New Life: A Second Chance

Joseph visibly took a step back in complete astonishment from the sudden shout (and rather crazy look in the girl's eyes) while Lianne looked up in puzzlement at the weird girl. 

From Lianne's perspective, she saw one girl staring at them … no, at her brother … with her eyes wide while she was holding onto her friend's arm as if her life depended on it.

Lianne internally rolled her eyes, thinking the reaction to be completely over-the-top. Luckily, so did that girl's friend, who placed her hand over the excited girl's mouth.

"I'm so sorry," the girl said, "Please ignore her. My friend must have taken too much cola this morning. She has a bit of a sugar rush."

The one who had her mouth closed grabbed her hand's friend and pushed it aside as she continued to stare at Joseph, "It's you, isn't it?"

"Er, I'm sorry?" Joseph said confusedly, his shock subsiding, "Do I know you?"

The girl smacked her forehead and then walked over, "Silly me. I'm sorry. My name is Hope and this is my friend, Fern."

Lianne blinked at hearing the names. They must have gotten quite a lot of jokes about that. Hope wasn't too bad, but Fern? Didn't people normally name their kids after flowers? 

Why a fern?

Lianne continued observing.

"Hello," Joseph answered, tilting his head, "But I'm sorry, I don't think we've ever met."

Hope had this … er, hope on her face as she asked, while wringing her hands, "You're Joey, aren't you? From TokTik? The #dancersize?"

"Oh, that. Yes I am," Joseph replied, surprised that he would meet anyone who would recognise him. He was a bit embarrassed now, but secretly happy.

Hope turned to Fern triumphantly, "See? SEE?! I TOLD you that he looked familiar!!"

She turned to Joseph, while showing this huge grin on her face, "I can't believe you're here! Are you here to make a video? No, that can't be because you have workout videos … unless …"

"We're transferring here," Lianne cut in, intending to stop her before she started gushing again. She was basically having her own monologue as it was. 

I mean, come on. It's just her brother for goodness sake. Did she have to act like she was meeting a celebrity?

"No! Really?!" Hope gasped, putting her hand to cover her mouth.

Lianne blinked again.

This Hope really was the overly dramatic type, wasn't she?

"Yeah," Joseph answered, "We just moved here, and the school is nearby."

"This is great!!" Hope continued to gush, then her face fell, "Oh. Wait. We have classes soon. I thought of showing you around but it can't be for long."

"Ah, about that …" Joseph said, rubbing the back of his neck, and looking at the sheet of paper in his hands, "Could you tell me which room is 3R?"

"We're heading there later …" Hope began and then her eyes went wide, "No. Way. YOU?"

Lianne rolled her eyes openly this time. 

That's it. She had to get out of here.

She turned to her brother and said, "I'll be exploring the school. Just call me when you're done."

With that, she turned and left, ignoring the two girls. They had completely ignored her anyway, so she didn't feel obliged to be polite to them at all. 

Her brother didn't introduce her either, but she didn't think much about it. After all, it wasn't like he had a chance and the way his mind worked, he didn't even consider it.

"Be careful!" Joseph shouted at her retreating back, "I'll be done by 1pm."

Lianne put up her hand and waved, indicating that she heard. 

"Girlfriend?" Hope asked.

Joseph looked at Hope in absolute horror, "WHAT?! NO! She's my sister."

Hope smiled even bigger.

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Lianne walked leisurely in the school, choosing areas that were devoid of people. It was getting to be stifling to be in a crowd. She had used the map to go around the school and already knew where most of the places were. 

Bathroom, canteen, library, hall, and most importantly, which one would be her classroom. 

Upon studying the map, she also noted the fire exits and how the classes were arranged. It didn't look too complicated, so she had confidence that she wouldn't get lost looking for classes.

Since that was done, she decided to just while away the time in a quiet spot. 

It was on a bench, in a shady spot, overlooking the school field. Putting her bag on the bench, she took out her sketch pad and a bottle of milk tea that she had bought from the canteen earlier. 

Unscrewing the top, she closed it back. She took off her loafers and sat cross-legged on the bench as she looked at the scenery in front of her. Soon, she started drawing.

Unknown to her, everything she did was being observed by a bored guy in the building behind her. He was on the top floor and as the teacher droned on in front, his gaze naturally went outside.

How he wished he could be out there, playing instead of in here, trapped.

When he saw her walking, he was curious. 

What insane person would come to school when he did not need to come to class? Obviously, she wasn't there for the extra classes because she looked too young to be a student here. 

He continued watching, feeling that that was still far more interesting than what the teacher was talking about.

Suddenly, he jumped when his there was a loud smack sound right in front of him. He turned his head to see the angry face of his teacher, and then at the ruler that she had used to hit his table with.

"Bryon," she said to him, looking down at him from her vantage point, "Pay attention. Otherwise, detention."

"Auw, Ms. Steele," Bryon said helplessly, "That's cruel and unusual punishment!"

"What? You love detention?" Ms. Steele said in surprise, "You want to stay behind this entire week?"

Bryon gave her the ultimate pleading look, his eyes wide open and innocent like Puss-in-Boots from the Shrek movie, while his hands clasped together, "I'm sorry, Ms. Steele. I will be good."

"Humph," she said, tapping the top of his head with the rule, "See that you do."

Bryon watched her go with a smile. Ms. Steele was actually a softie but she liked to give off this 'I am a strict person' persona. They all knew her well but it was only Bryon that could play with her like that.

She always threatened him, and he always pleaded, and she would relent.

But, the reason why she would relent is because he would not push it. With a sigh, he forced himself to face the front and pay attention in class. His mind was still on the strange girl at the field, though.

So much so that when that lesson was over, he got up to go to the bathroom.

Rather, that was what he said to the teacher that came in after. He had held his stomach and told him in a voice that was obviously in pain, "Sorry, Mr. Gonzales but I .. I gotta go. Number 2."

Seeing the pale face and the beads of sweat on the boy's face, the teacher nodded and Bryon ran off.

He stealthily took the long way out, deliberately choosing a path that had the lowest risk of meeting any teachers. Being a student that often skipped class, he knew which ones were the danger zones.

He also knew which classes were being occupied, so he would duck down whenever passing by those rooms. The doors were all closed, and there was a small window on each door, so it wasn't really difficult to slip by.

However, once he reached outside, he would be in full view of all the students whose classrooms faced the field. 

That was indeed a dilemma.

Byron stood right at the corner of the building, staring at the girl who was still just sitting there, peacefully. Drawing? Most likely. 

He felt an itch to just go and see what she was drawing.

Well, he knew what it was since she kept looking up and back down at her sketch pad. Only an idiot wouldn't know.

It's just that he was itching to see just how she drew the scene. He always loved sketches, much more than paintings for to him, it was much more skillful to bring to life the scenery just with just a pencil.

He peeked at the side of the building and made a decision.

To heck with it! He took a step forward, then he thought about detention.

He faltered, his foot halfway up before he slowly put it back down.

He kicked the ground, sending a pebble out and an idea hit him.

Bryon picked up the pebble and gauged its weight. Measuring the distance to the girl, he then threw it.