Everybody knows Jake West is always a second choice for Annabelle Chantarat, but when Year 11 starts and new girl Alice Hang enters the picture, Jake gets an epiphany, and suddenly, he's not second best anymore.
Honestly, Jake doesn't think much abo...
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The assembly at Preston Grammar is nothing like the ones Alice had in Camden High. For starters, nobody is seating on a multi-purpose cemented field that everyone from the basketball club to the choir used, and instead, she's in the middle of a high ceiling auditorium equipped with an interactive digital screen as backdrop and stage lights that looks too professional to operate.
And whilst it would be tolerable to the point of almost normal for students to chat with each other back in Camden, the only voice that travels comes from the podium, so the chilling tension that screams through the air probably can cut through her shin if she dares to make a sound with her feet. To top it all off, the boys and the girls are actually separated into different wing sections, in addition to being grouped by the year.
An hour has passed since the first speaker took his place, but judging by the number of chairs set on stage, it doesn't look like they'll be getting out anytime soon.
"Oh My God, did he just smile at you?"
"I know, he totally did, right?"
Alice feels a sudden pinch in her throat when she catches the conversation that the two girls in the row before hers are having. The same dialogue just took place inside her head, but it was two imaginary tiny version of herself who acted the part.
Apparently, she isn't the only one who has her attention to their year's boys' row.
A layer of cold sweat quickly forms in the base of her forehead and she feels her heart beats uncomfortably fast. Alice didn't have breakfast this morning, but that's not the reason why she feels like fainting.
There are a good twenty feet and lines of people that separate her from Moon Boy, but their eyes keep meeting at the right moment as if it's pre-calculated.
"Oh My God, Oh My God, he's looking at me again."
The girl whose chair is exactly in front of hers speaks out again, and Alice cannot stop herself from turning her head as well. Leaning forward a little bit more so she gets an unobstructed view, she let her eyes wander to where Moon Boy sits.
They only spent a fleeting moment together, but she notices right away that a lot has changed about him.
His dark hair used to be much shorter, like a crew cut that has gone a week post the barber, but it's longer and messier now, the kind that hardly touches base with a comb.
She recalls that he was tanned then too, but definitely not to this extent. The glow from the sun has given him so much edge that she can only think of the word hot for him.
Moon boy definitely looks different, and she kind of likes the change just a little bit too much.
"Hah, what do I tell you, I know it's just a matter of time before Jake changes his mind! I mean, there's no way he says no to me, right? You know what, the other day I text him, and he..."
