🐼-Albert

All I saw was a school canteen that did not know what it wanted to be. Did it want to be a community-created canvas or just another experimental prep-room? Well, on the other hand, seeing all those white uniforms made me realise how common it was for Singaporean secondary school boys to wear them.

I looked down at the round gold and red badge that hung from my breast pocket. I bit my lip, realising that I was indeed out of the East.

Even the journey here seemed so familiar yet unfamiliar to me. The CTE was something I had heard of but never thought about stepping foot (or should I say…wheels) on. Heck, the whole neighbourhood was like a weird labyrinth. The lack of sea air only added onto this alien realm.

But oh well. Some comfort zones needed to be destroyed, I guess. I remembered my uncle telling me that sometimes, life was like choosing a spouse. Chase after the one you love or your neighbour?

“So, Alb, you’re coming for the TSD qualifying test later, ah?” asked Greg.

“Yeah. Shag sia. TSD today. ELL tomorrow. KI tomorrow too,” I said as I stepped forward after the person at the front of the queue left.

“Well, at least you’ll get to brag about that weird subject combi of yours,” he joked.

I pressed my lips together and shrugged. Damnit, VJ. Why didn’t you offer ELL? I glanced at my OG’s table again. Not a single face that I knew nor recognised. This was no longer home turf.

Or so I thought. A chirpy, boyish voice caught my attention. I turned around. No. That little ‘ano’. It was coming from the nasi lemak stall.

“Satu nasi lemak. Set ikan. Terima kasih, Mak!” said Minori as he handed two $2 notes to the Mak Cik.

The Cat High boy after him placed his hand on his shoulder and gave a thumb up. Man. They weren’t kidding when they said those shorts looked ridiculous. Still, just the sight of Minori was enough to make me want to step out of the queue for fish soup.

I watched as he retreated to his OG’s canteen table, settling down his cutlery and plate of nasi lemak. He turned to the direction of the Cat High boy and patted the seat beside him.

I bit my lip. At least he had already found some new friends.

🐯-Samuel

“Wah, Sam. It’s only the first day of school and you already got a new bromance,” joked Lynn.

I dug into my nasi lemak and watched as Nori mixed the sambal with his rice. He did not say a single word. Well, I could not blame him. That was a really awkward way for the school to know us – on our first day at that.

The coconut rice was fluffy. Heaps better than the one at Cat High, but not as good as the ones back home. But hey, nasi lemak is nasi lemak.

“Aiyah, it’s not a bromance lah. I’ve just adopted a new little brother. That’s all,” I said as I brought my other arm over Nori’s shoulder.

His cheeks were all puffed up and red. His shoulders were incredibly stiff. I frowned a little and released him. Maybe everything was getting to him too fast. He gulped down whatever he ate and cleared his throat.

“Actually, I don’t mind. I’ve always wanted an older sibling and…I don’t know anyone in this school so…I’m happy to have made a friend,” said Nori.

He was still blushing and was almost as red as his Nike shoes. But maybe that was just his demeanour. He did seem like a shy person but at the same time, it was genuinely hard to tell what was going through his mind.

“So…you accept me as your abang?” I joked.

He turned to face me and nodded his head, his smile revealing his somewhat misaligned teeth. Damn. He was adorable.

“So, bromance confirmed?” joked OG Sam.

“Aiyah, just an abang-adik relationship, lah,” I joked back.

Our OG mates put their hands together, welcoming this very unlikely partnership between a Cat High boy and a VS boy.

OG Sam pressed his hand against his cheek and asked if any one of us was going for the various placement tests that day and the next.

I raised my hands and declared my intention to do KI.

“How about you, Nori? You seem like a very KI kind of guy,” said Olivia.

He looked down at his half-empty plate of nasi lemak before staring straight up at the ceiling again.

“I don’t know. Even if I take KI, I’ll still have to do math, right? Oh well. And besides…I’m thinking of doing Lit anyway,” he said.

Cue some claps from our group. Somehow, I just found myself smiling at his strange earnestness.

Then, a bunch of students marched into the canteen.

“Come join the student council!” they cried in unison.

I put my fork down and looked at the details. Earnestness. But would it work? Everyone knew about that incident. Still…somehow. Maybe this was my chance to change myself.

🎼-Dae-hyun

And another day ended just like that. I roamed the hallways of SJC, noticing that some students were lingering around either studying or just hanging out with their friends. Rachel told me that there was a secret spot where you could play the piano under a dazzling stained-glass dome. 5.13pm. Might as well kill some time while waiting for peak hour to end, I suppose.

She told me that it was at the performing arts block where the dance studios and black box were. After making some detours and asking some students clad in the plaid-skirts and navy trousers, I managed to find this elusive spot.

I muttered a soft `wow`. It really did look like a scene out of those romantic period dramas, what with the coloured lights bouncing against every inch of the wall and how the grand piano bathed in the evening glow. Now, was there any way for me to make this spot my own? I walked towards the piano and settled my backpack down beside it.

I stroked the fallboard, admiring the gold-leaf ornaments that plated the hood. There was no way I could claim this as mine, right? Get a grip, Dae-hyun. This is school property. Who cared?

I sat myself down on the aged stool, pressed my feet against the foot pedals, lifted the fallboard, and let my fingers settle on the ivory keys. But my fingers were frozen. Surely, a place this beautiful deserved a piece just as beautiful to accompany it, right?

Gymnopedie No. 1 it was then. And I let my fingers dance across the keys, filling this lonely pillar with music. Imagine how cool it must be to study here. I’d probably get distracting by the dancing lights anyway.

But a soft whisper brings the playing to an abrupt halt. I slammed the keys and looked behind, wondering who was interrupting my inner muse.

Standing before me was a petite girl wearing the Methodist Girls sailor uniform. Judging from her golden curls tied into two loose pigtails and her piercing green eyes, she definitely was not local. Alamak. This coming from me, another foreigner.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you know where the general office is?” she asked.

I looked at what she was carrying to her chest. It was an A3-sized portfolio. Ah, she must be here to appeal for the AEP.

“Just follow the silver ceilings! They’ll take you there,” I said as I tried to take in her heavy Aussie accent.

“Thank you…what’s your name?” she asked.

“Me? I’m Dae-hyun,” I replied, pointing at myself with a smile.

She smiled back and rushed off, eyes looking towards the silver ceilings as she made her way to the general office. And it was just me and the grand piano again.

🌼-Luqman

I thanked my lucky stars that the long day had finally come to an end. The campus was bathed in a rich golden light. Well, the sun was going to set after all. Friday will come after. That was probably the shortest school week I ever had in my life.

The path before me was printed with mathematical formulae and ionic and covalent bonds, foreshadowing my next one and a half years here. I took out my handphone and texted Nenek to let her know that I was going to have dinner at home. Hopefully, she would save some food for me.

The thought of having ayam masak merah in my stomach vanished when I heard a distant cry for help. I stuffed my phone into my pocket and let my feet guide me. A strange warmth climbed up my chest as an invisible string tugged me towards the source of that call. It was like somebody was guiding me.

“Sorry!” I cried as I collided into some fellow students while chasing after the voice.

One part of me hoped that I was not hallucinating. After all, I was really worn out from being around so many people and trying to recognise new faces. On the other hand, whatever was pulling me felt real.

In the community garden near the MOE Language Centre, a girl with distinct blonde hair was fighting off…I rubbed my eyes. Okay, maybe this was the real hallucination. Her opponent? A creature made of glass. A humanoid creature made of glass wearing a translucent coat formed from mist and smoke. This time, I pinched myself to make sure I was really seeing things. Ya Allah, I really must be tired.

It shrieked, its voice sounding like a murder of crows and loud enough to send her braided pigtails loose. The girl’s left hand started glowing with a brilliant golden light, with sparks of electricity emitting themselves from her knuckles. She delivered a swift punch towards the creature, only to land a miss right before dodging another attack.

How was I supposed to intervene and provide assistance to something beyond comprehension? My hand reached for my handphone. But would the police even believe me? What if I ended up getting sent to IMH instead and Mak and Nenek find out and believe that I am crazy? Forget the handphone then. I charged straight in, sending my hand out. Alamak. What good would that do?

And that warmth crept up towards my heart again and it surged through my right hand. The earth beneath me began to rumble. I clenched my fists and shot my hand up, watching as a wall of vines formed between the glass beast and the girl.

In that split second, I saw everything that was reflected in the glass. Speeding cars. The face of a concerned nurse. Fire. At the bosom of the glass creature was a composition of faces; some decomposed and some fresh. That was scarier than the creature itself. Roots burst out from the ground, latching themselves onto the creature’s ankles.

And a bolt of lightning went straight through the bush. I ducked down and watched as it struck the creature’s chest. It stumbled a bit, but not before shrieking again and sending a flock of birds right towards me. I landed on my side, watching as blood spilled on the dirt from my knee. Another flash of light zoomed over me.

Why did I respond to this call? Why? I should have ran away the moment I saw the girl’s fist glow. When I looked up again, all those memories stared right back at me. I pressed my hands over my ears. I couldn’t understand a word of Mandarin or Cantonese, but I knew enough to know that they were cries of defeat.

And I found myself screaming this time, even as a shimmering lilac light straight-up impaled the creature. I rolled on my back and pressed the ground as it disintegrated into billions of pieces. I thanked God that it did not shatter into glass shards which could have punctured my organs.

A dainty hand presented itself to me. I grabbed it and let its owner pull me up. I stumbled back again when I saw that she was just a short, but heavily-built TKGS girl whose hands were glowing like lilac comets. She was the one who fired that projectile that destroyed the monster. Standing beside her was an SASS boy, whose jaw was still hanging.

“You okay? You could’ve gotten hurt,” she said with a clear voice.

I put my fingers to my forehead and tried to compose myself, finding the appropriate words to say. But what? I looked down at my pants. They were caked with wet dirt and a fresh trail of blood dripped through the white. Before I could mutter my first words to her, she struck her foot down against the earth, creating a shield that looked like a lace doily. It absorbed a single bolt of lightning.

“You two stay back. I’ve got some business to settle,” she said.

I merely nodded my head and watched as she went around the hedge that I created and walked towards the blonde girl. The other boy just stared at me with big eyes, probably shocked at what I had just done too.

“Hey. You think you can lower the hedge? I want to see you do magic again!” he said with wide, enthusiastic eyes.

I blinked back, unsure of how to reverse that spell or whatever on earth I just did. I did make it with my hand, right? Too late for that because the girl just ploughed through the hedge with another burst of light.

“Hey, what was that for? You could have killed us!” she said.

“So, this is how mother nature gets destroyed,” I whimpered.

“I was supposed to destroy that Umbra!” the Ang Mor cried out with her thick accent.

From the gaps between leaves, I could see the ominous static and golden light seeping through. I told the boy to stay there and ran as fast as I could, closing my eyes as I stretched both hands out and stood between them in case the ang mor tried to kill us again.

“Stop! Just stop! She didn’t know you were after it, okay?! Just…just go home! Go home! It’s getting late!” I cried.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that there were…pompoms made of ferns in my hands. Okay, that was really far from threatening.

“Yeah, man. How was I supposed to know that you were supposed to kill it? Besides, what do you need to kill that thing for anyway?” asked the TKGS girl.

I turned to face the other one and her eyes softened. She turned away from my glare and looked at the ground instead.

“I…I,” but she was cut short as someone swooped her away from our grasp.

I blinked and put my hands down, watching as the black figure carried her away from us into the sunset. In her place was a heap of golden dust. The TKGS girl walked towards it and pinched a bit of it, stuffing it into a pen cap. I crouched beside her, asking her if she had any clue what that was. She just shook her head.

Then, the boy she came with ran towards us, his eyes focused on the mess that we had left behind. He looked at the glittering dust and ran it through his fingers.

“Okay, Luq. Inilah mimipi yang busuk. Kau akan bangung. Tiga…dua…” and before I could even say `one`, the girl put my hand down and shook her head.

“Ini bukan mimpi. Ayo, lihat lu mia seluar,” she said in heavily accented Malay that was much more sing-song than the brand that I spoke.

Okay. So, a very beautiful Nyonya just did some kind of starlight magic and almost got killed by an electrifying Aussie. And I just summoned a hedge out of nowhere along with fern pompoms. How was that not a dream?

“Ini mimpi. Aku tahu,” I said as I pinched myself once more.

I closed and opened my eyes. She just stood there, waving her hand before me. The other boy did the same, but unlike me, he only opened his eyes with a grin so wide, I worried for his facial muscles.

“So, magic is real. Magic is real!” he cried as he jumped on the spot.

“Ah, don’t mind Kenny. He’s just a friend. Aku Mei. Thank you for saving my life,” said Mei as she brushed aside the loose stray of hair dangling from her ear.

I tried standing straight again, trying to absorb everything that happened the past few minutes. I brushed off the dirt from my pants, fearing what Nenek would have to say if she saw them. Well, if that meant she was going to call the school to take me off the orientation programme, maybe I didn’t mind, lah.

“Hi, Kenny! Hi, Mei. My name’s Luqman,” I said.

When I said that, I broke into a smile.

⚡️-Eclair

The sight of that overly familiar colonial bungalow was enough to make me grimace. I wriggled out of Lisias’s grip and folded my arms, covering my bare arms from his gaze.

“I see the holidays have made you less competent. How are your grandma and grandpa?” he asked as we made our way towards the main door.

“Leave my grandparents out of this!” I snared back.

He opened the double doors and let me step in first. Nathaniel was already there, tracking devices and knife laid out on the coffee table. Even the laptop was already fired up with their specially tailored programme running.

“Éclair! How was Melbourne?” he asked with a smile.

I kept quiet and attempted to regain my balance when Lisias thrusted me forward. He handed the knife and stopwatch to me.

“Hey, you don’t look so good. What happened?” asked Nathaniel as Lisias sunk into the sofa beside him.

“Éclair here let two mages, and worst of all, a non-magic user see her fighting one of the Umbra!” he yelled as he pointed at me.

Nathaniel bent down and offered him some of the scones on the high-tea platter. He declined and just folded his arms, gesturing at his laptop.

“What? Holidays made you forget everything I taught you, is it? Go on! I need data!” he screamed again.

The knife glimmered in my left hand, reflecting the faint light from the chandelier hanging above us. That same spot on my right hand had seen its blade too many times. It should be accustomed to it by now. I let it slice through my skin. Blood oozed out from the fleshy area, dripping onto the floor.

The stopwatch’s interface had turned bloody, but I still had to press on the go button. Magic pulsated through my body, creeping up my arteries and sending that jolt of life through my petite body. Faerie dust seeped through my clenched right fist, spilling onto the floor like it was shimmering white wine. I pressed the stop button. No more blood. As if I had never cut myself.

“34.67 seconds,” I said.

Nathaniel then gestured at my anklet and handed me the forceps. I took out my tracking device and placed it on the table. Then, I had to pinch the tip of the opal embedded into my navel with the forceps. That familiar stinging sensation sent the magic to a halt for that split moment as it transmitted data into the laptop with the embedded Bluetooth technology.

Lisias brought his hands together as he analysed the data on the screen. I lifted my blouse back down and sat on the armchair, wondering if they were satisfied with the punishment that had mooted to me.

“You have been producing lower than usual levels of magic today. Maybe the holidays have made you overly relaxed after all. Shouldn’t have let you go. Ask Danielle to come over here tomorrow,” said Lisias.

“Well, Lisias. I think that her energy levels are lower than usual today because she’s nervous. She just had her appeal interview right before that encounter with the Umbra that you,-“ Lisias silenced Nathaniel by putting his pen in front of his mouth.

He sighed and covered his face with his hands. Maybe it would have been better if Dani and I had just begged our parents to leave us behind in Melbourne. Maybe we wouldn’t be dragged back into this.

“Fine, Éclair. I’m letting you off today. But remember why you’re working with me,” said Lisias as he stared right into my apple-green eyes.

And how can I forget? How can I forget the way that man screamed before the tranquiliser was injected into him? The way I shouted for help at that echoey fire exit? How I begged for him to spare me?