Chapter 20: 16 [a wandering day]

“So, Avery,” Terasia eagerly started while we walked to the train station. “What have you planned for our date today?” 

“Date?” Blinking in surprise, I shot her a look of amusement. “Why would you say that? Is today Valentine’s Day or something?” 

“Valentine’s Day?” she asked back in a puzzled voice. “What is that?” 

“You haven’t heard of it before?” I pursed my lips slightly, then gradually smiled. “It’s a special day for couples in this world to go out on dates and confess to each other. It falls on the 14th of February every year, by the way.”

“February 14, huh…today’s date is May 19, so if I go by the calendar…” She counted something on her fingers and stared at me in astonishment. “Isn’t that, like, three months ago?!” 

“I suppose we have to wait for next year,” I said wryly. 

“H-huh? No, I can’t possibly wait for that long!” She humphed and flipped her hair nonchalantly. “We shall pretend that today’s date is February 14 then, Avery.” 

“Sure, sure, whatever you say.” I let out a chuckle. “Anyway, I don’t have any concrete plans at the moment, but I managed to snag some ideas for places that’s worth a visit today. They’re all suggestions from Liam, though, so I’m not too sure myself how good these places are…” 

“Hmm?” she remarked, arching her eyebrow in surprise. “I’m curious now, what did he suggest?” 

“Let’s see…” I pulled up my conversation with Liam yesterday on my phone and showed her the list of ‘recommended’ locations he had pounded out while apparently eating a late-night supper in his bed. 

Leaning forward, she studied Liam’s list with interest. “Whoa, there’s so many places to go to!”

“Do you want to choose which locations you want to visit, or leave it up to random chance?” I asked. 

“It’s alright, I’m fine with anything.” Terasia glanced up from my phone and gave me a quizzical look. “But, what do you mean by random chance?” 

“Ah, I’m talking about this.” I copied the list and entered it into a random name picker that I found online. “Here, why don’t you try pressing the button in the centre of the wheel?”  

“Like this?” Gingerly giving the screen a tap, she let out an “Ooh!” at the colourful animation of the wheel spinning. “Wait, it’s slowing down…and stopping…oh, Avery, it stopped at Chinese Garden! Is that where we will be going?” 

“Mm-hmm, we have our first destination down,” I said, nodding my head in agreement. “I think we’ll have enough time to visit two more places after this, why don’t you spin the wheel again?” 

She shook her head unexpectedly. “I’d already spun it once, so it should be your turn now, Avery.” 

“I don’t think that really matters, though…well, if you insist.” I pressed the button and keenly waited for the wheel to stop spinning—only to do a double take when I saw the location that was picked.

“Damn you, Liam…”

“Ooh, let me see, what did you get?” Terasia tip-toed to glimpse at my phone. “Geylang? What is that place?” 

“That’s, uh, the red-light district,” I mumbled, suddenly feeling the urge to smack my head against a wall for not noticing it sooner and removing it from Liam’s list beforehand. 

“Red-light…?” 

“N-never mind, Terasia, please ignore what I just said. Here you go, you can have the last spin.”  

“Okay~” She eagerly pressed the button once more, and this time, the wheel stopped at ‘Gardens by the Bay’. “Yes, that’s all three destinations of the day settled!” 

“Alright, just give me a minute. I have to open up Google Maps to check our…” I felt her grab onto my arm suddenly. “W-wait, where are we going? Terasia??” 

“Let’s not waste any more time, Avery—” With a gleeful smile, she pulled me past the faregates and up the escalator to the overground platforms “—we shall set off for our date now!” 

 

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The midday sun was peeking through the clouds when a melodious chime echoed throughout the quiet carriage. “Jurong East Interchange. This is the end of the line, all passengers, please alight at this station. Doors will open on both sides.” 

Terasia, who had her hands and face plastered against the door window ever since we boarded the train, tilted her head up and directed an expectant look at me. “Avery, are we alighting here?”

“We are, but this isn’t our stop yet,” I said, briefly checking my phone to confirm our route. “We have to catch the train to Chinese Garden station, which should be over to our immediate right.”

As the train pulled into the terminus, the remaining passengers began to gather their belongings and moved towards the doors. An announcement began to play over the speakers, “travellers who are continuing their journey towards the City, Pasir Ris or Changi Airport, please proceed to Platform C…travellers who are continuing their journey towards Tuas Link, please proceed to Platform F…” 

She pointed at the white-coloured train waiting on the platform across from us. “Do you mean that one?” 

I nodded my head. The train finally shuddered to a halt, and once the doors hissed open, we hurriedly crossed the platform onto the correct train. A few other people from our train also dashed into the same carriage as us just in time.

“Please stand clear of the closing doors,” the invisible lady’s voice crackled over the speaker as the departure chime shrilled. The garrulous chatter that filled the bustling carriage was momentarily drowned out by the whine of the train’s motor kicking into life. “Next station…Chinese Garden.”

“So, that’s our stop.” Terasia glanced up at the map above the train doors. “Afterwards, this train goes to Lakeside, Boon Lay, Pioneer…woah, does it go all the way to the west?” 

“Itʼs not called the East-West Line for nothing.” I smiled. “If you continue past the last stop, you will end up leaving Singapore altogether and entering a different country, called Malaysia.”  

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“Ooh, that sounds fun!” she exclaimed. “Avery, is it possible for us to stop by this ‘Malaysia’ territory for a short while on the way?” 

“I guess itʼs not impossible, but I donʼt have my passport with me now.” I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. “Did you bring yours along, by any chance?” 

“Er…” She drew her eyebrows together slightly. “Sorry, whatʼs a passport?” 

I shot her an amused look. “You know, the small booklet containing all your personal information? The thing you used to travel to Singapore from the US?” 

“Mhm…” Her face contracted in a frown of concentration for a long moment. “Oh, wait, I think I know what you’re talking about now. Ah, I forgot to change my name on that one…” 

Intrigued, I was about to ask her why she had to change her name when she suddenly gasped and pointed towards the window. “Avery, look! Do you see that funny-looking structure over there?” 

I curiously looked out of the window in the direction she was pointing at; rising up above the treetops in the distance was a distinctive multi-tiered tower, with glinting flecks of red tile and a tall pointed spire at the summit. 

“That building is called a pagoda,” I said with a small smile. “If you’re up for it, we can climb all the way to the top of the pagoda later. I heard that you can see the entire West of Singapore from up there.” 

Her wide aquamarine eyes were practically sparkling with excitement at my words. As soon as the train pulled into the station, I was involuntarily dragged along by her in her eager rush for the exit. 

“H-hey, Terasia, can you stop here for a bit?” I weakly requested when I caught sight of a convenience store up ahead. “It’s way too hot, I want to buy a cold drink first, p-please…” 

She gave me a weird look. “Are you really going to complain about the heat when you’re only wearing a T-shirt and shorts?” 

“Honestly, I don’t understand how you can keep your sweater on in this godforsaken weather,” I chided her. 

“I-I specially wore this outfit only because I saw this one cute couple on Insta wearing matching sweaters on a date yesterday, you know,” she muttered back in indignation. 

“Matching sweaters?” I blinked, trying to process what she just said, then nearly doubled over while choking back tears of laughter. “T-Terasia, that can only work when it’s cold outside…which can never happen here, just saying.” 

“O…really?” 

“Mm-hmm, it’s either hot and sunny or warm and rainy all year round—” I laughed and threw my hands wide in a gesture of mock invitation “—welcome to Singapore.” 

Pursing her lips for a moment, she smirked and said, “don’t worry, I can make it snow here.” 

Terasia came up with such a ridiculous, yet worryingly plausible suggestion that I wasn’t quite sure if I should take her lightly. 

“Please don’t…” I said, stepping through the sliding glass doors of the convenience store. 

“Welcome!” a brown-haired store clerk greeted us in a smooth, low-key voice. She glanced at Terasia and smiled slightly. “That’s a pretty sweater, by the way.”

Evidently she had overheard some of our conversation outside, so I gave her a wry look and quickly made my way to the line of refrigerators at the back of the store. 

“I know, right?” Meanwhile, Terasia was more than eager to reply to her compliment with a beaming smile. “Too bad my boyfriend didn’t match the vibe…” 

What nonsense is she talking about to a stranger? With a resigned sigh, I walked back to the counter with two chilled bottles of Coke in my hands. It looked like Terasia had bought something while I was gone, and she was busy fiddling with it in her hands while the store clerk gave her some instructions. When she heard me approaching, she suddenly turned towards me and waved her hand happily. 

“Avery, say cheese!”

“Huh—?!” Before I could react, I was stunned by the bright flash of her camera. 

“Wow, you definitely looked ugly in that picture,” Terasia commented with a large, silly grin on her face as she looked up from the viewfinder. 

I recovered from my shock and hastily defended myself. “Y-you didnʼt even give me time to smile!” 

“It’s called a candid shot,” she replied, giggling. “Oo, is that cola for me?” 

“Nah, I’m buying both for myself only,” I rejoined teasingly while paying for the drinks at the counter. 

“Hmph!” She crossed her arms and made a childish pouting face that I couldn’t help but smile at. 

“I’ll give you one if you delete that picture off the camera,” I said, letting out a poor attempt at an evil laugh. There was no way I was going to be caught off guard by her like that again. 

“Sure thing! Here, you can delete it yourself.” To my surprise, she grinned and tossed me the camera while grabbing a bottle of Coke from my hand without hesitation. 

I caught the camera in the air and warily examined the black plastic box. “Wait a minute…there’s no button to delete photos on this thing? How do I even see the photo you just took?” 

Terasia exchanged a knowing smile with the store clerk standing behind me and burst into a fit of giggles. I was still bewildered by the strange camera when the clerk finally tapped me on my shoulder.

“That’s a disposable camera,” she helpfully explained. “You can’t delete pictures off a camera that uses film.” 

“O-oh?” I shot a glare at Terasia, who was snickering uncontrollably while opening her prized Coke bottle. “You tricked me!” 

Sipping her drink casually, she gave me an innocent look. “It’s not my fault~” 

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