he brought it to school whether rain or shine. He spotted Jessica standing alone near the entrance of the school looking quite glum while stealing glances at the rain.
He went over to Jessica and asked: “Hey, need a lift?”
She turned and replied with a question of her own: “You own a car?”
Justin just smiled and said: “I mean I can send you to the bus stop with my umbrella.”
Jessica had to raise her voice as the sound of the rain is getting louder by the minute: “It’s only walking distance from here to my house. I don’t have to take a bus.”
“In that case, let me send you home then.” Justin said with a hopeful tone in his voice. He added: “Oh come on, I won’t eat you up. And what’s more the rain looks like it not going to stop for a couple of hours. Are you going to stay here and wait for a few hours till the rain stops?”
Jessica shrugged and said: “Ok, let’s go.”
Finally they began to make their way out of the school while sharing the umbrella. The rain has turned smaller but the vision of the road ahead is still not clear. They kept quiet while walking, carefully avoiding the puddles of water on the pavement. Time passed by ever so slowly as though giving these 2 people a chance to spend quality time together. Although the rain poured down noisily outside, the conversation under the shelter of the umbrella still remains limited. They passed by countless of couples holding hands while sharing the umbrella. Justin was envious of them, everyone in school thought he was arrogant and proud. But the truth is they don’t know him well, only those that are close knows that he is actually a friendly and humorous person. He had been single ever since secondary two. His first love was a painful experience; the girl he loved had to migrate to Australia for studies. They were together for nearly one year when she suddenly broke the news to him saying that her mom thought the education in Singapore was not worth it and so decided to migrate to Australia for her daughter to receive proper education. Justin was devastated when she told him the news; he couldn’t understand why she had to leave. He tried asking her to stay but to no avail. She left within a week and she didn’t even leave an address for Justin to write to her. But as he was only 13 years old, he got over the incident pretty quick. He busied himself by studying and his parents thought that he had gotten over it but secretly, Justin was writing letters to her every day. He was hoping that maybe someday she can read the letters that he wrote. He had many things to tell her, many secrets left unsaid. “But what’s the use? She’s already gone.” Justin thought.
It just so happen that the girl, Jessica, was having her orientation at a particular polytechnic. The guy, Justin, happens to be her senior and her OGL (Orientation Group Leader) for her orientation camp. As it was April fool’s day, the OGLs decided to randomly picked a student and inform the student that he or she was in the wrong school. They randomly picked an Administration number and Jessica was the lucky one. Justin went over to ask for her name and Administration number and tried his best to display a frown on his face. Justin went over to the other OGLs and they started acting as though they were scanning through the record of students for a particular thing. Then Justin went back to Jessica and told her with an expressionless face that she wasn’t in the right school. They couldn’t find a record of her within the freshmen records. Jessica started to worry and rummaged through her bag to find her enrollment package. She showed it to Justin who was grinning from ear to ear. Jessica couldn’t figure out why Justin was grinning until Justin suddenly said: “Happy April Fool’s day!” Jessica was shocked and angry at the stupid joke Justin played on her but her anger quickly subsided when she remembered that it was April fool’s day. Jessica thought Justin looked cute but a little on the arrogant side. Justin quickly offered a handshake as an apology when he saw Jessica pouted her lips in an act of anger. He couldn’t help but notice how pretty Jessica was. I guess you can say this is Love at first sight. Maybe it’s not real love, maybe it’s just infatuation. But who can define love?
Anyway, the freshmen were supposed to write down their contacts on a name list in case the OGLs need to contact. And Justin saved Jessica’s number into his phone without her knowing. After some administration matters to be handled, the orientation was ready to begin. The OGLs each brought their respective classes for a tour around the school. Jessica’s class had 3 OGLs, Justin, Derrick and Jasmine. Derrick was the tour guide of the group and so he took the lead. Jasmine was the last in line as she had to make sure everyone was following. That just leaves Justin to mingle with the class and try to know more about them. But somehow Justin had his attention only on Jessica; he talked to her about everything throughout the whole tour. He learnt that she was 17 years old, a year younger than him. And that she had some friends in the school also but was in other course. Soon it was ice breaking; the class had to play some games so that they will remember each others’ names. They were asked to sit down on the floor and Justin chose a seat next to Jessica. They were still talking when Derrick and Jasmine are explaining the rules. Finally when it was Jessica’s turn to introduce her own self, she didn’t know what she had to say so she started blurting many things about herself. From her hobby to what her parents did, she mentioned almost everything about herself. Justin was amused but what she did but didn’t stop her from talking as he saw that Jessica spoke with confidence and she look amazing. Justin spent the rest of the day chatting with Jessica and he found himself enjoying every single moment with Jessica. But Time waits for no man. Very soon, 2 days passed by and it was the final day of orientation camp. Justin sent a message to Jessica early in the morning asking whether she will be coming for the orientation and he acted as though it was part of the job for the OGLs. She replied with a simple yes and Justin somehow managed to ask more and more questions about Jessica. Justin asked about literally everything; from the kind food she likes and to the kind of guy she prefers. Justin was so absorbed with the conversation that he didn’t even notice he was running late from an OGL meeting. Justin was 30 minutes late by the time he found out. He still received a scolding even though he tried to give some stupid excuse. And Jessica couldn’t help but laugh at Justin’s silliness when she knew about what happened. After spending 2 days with the class, Jessica could blend in with the class quite well already. Although some of the guys still remain quite shy around her, it could probably be due to Jessica’s good looks and popularity that she was gaining. Finally the day ended with a long speech from the principal which caused many students to yawn profusely. The sky turned grey as soon as the speech ended, thunder could be heard in the distance; rain is approaching. Then suddenly, raindrops fell from the skies above without any warning. Many blamed the principal for causing the rain; some even referred his speech as a “Rain-inducing ceremony”. Very soon it was pouring heavily; it was difficult to see anything beyond 100 m radius. Jessica’s means of transport home was by walking, and so she had to wait in school for the rain to subside before making her way home. Some of the students came prepared with umbrellas while others decided to make a heroic run towards the bus stop or train station. Some didn’t want to get themselves wet so they stayed in school and waited for the rain clouds to disperse. Justin remembered to bring his umbrella along when he came to school today; or rather, he seldom packed his bag. The umbrella had been in his bag ever since a year ago, he brought it to school whether rain or shine. He spotted Jessica standing alone near the entrance of the school looking quite glum while stealing glances at the rain.
He went over to Jessica and asked: “Hey, need a lift?”
She turned and replied with a question of her own: “You own a car?”
Justin just smiled and said: “I mean I can send you to the bus stop with my umbrella.”
Jessica had to raise her voice as the sound of the rain is getting louder by the minute: “It’s only walking distance from here to my house. I don’t have to take a bus.”
“In that case, let me send you home then.” Justin said with a hopeful tone in his voice. He added: “Oh come on, I won’t eat you up. And what’s more the rain looks like it not going to stop for a couple of hours. Are you going to stay here and wait for a few hours till the rain stops?”
Jessica shrugged and said: “Ok, let’s go.”
Finally they began to make their way out of the school while sharing the umbrella. The rain has turned smaller but the vision of the road ahead is still not clear. They kept quiet while walking, carefully avoiding the puddles of water on the pavement. Time passed by ever so slowly as though giving these 2 people a chance to spend quality time together. Although the rain poured down noisily outside, the conversation under the shelter of the umbrella still remains limited. They passed by countless of couples holding hands while sharing the umbrella. Justin was envious of them, everyone in school thought he was arrogant and proud. But the truth is they don’t know him well, only those that are close knows that he is actually a friendly and humorous person. He had been single ever since secondary two. His first love was a painful experience; the girl he loved had to migrate to Australia for studies. They were together for nearly one year when she suddenly broke the news to him saying that her mom thought the education in Singapore was not worth it and so decided to migrate to Australia for her daughter to receive proper education. Justin was devastated when she told him the news; he couldn’t understand why she had to leave. He tried asking her to stay but to no avail. She left within a week and she didn’t even leave an address for Justin to write to her. But as he was only 13 years old, he got over the incident pretty quick. He busied himself by studying and his parents thought that he had gotten over it but secretly, Justin was writing letters to her every day. He was hoping that maybe someday she can read the letters that he wrote. He had many things to tell her, many secrets left unsaid. “But what’s the use? She’s already gone.” Justin thought.
As the atmosphere under the shelter of the umbrella grew tenser, the sound of their heartbeats increases. It could be heard visibly by both of them and it sounded as though their hearts were beating as one. The sky turned crimson red as evening approaches. A speck of sun could be seen escaping behind the clouds in the distance as the sun began to set. Finally they were reaching their destination, a few more streets away and Jessica would be home. Justin was trying very hard to find a topic on which he can start a conversation but try as he did, he still couldn’t find anything to start on. Just as he was still pondering about it, Jessica’s bungalow came into view. Justin was awed by the bungalow even though it’s not huge and sprawling. He had always dreamt about living in a bungalow with a yard for his own and a swimming pool for him to enjoy himself. But sadly, he didn’t come from a rich family. It was already hard for Justin’s parents to provide him with school fees through polytechnic. Justin had to work part-time to pay for part of the fees. And as for those branded shirts and bags, Justin wouldn’t dare to ask for them. He was already thankful with the amount of care and concern his parents showed him. They bought him shirts not costing more than twenty dollars once a year. They made sure Justin has enough pocket money to fill his stomach in school. They did everything they could to provide the best for him. And Justin was grateful for that. The main reason why he dreamt about a bungalow was because he wanted his parents to enjoy life. He wanted them to spend the rest of their lives enjoying and not working 12 hours a day. They had already spent over 4 decades of their lives working themselves to the bone. Now it was time for Justin to take over as the bread winner of the house, he succeeded in persuading his mom to quit her job and stay at home. But she found that it was quite weird without working and so she started taking care of babies as a babysitter. One more year and Justin will graduate with a diploma. Then he will officially start work and earn money for his family. First of all, they will move to a bigger house. Next will be some furniture and a massaging chair for his dad.
“I’ve reached my home” Jessica said with a tinge of sadness in her voice. Justin seemed to be buried deep inside his thoughts as he did not reply or show any signs that he heard her. So Jessica waved a hand in front of Justin hoping to bring him back to reality. The sudden swiping movement broke Justin off his string of thoughts and brought him back to the real world.
“Yes?” Justin asked while trying to shake the dreams out of his head.
“I said I’m home already” “And thanks for sending me home even though it’s out of the way.” Jessica said thankfully.
“Oh come on man. I’m your senior and OGL, I’m supposed to take care of you. And who says it’s out of the way? I can get home easily from that way.” Justin pointed to a street down the lane. “No wait, it’s not that way. Maybe it’s that way.” He tried pointing to another street with a “Dead-End” sign. Justin then realized that he had lost his way. But he tried to put on a brave front and so he said: “This place is actually quite near my house and so you don’t have to worry about me. Go on home, it’s getting late and your parents must be worried.”“Well, since you said so. I shall get going then.” Jessica answered with a chuckle. “Ok, bye. Hope you enjoy your weekends.” Justin said with a knot in his stomach; a knot which grew bigger with each step Jessica took towards her house. He was stuck in an unfamiliar place without any specific direction which he should head to. All the roads and streets looked strangely similar to him. Just as he was feeling despair about his situation, he heard a voice called out behind him: “You looked lost.”
Justin turned around saw Jessica standing in the distance. She looked like a light in the darkness, an angel sent by a high power of above to save him from a disaster. Although categorizing being lost as a disaster seems a bit exaggerating, but that was how Justin felt at that precise moment. Justin looked momentarily stunned on the spot as he watched his angel approach him. Every step she took towards Justin knocked the air out of him and he was getting breathless by the second. He felt calm and serene, as though nothing in the world is going to harm him.
Finally he managed to mumble some incoherent words out of his mouth, something that sounded like: “Why are you here? Why aren’t you home yet? I’m not lost; I’m just taking a rest here.” Jessica was grinning while walking towards Justin; she knew that he will lose his way. That’s why she stood on the balcony and watched as Justin paced up and down on the street looking disoriented. She couldn’t help but laugh when she heard Justin trying to explain his situation with a wild expression.
Finally she replied in a cheerful tone: “I thought you might need some help so I came back to direct you the way home.”Justin’s face turned red from blushing even though he had a tanned skin. The sick feeling of being lost in a strange place was removed from his stomach and replaced by another feeling; the feeling of being embarrassed in public. He wanted to find a hole to hide himself, some place where nobody can see his blushing face. At last Justin found the strength to produce some words out of his dry and parched lips: “Thanks.”
Jessica began explaining the route to the bus stop for Justin as simply as she could. But Justin wasn’t listening to her; his mind was still wandering somewhere else. He was desperately searching for a way to ask Jessica out for a movie during the weekends. Jessica finished her explanation with a huge full stop hanging in the air while Justin’s mind was still wandering somewhere among the infinite universe. Suddenly, Justin blurted out the question that was twirling around his head for quite some time: “Are you free tomorrow? Want to catch a movie with me? There’s one particular movie which I wanted to watch but I can’t seem to find anyone willing to watch it with me. So I was wondering whether you can be kind enough to spare some free time of yours to spend with me.” Justin felt as though a huge weight was lifted from him finally; after asking the million dollar question.
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