New Life : A Second Chance

Beatrice quickly closed her books and arranged them neatly on her table. She looked at the clock on the wall for the time. Lunch break would be in an hour.

Perfect.

She'll get some food and then wait for Betty to have lunch together. For things like this, she would need to talk to Betty.

Luckily, as she was in Sage Class, she had the freedom to walk about and do what she needed. They had so much freedom that they didn't even need to come to school, so long as they received permission from the Principal.

They would need to send an application, along with the length of time they would be away and when they returned, a report needed to be submitted as to what they had done while away. This was done to encourage independent research. Not that she needed that at the moment.

The students from the normal classes were still bound by their time tables. Currently, the first years didn't have any set time table yet as their streaming had yet to be done. This did not mean that they didn't have activities, so Betty was currently busy doing those.

Beatrice headed towards the cafeteria.

When she walked through the doors, however, she noticed Xing Han and Sam were also there. They seemed to be having a serious conversation as Sam appeared to be absent-mindedly twirling his food on his fork.

Xing Han was the animated one, his hands going left, right and center while talking - not forgetting to put some food in his mouth once in a while.

Beatrice's eyes darted to Sam, noting that the usual stoic face looked to be in seriously deep contemplation. Her heart lurched.

Thinking that he was in such a serious mode for another girl made her feel pain that she didn't know could exist. Taking a deep breath, she walked towards Mrs Ling and quickly made her purchase. She decided on sandwiches as that was the easiest to eat with the least amount of fuss. Easy to eat, no mess and one just had to throw away the wrapping it came in.

As she was walking out, Sam looked up and saw her so he gave her a smile and nodded. Beatrice almost tripped just seeing that smile of his and berated herself. How could just knowing how you felt for someone make you so stupid?

She just nodded back at him and walked out quickly under the confused gaze of Sam. He shrugged, thinking Beatrice must be thinking of some serious problem so she couldn't even smile back.

?? Pink Corner ??

Beatrice sat waiting for Betty. She had already texted Betty to meet here for lunch and had chosen a rather secluded spot away from the crowd. It was a popular spot, really. Under the tree and away from the main area. It wasn't hidden but far enough to ensure privacy.

As the area slowly filled up, Beatrice began fiddling with the sandwiches.

"Boo!" Betty shouted from behind Beatrice, launching herself onto her back.

Beatrice smiled, even though she was nearly pushed forward to the ground with that force. Betty had always been like this and it was this part of her that soothed Beatrice since long ago.

Betty skipped to the side and sat down next to Beatrice.

"Here," Beatrice said, handing her a sandwich.

"Thank you. Oooh! This is new!" Betty said, looking at the colourful rainbow cover, "LGBT sandwich? Lettuce-Guacamole-Bacon-Tomato sandwich ... nice!"*

She eagerly peeled open the plastic covering and pulled out one piece. Biting into it, her eyes glazed over as she went, "It's soooooo good!"

Betty peered over to look at Beatrice and her eyes scrunched up. Putting down the sandwich, she asked worried, "What's wrong?"

Beatrice picked up her own sandwich and slowly peeled open the cover, "Nothing is wrong."

"Don't lie to me," Betty said, going on her knees and staring at Beatrice, "Your eyebrow is scrunched up a bit here. That is a sign that something is worrying you."

Beatrice shook her head as she took a bite out of her sandwich. She chewed slowly and Betty simply waited.

"Nothing is wrong, really," Beatrice said, "But something did come up that I find is a bit troublesome."

Betty kept quiet, knowing that the best way to deal with this was to let Beatrice gather her thoughts and talk it out herself. Any sort of prodding at this point may make her go back into her shell.

So, she waited. She sat back and started eating again, all the while sitting beside Beatrice but not looking at her.

As Beatrice sat there, she thought back again at Mall T's incident and how she, like Betty right now for her, simply waited for Sarah to talk. It had been easy for her to wait but for the other person? It was scary.

It wasn't about whether she should tell Betty or not, but rather, how is she going to raise it? Knowing Betty, she would be all supportive of her and that is what she needed right now but to put it into words was far harder than she ever thought it would be.

It was even scarier than seeing the Principal!

Finally, after a few more minutes of silence, Beatrice said in a whisper, "I ... I came to the realisation that ... that my feelings for Samuel is not as simple as mere admiration for a fellow classmate or Student Council member."

Beatrice took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I like Samuel. As in, really like him."

Betty squealed in happiness and gave Beatrice a huge hug. She wrapped her arms around Beatrice and squeezed tightly, putting her head on Beatrice's neck.

"I'm so happy for you! Truly!! This is the best thing that could happen!!" Betty said with sincerity. A small part of her was feeling a bit sad but she pressed it down.

Beatrice deserved happiness.

She had been bullied from young as she was extremely introvert and, as the kids said 'weird'. Betty, however, found her to be the kindest and purest soul that she had ever come across. Beatrice always just let them do whatever they wanted for she felt it was too much of a bother, so it was Betty that felt she had to protect Beatrice.

It was the same now.

Betty wasn't dense. She knew that she was attracted to Sam but that's all that it was. A mere crush. There was no way she would ever stand in Beatrice's way over something so flimsy. Beatrice was more important than anything she could ever feel for a guy.

There were plenty of fishes in the sea, right?

So Betty hugged Beatrice tightly. Partly in happiness for Beatrice in finding her heart and partly in determination to let go of the growing attraction that she was feeling for Sam. Better stamp that out before it grew into a raging fire.

Even if it did grow to a raging fire, Betty would hose it down.

Betty looked at Beatrice and the smile froze on her face.

"Why do you look so sad then?" Betty asked, noting that there was no joy on Beatrice's face.

"Because he likes someone else," Beatrice admitted.

"WHAT?! WHO?! Who is that hussy that dared to try and steal Sam away from you??!!" Betty hissed, "I'll go over and give her a talking to!!"

Beatrice laughed a bit at that and ruffled Betty's hair, saying, "No one is stealing Samuel from me, you know. We aren't a couple."

"Huh? What? What do you mean?" Betty said, distracted as she put down her hands that she had put up in a boxing stance, "I've seen the way you guys act when together. I thought you were a couple already! Was a bit hurt that you didn't tell me either? I was planning to hound you about it today, too."

"What?!" Beatrice gasped, staring at Betty in amazement, "Whatever gave you that idea?!"

"Er, that PDA you guys were displaying before the placement test? Holding hands and all?" Betty said, pointing out the obvious.

"What holding hands? I never ... oh," Beatrice paused, suddenly remembering what happened. Her face then flushed in embarrassment as she shuffled her feet, "I was just testing his temperature. He appeared a bit out-of-sorts that day. There was nothing to it."

"Really? He looked so lovingly at you, too," Betty said, cocking her head to one side.

"It's your imagination," Beatrice insisted.

"It can't be. When he showed me around yesterday, I kept talking about you, you know. He said that you're pretty! And he would be giving this gentle smile each time I talked about you," Betty revealed, "I'm sure this girl that you think he's interested in doesn't exist. Or, perhaps, that girl he's interested in, is you?"

""You think so?" Beatrice asked, some hope flaring within her.

"I don't only think so, I know so!" Betty said confidently, patting her chest that was winced in a bit of pain, "You guys look like you're made for each other."

"But I'm so much older than him," Beatrice pointed out.

"As if that would matter? I'm sure even Auntie and Uncle don't mind," Betty said with a grin.

Beatrice couldn't say anything to that, for it was true. Her mother had been asking about Sam since the day he had sent her home the other day.

"Look, did Sam really say he had someone he liked?" Betty asked.

"No," Beatrice admitted, "But he never said he didn't either."

"Even if there is one, he's not yet with her, right? It means it's all fair in love and war," Betty said, nodding.

"What do you mean?" Beatrice asked tentatively, though she had an inkling what Betty was going on about.

"It's time to get you, and Senior Sam together! I will help," Betty said in determination. This was her resolution for the year.

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