Chapter 13

Zinc wore a shirt this time. However, he paired it with a pair of ragged jeans and sneakers that made him looked weirder. That holy bible was still with him, as if he had bought the book. We had decided to meet at the Coffee Bean in West Mall and this time, Zinc purchased the drinks for us.

I told Zinc more about what happened: How Chew Ling had suddenly collapsed in front of us, how she had breathed like oxygen had disappeared in the atmosphere. Zinc still did not portray any emotions. He took a sip of tea every few seconds.

“We were all so scared after that. I wanted to talk to Mrs. Tee, to tell her how afraid I was. But it’s just…” I paused. “Not right.”

“Why?”

“Zinc, can I trust you on something?”

“Yes! Trust me!”

I stirred my tea a few times. Encircled my wrist with my hand. I was prepared to talk because I don’t give a damn how the person in front of me judges me: His judgment and words are usually belittled by others.

“This is something that only I know. My parents don’t know about this, my psychiatrist doesn’t know about this and everyone in the world don’t know about this.”

“Oh, a big, big secret. Then, can I don’t know too?” Zinc muttered.

I stared up at him. That was the difference between them and him: He had already printed a perfect picture of me in his mind.

“What I’m about to tell you will be a very big secret. Please don’t tell others. And I’m really desperate to tell you.”

Because I’ve been hiding this for two years…

“Look, Zinc.” I pushed my cup of tea away from me and looked around. The tables beside us were unoccupied. “I was not raped.”

I then spent the next twenty minutes telling Zinc about the truth: The truth that had became so unreal that I wondered if it had really happened.

My photogenic life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I received a call from Mr. Lim at eight. He said Chew Ling was fine and that she would have to stay in the hospital for a day or so for continued care.

“What happened to her?”

“She had a serious asthma attack.”

That was all Mr. Lim disclosed. I had never seen asthma attacks that resulted in hospitalisation. However, Mr. Lim assured me that she should be discharged tomorrow.

“Will she be coming to school tomorrow?”

“I doubt so.”

When he hanged up, I imagined Chew Ling lying on the hospital ward bed, telling the person on the bed next to hers about the benefits of jogging and the number of stars in the galaxy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I told him it must be an antigen triggering my asthma.” Two days later, Chew Ling was back and everyone was stealing glances at her, making sure that she was human and not a ghost. “But that doctor said it could be exercise-induced asthma. Holy bear! If it’s exercise-induced asthma, I’ll have to stay away from exercise. But I wanna ace my NAFA! I wanna get a Gold! I’ve been getting Nil for the past four years and I’m aiming for Gold this year!”

I nodded.

“Anyway, did I look bad when I was struggling for air?”

“Like a ghost.”

“Oh, holy cat. They gave me a shot, a shot of adrenaline, I think. That made me feel like I’ve drank ten cups of coffee: I didn’t sleep the entire night! The nurse came every few hours to check on my pulse and stuffs.”

“Okay.” This time, I was thinking of ways to shut her up again.

“Anyone cried that day? You know, I really thought I was dying soon. I have a wish: That one day, if I ever die, there will be at least a hundred people crying.”

I looked away from her. One hundred people crying for her? I could not even imagine ten people. “Dream on.” I thought and then realized my mouth had spoken my thoughts.

“Hey! I’ve got confidence of doing that, okay?”

“Why will a person cry for another person?” I said. This debate had made my thoughts turned into words. “Why will someone care for you? This is a dog-eat-dog world, Chew Ling. True love, true tears and true friendships only exist in Low Kay Hwa’s novels and Channel 8 dramas.”

Chew Ling smiled and patted my right shoulder. We were in the Lecture Hall and a few heads turned to face us. Mrs. Bennett was still telling us why with demand, there would be supply.

“I’m so likeable, everyone is going to cry when I die! Tell you what, Linda, let’s make a bet. If more than a hundred people cry when I die, I win. If less than a hundred people cry when I die, you win. You cool with it?”

I turned my head and faced Mrs. Bennett. Although Mrs. Bennett’s words were boring, they made sense. I wondered if the asthma attack had somehow damaged Chew Ling’s brain.

“Then again, you can’t see me die because I think I’ll outlive you!” Chew Ling then laughed and talked to the girl sitting on the other side. She told her about asthma attack, how oxygen is delivered from our lungs to our blood and the weight of a normal heart.

I had not expected that nine months from now, I would be hoping that she was right.

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