Of School and Assignments

October 12th, 2005

A kick and off we go.

Running into the wind. Heading towards emptiness. Sprinting into wilderness.

"I can't finish! How am I supposed to do 3 essays at the same time while preparing a presentation that is worth 25%?" Tearing my hair out.

"Oh man, pls don't go weird on me. You know I'm doing the same thing, but you don't see me getting ready to be a candidate for monkhood, or nunhood for that matter." Seng Wai turned his head and looked at me.

I whacked him on the shoulder. "Hello, you do not have 3 essays, you only have 1! And that presentation of yours, you don't even need to do anything. You just talk on and on about everything. I don't have your presentation skills you know. Other people like me have to prepare."

With nothing to say, Seng Wai turned back pointedly and reverted his attention to the lecturer, who happens to know my name. The heated debate between us must have been loud. Very loud. He raised his microphone, which incidentally has been unused on the table for all his previous lectures. "Joanna, Halliday's Functional Grammer states which 2 principles, do you remember?"

I looked around me, pretending to scout for that offending person. Seng Wai, no longer my best mahjong-cum-group project-cum-slacker-cum-winniethepoohlover friend after he did this, nudged me with his foot and said in a 100 decibel voice, "Jo, asking you leh. Don't pretend can..."

Telling myself homicide is a crime, I looked at the lecturer and answered the best I could. Satisfied, the lecturer turned and continued his a-yawn-a-minute droning. Snickering, Seng Wai reached over my back to get his bag. If I hadn't moved, he would have gotten his bag. However, knowing manslaughter will also do the job, I turned abruptly and his hand landed on the leg of the girl sitting behind me. Palm down. Fingers searching for the bag. Now on the leg. Fingers still moving.

Time froze.

Seng Wai, with still a grin on his face, tried to mimick the way I answered the lecturer while searching for his bag. I heard a soft gasp and Seng Wai with an "Ahh..".

"Sorry, sorry. Really sorry. I really didn't mean to do that." With the students streaming out of the lecture hall behind us, Seng Wai apologised to the girl again. The girl stared at him and walked off, not forgetting to slam her bag "accidentally" in his face.

I laughed. Loud. With the lecturer just walking up behind me.

"Joanna, are you ok? You seemed so distracted just now and you weren't like that previously in my lectures."

"Sorry Professor."

"It's ok." Walking faster now, he called the unfortunate girl just now who was now at the stair landing. "Yu Ling! About the..." His voice got softer as they walked away.

Seng Wai, still confused, looked at me and said, "Wow, what was that? He actually knows her too. Hey she's quite pretty."

I looked at him and fluttered my eyelashes. "Prettier than me? You don't mean that."

"I don't fancy nuns. And who's supposed to go to the computer lab now to rush out a 500-word proposal for later?" Whish. The sound of dust flying behind my heels.

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