The Popularity Switch | ✔️

42

CH 42 |

"Once upon a present night,
There was a boy who was not so light.
For him to move was for him to fight
As he struggled to walk, and even to bite.

"However, within his heavy fillings,
he also had a heavy heart.
A heavy heart that was failing,
Thus change, he needed to start.
For change he was willing,
So he signed a promising form.
To him, it was thrilling
As his body was going to fully transform.

"He mastered the art of fighting,
He learnt the art of disappearing.
And as he fought, he also fought off
The pounds in a method that was hardly tough.

"As he stripped away the pounds,
His steps grew abnormally lighter and swift.
Soon his master found,
That his reflexes were impossible to defeat.

"Thus once upon a future night,
There will be a man who is oh-so light.
Mr. Invincible will be his name to cite.
But before he can be seen, he may whoosh out of sight."

Silence. That's all that follows after I read the rhyming story. My mind unconsciously scans the words again, and everytime they do a million questions about each word whirls in my mind like a tumultuous tornado. Somewhere, deep inside of me I knew exactly what this book is, but I just cannot believe it.

"Summer, you there?" Theo asks with a voice that is laced with heartfelt concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I choke out, still unable to believe what I just read. Nevertheless, I ask him, "Do you want me to continue?"

I can hear Theo subtly swallow. "Yes please."

Turning to the next page of the book, I begin to read, underlining every word that I read out with my finger.

"Meanwhile, in a place far to the west,
Lives a teenage witch whose smile you cannot forget.
Beware, do not mistaken her for the wicked witch of the west,
As this young lady is much less wicked, and much more dangerous.

"You see, this smile of hers is anything but ordinary.
Once she twitches her lips, she becomes luminary.
Enchanting, spell-casting — her smile is magic itself,
As it defies science and takes away your breath for three seconds point twelve.

"So beware of her precisely-calculated smile,
One look at it and you'll lose your mind for a while.
Three point twelve seconds to be exact,
Just enough time for her to kick your hypnotised...

"So beware, my child — though her name you may not know,
But here's a hint: she goes by a name of a certain TV show.
Don't let her smile, don't let her bewitch you,
Or her smile may be the last thing you see before she finishes you."

My eyes are open so wide that tears are starting to form due to the lack of blinking. These words that I'm reading just seems so unreal. They just don't seem like reality — they sound like a fairytale.

"So that's why Sabrina calls herself a witch." I whisper to Theo.

"That's why everyone in the underground industry knows her as a witch; because her smile can literally take away one's breath for 3.12 seconds."

"But she smiles at me all the time and I don't remember having trouble breathing?!"

"That's her normal smile... Which is breath-taking to me." He mutters the last part under his breath. "She has a special smile, where she lifts her lips up in a precisely calculated way that must've been embedded into her memory. It's insane how the scientists of C.H.A.N figured it out."