Natia

The sky was navy blue by the time I returned to the dorm room in the evening. To my utter exhaustion, I was again bombarded with pages and pages of study notes.

"Who organised the gunpowder plot and when did it happen?" Ting asked, the light from the computer screen reflecting in her tired, puffy eyes.

Stress had turned us all into sleepless insomniacs. If we couldn't at least pass the mock examinations tomorrow, the entire team would get disqualified from the competition. I looked around our room, concerned. Ruth and I also had black circles under our eyes, but it was Ting who suffered the worst. She looked absolutely drained as she strained to keep her eyes open.

I buried my head into the soft, welcoming pillow. I breathed in the comforting waft of clean sheets, succumbing complacently into the bed. My voice was barely audible as I mumbled, "Robert Catesby in 1605 November the 5th."

Ruth finished tying up her messy bun with a snap of the hairband. She bellyflopped onto her bed, her long legs hanging off the edge of the metal frame.

"Guys, I think I need a break." She said, curling up in her tangle of sheets and blankets.

"Same here." I yawned. Reaching over for my phone, I began scrolling through my social media.

I opened snapchat to the joyful ring of the notification bell. Happiness washed over me as I saw another new message from Aishya. Honestly, I've lost count of how many silly faces we've sent each other since our departure at NYU lecture hall.

I still can't believe the professor called us out in front of all those students x

I smiled at the memory. After successfully sneaking into the lecture hall, we plopped down into the farthest row from the lecturer and began chatting incessantly. The lecturer spotted us, and called on me. Everyone was staring.

I typed my reply, snapping a picture of my red and white striped fuzzy socks.

Well at least I got it correct :)

I savoured the sweet feeling of victory and pride back when the lecturer questioned me on the event of a supernova. There was a sense of superiority in that old man's expression as he challenged me; little did he know that he was about to get absolutely smashed by a 16 year old.

I recited the the entire process, from the shifting of ball mass to the total collapse of the core- the paragraphs of texts laid out at the back of my mind like old ink prints as I read them aloud. He was stunned to say the least.

How do you know so much about space anyways?

I typed back immediately, my chin propped up on one hand.

Have always been obsessed with it since I was little. Nerdy, I know haha.

I peered over to Ting's bed as I waited for Aishya's response. She wasn't there.

Confused, I turned on my back to see where my teammates were. They were both sprawled on Ruth's bed opposite to mine, their heads buried into the flashing screen as they shared earphones.

I hopped of my bed and went over, interested. When I reached her bed, I peeked over their computer screen, the brown tangle mess of hair falling over my eyes as I tried to see what they were so concentrated on.

Ruth pulled the screen of her laptop half way closed. She took off her side of the ear bud hastily.

"What?" I noticed the sharp edge to her voice.

"What are you guys looking at?" I asked, sitting down at the edge of Ruth's bed.

Ting pulled out her earbud too. She lifted her eyes slowly, like it was draining her physically to even move her eyeballs. "The last episode of Stranger Things."

"Oh my god I've been dying to watch it."

Ting shifted her position, making just enough room on the bed for me. She let her angular face fall into the palms of her hands heavily. "Do you wanna-"

"We're almost ending though, Natia. You won't have a clue what's going on."

There was something off about Ruth. I looked into her eyes to find that they were stone cold. Her jaw was set firmly when she looked straight back at me, an unwavering hostility in her eyes.

There was a brief moment of silence before I replied nonchalantly, hoping to ease the tension in the air. "That's okay! I'll just watch it when we get back to Hong Kong."

I walked back to my own bed and clicked open the study notes. I was running through some Calculus rules on the computer when I heard Ruth's terrified gasp.

I glanced over from the top of my lap top to see Ruth clutching Ting's hands tightly, her knuckles white with fear as both of them locked their attention onto the screen. Even Ting was watching attentively, intrigued by the show. I plugged my own headphones into the laptop and let the screeching music from the current billboard charts fill my ears. It still wasn't enough to drown out the small voice of jealously calling out from the back of my brain.

~*~

Ruth didn't utter a single word to me through the entire walk downhill towards the mock examination hall. Ting was sandwiched between us like a magnet, her left arm linked to Ruth and her right to mine. I had a feeling if it wasn't for her, Ruth would be as far as she could away from me right now - seeing she wouldn't even look me in the eye.

My phone chimed again, which might have been the twelfth time since we left our dorm room. I opened the message and saw a reply from an Indian girl I met at the bonding session yesterday. To my puzzlement, Ruth began walking faster, her lean legs striding one after another so quickly that she almost tore me and Ting apart.

I'd never seen her like this before. We had always been inseparable. Ruth was always the mother of the group; Ting was the less outspoken, sweeter one; and I was the one who always manages to make a pun out of everything. Sure, Ruth could get annoyed at us, but never furious.

I turned my attention to Ting. If she hadn't noticed the abnormally stormy Ruth yesterday, she most certainly did now. I could detect the obvious worry in her eyes as she half jogged, keeping up with Ruth's quick pace.

She still hadn't recover since last night, I realized. Red traces still crawled like vines around her iris, and her thin lips were pale and dry as sand.

We arrived at the entrance of the grand building. It was at least 12 floors high, with dry splatters of concrete dotting the red brick wall. We just stepped foot onto the cobblestone steps when I heard a faint, distant call.

"Natia!" I turned around to find Aishya, waving at the foot of the staircase. I grinned, waving back. Ruth and Ting must have entered the examination hall already, because when I turned back - they were gone.

She arrived by my side, linking her arm through mine. My smile widened when I saw who was following close behind her. All my worries on Ruth's unusual behavior and Ting's utter exhaustion went instantly flying out the window.

"Hi."

The left corner of Amsyar's lips turned up, causing an adorable dimple to form on his left cheek. As if acknowledging my admiration for his incredible beauty, he turned his head to his right, showcasing his sharply sculpted jawline. He gave the guy beside him a nod and flashed him his champion smile, opening his lips to say hello. I sighed happily. The creation of such ridiculously handsome human beings should never have been allowed.

"Hey, I'll see you guys later. I need to go catch up with a friend." He couldn't have left any quicker. In the split of a second he went running after the guy who passed by a moment ago.

"You're hopeless. You know that right?" Aishya asked.

I sighed. "It's love, Aishya. You can't stop love." I closed my eyes contentedly at my daily dose of Amysar.

"Ha!" She laughed, slapping her thigh. I giggled too, while trying not to stomach anyone with my head as we weaved through the crowd.

"Before you fall too deep into the hole, I just want to give you a heads up that there will a million other girls chasing after him."

I sighed bitterly, suddenly saddened by my complete inadequecy and incompetence when comparing to the other girls. "Like I don't know that."

We situated ourselves a bit farther away from the crowd as we sat on the steps of the staircase just beside the examination hall. I turned my whole body to her, my face serious.

"Tell me," I cupped her rosy cheeks so she couldn't look away. "If you were Amsyar, would you choose the pretty blonde in your team over me?"

She removed my hands from her face, wrapping them in her grasp. She pursed her lips and gave me an apologetic expression.

"Oh come on! But I have such a fun personality!" I said, a bit too loud. A few students from the hallway stared at the both of us.

"And I know that!" Aishya exclaimed, dropping her voice into a whisper. She tightened her hold on my hands. I looked away, my lips transforming into an upset pout.

"But there are just so many other guys out there, you know? So many people funnier, better-looking, and friendlier than Amsyar."

Uh, no there wasn't. I managed a bleak smile. "Yeah, of course."

Everyone around us began shifting towards the entrance of the examination hall. We easily blended into the crowd, and together we moved into the massive room. There were endless rows of tables lined neatly across the shiny wooden floorboard. I read the seat allocation number on the name card around my neck once more before heading towards table number 634.

I plopped down on my seat. Mindlessly, I started drumming on the table with my fingers, using the two index fingers as my imaginary drumsticks. Boredom settled in as students continued filing in noisily.

"Hey." I nudged the boy next to me with my elbow.

The blonde boy was gazing off into a distance. He turned his skinny neck to the side so he's looking at me, a mask of pokerface glued to his face. I plastered on my most welcoming smile.

"Are you nervous?" I asked nicely, inching my chair forward to close off the awkward gap between our tables.

He shook his head, the locks of sandy, surfer hair falling down on his eyes. I noticed that they were painted the most extraordinary color. It was a deep shade of blue, resembling the color of water right above the seabed, where no light has ever managed to reach it.

"Not even a little?"

He stretched his lips into a grim line, the hollows of his cheeks puffing out. He considered my words for a moment before he said yes with the tiniest movement of his head.

"I'm Natia, by the way. I'm from Hong Kong." I said, stretching my arm out to introduce myself as I have done many times before.

He grasped my fingers loosely. Gently, he shook it, as if he was clutching the handle of a delicate china teacup instead of my hand.

"This is the part where you're supposed to introduce yourself." I said. There were perhaps countless moments in my life when I would feel embarrassed and wish to run away instantly. Surprisingly, I was eminently collected as I guided the boy through our conversation.

"Sean." He said, recoiling his hand back to where it was a second ago, crossed on the surface of his desk. I beamed with triumph.

"So you speak!" I exclaimed. The corners of his lips curved up the slightest bit, a shy smile surfacing on his face. I took this as a good sign as I continued.

"Where are you from?"

"Australia." He said, and I noticed for the first time how heavily accented he was.

I was pondering for the next interview question to ask when he caught me off guard by saying some more. "But my family moved to Hong Kong a year ago."

My eyes widened in amazement. Frankly, I was more excited for the fact that he spoke without my pressing questions than that he just announced himself to be residing in my home city.

"Really? Hey, we're practically neighbors!" Yeah, with seven million people in between. A small voice said in the back of my head. I shooed it away quickly.

"I guess." He said, raising his brows at my strange comment. I noted how our conversation was more fluid and natural now. I smiled to myself, careful not to let Sean see the excitement in my eyes. I had a feeling if he were to realize my strange enthusiasm for everything, he would block me out completely.

"Well-" I was interrupted by the loud echo of the microphone as Freddie tapped his fingers. The sea of voices silenced down quickly after that.

I brought my chair back to where my table was. "Students. We will now hand out the practice paper to you. Please treat it as you would with the real examination."

"Good luck." I whispered to Sean, an encouraging smile forming on my lips. "Well, not that you need any luck. You're probably one of those geniuses who just naturally knows the answer to any question-"

"Natia, shut up." He looked at me from sideways and returned me with another one of his rare half smiles. I stifled a laugh.

The staff from the gifted-minds competition handed out the papers row by row. When everyone received their examination booklets, Freddie began the timer and everyone flipped open their papers.

I began filling in the multiple choice bubbles swiftly, the answers coming to my brain like old memories resurfacing. I poured out all the knowledge that I had shoved into my brain for the past few weeks onto the clean sheet of paper, and soon I was over halfway through the examination.

Tranquility settled in my veins as I continued filling in the bubbles without much difficulty. That was until I felt the heart-wrenching snap of lead beneath my fingers.

"Shit." I breathed out, my body frozen in shock as I stared, bewildered. My heart pounded frantically and my cheeks flamed hotly. A gush fear overcame my mind in a chaos of wildfire. I ransacked my pencil case for another pencil. A mechanical pencil. A sharpener. I was defeated when I realize that I had none of those things.

This was not happening. This was not happening.

My eyes were affixed on the petty little piece of broken lead when I heard a light cough next to me. I whipped my head over, my mind spinning in panic. Sean was fully absorbed in his paper, his dark brows scrunching in deep concentration. I was about to turn back to my crisis when I noticed his subtle outstretched hand. I suppressed the urge to shout out in glee at the sight of the small sharpener clipped in between his long fingers.

I reached out my left hand to receive the metal tool. I sighed in relief, calming myself.

Everything is going to be alright.

I clutched the sharpener in my hands preciously, grasping it tightly as if I was holding on to dear life.

You can pass this.

I held the pencil firmly and twisted it, hearing the comforting scraping sound of metal against wood.

We're not going to get disqualified.

"You two. Up."

I glanced up in fear, my eyes meeting those of a woman from the NYU staff. I peered over at Sean. He was already getting up, his face poised and expressionless.

I gulped, following the woman and Sean out of the room. Heads turned our way as we were brought out. I tipped my head down in shame, aware of all the eyes on my blushing cheeks.

Once we were outside in the empty corridors, the expression on her face turned sour. "You do understand the rules of an examination, correct? Especially a well known one such as the gifted-minds competition."

Sean nodded his head respectfully, his eyes fixed on the floorboard. I followed suit and did the same.

"Kids." She scoffed, fishing her phone out from her pockets. She began typing into it rapidly, her fingers moving at lightening speed.

I turned to Sean. I mouthed, my eyes pleading for forgiveness. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, and raised his brows in sincerity. "It's okay." He mouthed back.

We both snapped into attention when she looked up. "Freddie will be here shortly to deal with you two."

She walked away, the sound of her heels echoing coldly in the eerily silent hallway.

I waited until she was completely out of sight before turning to Sean. The top of my head just managed to reach his shoulders, so I had to strain my neck when I gazed up. "Sean, I'm so sorry-"

"No, stop apologizing." He interrupted, surprising me with his bold tone.

I bit my lip, staring down at my entangled fingers. "Well, thank you. For helping me back there. I was scared out of my mind."

He chuckled. "I could tell."

We stood there, basked in the comfortable silence. I leaned back against the wall, enjoying the momentary serenity before everything would fall apart.

"You're shorter than I thought." He observed.

"And you're more a lot more talkative than I expected."

I didn't miss the bemused glimmer in his eyes when he turned away.

Soon, Freddie appeared at exit of the examination hall. Sasha was right behind him.

When Freddie arrived in front of us, I was partly relieved and mostly terrified by his total neglect of my existence. He stood, square-shouldered as he eyed Sean's scrawny figure up and down, his eyes flashing with surprise, disappointment, anger and a few other emotions that I couldn't place my finger to.

"Sir." I took a small step forward, my body trembling ever so slightly. "It wasn't any of Sean's fault." I said, mustering all the courage I had. "I was stupid enough to forget my sharpener, and Sean was just-"

"No, Freddie." Sean said, his eyes parallel to that of the gifted- minds founder. I sucked in a sharp breath. Did he just called him by his first name? "I could've ignored her, but I didn't, yes? It was my decision to reach out to her."

The tension between them was almost painful to watch. Sean's determined eyes held Freddie's helpless ones in a locked gaze. Sasha was speechless too as we both watched the nerve-racking scene unravel dangerously.

"Sean, can I speak to you alone?" Freddie asked, rubbing his hand across the deep lines engraved on his forehead.

My veins pounded with dread. What if I actually got Sean disqualified instead of me?

I tried again, my voice harder this time. "He doesn't deserve to be punished for helping other students, sir."

Sean turned to me. Then Sasha. Finally, Freddie looked at me. It was like he just noticed for the first time that I was standing there. I continued, my daring voice surprising me too. "I do - for my foolish mistake. I'm sorry."

I half expected him to explode in rage, drowning me in an endless pit of harsh criticism. He would pardon Sean for his mistaken fraud, letting Sean walk away while I stand here at the verge of crying, suffering from his harsh, brutal words.

Freddie only sighed, as if he couldn't care less of my existence and just wanted me gone as soon as possible. "Don't let it happen in the real examination. You are excused for this time, but your entered score for the mock examination will be that of what you've got written down. Understood?"

"Sir-"

"Go. Sasha, go with her please." His voice was soft towards the end. I could see the obvious concern in the lines shaping Sasha's frowning lips. Nevertheless, she obeyed his orders, taking me by my elbows. 

Freddie and Sean talked in hurried and hushed voices. We were rounding the corner when I finally dared look back. Sean was walking the other direction, and Freddie was standing alone at the center of the hallway, his eyes staring blankly at where Sean was a moment ago. Dismay was written distinctly across his tired, aged face.

~*~

Author's notes: Hope you all enjoy this chapter! I really do appreciate the suggestions made from the previous chapter, and I'll take them all into deep consideration:) you guys are all such lovely readers, so please feel free to pm me or leave a comment, I really want to get to know you guys! xx

Ps. Happy late New Years!
- Jaeanne