Chapter 13: 11 [diet mountain dew]

“The headlines this morning for Friday, May 18, 2018,” the TV news anchor said in a chirpy voice as the camera panned to a closeup of his face. “President Donald Trump has not confirmed whether US and North Korean officials are continuing to prepare for a scheduled diplomatic summit next month. This comes after Pyongyang threatened to pull out of what would be a historic first meeting between a North Korean leader and US president…”

“Avery, are you feeling alright?” Mum asked while she brought three plates of kaya toast to the dining table. “You have been looking a little pale since you woke up.”

“Really?” I stifled a loud yawn as I took my slice and bit into the sweet and crispy bread. “I must have been more tired than I’d thought yesterday…”

“What, were you up all night texting girls online?” Dad asked jokingly while he scrolled through his phone with one hand and ate his kaya toast with the other.

I merely smiled and remained quiet. Dad raised a slight eyebrow at me upon seeing my reaction, but didn’t comment on the matter any further.

“The summit is supposed to take place here in Singapore, right?” Mum remarked, her eyes glancing at the TV screen. “Are they really going to cancel it?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Dad said without looking at the TV. “So what if they cancel the summit? It’s not like anything is going to change.”

Out of curiosity, I shifted my gaze to the news broadcast too, which had moved on to show a clip of the US president making a speech in the White House.

“But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy…I really believe he’s going to be very happy…”

“Avery, shouldn’t you be leaving soon?” Mum asked, pulling my attention away from the TV. “It’s almost seven o’ clock, you know?”

“O-oh, then I’ll be going now.” I stuffed the rest of my bread into my mouth and shouldered my bag. “See you, Mum, Dad.”

“Enjoy yourself in school,” Dad replied languidly.

“Don’t forget your water bottle!” Mum called out after me.

I waved my hand at them before exiting the front door and slipping on my school shoes. It was a fifteen minute walk from my house to the train station, but if luck was on my side, I could catch the feeder bus and save ten minutes of walking. And as luck would have it, Bus 883 arrived with its hazard lights flashing just as I made my way to the crowded bus stop. I quickly joined the rest of the commuters clambering aboard the bus, flinching instinctively when the doors slammed shut behind me with an angry hiss.

“Next stop, Opposite Block 592C.” The bus lurched forward suddenly, causing those who were not lucky enough to grab onto a pole in time to nearly trip and fall. The girl teetering beside me hastily apologised after her phone accidentally hit my arm.

No one pressed the bell, and thankfully the bus driver skipped the next stop, much to the exasperation of the waiting commuters.

“Next stop, Before Sembawang Station.” The bus stopping bell sounded. A squeal of protest from the brakes later, the bus screeched to a halt and released a flood of passengers desperately trying to make the train connection; but all was for naught when the train thundered out of the station at the same time. I glanced at the departure board above the faregates—the next train wouldn’t come for the next five minutes. Heaving a sigh, I put on my earphones and listened to some Lana Del Rey while waiting on the platform.

To my surprise, I felt a playful tap on my shoulder and heard a familiar voice say, “late, aren’t you?”

I quickly spun around and locked gazes with a pair of bright aquamarine eyes smiling at me. “T-Terasia?! What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you, what else?” she said, reaching out to pull an earbud from my ear and placing it in hers without hesitation. “What are you listening to?” 

“Er…Lana Del Rey’s Diet Mountain Dew,” I said, shifting closer to her so that we could share my earphones better. “I like her singing voice, especially in her older songs.” 

Terasia nodded her head to the beat as the song progressed to its catchy and slow-paced chorus. “Mm, I gotta add this one to my Spotify playlist.” 

“You have a Spotify playlist too?” I asked, slightly taken aback. 

She gave me a questioning look. “Why, isnʼt that what everyone here uses to listen to music?” 

“No, Iʼm just surprised that you understand quite a bit about recent trends,” I pointed out. “Didnʼt you say that you arenʼt that familiar with the Internet?” 

“Yeah, but that doesnʼt mean Iʼm a total boomer, you know.” She crossed her arms and made a face. “I can make basic observations of this human society with my two eyes.” 

“So thatʼs how you know…” I trailed off as a train horn blared in the distance. 

“Attention please, the train arriving at Platform B will end its service at Marina South Pier,” an announcement came over the platform speaker. “For your safety, please stand behind the yellow line.” 

A sudden gust of wind rushed past us as the train pulled into the station; Terasia gave a surprised gasp and tugged the hem of her skirt down towards her knees. 

I had to do a double take when I caught her murmuring under her breath, “Iʼm not wearing any panties underneath.” 

“You…”

“Hmm?”

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“N-nothing,” I said hastily while we boarded the train. “Er, I was just wondering what time you got here. D…did you wait for me for a long time?” 

“Oh, no, not really.” She leaned against the closing doors, smoothening her ponytail in a demure way before putting her hands behind her back. “I predicted what time you will arrive at the station, then teleported myself here from my doorstep.” 

As usual, her use of magic proved to be mind-boggling. “You predicted?” 

Terasia absently nodded her head. “Yup, like how I predicted your mum would get into an accident and intervened to stop it from happening.” 

“So that really was you…” I flashed her a grateful smile. “Thank you.” 

She suddenly blushed and averted her eyes. “I mean, it’d really suck if I watched you die for a second time, right?” 

“That’s…one way to put it.” I chuckled. “Oh, right, have you seen Seberas’ message in our project group chat?” 

“Uh…” She shot me a puzzled look. “We have a project group chat?” 

“Didn’t you check your phone yesterday?” I showed her the group chat that Seberas had created. “Since he didn’t have your number, he asked me to add you into the group.” 

She took a closer look at Seberas’ message. “What does ‘yall wna lunch at J8 aft our meeting tdy’ mean?” 

“He’s inviting all of us out for lunch at the J8 shopping mall, once we wrap up our discussion after school today,” I explained slowly. “Xian Jing said she probably won’t be able to make it, but what about you?”

“I don’t think I’ve anything else on today, so I don’t mind.” She took my phone and typed out a quick reply to Seberas’ message. “Oh, Liam texted you just now. Do you want to open it?” 

“What did he say?” I leaned in curiously to read his message. 

“Let’s see…‘haha imagine having to wake up for school’.” Terasia choked back a laugh. “There’s more, ‘im still chilling in bed loser’.”

“I’m just going to pretend that I didn’t see his messages,” I muttered, deleting his texts without a shred of remorse. 

 

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“Bukit Kancil Interchange. Change at this station for the Bukit Kancil LRT. Doors will open on the right,” the announcement rang out, snapping us both out of our reverie. “Please mind the platform gap.”

After screeching to a halt, the doors slid open with a loud hiss of escaping air. The train heading in the opposite direction had just departed, causing the platform to become congested with students trying to make their way to the exits all at once. 

“If I’m not wrong, First period today should be Biology…” Alighting from the train, I stifled another tired yawn while we squeezed into the jostling crowd together. “Oh, that’s Seraphine near the escalators up ahead.” 

“Where?” Terasia tip-toed to look around at the people heading for the escalators before finally spotting her. “Should we say hi to her?” 

I gave a ‘why not’ nod of my head, and we hastened our footsteps to catch up with her just as she stepped onto the escalator. 

“Morning, Seraphine.”

“Morning!” 

Turning her head around, she took out an earbud and looked up at us. “Oh, it’s you two. Morning, Avery and…Teresa?” 

“It’s Te-ra-sia,” Terasia reminded her. 

“M-my apologies,” Seraphine mumbled, bowing her head down. 

“Uh, you don’t have to…” She waved her hand awkwardly. “It’s not that serious, I was just correcting your pronunciation.” 

“O-oh, mhm, see you later…” She darted towards the faregates the moment she reached the end of the escalator, quickly disappearing into the sea of commuters. 

“And there she goes,” I said with a sigh. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” 

“Hmm, did I come off as too harsh?” Terasia said, furrowing her brows slightly. “Oh well, we can talk with her during tuition class next Wednesday. By the way, Avery, what’s the time now?” 

“It’s…” I glanced at my phone and widened my eyes. “Fourteen minutes to the start of morning assembly?! We have to walk faster, Terasia!”

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