New Life : A Second Chance

Beatrice sat at the desk, looking at the 10 pieces of paper in front of her.

10 candidates.

Average of 15 minutes per candidate - taking into account Kyle's stupid 'fresh out of the shower' scene - and it all boiled down to 3 people.

Actually, that wasn't accurate. The post of Treasurer was quite straight forward and not an issue. The candidate, Rick, just happened to be the one lone person that had passed the first stringent filter of Kyle's.

It was down to the two candidates for the Secretary's position: Irene and Daniel.

Both had their strong and weak points. Beatrice preferred Irene while Sam leaned more towards Daniel.

"So, Kyle? I guess it's up to you to make the final choice," Beatrice said, handing him both candidate's CV and their comments about them. "Who will it be?"

Kyle looked at the papers then took out a coin. He flipped it high in the air, caught it and slammed it on the desk.

"Irene!"

Beatrice's eye twitched.

"Can you please be serious for a while? This is not a joke!" she said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Kyle asked with a smile, leaning back on the chair, "Do you not trust your own judgment then?"

Beatrice opened her mouth then closed it again. Kyle did choose the one that she had recommended and if she said it wasn't a good choice, wouldn't that mean she was denouncing her own analysis of Irene?

"That's not the point," Beatrice said, "I have faith in my judgment but you seem to take it lightly."

"On the contrary, my dear Vice-President," Kyle said, as he looked at her straight in the eye, all playfulness gone.

"I take it very seriously. I had already placed the decision in your hands whichever one it is, would definitely be a good fit for the Student Council. I respect both of your judgment on this matter and I did not want my own personal prejudice or biasness to affect it. After all, I was not the one who was there interviewing them. So why should I make the deciding choice? Why not leave it to Fate? Or God, if you please."

Beatrice thought about it and felt Kyle had a point but had to ask, "If you trusted us so much, why the bathroom scene then?"

Kyle's right lip curled up in a half grin, "Cuz it was fun."

Beatrice stared at him, her eye twitching. She has a new smile named. The Stupid Smile. Irritating Smile? No, Stupid Smirk. That's it.

Kyle wriggled his eyebrows at her then laughed, "Well, it WAS fun. For me, at least."

Kyle grinned at the memory of the reaction of all three girls when he did so. He had always been the rather studious and serious boring type as Kylie so this really was something he found quite entertaining. Now, you might think that an old-soul would find such childish behaviour to be beneath them, but that's not necessarily the case.

Kyle found that the chains that used to bind him before became undone and there were times that he just wanted to let loose. Hence, his rather playful and childish behaviour whenever he's with the Elite Five - or like, right now. He had been the first child, the eldest girl and had to be the one who 'set the example' and 'take care of everyone'.

He had never had the chance to ... be himself. Do what he wanted, like what he wanted. Even now, he had planned his entire life just to ensure that his kids would be safe and worked hard towards it. Yet, he also knew that if he was so serious and merely focused on that aspect, he would go crazy.

This personality of his was a result of that. He allowed himself to be playful, weird, stupid or whatever you wanted to call it - so long as he weighed all the pros and cons about it. None of his actions would create problems in the long run and so, he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Of course, every action of his had a reason.

"Fine, fine," Kyle said, raising his hands, "The fact is, I wanted to test them. That was the fastest and easiest way to determine whether or not THIS," he said as he gestured towards himself with a smirk, "would make them become tweeting birds or could they rise to the occasion?"

Then he leaned forward, wiggling his eyebrows, "Because, let's face it. I'm only going to get hotter."

Sam snorted, "And more humble, it seems."

Kyle laughed and placed his arm around Sam's shoulders then ruffled his hair. Sam's expression didn't change and he merely took out his comb from his pocket and got his hair back into place.

Beatrice ignored them and looked at the time.

"It's 6 pm now," she said and looked out the window. It wasn't dark yet and she would have time to go back home by bus before it did get dark.

Kyle shouted, "Great! Let's all go out for dinner together! My treat!! As a sort of celebration for a job well done."

Beatrice shook her head, saying, "I'll pass. It's getting late."

"Oh, come on. You still need to eat, right? The cafeteria is already closed," Kyle said, trying to persuade her, "And look, Sam doesn't even live in the dorms and he's gonna come. Right, Sam?"

"Since you're paying, of course," Sam replied and she looked at Beatrice, "I will take you back after dinner."

"No no no!" Beatrice said, rejecting the offer with embarrassment, "No need! It's okay. Really. My parents would be worried if I came back too late."

At that time, she noticed Kyle was on the phone then he said happily, "Hello Mrs. Chan? This is Kyle, the Student Council President. I'm sorry that Beatrice was held up because of the interview, but we're all done now."

Beatrice's eyes bulged wide open and she glanced at Sam in a panic, "What is he doing?!" she hissed at Sam.

Sam just shrugged his shoulders.

"I was wondering if it's okay that I take her and the rest for dinner, as a 'thank you' for all their hard work? I promise to make sure she gets back safely. I can? Great! .... What? Really? Thank you, Mrs. Chan!"

Kyle grinned at Beatrice who was just standing there looking at him, "Problem solved. Your mum said it's okay and to get you back by 10 pm. She said it's okay to stay longer since there's no school tomorrow."

"You ... called ... my ... MUM?!" Beatrice nearly shrieked. What would her mum think? She had never had anyone - except for Betty - call for her. Now, not only did someone call, it was a boy! She groaned, knowing that there was going to be several hours of inquisition once she got back.

***** BEATRICE'S HOUSE*****

Meanwhile, unknown to Beatrice, back at her house, her mother was practically dancing around in the living room. When her father saw this, she merely ran to him and hugged him, tears in her eyes. He patted her back and she looked at him, saying, "Our baby girl has friends now. She's actually going out to dinner with them!"

Beatrice's dad's eyes also started misting over and they hugged each other tightly, happy at the thought. They were always worried about their genius daughter being ostracised and was extremely worried about the lack of friends she had. She only went to school and came back. Whenever they broached the subject, she would just shut them down. They felt utterly helpless about their inability to help their precious daughter.

However, ever since she was in Sage Class and became part of the Student Council, they noticed her thawing out a bit. Her face wasn't so unemotional anymore and they often caught a glimpse of a smile - sometimes of irritation - but at least, there was more emotion! Now she was actually going out? Their hearts were full.

*****BACK TO STUDENT COUNCIL ROOM*****

"Wait! How did you know my number?!" Beatrice nearly screamed while Kyle was punching the keys on his phone again.

Kyle first sent the message and then looked at her as if she was dumb. Then she did feel dumb. Of course. All Student Council members had the biodata of each other. Their address and phone numbers were listed as well.

Sam patted Beatrice on her shoulder, "Give it up, Beatrice. Just join us for dinner. It'll be fun."

"Kay and Xing Han will be here soon," Kyle said, getting up. "I just texted him. So we'll leave right after they come. Shall we go to the Food Trucks or ...?"

"Food truck is fine for me," said Sam, "Beatrice?"

"I'm okay with it as well," she replied nervously. She was actually both excited and scared. This would be her first time eating with ... friends. Usually, in school, she was either alone or just eating among her classmates in class. In Sage Class, they would eat at their own pace and time, not keeping to the recess like normal classes. Thus, it was usually her eating by her desk while looking at data on the computer.

Kyle printed out the notice for the successful applicants to the Student Council and placed it on Liam's table. He wrote a small note on a sticky notepad and stuck it on the notice. Just then, Kay and Xing Han arrived at the door, with Xing Han grinning widely.

"Kyle's treating!! I wanna go to hotpot! No, barbeque! No ..."

"We're going to the food trucks," Kyle cut in.

"Hmmph," Xing Han muttered with a pout, "Spoilsport."

Then, his eyes glistened while he rubbed his hands together, "Even better! Then I can have both hotpot AND barbeque! HAHAHAHA"

"Glutton," Kyle said with a grin and put his arms around Xing Han's shoulder.

Xing Han grinned back and did the same. He put his arm around Kyle's shoulders (even though Kyle was taller) and they walked out like that, even skipping as they did so.

Beatrice watched this with a slight smile on her face.