New Life : A Second Chance

The food was laid out on the long table at their kitchenette. Each desk had a placemat so that any food spilled would not ruin or dirty the documents there. The front of the Sage Class had the banner with the words, "Congratulations Natasha!" and the present was hidden in the pantry cupboard.

"Just looking at this made me realise just how much of a monster Kyle is," Ali said, "Again."

"What do you mean?" Sophia asked as she made one final sweep of the food.

"Last year, he arranged a surprise birthday party for Sam in just a couple of days," Ali explained, "And unlike us, he sneaked everything in without anyone knowing!"

"Eh? How is that possible?" Sophia asked. Just the food alone had the catering team send a small truck to send the food.

Ali shrugged, "Like I said, monster."

"Who had you in a headlock," Sophia said, giggling.

"Oh come on," Ali whined a bit, "You\'re never going to let me live that down, are you?"

Sophia took his arm, leaned her head on his shoulder and replied, "Not at all."

Ali stood there, enjoying her closeness. The words of warning his father gave rang in his head "do not let her lead you to Hell".

Ali knew his father meant that Sophia, not knowing the boundaries set by his religion, wouldn\'t be reserved at all with any form of physical contact - more so since they\'re a couple now. It wasn\'t that Sophia was evil or bad, but she would be the temptation for Ali, and he may not be as devout as before.

Just like how it was said Eve caused the downfall of Adam, resulting in them to be exiled from the Garden of Eden.

Right now, Ali wasn\'t thinking of all of that.

How could something so right, be wrong?

Anyway, Ali figured that since he regarded Sophia as his future wife in his heart (even though she didn\'t know it yet), the normal \'no physical contact\' rule didn\'t need to be followed so strictly. He was treating her with respect, right?

Ali felt this amount of contact was acceptable.

He put his arm around Sophia\'s shoulders, bringing her closer, loving the feel of her warmth and soft body next to his.

Yup, more than acceptable.

Little did Ali realise, that he was slowly making compromises and giving excuses for each action that he takes. Slowly, the line became more and more blurred between what was allowed and what wasn\'t.

But that was something he\'d only figure out much, much later.

? ? ? ? ? ?

Natasha was touched.

She stood there, clutching the present that was given to her as she looked at everyone in Sage Class - and the extra girl that apparently helped in the preparations.

Tears formed in her eyes and the girls in Sage class hugged her - except for Beatrice, of course. Ingrid hugged her from the left, Kay from her right while Beatrice stood awkwardly in front. She wasn\'t as reclusive as before but she still wasn\'t in the \'hugging\' category yet.

Still, Natasha could feel the love and closeness.

During these two years (well, technically, it was one year and a bit), she found her calling. With the research she had done in class and Kyle\'s guidance, she finally set her path. This was something that she would never have been able to figure out in a normal school.

Not this early, anyway.

She hugged the two girls tightly, then looked at Kyle hesitantly.

She felt like she owed him a lot, for his detailed reports to the Principal truly did help her. It helped her see her strengths and the plans that were made were mindboggling. Once again, she wished she could have spent longer at Sage Class as she could have gained so much more - yet on the other hand, at least she did have this one year.

As much as she wanted to hug Kyle, she also knew that he wasn\'t the type to hug any other girl except for Kay.

[Go on, brother] Kay admonished him [It\'ll be fine]

Kay had noticed the way Natasha was looking at Kyle. Not out of love or whatever, but there was a look of hesitation and admiration. Kyle had noticed it too but had merely pretended that he didn\'t.

However, since Kay had given the green light, Kyle turned towards Natasha with a smile, tilted his head and spread out his arms.

She grinned, sniffed and ran to hug him.

"Nooooo!!" Xing Han shouted nearby, "I wanna join, too!"

Kyle glared at Xing Han, who was from across the room, who was now running towards them.

He held on to Natasha\'s waist tighter, nimbly turned her around so that Xing Han glomped* him instead of Natasha. It wasn\'t that he didn\'t want any guy to hug Natasha, but it was most likely she would be crushed inbetween them.

Steadying himself, Kyle protected Natasha from most of the force.

For the first time in her life, Natasha was flustered.

All this time in class, Natasha did not harbour any feelings for Kyle. He was damn hot, so it meant he was beyond her reach and she never considered anything. Work was more important anyway. Plus, he was a kid.

It was enough that she could admire him from afar. She liked watching him, but that was it.

Now, however, having him hold her as he protected her from Xing Han\'s over-enthusiastic hug, her senses were overloaded.

All of her senses were assaulted.

Sight: His face that was so close to hers that she could actually view his magnificence at such close range.

Smell: taking a deep breath, she could make out his unique scent that she never could before or had ever noticed.

Hearing: he was laughing at Xing Han, his overly sexy voice just hitting her ears like silk.

Touch: she could feel the warmth of his body, as her chest was crushed against his firm chest, his strong arms enveloped around her.

The only thing missing was the sense of taste.

She blinked rapidly and gulped, stopping herself in time from doing something that would have crossed the line.

This Kyle was lethal.

If she, who had harboured no hidden intentions (or have any sort of feelings for Kyle) could feel this way just from a mere hug of his, what more those girls who had crushes on him?

For the first time, she truly understood why those girls in Retsu Primary School had nearly stripped him naked during Valentine\'s Day. When the story had been told the other time, she hardly believed it was that bad.

I mean, come on she thought in disdain and disbelief. Girls couldn\'t be that bad.

She now knew better.

Oh yes, she did.

There and then, a crush was born - and Natasha groaned for it was the last day of school.

It was for the best.

So she gave Kyle one last squeeze then stepped back, to be given another group hug initiated by Xing Han. This time, it was the guys Stanley and Terence flanking her.

Ali stood by the side, content to just be hugging Sophia instead. Hugging Natasha was too intimate a move for him.

Sam? Well, Sam had Betty. It wasn\'t that he was afraid Betty would be jealous, and he certainly did not think he would be cheating on her just for hugging a classmate who just happened to be a girl - but it\'s simply because the said girl wasn\'t Betty.

He only liked to hug his bunbun* Betty.

Natasha didn\'t mind when she saw Ali and Sam from a distance.

She knew the Elite Five had their own idiosyncrasies and she didn\'t take it to heart. The hug wasn\'t important. What they had gone through together, as Sage Class members, were what made the memories.

"You may be leaving us today," Kyle said, giving his Colgate dazzling smile, "But you\'re always a Sage Class member. Once a Sage Class, always a Sage Class. Remember to keep in touch."

Natasha nodded.

This move of Kyle created a network that served every member of Sage Class well in the future. After all, each and every Sage Class student had the vast potential to be successful in whatever they did. Some even became President.

Yet, no matter how high that person went, once a Sage Class classmate contacted them, the help was extended.

Of course, this only applied to Sage Class students who knew each other. The connection and help didn\'t just come with the \'Sage Class\' label - it came through their connections with each other. It did help them gain an audience but whether they could get help depended entirely on their ability after that.

There was no obligation to help.

Kyle wanted to create this type of network but he didn\'t want it to be abused. Hence, it turned into the form that it did through him laying the foundation. Being one of those in the pioneer batch made it easier for him to do so.

Stanley looked at this scene, and his heart felt a bit heavy. Next year, it would be his turn. Time sure did pass by fast.