Chapter 2

I first met her on my first day of school.

The teachers, those adults with lanyards hanging on their necks, called out our class one by one. We had to sit in line with our classmates. I was looking forward to knowing more macho boys.

We all sat in the Hall as the Principal told us about the motto of the school. “Rulang Primary School is a…” he continued and I yawned six times in ten minutes. Our parents were all sitting at the back of the Hall. They were all listening attentively.

After what seemed like hours, the Principal introduced the Form Teachers to the students. I could tell that he was more into introducing them to the parents. We were then led to our classrooms, class by class.

“Put your finger on your lips! No talking!” Our Form Teacher, a plump young lady with big lazy eyes, yelled. She looked like she could explode anytime with that tummy of hers. “No running!”

I did not know where our parents were led to. When we got into our classroom, we were not allowed to sit. A few students started to cry for their parents. Lousy kids!

“Don’t sit first.” Miss Fatty said, as she looked around us. The classroom looked a bit like my Kindergarten classroom except that it was smaller and the lights were brighter. “When I call your name, go out of the classroom and line up outside. Clear?”

No one answered. Another kid cried. Miss Fatty did nothing. She called out our names, one by one. I was the fifteenth. “Zhou Jie Lun!” she shouted. I jumped and then rushed out of the classroom.

A few seconds after I was out of the classroom, a tall girl walked out. Her eyes were red and she stared at me for a long time before standing behind me. Her cheeks were so fat and chubby that they could drop anytime. I read the big nametag needled on her blouse: Lara Wu.

“Girl.” I whispered. I wanted to know more macho boys to form a group of diehard buddies. Not lousy girls!

When everyone was out of the classroom, Miss Fatty stepped out of the classroom. She seemed to be fatter when she was outside the classroom. “Derrick Lim!” she shouted. The boy in front of her jumped. Miss Fatty led the boy to a seat in the classroom.

Finally, it was my turn. “Zhou Jie Lun!” Miss Fatty shouted. I ran towards her and she pointed to a seat beside a small boy who seemed to weigh less than twenty kilogrammes. I sat on the chair and threw my bag to the side.

“Lara Wu!” I heard Miss Fatty said. I stared up. The tall girl entered the classroom and Miss Fatty pointed to the empty chair to my right. No, not her!

Lara walked unsteadily towards me, as if she was drunk. When she sat beside me, a drop of tear rolled out from her left eye. Argh! Lousy girl!

“I don’t wanna sit beside you.” I said to Lara. “You’re a girl.”

Lara pulled her chair closer to the table and shrugged. “I’m not a girl.” she said.

“Yes, you are.” I pointed to her skirt and her blouse. “You’re a girl.”

“I’m not a girl.”

“You are. You’re wearing a skirt. Boys wear shorts. Macho!”

“I’m not a girl!” she said and pulled up her skirt to show me her Physical Education shorts. “See? I’m not a girl! I wear shorts! I’m not a girl!”

“What the hel-” Miss Fatty had heard Lara and was staring at her shorts. “What are you doing, Lara?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On our first period, Lara stood outside the classroom with her mother. Miss Fatty was saying something to them. Lara would occasionally steal peeks at me, whereas her mother was listening to Miss Fatty.

Lara’s mother had big earrings that looked heavy. I wondered if Lara would still sit beside me. What she had just done disgusted me. I tried not to think about it but the memory lingered. After fifteen minutes, Lara came back and sat beside me.

“Miss Pat asked for you.” Lara said.

I did not reply her.

“Miss Pat asked for you. Outside.” she said again. I shivered once and wobbled towards the exit of the classroom.

“Jie Lun, you must take good care of Lara, alright?” Miss Fatty said. Miss Pat. Whatever. “You’re a boy. You got to take care of a girl, alright? A boy should protect a girl.” her voice was smooth and soft now. I nodded. “Alright, go back now.”

I went back and sat beside Lara. Lara stared at me, then at her skirt and finally, darted her eyes towards the teacher. I squeezed my pencil and turned to her. “Miss… Miss Lim asked for you. Outside.”

“Miss Lim?” Lara looked out of the classroom. Miss Pat and Lara’s mother had gone off. No one was standing outside the classroom. “Where’s Miss Lim?”

“There.” I pointed to an empty space outside the classroom. “Miss Lim. You didn’t see her?”

Lara shook her head.

“Oh, I forgot. Only certain people can see her. She died two years ago. I don’t know why she asked for you, though. Said something about… bad girl thingy? Hmm…”

Initially, Lara’s face turned pale. She started to lick her lips and then she gritted her teeth. Finally, tears rolled out of her eyes and she sobbed aloud, capturing the attention of everyone in the classroom.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lara became a lot more active after a few weeks.

She would start to sing aloud when we were doing our work. “Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow.”

“Shut up, will ya?” I whispered. She would stop singing for two minutes before she started again.
“Mary had a little lamb…”

I could not find a way to stop her from disturbing me. Telling the teacher was not the “cool” thing to do. Beating or scolding a girl would be so embarrassing. A few months later, on a music lesson, I could finally get back at her.

We were asked to sit on the floor in front of our Music Teacher, Miss Lee. Miss Lee was one of our favourite teachers as she never scolded us. She had long silky hair and had the criterion to be in a shampoo advertisement.

“Today I’m going to teach you all a new song.” Miss Lee said. “It’s a very famous song. Does anyone of you here go by the name Mary?”

No one said anything. I wondered if she was speaking English: What does “does anyone of you here go by the name Mary” mean?

“Alright, the song’s name is called ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’.”

My eyes brightened up. I knew Lara had stage fright. She dared to sing at her seat, in the lift or in her bathroom, but she would not dare to sing in front of everyone.

I raised my hand.

“Oh, your name is Mary?” Miss Lee said.

Everyone laughed. Lara laughed the loudest. Ha-ha, laugh all you can, you lousy girl. See who has the last laugh.

“No, Miss Lee. But…” I pointed to Lara. “She knows how to sing. She always sings in class. Isn’t it, Ken?” Ken sat in front of Lara in class.

“Yeah. She sings nice.” Ken said, which was, in a way, true.

“Alright, young lady, why don’t you stand up and sing to the class? I can see that you have the making of a superstar…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Come on, sing. Why are you not singing anymore?” I whispered. Lara was sitting beside me and we were supposed to be doing Mathematics sums. Madam Tay, our Mathematics Teacher who seemed to be devoid of all emotions, patrolled the classroom

Lara said nothing. Since that day, she had not sung while we were doing our work. When Miss Lee pressured her to stand up and sing to the class, she did not even complete a sentence. All she said was “Mary…” and her voice died off.

I remembered having a good laugh. Ken stood up for her, saying that her singing was really great. I did not care: All I wanted to do was to embarrass her.

“Come on.” I teased.

“Can you shut up, Zhou Jie Lun?” Lara shot back and slapped the table. She had cried that day after her embarrassment and I felt like a hero.

“Are you going to cry?”

She turned, faced me and gritted her teeth. She had never looked so serious before. “Zhou Jie Lun, disturb her again and I’ll make you regret forever. You hear me?”

I tried to look out for Madam Tay but she seemed to be lost in the small classroom.

“You hear me, Zhou Jie Lun?” Lara snored. Her eyebrows were tiled to a V-shape as she leaned towards me. “You hear me, you son of a bitch?”

I nodded and kept my mouth shut for the rest of the day.

“Good.” she said. “Do your work.”

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