Get Lost

The next day, I wake up later than usual. This room is so comfy that I don’t want to get out of the bed. As I look around, trying to focus my sight and realizing slowly that I’m in Birmingham, I can see Vi has got out of the bed. She dressed in a nice flattering purple dress and she has blow dried her hair put a pin on one side.

“Hi. Good morning!” she greets as I straightened my back and yawn.

“Hi. Wow! Where are you going? You look nice!” I say.

“My relatives will be coming in no time. You should take a shower and get dressed too! We will have a breakfast downstairs. I’ve called the boys and they also have just wake up.” She says, opening the drapes and the sunshine gets inside, shining on the side of the bed.

I do a few more yawns and head to the wardrobe to choose what outfit should I wear today. As I take a good sight of Vi, I think I should wear something nice and semi-formal too for the day so my option fall on an white simple dressed with ruffles and bow.

After taking a real nice hot shower I join Vi and the boys downstairs. The breakfast is held at the dining room with 12 chairs and cool chandeliers. Vi parents is nowhere to be found and as I look around, I can’t help feeling a flicker as I see Ian, dressed in jeans and loose white shirt. He looks cool with his hair messy. Still can’t believe it somehow, we are living under one roof! This is insane! I mean, I usually see him with a working uniform or a jeans and t-shirt but Birmingham has brought us all to another level.

“Hi! Good morning!” Ian says, meeting my eyes.

“Oh, ya, good morning!” I reply as my heart gives a little jump.

“Come sit and have these nice breakfasts.” Jeremy says, spooning me a slice of buttered waffle.

“Thanks.” I say, pulling a chair beside Vi.

I take a gulp of a warm coffee that has been served for me. Several maids are standing around the room, ready to be called if in case we need something. “So, where are your parents?” I ask, taking a spoonful of waffle.

“Oh, they have gone to the branch.”

“This early? Wow! What a hard-workers!” Jeremy says.

“Yea. But they will be back in an hour cos my relatives will be all coming today and the gathering is tomorrow.” She said.

“What? Tomorrow? But I will meet Hayley tomorrow!” Jeremy says.

“Well then, too bad you can’t join us. But it’ll be nice if she come here instead of you coming there. Well, for a simple reason, she understands England better than you. And another one is that the main reason you’re here is to attend this gathering, right?” Vi says coolly, chewing her toast.

“well…” Jeremy seems speechless for some moments. “That is…reasonable.” He swallows.

“You can call her now before too late. The earlier she is here the better, right?” I say.

“Ok. Sure.” Jeremy takes out his cell phone and dials Hayley’s number.

“Hayley. Yeah, this is Jeremy……was just wondering…..yes……could you come here? I have to attend my friend’s family gathering and that’s why I’m here…..yeah…..really…..” then he shuts the phone.

“Well, what did she say?” Ian asks.

“She’ll contact me later. There’s a possibility she can come here. But I have to pick her up at the airport.” Jeremy says, cutting his waffle and put it inside his mouth.

“Okay. You can use Jake.” Vi says.

“Ok. Thanks.”

After finishing our breakfasts, we take a little walk to the horse stable. There are like 4 horses and 1 cute white pony that I like, named Vienna. Too bad she isn’t my horse, so when she born, Vi named her Vienna cos it’s close to her name Vivienne.

“Well, choose your horse and we can take a little walk with them.” Vi says. She has chosen a black big horse with really well-built body. Then I choose the brown one, Ian the white one, and Jeremy the darker brown. Each of them has name, mine is Kirby, Ian’s is Ped, Vi’s is Larry, and Jeremy’s is Bella. Some are named by Vi, some are from the horse care taker.

“Good morning!” a man’s voice suddenly makes us all jump.

“Mr. Badge! How nice to meet you again!” Vi has thrown a hug to the man, standing behind her. His hair is grey and he has wrinkles, I suppose he’s about 65 years old or older. He wears a nice long brown pants and a grey sweater.

“Guys, this is Mr. Badge, he is the horse care-taker. Mr. Badge, these are my friends from America. This is Sugar.” I wave and smile. “This is Ian, and this is Jeremy.” Vi says. They both smile to Mr. Badge.

“Very well then. They have been missing you so much, I think. Go on, ride him!” Mr. Badge says, patting Larry and he makes a horsy sound. “Thanks so much for taking care of the horses. Seem like they love you more.” Vi says. And Mr. Badge let out a laugh. I just realized he has rows of white tooth and when he laughs, his whole face lightens up. This is the kind of guy you would want to meet and tell your problems to.

And so we start to ride our chosen horses. It’s kind of awkward firstly coz it’s been a very long time since I sit on a horse back. But then, Ian and Jeremy probably got the same problem cos they can’t even balance their body on the horse! And we should take a hats-off for Vi for that she has smoothly get her horse to walk. I try to move the reign but Kirby hasn’t move an inch! I start to go panic as the others have almost gone out of sight, turning at the paddock.

“My goodness Kirby! Come on! Move your butt! Or feet or whatever!” I say in panic.

“Need help?” Ian suddenly comes with his horse, standing perfectly quiet beside Kirby.

“Well, I don’t know why but this horse won’t move!” I say, trying to do something with the reign by pulling and dragging.

“Hey! What’s wrong?!” Jeremy shouts, pulling his horse’s reign so that it stops moving.

“This horse doesn’t want to move!” I shout back.

“What?” Jeremy shouts again. “Come on! Vi will lead us to a place!” then with a simple yank, Jeremy and his horse are nowhere to be seen.

“Come on!” Ian suddenly says, extending an arm to me. What does he mean? Does he mean we will…? Omg.

“What?” I flushed.

“Come on! Your horse won’t move in a bloody million years, just hop here and we can pace up with them!” Ian says, still offering his arm so that I can hop to his back and we can ride Ped together.

“Alright.” I swallow, looking at his arm doubtfully. I grab his hand and carefully try to stand and move my left leg to the other side. But Kirby moves briskly, then he lowered his head and eat the grasses underneath happily.

As I try to get my right leg on the other side of Ped, I can feel Ped also moves and tap his legs on the ground, knowing that he will get heavier weight. I’m sorry, Ped. And awkwardly, I try to take off my left leg from the pedal but then I feel a swift on my waist and voila! Magically I am sitting on Ped!

No, it’s not magically! It’s Ian who held my waist and simply grabs it and places it on his back. Now, I can’t help feeling giddy and light. Now that he has pulled the reign and with a little jolt, Ped starts walking and walking, leaving Kirby munching his food behind.

I am paralyzed for some minutes and awkwardly, trying to balance myself without holding on Ian’s waist. I mean, it’ll be embarrassing if I round my arms on his waist, isn’t it? And anyway, this saddle is too small for two persons which makes my legs swinging unbalance and sometimes, kicking the horse’s body.

We have paced up with Jeremy and Vi (whose eyes widen as she caught a sight of me, riding a horse together with Ian) and we have rode these horses for around 20 minutes or so. But suddenly, Vi turns her horse out of the gate, “Vi! Where are we goin? Isn’t that your guests will be coming soon?” I ask.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be long. Just a little stride from here.” She grins and confidently, heads to the open wide grassland, farther from her house.

Now, I think it’s not a really good idea to follow Vi after all. She sometimes can’t find the ladies bathroom on the third floor at school! And now, we’re riding these horses, following Vi, passing grassland with wild plants for about half an hour. The scenery are breath taking cos we can see a series of mountain from here! There are so much to see. I mean, when was the last time I inhale proper oxygen on a beautiful hill, facing the mountains and is that a river?

but the longer we go, the more boring the sceneries are. ok, let's be true...for the last 20 minutes all I can see are just boring plants with buzzing insects and all I can see are just plants! and it's wild! and tall and I can see trees growing up in some random places.

I think we might be lost but when Ian asked her 10 minutes ago, she said she knows the way. so then we leave it up to her.

And to my surprise, she turns to the left which only consists of clusters of trees. This isn’t like how I expected it to be! It’s ok to wander around the grassland, but not the woods!

“Vi! are you sure this is the right way? we might get lost in there!” I say in panic.

“Trust me! I know the way! I’ve been here like so many times. Ok?” she says without turning to face me.

“Sugar’s right, Vi. You should stop. When was the last time you been here? It must be years ago! No one can guarantee our safety in there!” Jeremy adds.

Now, Vi pulls Larry’s reign and with a smooth movement, it comes to a halt. Vi pushes her hair aside and turn her head to face us, “We’ve been lost since the last 20 minutes.”

What?!

We’re all too gobsmacked to talk any word. Thoughts are crowding our head and we’re trying to figure out something to our tongue.

“What you mean?” Ian slowly asks.

“Please say you’re joking….” I say in a pleading voice.

But Vi’s face doesn’t change at all. She’s sweaty and her face is tense. No way! we’re lost somewhere in Birmingham! And as I turn my head involuntarily, all I can see are just grasses and trees.

“Vi!” Jeremy says in a shaky voice. “we should come back! And what are you doing? Keep walking while we’re lost?”

“No. no. no. I’m sure I heard the sound of water from inside there. There must be a river! And if there’s a river, then my house is just a step away!” she insists.

“I…I don’t think it’s a good idea. Could you please call someone in your house to find us? like..now?!” I ask in a strangled voice. This is a real forest! With tall huge trees and mosses everywhere. There isn’t any path showing that a vehicle has been here before!

Vi has taken out her cell phone and dial a number, “Mary! Thanks God! We’re lost in some area near my house. It’s about 30 minutes away from the gate of the paddock. Yeah…could you please fetch someone to find us?” Vi says. “Yeah…but then….hello? hello?.....hello? Mary?” Vi shuts the phone and look at us all in a tense glare.

“The connection’s lost. There’s no freakin signal down here!” She freaks out.

There’s a silent pause between all of us. No one dare to talk something. And at last, Ian breaks, “I think we should get down from the horse and wait here.”

“What if we got chased by a tiger or a bear? We won’t have enough time to run away!” I say.

“There’s no tiger here! And no bear! We can’t possibly sit on the horse, waiting for the help to come!” Ian retorts. Everyone seems scared and lost. We are all panic with our own wild thoughts, imagining the worst that could just happen. And so we get down from the horse and tied them to trees while we’re sitting on the ground and rock. “The guests must have come by now.” Vi mumbles. “And my parents will arrive at any time soon.”

“Don’t think about that now. We should hope for the best.” Jeremy says, taking out his cell phone to checks the signal and everyone does the same. But it’s such a fruitless effort, we all know there’s no bloody signal here.

I silently let out a little prayer over and over and over: God, please help us! please help us! I don’t want to die, got eaten by a bear or a tiger or even a…..”SNAKE!!!!!” I jump in fright as my eyes caught a sight of a yellow snake, curling on the tree and its head moves slightly beside me!

“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!” I scream, I can feel my feet have gone numb as I can’t run or even move!

“SSSH! Don’t-you-move-your-head..” Jeremy whispers as he takes a stick of wood and he tiptoes quietly to my side. With a fast, strong move, he hits the snake right on its head and it hisses angrily back.

A strong hand grabs my arm in a sudden movement and pulls me to the front, away from the snake and as I notice the hand, it’s Ian who pulled me. Vi’s face has gone pale and she’s trying to stand by the tree. Her left hand grasping her chest and her right hand holding the tree trunk to keep her body from falling down.

And with another swing, Jeremy hit the snake again..and again…and again…then a silence breaks down. Followed by a sound of falling down, Vi has sat on her foot helplessly. Her whole face has gone white.

“It’s okay..” Jeremy says, round his arm on Vi. “It’s dead already…”

“How long should we wait? One of us could be killed in here!” Vi says in not more than a whisper. I quickly release myself from Ian’s arm that I just realized was holding my shoulders to give a hug to Vi.

“We can try to move further inside and find more comfortable place if you want to..” I say.

“No! We shouldn’t! The possibility of getting chased by more terrible animals is way bigger than in here.” Ian puts in.

After waiting for 20 minutes or so, we start to move around, looking at each other and do something pointless like draw something on the soil and on the tree trunk. This is insane! What if no one find us? We should just go back!

“Guys, don’t you think we should just go back to the way where we first came?” I ask.

“No. someone will try to find us here! If we try to get back to the way where we first came, there’s even a greater possibility we could get lost farther with nothing to eat and nothing to show us a way.” Jeremy says insisting. I mean, the possibilities here are many. We could just go and walk and get lost deeper inside, or we can go without knowing the way and luckily we find the house. But there are like hundreds of ways and the trees look all the same! How could we know which way we passed firstly?

Birmingham day 1

The sky is bright orange when we all have gathered at the airport. The smooth breeze touches my hair as we drag our suitcases along to the check-in gate. The last time I’ve been here was like 3 or 4 years ago when I went to Thailand for the holiday and everybody was really jealous of me. And this time, way better! Birmingham!

Vi’s parents is like 10 feet away from us, they are wearing thousand-dollars suits and they both look immaculate and “important”.


It has been a pleasant day for us and we all really have prepared lots of energies for Birmingham and now, Ian and Jeremy have become closer than ever. They talked about music and Jeremy is all kind about it. He doesn’t act like he’s richer nor has more power, instead he embraces Ian with everything they have in common, such as music, automotives, and of course soccer game.

“MU is better than Arsenal of, course.” Jeremy says.

“Yes they are. Hey, did you watch the last Saturday’s game?” Ian asks.

“Calm down, boys. You can get better time when we’re all in Birmingham.” Vi puts in.

“Yea. You’ll easily get bored of each other if you two don’t shut your mouth on everything.” I add.

“No way!” Jeremy laughs. “We will have loads to talk about, aren’t we?”

“Yeah!” says Ian, taking out his cell phone from his pocket and put it inside a metal box to be scanned by the security guard.



After some processing and put the suitcases in the baggage, we all get into the airplane. A nice-suited lady greets us and kindly shows us where our seats are. After putting our backpack in the cabin, we adjust ourselves to the seat nicely. I got the seat that is next to the window so I can see the beautiful view from here which is why I want this seat. The flight will go about an hour and I can easily make myself comfortable during the flight with Ian beside me and our shoulders brushed each other’s.

Ok, relax…

I know these seats are designed to be as close as possible to make the airplane smaller and lighter or whatever it is. But somehow, this is nice 

After the take-off that always gives me a fright and crazy thoughts that we might not make it into the sky, we all take off the safety belt and settle ourselves back into the seat and well…..we’re off to BIRMINGHAM!










I’M HERE!
Can’t believe it! I’m standing in BIRMINGHAM. Birmingham International Airport to be exact. And I’m breathing Birmingham’s air and everybody just talk in British accent! It’s really cool! Maybe I should talk in their accent too so that I really look “British” and “cool”.

“Excuse me. Can you please show me where the toilet at?” I ask a man in my best British accent. But he doesn’t even turn to see me! “Excuse me.” I say again. He still stands there like a statue, and I think my voice is too low, so I make it louder. “EXCUSE ME!”

“Sugar! God! What’s wrong? What had he done to you? Are you harmed?” Vi suddenly paces up with my step. The guy next to the man has turned to me and says, “He’s deaf.”

Damn great! Now everybody is looking at me in a bewildered look.

“And why the hell are you talking with such accent? You look confuse..” Vi says again.

Ian and Jeremy have now joined us too and ask me what went wrong. God, it’s just me trying my new British accent! And no one harmed me!





A driver named Jake takes us all to Vi’s mansion with a Lexus so that we can put all of our things in it. As we drive along the road, I just can’t take my eyes from Birmingham roads and cars and peoples, I just need to take in as many informations as possible while I’m here.

I was halfway through my bag to take my diary so that I can list everything when Mrs. Freyson ask us all, “So, you are all Vi’s chosen friends then? Really nice to meet you all!” she gives us all a handshake. “Welcome to Birmingham. And ah, I never saw this man before. What’s your name, young man?” she asks, referring to Ian.

“Ian. Ian Somer.” Ian nods.

“Oh. Ian. So, you are in the same school as the three of them, I suppose?” she asks again, wiping her hand with a tissue elegantly. Why do rich people seem so elegant, even when they just taking a tissue?

“No actually. I’m in Colin High.” He replies.

“Oh.” Mrs. Freyson says, without a pause.

“Dear, you just go with the children to the mansion, I have to go to the branch.” Mr. Freyson suddenly says after consulting his PDA and blackberry.

“Oh. I’ll go with you then..” Mrs. Freyson says, putting a supporting hand on her husband shoulder. Ideal couple, aren’t they?

“Are you sure? Don’t you want to take some rest after the flight?” He turns his face to his wife in an understanding face.

“No. It’s okay.” She says.





After 10 minutes or so the car slow down as we enter the huge gate that reveals us a small park with a beautiful water fountain. Then as we go along, we can see a double door on the other side of the fountain When it finally stops, I just realized how rich my friend is. I mean, this mansion of her is really, really, gigantic!

And as we enter the mansion with the maids taking care of our suitcases, I just can’t stop gawking at the interior. It’s an airy space with all simple and white furniture. The drapes are long and thick with big gray flowers and the paintings all over the room are unbelievable. This is a dream house!

The sofas are semi-circle all white and one big flat TV sitting proudly as the centre of the beauty. As we moves slowly and enter another room, my heart skips as I caught a sight of a beautiful grand piano, all black and glossy with tall book shelves that touch the ceiling.

“Well then, make yourselves home. We have to go and be back at about 6.” Mr. Freyson says.

“Sure, we will!” Vi says delightedly. And with that, the Freyson couple leaves the house with a limo and we’re left here. Only us four with this huge house and all the things we need.


“Well, where do we start?” I ask and she laughs modestly.

“it’s not that big, Sugar.”

Yeah well, it’s only freakin enormous!

“Let me show you all your rooms okay? Err, Ian, you don’t mind sleep in the same room with Jeremy, right? Cos all other rooms will be used by my relatives.” Vi asks.

“No I don’t mind at all.” Ian says, smiling.

Vi leads the way through the spiral stairs that covered in marble and then we turn to a corridor with paintings and photos displayed on the wall. After passing some doors, she turns and opens a door that looks just like the others.

In front of us is a spacious room with 2 single beds like the ones you see in a hotel room. In fact, the whole room resembles a hotel room expect for the wardrobe cos It’s much bigger and the bath room doesn’t provide toothpaste and hair dryer. But it looks perfect and comfortable. Beside each bed are Ian and Jeremy’s suitcases and above the bed, instead of plain ceiling, a clear glass framed the sky perfectly, which is my favorite part of the room.

“Here is the boys’ room. And there is our room.” Vi points to the last door in the row. The boys are left in their room and we head to our room. It’s much much much much better than then. Honestly, this is a dream room for girls. It’s big and colorful and the bed is huge and….gosh, I can live here for the rest of my life!

“Here where we gonna sleep and spend lots of time.” Vi introduces the room.

“Oh my god, Vi! this is gorgeous!” I gasp. Vi laughs then we start to unpack our suitcases and relax for some time before we gather in the living room for a tea time.

Actually, it’s not the same living room, it’s in another part of the house which face the beautiful garden. It all made of wood and the cakes are yummy. Ruby is chasing the butterflies and he plays with Vi’s other big german shepherd dog named Billy.

“So, I think we need a set of plan for the next 7 days.” I grin.

“Yea! Totally! I mean, there are just too much things to do and we need to get it in order.” Jeremy says. Vi gets inside to take a paper and a pen and start to write the days and time.

“Err guys, actually I should go to London on Wednesday.” Jeremy suddenly says. “to meet Hayley.”

“What? When? I mean, how? You don’t know England, aren’t you?” Vi stares at him. Actually, I stare at him too.

“Well, I can always ask someone, right? I really can handle that myself.” Jeremy says.

“Who’s Hayley?” Ian interrupts.

Dang! He doesn’t have any idea about Hayley, aren’t he?

“our boss’s daughter. Hayley Manson” I simply reply.

“What?” Ian now goggles at us all, then turn to me again, “Hayley Manson?” he echoes.

“Yeah. She’s Jeremy’s ex.” I admit.

No one talks or some seconds, still try to figure things out in our own mind, get the strings straight.

“So…?” Vi says, breaking the ice.

“So, I won’t be with you guys on Wednesday.” Jeremy says, helping us figuring things out.

“And won’t she be with us here?” I ask.

“No. she doesn’t know Vi at all. Maybe we’ll meet and spend time together but not staying overnights.” Jeremy explains. “But she also will go to US 3 days after we arrived there.”

“Okay…” Vi says slowly.


This isn’t like how we expected. Hayley also gonna stayed in US and we will all meet her in UK too. Will she be a nice person? Will her presence complete us? a whole rack of thought swirling around in my head.

Let’s hope for the best…

packing..

The air of June has been replaced by the summer atmosphere of July. With the sun shining brightly and everything seems fine. I always wake up with light feeling and happy face, knowing summer holiday is coming. School is only a week left and after that, bye2 11 grades! I’m going to 12! Wew..

Since I have been saving my earnings for nearly half year now, I got enough money to buy something a little more expensive than usual. And I can’t help beaming every time I check my account on the ATM.

The only thing that I really look forward to is spending a week at the Freyson’s mansion at Birmingham. Which is a total F-U-N and a total getaway! Vi even asks Jeremy to join and she also want me to ask Ian which is crazy cos Vi’s mum barely knows Ian. She maybe never even heard of the name. And what if someone ask him what company does his parents own..

There will be this meeting with all her relatives in England and her grandma who originally came from London. She also has this horse stable in the house area and she knows all the shopping places there!

So…with my savings that I have earned for the past 6 months, I’m sure I can get something for myself there! Vi showed me the other day a picture about her mansion in Birmingham and I fell in love with it! It has got a very big spacious luxurious living room and large garden with statues and a small paddock for her horses. Love love love love it!

I just can’t wait for it! But of course, I have to pass the hard times with lots of tests and HWs and I hate it! Vi has gave up on her HWs a minute ago and I’m still trying to cope with the numbers and angles in math homework. She lays her head on her pillow and calls Ruby to come to her. This is perfectly insane, I hate math, physic, biology, and all subject related to “sciency” and “numbers”.

“I hate science and people that invent them! And anyway why should we learn about it if at the end we all get bored and not interested?” Vi says, patting Ruby’s head.

“Well, we should at least know the basic, right?” I say.

“Yea, but still, I don’t have to if I don’t want and not a single person can make me learn those things that I don’t even interested in.” she insists. She is such a stone-headed girl and she is not a person who we can sit down and compromise with. She’s nowhere near the things she doesn’t like on the first impression.

Whereas me, I’m more of a flexible girl who can always give person second chance, and maybe that’s why we can be friends. Friends completed each other, right?

So after struggling with those hard times and everything, we finally passed our 11^th grade which is a relief! And now, I and Vi is sitting in Vi’s car, enjoying our yogurt in this beautiful evening after school. Nothing, I tell you, nothing can stop us now from having fun all day! It’s summer!

“Have you asked Ian?” Vi suddenly asks, taking a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. She wants to help me pack my suitcases for Birmingham and we just can’t wait for it!

“Err…” I fiddle with my skirt.

“You haven’t asked him! Omg, quick, ask him. It’s 3 days away!!” Vi snatches my cell phone and dial Ian.

“What are you doing?” I take my cell phone back.

“What? I’m calling your bf! Don’t worry about my parents, they’re perfectly ok about this. They even want to me to take all of my friends. They’re freakin excited about meeting all of you!” Vi says.

“I’ll call him later, ok? And he’s not my bf.” I flustered.

“Yea, right..” Vi rolls her eyes.

We spent 30 minutes choosing which suitcase I should bring at my room and we decided to bring the green one cos it’s the biggest and I will need big suitcase to put all my things and the things I will buy in England.

“Ok. Let’s make a list of things you will bring…” Vi reaches for a pen and a note. She scribbles something in it and stop for some seconds, then scribbles something again and she finally hands it to me.

1. 4 shorts
2. 2 jackets
3. 1 sweater
4. 1 long coat
5. 2 skirts
6. 1 formal dress
7. 1 cocktail dress
8. lots of under wears

I read it and stare at her. “what?” she asks me dumbly.

“This is a lot to bring!” I say.

“Well, you will need those!” she says. “and other small thingies like make-up case, 2 bags, 1 plastic bag, 1 flip flops, and a pair of boot and a bikini if we’ll go to the beach.” She adds.

And then the packing starts..

We take out all the clothes I have and start choosing. There are loads of clothes and dresses that I don’t even know exist and some are the clothes I’ve been searching for so long and when I try it on, it doesn’t fit me anymore. Duh.

“Hey! This cute pink tank is nice!” Vi says, throwing it into the suitcase.

“Vi! You’re going to make me bring the whole wardrobe if you keep throwing every piece you found in the suitcase!” I say.

“Well, you can always wear those.” She replies, reaching for another pants and scrutinizes it and throw it in the suitcase.

“For god sake, Vi. we need plan! And this is more than what you’ve written down for me!” I exclaims, taking back the pants and the tops and throw everything out. “We need to sort things out!” I say straightly.

We start packing at around 3 p.m. and ends at about 8 p.m! This is freaky! I mean, we can’t possibly sit here, choosing things I’ll bring for 5 whole hours right?! We just pack, how hard could that be?

And well, at last, I packed more than the list Vi gave me previously! I even pack another mini bag for my retouch kit and some belts. I bring my diary too, I can’t possibly leave my diary cos I will want to take notes of every thing that I do there.

“pheww! Finally!” I say, throwing myself to my cluttered bed.

“Yeah finally…” Vi agrees. “Hey! You haven’t called Ian!” she suddenly exclaims, breaking the nice silence.

“Oh yea.”

“Come on! Call him! Now!” she insists. “or you’ll regret it later.” She adds, looking at me doubtfully.

“Why should I regret it, anyway? We just had one kiss and that’s it. Full stop.” I retort.

“Well, one kiss leads to another…” Vi raises her eyebrow. “Come on! Call him!”

I intentionally wait for some pauses before I reach my cell phone. “Fine!” I say. Vi grins happily. Suddenly my hands start sweating without any reason as I start dialing the number. The connection tone really makes me furious even just to wait for some seconds.

“Hi Sugar.” Ian’s voice suddenly clicks in.

“Yea hi. Eh, umm…this is Sugar.” I say. “I was just wondering where do you go this summer?” I ask awkwardly.

“ I don’t know. Umm, working? Why?” I can hear he’s eating potato chips or something crunchy.

“’waswonderingmaybeyoucouldjoinmetoBirmingham?” I stutter. Dang! I’m stupid!

“Sorry?”

“Uhm….I was just wondering, maybe….it’s just a maybe, alright? You don’t have to if you don’t want…”

“What is it?” he cuts in.

“Maybe you want to join me to Birmingham? for a week?” I finish.

There’s a pause before he says, “How?”

“Vi’s parents invite us! And they’ll pay all the flight tickets fare and we will stay at her house there.” I explain.

“What? But I don’t really know Vi! or even her mom or dad!”

“Vi said it’ll be alright. And we’ll absolutely have some fun there! there will be her family gatherings and Vi can invite anyone she wants! and you and me included” I say. I start to feel like a pushy girl cos I keep reassuring him that it’ll alright.

“Well. Only if you sure it’ll be fine…” he says at last.

“Great! Now you really have to pack. We’ll leave in 3 days!”

“What?! 3 days? I even haven’t informed my parents!” he replies in a panicky voice.

“Well, I know it’s a bit tight, but you really have to start now! We’ll leave at about 4 p.m. and meet at the airport at about 3 p.m. ok?” I can see Vi’s looking at me in such anxiety, really waiting for the answer.

“Oh yeah. I’ll contact you later if I have something more to ask. And by the way, have you told Mrs. Manson about this? We’ll be off in like a week, right?”

Omg! I totally have forgotten than I still have a job to do!

“Umm…since you remind me, I’ll call her now.” I say doubtfully.

“Now?! Goodness sake! You haven’t really planned everything out, have you?” he asks.

“I have!” I say in dignity, “In fact, I have packed my bag. Job is like…a little thing and not to worry. I’ll just call Mrs. Manson right now and she’ll just permit us.” I say.

“Well, if you really sure. So I have to go the, packing.” He says.

“Ok. I’ll text you later if I have already got the permission. Bye!” I say.

“Bye!”

“How is it?!” Vi asks me rightaway.

“He’ll come!” I shriek in excitement. “But he has to inform his parents first!”

“Great!” Vi smiles widely.

“And the bad news is, I haven’t told my boss about this.” I say.

“Oh. That’s not a big deal, right? Even if you only absent for 3 days she won’t know!” Vi says. Well, she got a point, actually. Mrs. Manson never turns up in the shop ever since I work there. Even if I don’t ask permission from her, she won’t know!

another fine day with Vi and uh? Birmingham?

I have made a promise to myself that last night will be my biggest secret. I mean, I never had any important secret or as important as what happened last night! Even Nathan and Nicho have their own secrets!

But however neatly I’ve hide my secret, Vi always ends up knowing the secret and I will make sure that she won’t know about this one. This secret is crucial! And as I wake up this morning with a little dodgy head, I start to take a shower and dress up in a light feeling of excitement.

I just notice that I have smile the whole time since I woke up when I look into the mirror, I stupidly grin at my reflection. My heart pounds without warning when I remember what happened last night.

I just can’t stop myself from playing back the memory as in a video tape and I involuntarily begin to smile as my stomach gives a few lurches. So last night, after that rrreeeaaallllyyy romantic kiss, I climbed down back to the ground carefully and we decided to turn to McD and bought ourselves few French fries and burgers and after that, we sat down on a bench and ate. McD never tasted as delicious as it was last night.

After putting some moisturizer on my face, I go downstairs and am ready for my Sunday breakfast. Usually, Dad makes us pancakes every Sunday, if not some BBQ on the evening. And when I look around the kitchen, there, are my family members. Sitting around the kitchen table, as innocently as ever. I can even put it in a home furniture supplier’s catalogue if I wanted to.

“Hi Dear! You’ve woken up, finally!” Mum says, pouring milk to my favorite glass that I has since elementary school. “Pancakes?” she says again, spooning 2 slices of nice-smelled and buttered pancakes, topped with golden maple syrup. This is the best thing on Sundays. And Dad will always wear his apron on Sundays, even if it’s raining or when I’m not in a good mood. Maybe he would probably cook us pancakes when the news on TV has said a storm’s an inch away from my house! I mean, he just always standing there, nicely smell, shaved chin and everything which makes me proud to take him out for a little daddy-daughter walk on Sunday.

“Who wants more pancakes?” Dad says, turning his head to find the three of us raise our hands eagerly with our mouth full. And he laughs as he sees us.

“Actually, I have big news!” Mum suddenly announces, beaming delightedly at us. Her face is all bright and we’re looking at each other, waiting for some pauses until Mum says the news.

“I’ve officially been hired as a Wedding Organizer!” she says. And suddenly a cheer erupts around the house. We all know Mum likes organizing (which is why she’s kind of annoying when it comes to “tidying up bedroom” things) and she also loves weddings. Sometimes, she even broke to tears as the bride and the groom said “I do.”

“Really? Wow! What company?” I ask as I take a spoonful of pancake into my mouth.

“Lola’s Weddings” she says, looking satisfied about her self. No way! Lola’s Weddings is one of the biggest wedding organizer and celebrities often use their services!

“No way! that one? That big one?” I stare at her unbelievably.

“That’s ok Dear. You’ve got a smart mum.” She says, waving her hands airily in the air.

“What’s that? I never heard of it!” Nathan cries.

“Well, what were you listening to when you watch E channel, eh?” I tease.

“Some break-ups, some arrested celebs, and few social actions done by Brangelina.” Nicho answers honestly. Ok, there’s no point discussing this with them, actually.

“So, are you going to Vi’s house today? Cos if u don’t I want to take you three to an exciting place.” Dad says.

“Really? Where?” Nathan says excitedly.

“To Grandma’s house!” Mum replies, taking our plates to be washed.

We stare at each other deadpan. That is nowhere near any place exciting! Grandma Lily has always been our biggest fear since we’re little. She’s no where near the word “polite” and “kind”. She talks non-stop and she often talks too honest that it hurts some people. She also has this horrible gray hair that pokes out everywhere and it’s so untidy. She always wears her knitted maroon cardigan and smells like a cat food.

Ok, I know it’s mean, but Mum had tried to give her a bottle of the latest perfume and a bottle of the most popular perfume among elders but still, she insists that she won’t use it. However, she always looks nice on wedding parties and family gatherings, especially if we’ve guests. And moreover, I’m sure you won’t be able to stand with her cat, Puddy that’s heartless and dumb. She practices her paws on furnitures and pees everywhere. She doesn’t know which one is her master and often makes the house a mess, but still Grandma Lily loves her. Stupid cat!

I abruptly, almost too quickly says, “I will go to Vi’s house actually. We’re going to…..to do some research on biology assignments.” I lie. But who cares? If there’s a thing called white lie then that is a white lie. And if you’re in my position, you’d probably do anything to escapes a trip to Grandma Lily’s house. I mean anything!

“Yeah. We also got invited to Gerry’s house.” Nathan puts in before Mum can say anything. Then our parents both stare at us, they know we just make reasons so that we can run away from the trip.

“Come on kids! It’ll be fun!” Dad says.

“No it won’t!” Nicho snaps, without lowering his voice. And it leads to a big debate between him and Mum.

After called Vi to ask for protection from the horrible trip I should do, Vi agreed and she’ll be waiting for me at about 1 p.m. now it’s 12 p.m. and I’m totally ready to go there. Mum and Dad have gone to Grandma Lily’s and Nicho ended up got grounded for 3 days for saying too many (honest) bad things about Grandma Lily.

As I walk to the bus stop, I can feel summer is coming in a week time and everybody seems to get their selves ready for summer and obviously, the girls at my school, too. They’re the most fanatic one about summer. They’ll go to beaches and show off their flat tummies and sexy legs.

It’s just a matter of weeks again before summer holiday comes and it’s so exciting! With all the glossy papers of magazine showing the sexy summer outfits and summer jobs and some tips to not get burned under the sun and that kind of things. Shops even have changed their stocks to summery ones and that’ll put spring outfits on sale.

When I arrive at the Freyson residence, Vi is there, sitting on the porch with Ruby. This is so strange, seeing her outdoor cos she never wants to sit outdoors, too much bugs, she said. “Hi!” I say as I approach them.

Vi looks up to me and beams, “Hi!”

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Getting Ruby some sunlight so she won’t get fever and bad skin.” Oh, yea right. “Come on, let’s get inside.” She gives me sign to follow her inside.

Her internal side of house has always been the same. Sophisticated and stylish. With red carpets, gold furnitures, lovely paintings and great lighting all over the room. I always love this room. And when it’s day time, her maids open the curtain so the room will be bright and full of lights, real classy.

She opens her bedroom door and let Ruby and me enter then she closes it and sit herself on the side of the bed. “So…is your grandma really that horrible?” she looks up to me.

“Err….let’s just say, you’ll find her more terrifying than how I described her before.” I say, taking a seat on a plushy sofa by the window.

“Really? Is she looks like the old witches you often saw on the pages of fairytales?” Vi asks again.

“No! of course not! She’s quite pretty for her age actually, but somehow, she’s just that annoying. You wouldn’t stand her mouth. She talks all the time. and she always warns me about manners, and about boyfriends, and about my eating habits. She even expects me to join a religious camp by the mountain!” Vi pulls a face of scare and then I continue, “as for the twins. They really have every right to hate her.

“She always pushes them to be gentlemen, so they often got the job of carrying something or taking her glasses or let the girls sit before them and she even expected the twins to open the door for me! You don’t know how their face looked like! I almost died laughing before my annoying grandma shouted in front of my face to keep my mouth in a good manner and everything.”

We giggle for some time, imagining the flashbacks of the angry-faced twins. Vi has now ordered her kitchen 2 glasses of Pink Lady to accompany us. she pushes her hair behind and then she watches me with her big eyes.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing. You look different?” she shrugs.

“How is it different?” I feel an alarm ringing in my head, telling every inch of my body that SHE might knows what happened to me last night!

“I don’t know. You look……I don’t know the word….glowing?” she says dumbly. I force a dry laugh as she said it. This is ridiculous, is it like printed on my forehead “I had a kiss with Ian last night” ?

“Yes, I’m serious.” She has straightened her sit position into more comfortable way to hear anything from me. She has now laid on her pillow and staring at me incredulously, ready for more information she needed. “I mean, it’s obvious something happened to you and you don’t want to tell me what it is.”

“Oh. Umm..” can I please have one secret?!

Vi raises her eyebrows, waiting for the answer.

“I think, nothing whatsoever important happened.” I say. But I know my face will look even tenser if I lie!

“Yea right.” She rolls her eyes. She doesn’t believe me. I just can know it from her voice and her look…..oh wait! Maybe it’s also the way how she can tell that something happened to me! She just knows!

“Ok fine!” I say at last after some silence around the room and the awkward atmosphere between us. “I had a kiss last night. Ok?”

For some seconds, no body makes any sound then suddenly Vi shrieks in horror, “WHAT? HOW? WITH WHO?” her eyes has grown wider and bigger and she looks terrifying!

“Ok, ok, ok. Calm down.” I say, “I had a kiss with Ian.”

“When?!” she snaps.

“Last night.”

“Where!”

“On top of a very romantic building that I had to climb first to get there.” I say dubiously and I can see she looks as confuse as ever. “I’m not sure where it is.” I shrug.

“How?!” she asks again. Ok, let me get this straight, that is my secret. My own!

“It’s a secret!” I say.

She pauses.

“What?” she asks as if I never had a secret before! Well, maybe I never had a secret with her..

“Yea. Sorry, but the details are my own things.” I reply and I can feel my cheeks flaming. Vi looks at me with no clue at all and was going to say something again when the door’s open and her maid comes in, bringing a tray of 2 long-legged glasses with pink liquid inside it.

“Fine.” Vi finally says, taking a glass of Pink Lady and passes it onto me. I feel a pang of guilty as I realized how heartbroken she is that I have secrets from her. But that’s not important, isn’t it? I mean, how could you possibly even gonna make your bestfriend’s kiss such a big deal for you to know and remember?

I take a good gulp of it and feel my throat refreshed. Vi has reached for a kitkat and break it into two pieces. One for me and one for her. “You know…” she chews the kitkat for some time, “My Mum asked me to join her to Birmingham.” She swallows the kitkat and continues, “and she wants me to bring you and any friends I like!” she finishes.

“What? Why?” I ask, biting my own part of kitkat.

“I don’t know. She said there’ll be a family gathering at my house in Birmingham and this time, will be quite big. And so she wants every possible person that every member of the family knows to join into the “happiness”.” She makes a quoting signs on the air.

“Wow! When?” I can picture myself in the huge Freyson’s residence at Birmingham. It must be real pretty.

“This summer. I know it will be a bit boring and formal but I really want you to come! We can spend real good time there! Plus, I can show you my hiding place that I has since I was 9!” she exclaims.

“Well, I have to think it over first!” I say. I think I got overwhelmed by all of these things, parties and meetings, and family gatherings. Why does my family never have any big family gatherings like Vi’s family? We can all have some fun in the gatherings!

“Great! I think I will also ask Jeremy to come too!” she says, “And maybe you can ask Ian.” She adds, winking at me. Oh snap!

it only takes two to make the whole world spins.......or at least, my world

After walking for God knows how long, we finally turn to a narrow aisle that I’ve noticed before. It leads us to a small path, with small buildings on its sides. I’ve never been here before!

“Here we are!” Ian stops and I look around. There’s simply nothing in here! It’s breezy, kinda dark, and quiet. We’re like 10 meters away from the town and it feels like I’m nowhere on earth. On my left side is an old building with a piece of wood carved ‘Pub’. Yeah, it’s a pub and everybody knows it’s a pub.

On my right is an unfinished building with some thick metal sticks, poking out of order and it’s pretty dark. “What?” I turn to face him.

“This.” He touch his hand on one of the metal sticks “Come on.” Then without warning he starts to climb up the thick messy-looking metal sticks. He gives me sign to follow him. Is he out of his mind? We walked like hours and finally we end up here? To climb this funny-looking building in nowhere aisle?

“Come on!” he says assuredly from above. I touch the metal sticks carefully, this isn’t how I pictured my date with Ian! I have this vision of us, sitting on some posh restaurant and ordering champagnes and lamb steaks.

But somehow, I manage to climb the metal sticks and follow Ian for some minutes. It’s quite high and dark so it’s really hard to look above, especially with the night breezes that makes your teeth cackles.

I put my foot on a metal stick after another metal stick. This is hard! And I don’t dare to look down for I will possibly fall. Here I am, 16 years old, and my last climbing was in primary school when we all suppose to climb super-short wall and of course, equipped with safety belt.

“How far is it?” I shout to Ian.

“Not far from now. Come on, you need to catch up or we’ll lose the event!” he insist. Event? What event? There isn’t a party that’s held on the top of scary-looking building, or is it? Is this some kind of new trend, to hold a party in the middle of no where with really high risks? Sounds kinda soothing me a little, though.

And now, I can’t see Ian anymore, where’s he? He’s supposed to be right above me! “Ian!” I call as I struggle to keep climbing and climbing with the chill air nudging me. A head pokes from the top of building, “Here!” Ian shouts back. It’s only 6 steps away from the top. Come on! I can do this!

1………

2………..

3……

oh shit! My shoelace stuck on something! I pull my shoe lace and it doesn’t move an inch. “Come on! What take you so long?” Ian recalls and when he sees me he quickly get his feet on the highest metal sticks to get down and help me.

“What is it? What happen?” he says, climbing down.

“My shoe lace…it…it stuck!” I hastily pull my shoelace but still, it doesn’t move. And I can’t possibly use my hand cos I can fall down. And I will be found dead tomorrow morning and on the newspaper is my body with the head line “ A 16-year-old Girl Dead Because of Her Shoelace” no way!

Ian has came closer to me and with his muscular toned abs, he pulls one of the metal sticks and it automatically falls down, making a horrible sound of clanking down there. I don’t know how far it is but it sounds so distant and it needs few seconds before it reaches the ground. Or am I just imagining? Do I secretly have a phobia or something of height? But I like cable cars!

But somehow, my shoelace is free again! “Ok, done! Come on!” he says, helping me climbing up. What? So my shoelace stuck on a stupid metal stick and that’s it? I thought I will be dead!

It’s such a relief to finally hit the ground again. Well, not exactly the “ground”, more like a flat surface where I can sit and walk and jump without feeling scare of falling. Here I am, about 20 meters high from the road down there and I can’t even see the aisle I was standing on before. It’s pretty damn dark and well, let’s forget about it.

I’m standing on what looks like the roof of the building, no party, nothing at all. All empty and chilly and I don’t even want to think how I’ll get down other than passing the horrible metal sticks again.

I quickly join Ian who has stood on the edge of the roof. And suddenly, a wide view comes alive in front of my own two eyes as I walk closer to the edge. Starts with the little lights and buildings, then wider to more lights and now I’m staring at a view of the whole town!

I’m too flabbergasted to speak and suddenly my throat blocked. I can’t talk for some minutes, looking amazingly at the view, the breezes, the stars and the white round moon above us. It’s so near that I think I can touch it with my own bare fingers..

“Beautiful…” I whisper, falling into the dramatic atmosphere from up here. And I’m not lying, this is truly beautiful. I’ve never realized how beautiful my town is!

“I know..” he relies, half smiling, “I’m sorry I don’t ask you to go to a party or a high-class event. This is all I have to show to you..”

I look at him in disbelief, lots of sentences are crowding my mind, pushing to be said. “Are you crazy? This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!” I finally burst the sentence. Ok, that’s pretty much reflect action but isn’t that is all we need to say in this kind of situation?

“Really? I thought you prefer going on parties.” He says “…and maybe some real expensive restaurants with champagne and sushi.” I can’t help feeling a little flustered as he said it. Ok, I was wrong all this time. Date isn’t just about watching movie and going to an expensive restaurant and ended with romantic dance.

“No way! you don’t know me!” I say, half laughing. “I prefer this kind of thing actually.” I add casually.

“What kind of thing?” he asks. I think frantically, getting my brain to turns up with really brilliant answer. Come on! What kind of thing?! Besides clothing, TV stars, perfumes, shoes, restaurants, traveling…..umm foods?

“You mean romantic things?” he says again. I can see a little blush appearing on his cheeks. Ah yes! That kind of thing, of course!

“Yes. That kind..” I say. This is bit of awkward, isn’t it?

Suddenly, Ian sits down on the floor and so I join him, sitting and gazing through the spectacular show of light.

“So…how could you find this kind of place?” I ask.

“Umm, I happened to have this friend and we both joined photography class at school. And one day, we got this assignment to take pictures of beauty and it can be about anything. We firstly thought of taking pictures of flowers or girls or kids, you know such things. But then, we want something different. And my friend always passed this aisle on his way home. So he and I climbed this building to get good pictures. We don’t expect much from this place, it’s just to fulfill our curiosity.” He explains.

“and how could you climbed it? I mean, if I were you, I’d never in a million years think of climbing this old grotty building!” I say.

“Well, let’s just say it’s little kid’s dangerous activity and no one was there to avoid us climbing the building.” He says simply.

For some minutes we don’t speak, we just look and admire the beauty of the view and no one else is here to disturb us. It’s like we’re in our own world with our own rules and the world is ours.

“So.. what are the things you like?” Ian suddenly asks. We lay on our backs, gazing at the stars with the night blue sky as the background.

“lots! Popcorn as a start..” I say.

“Ok. Not bad.” He says.

“continued with fall season, beautiful views, coffee in the morning, and rain.”

“Rain? What is it so special about it?” he turns his head to face me. I can feel a prickle of little excitement on my whole body. I’m laying on the top of a building beside the guy of my dream! And our faces are closer than ever.

“Well, it’s cool. It’s really relaxing on stressing days, and it gives many plants sufficient water. And when I was a kid, I used to play and dance under the rain with my brothers and ended up with influenza the next day.” I say, half laughing. “how about you?” I ask.

“Me? I love beaches on summer, I love bbq-ing, cooking, swimming, and playing guitar….and of course sexy women in bikinis.” He says and we laugh.

“So you can play guitar?” he nods as the answer to my question. “Cool! I love a guy who can play an instrument.” I say.

“Oh I know. Every girl loves a man that can play guitar. And I simply has a talent on it!” he grins proudly.

“You wish!” I poke him on his shoulder.

We laugh more and finally rest on a relaxing silence. This is going to be my best night ever!

“So. Have you ever had a girlfriend?” I turn my face to look at his gleaming eyes.

“Yes, of course I am.”

“and how’s she like?” I ask even more.

“She’s tall, small cute nose, black straight hair, nice smile and smell.” He says, describing his ex, “why you asked?”

“Uh, just wondering..” I quickly reply. “and why you broke up?”

“She cheated on me…”

“Oh. Sorry to ask. You don’t have to answer, actually.” I say, feeling a little guilty for wandering inside his past.

“No prob. I want to answer that. I loved her and I’m not sad or anything. That was past and we should move on, right?” his eyes fixed on my eyes making the butterflies inside my stomach wakes up.

“And how bout you?” he asks.

“Oh. Nothing fun. Just normal guy, Edward, his name is. And he was nice and warm…”

“I bet he can play an instrument.” Ian cuts in.

“Yeah, well. He can play guitar, piano, and a little drum.” I say proudly. It was such a nice thing to remember my past and somehow, it really makes me feel relief. “He’s tall, and has these black eyes and pointed nose. Lots of girls are crazy bout him back then.” I giggle as I remember the memories. It was real funny when my junior high girlfriends were goggling at me when I said I’m officially in a relationship with Edward.

“Wow. Such a prince charming, wasn’t he?” Ian says.

“Yeah. He was. No until the time when he left me and go for some random girl he met at a party.” I say with a bit of pissed in my voice.

Ian has stood up again and he inhales and exhales few times. I’m tempted to do the same, maybe it’s relaxing and who knows when will I get up here again if it’s not Ian who insisted me to.

I stand up and inhale a long cold night air into my lungs, together with a swift move of my extended arms that goes up and meet on top of my head. Just like what Vi taught me to do yoga last year. And then I exhale the air and feel more refreshed at the end.

“Did he look anything like me?” Ian suddenly asks, breaking the silence up here.

“What?” I turn to see him looking at me with such look in his eyes.

“Your ex.”

“Oh. Well..” I swallow, “A bit. Maybe..but you’re way better.” I grin. “why asked?

But he doesn’t grin back. He looks at me seriously with such intense eyes and he leans closer to me. “Cos I think I’m in love with you…and I just can’t think of anything else for the whole day…and…” he trails off as his fingers stroke my hair gently. The next thing I know, I can feel his warm lips on mine.

My heart jumps in bliss and my whole body cheering as fireworks lighted inside my whole body……

And it only takes two of us to make the whole world spins. Or at least, my world…

show me something

Another party after party has quite sickens me out and I think I need refreshment. I have just done my Biology final exam and next month is summer holiday. All the students have quite excited about it and most of us have planned a party or two for their summer instead of concentrating on final exam.

This is the type of thing everybody would do near summer holiday. Due to the arrogance of some wealthy kids at my trashy school, some of the “rich kid” have boasted about their plan to go abroad, whereas, the less fortunate than them (like me, for instance) choose working on summer or just going out of town.

I put my belongings inside my bag and am preparing to go home when Jeremy shouts my name. Just quick intermezzo, Jenna really made a “Jeremy Fans Club” secretly and somehow, the information passed to everyone, including me. But poor Jeremy doesn’t know and even if he knows, I’m sure he won’t care. Ok, intermezzo’s over.

“Hey Sugar!” He runs to my table. I look up to see his face sweaty and bright and behind him, his jerky friend, Sean has also come.

“Would you like to come to my family’s Annual Ball Dance party? I’ve asked Vi to tell you and maybe she has told you.” Jeremy says.

“Yea. I’ve heard about it. But I don’t have partner to go with..” I fiddle my finger on my bag strap. I know what he’s thinking…

“Really? I thought you’d ask that guy that took you to the hospital! He seems like a nice guy!” Jeremy says. I’m aware of my hot cheeks and quickly reply, “Well, I don’t know. I’ll ask him later on okay?”

“Yea, sure. And anyway, the party is in August so you got plenty of times to rethink it.” He says, “but you have to inform me as soon as you got your partner okay? Cos there will be a guest list.”

Uh yea, I hate guest list! And I’m sure Ian too!

“Err, anyway, have you got your partner?” I ask, feeling flustered remembering the last dance I did was with him.

“Oh.” He hesitates, “I’m not sure. But My Mum seems to have found me one. But I really am not sure. Maybe I won’t dance.”

“No way! you’re the host! You have to dance!” I exclaim. Vi steps inside the classroom with some books to study for tomorrow’s chemistry test. “What is it?” she asks.

“Jeremy said maybe he won’t dance at his own party!” I say.

“What? No way! I will find you one if you want.” Says Vi eagerly.

Jeremy laughs, “No, really. I can handle it. And anyway, since Sean is the only person that already has a partner, why don’t you share with us?”

I exchange looks with Vi. Inside our head, it’s like we’re saying to each other eerily, “NO WAY!”

“Who is the girl?” challenges Vi.

“Oh, you don’t need to know. Not important.” Sean says, stroking his hair with his fingers.

“Yeah! Maybe he asked Jemima!” teases Jeremy.

Jemima is like the ugliest girl in the year. I don’t mean anything meanie, but really, you have to see her to believe what I’m going to say. Jemima has this really curly black hair and it has mites in it, she has this braces teeth and it wouldn’t matter so much if she brush her teeth so it’s not yellowish, and she has a big eyes that I’m sure would be beautiful if she trimmed her eyebrow a little.

I’ve ever asked her why she has this distinctive-shaped eyebrows and she said it’s because her sister plucked her eyebrows while she slept and when she woke up it’s a total mess. But still, somehow, she still hasn’t trimmed it until now. Moreover, she must weighs around 160 and for Bardwood High standard, it’s intolerable.

“Yeah, maybe..” Sean shrugs. And we roll our eyes, he can’t be serious. “I can take her to a make-over in a salon and when she comes out, there’s this possibility she’ll be a princess, won’t she?”

“I agree! Yeah, you wish!” Vi rolls her eyes even more and pick her bag up.

I just can’t wait for this Saturday to come. I get these butterflies in my stomach every time I see Ian and somehow, it can make my cheeks flaming without reason. Is this the feeling of love? At last! After 16 years of my life, I can really understand how it feels to be in love. Aww!

I get home faster than usual due to my high concentration of estrogen that insisting on meeting Ian and I simply get the first bus that stop in a bus stop near my house. I get inside my house and finding the twins are watching E channel and they’re goggling at Jessica Alba’s sexy body. Yeah, whatever!

“Watch out for eye viruses!” I say, opening the fridge door and take out a bottle of Evian.

“What? Is there any eye viruses? We only are looking at TV!” Nathan retorts without taking his eyes from the TV.

“There is! I’ve learned that on the 10^th grade!”

ha-ha! I’m waaay older than both of them! And usually they believe me!

“There’s no such eye virus by looking at TV, stupid!” Nicho pokes Nathan’s head.

“But…” Nathan was going to reply when Nicho adds, “She’s lying!”

“I’m not!” I shout from the kitchen.

“Yes you are! You always are!” Nicho shouts back.

Oh ok. So, he’s not as little as how I remember.

I run upstairs to take a quick shower and slip in my ugly shop keeper uniform but somehow, it looks prettier than usual. I can tell my mood is kind of its best right now. After spraying some White Musk on my body, I recheck my appearance on the mirror and I’m perfectly ready!

Abruptly, my cell phone rings and my heart almost jump out from its place when I see the caller is Ian. I quickly push answer button and press it on my ear, “Hi!” I say.

“Hi Sugar. Umm, I was wondering, maybe you have time after work?” he asks in a bit of stutter.

“Well, I guess yes. Why?” what is he going to say? Is he going to ask me on a party? Or is he going to ask me to go on a dinner? I can’t stop my heart thumping waiting for his answer.

“Would you like to go for a little walk?” he says eventually, trying to arrange that sentence. We’re like those characters you see on romantic movie, where the guy and the girl are too shy to talk and silently, they’re hoping to get on a date. I thought those things are to “movieish” and it only happens in movie, well, guess what, it happens to me, right now!

“I’d love to!” I reply, trying not to sound too cheerful.

“Great!”

“Did you ask Diane to come too?” I ask. And I know I have asked a wrong question, right when he pauses for some seconds then he answers, “well, I didn’t. I will ask her if you want me too, though.”

Argh! Stupid me! And now I can’t say “of course not! I’m happier without her around in our first walk together!” and I also can’t possibly say, “If you wanted to..” cos he will give it up to me!

“Oh! I have to go Sugar! Sorry, see you in………30 minutes!” then the phone clicks off.

God saves me! Phew!

When I enter Sanctuary, Diane was talking with Keith, her boyfriend. “Hey!” I stroll to the cashier table and put my bag on the rack.

“Hi! Sugar, right?” Keith asks.

“Yeah. So, am I disturbing?” I ask. I can see a woman’s magazine on the cashier table, opening right on the page with the title “Top Ten Positions of the Year” and I am sure I can see some pictures of 2 cartoon people demonstrating “other positions”, if you know what I mean. It’s just obvious they’re talking something quite intimate when I enter the shop.

“No, of course not!” Diane says quickly. “We’re just going through some discussion about our plan to Florida. Aren’t we Honey?” Diane hastily shuts the magazine and smiles to me. Gosh! She thinks I’m 9 years old!

Before Keith can answer anything, the door opens. This time, Ian comes in. “Hi!” he greets. I can feel my stomach churns in such nervousness.

“Hi!” I greet him back, plastering my smile.

“Oh Hi!” greets Keith, “Well, I should go, babe!” then Keith kisses Diane’s forehead.

Babe? Uh..

After Keith has completely out of sight, slowly, Diane drops her head on her folded arms on the table. She exhales and says, “Prince charming, isn’t it?”

Lucky, I don’t puke…

The day we spend in the shop has always been fun and full of laughter. But today, after saying farewell to Diane, I’m standing in front of the shop with Ian under the blue night sky. Here I am, Sugar Dale, standing on some unknown pavement with the guy that makes her stomach jumps.

“So, where are we going?” I ask, wearing my jacket.

“Come on! I wanna show you something!” Ian says and he has started walking before me. I have to pace up with his steps, “Where?” I ask. We passed some couples and I just feel like I’m one of them. This is exciting!

But he doesn’t answer my question in any way. We keep walking and walking until my feet starts to hurt. Why don’t we take a bus, instead? And where is he taking me to? We have passed the cinema and some cool restaurants like 20 minutes ago, but still, we keep on walking.

All of a sudden, his steps come to a halt and his eyes fix on me, “Do you like playing swings?”

“Yes, yes I do. But that was ages ago when I was in kindergarten,” I trail off as we start walking again. What does he has in his head?

romance in hospital

Morning has come and I can feel the warm sun mingling on my bed. Ian hasn’t wake up and I don’t want to disturb him. He laid his head on his folded arm on the side of my bed, he looks so peaceful as I follow his rhythm of breath. His hair shines in yellowish with the sun shining on his head. What could be better than this? This is 8 in the morning and everything looks so peaceful.

I don’t really remember much about last night unless about the apologizing and forgiving part. Last night seems like a year ago, so long time ago. I look at my cell phone on the side of my bed. There are 5 missed calls and 4 new messages. As I read Vi’s message one by one, the footsteps outside my room become busier every minute and the chit chat has grown louder.

Suddenly the door clicks open and there stood a nurse, holding a clipboard, “Good morning.” She smiles as she heads to my bedside. “Good morning.” I reply, showing my best smile. Ian shows signs of waking up, he stretches his body and yawn then he tries to focus his sight. “Wow! Hi there!” he grins to the nurse.

“How do you feel today?” she asks me. She puts her palm on my head and writes something on her clip board.

“Much better. Thanks.” I say.

“I want to wash my face and buy something for breakfast, anything you’d like to eat?” asks Ian, standing up and stretches more. “No. but I don’t mind a blueberry muffin,” I say, smiling. Oh my god, it just shows! We fancy each other, aren’t we? We even act like a couple!

“You should eat foods from the hospital, miss.” The nurse suddenly cuts in.

Oh ok.

Ian then shrugs and leaves the room. While the nurse checks my condition and blood pressure, I can practically feel my brain’s working. Where’s Vi? I miss her. And how’s the party? Who were there? What did Ruby wear? Oh god, I miss Ruby already….

“You’ll have to relax more and eat nutritious food, Ms. Dale.” Says the nurse again, writing something on her clipboard. “Well then, I have to check other patients, your breakfast will arrive in no time.” she says.

“Ok, thanks.” I say. She then out of the room. I quickly reply Vi’s texts that ask how I feel and what happened to me, and she also asks a thing about Ian and me. Gosh. I was smiling as I replying Vi’s text when Ian comes in, bringing a small paper bag and a paper cup of coffee.

“Why are you smiling?” he asks, putting down his breakfast and starts to drink his morning coffee.

“Nothing. I just replying Vi’s message.”

There’s a knock on the door and another nurse comes in, bringing a tray of my breakfast. She puts it on a table on my bed. “You menu today.” she smiles then suggests me to eat all of them. She then leaves the room.

I’m staring at my breakfast today: a bowl of veggies soup, a glass of mineral water, a plate of plain porridge and an apple.

Ian suddenly bursts into hysterical laughter as he sees my expression. There’s no way I’m gonna eat this! Where’s my coffee? Where’s my muffin?

“Oh my god.” I say silently.

“You have to eat that, miss.” Ian says, then he demonstrates how delicious his waffle and coffee are. “Shut up!” I say and he laughs again. This is mortifying! I will be dead as soon as I finish this breakfast. I just know it.

I start to lift the spoon and put it in the veggies soup, then I slurp the grave..

“Ok that’s it. I will just eat the apple and I will go downstairs to buy my own muffin!” I say and biting the apple hungrily.

Ian laughs more. “Actually, I bought you something.” He takes out something brownish wrapped by clear plastic with purple sauce on the top. BLUEBERRY MUFFIN! “Here’s for you.” He hands it to me and I look at it as if it’s gold or something. This is, by far, the most precious thing in this room other than my cell phone.

I slowly open the plastic wrapper and start to bite. I nearly swoon as I feel the muffin in my mouth. I just realized how hungry I am!

“Thanks!” I say with my mouth full of muffin.

“That’s fine. And swallow it first before you talk.” He says. I chew it in delight, please let it be like this until….until forever! Please don’t let anybody else comes in. I secretly cross my fingers for luck.

Just as I finish my muffin, the door burst open. “SUGAAR!” Vi’s voice shrieking around the room and she quickly hugs me. She brings Ruby too! She’s dressed in the pink skirt I made for her! Wait, there’s still another person, Jeremy! “Hi, Sugar! How do you feel?” he smiles.

“Better. Thanks.”

And for the rest 30 minutes, Vi tells me about the party last night and I tell her how silly I was to get fainted just because I was so tense before I even say the apologizing lines! Jeremy and Ian are chit chatting outside, giving us our girl time. I play with Ruby for some time. “Those people outside won’t let Ruby in! So I stuffed her in my bag!” Vi proudly shows me her big LV bag. And we laugh. Oh how I miss Vi…

After I spent another day in the hospital, my mom and dad finally know what really happened and they come to the hospital with the twins. Mom even can’t quiet tell me how mad she is that I hide this from her because being in a hospital is a really big matter for my family.

But then my parents visit quiet make me happy because they become quiet close to Ian, Jeremy, Vi, and Diane and it shows that I have good friends! (Mom even ask Ian for dinner! But he refuses it because he has to study for his exam)

After spending another day at hospital, I finally am permitted to go home. The doctor says that I have to stay fit and spare some time for myself to relax. Ok, I can do that!

Since the days in hospital, I've become much closer to Ian than ever. Like for example, at work, he always tease me by mentioning the hospital thingie and after work time, we all get together in a coffee shop with Diane and her boyfriend, Keith, who turns out to be quite a little hyper about everything.

He talked non-stop about his work at a magazine office as a HRD, which is somehow unbelievable. He’s freakin 19 years old. There’s no way a magazine company would hire someone 19 y.o to become their HRD, isn’t it?

But of course I didn’t say that aloud. Ian and me nudging each other under the table to give sign “he’s boring!” and when we saw Diane, she was looking at Keith in an adoring look. Urgh! Mind you!

The days with Vi are exciting! She told me about the last Saturday party which I missed. She told me everyone adores Ruby and her cute costume and out of no where, there’s this man who offered Vi to take care of the dog while she’s dancing. Do people hire someone to take care of guest’s dog as a service in a party these days? How cool!

But nonetheless, Sean was there too! And his presence made Vi quite uncomfortable with his eyes staring at Vi everywhere she goes. But Jeremy still didn’t realize a thing about Sean and Vi so he asked them to be each other’s partner in the coming up ball dance next month. Jeremy’s family always has this kind of tradition as a place to get in contact with relatives, family, and friends. Socialite’s life….(sigh)

“and he said YES!” says Vi.

“What? And what did you say?” this is insane! If they really do ball dance together, who knows what Sean will do to Vi.

“I said No of course! And Jeremy said ok, but he wants me and you to come to the ball dance party with each other’s partner.” She finishes. “Who will I go with? You have Ian to go with…” she sighs. I can tell that I still feel shy whenever Vi acts as if my relationship with Ian has officially been bf-gf kind.