New Life : A Second Chance

All this time, his absence was covered up by his roommate, who was under the impression that Jason was out partying. Well, that was what "Jason" had told him on the first night he didn"t come back. Kyle, disguising his voice to sound like Jason, had called up the roomate and begged him to cover up for him for a few days as he wanted to hang out with some friends he made.

The roommate agreed against his better judgment and in honour of the "bro-code". He lied to the cla.s.s teacher and said that Jason was unwell and recuperated in the room. However, on the third day, when the roommate was out, Matron had gone in to check up on Jason as she was worried about his health. When there was no response, she had Jason"s homeroom teacher check out the room.

All h.e.l.l broke loose. The Princ.i.p.al was livid. A missing persons report was made to the police immediately as this involved an exchange student. The school had a responsibility to ensure that all their students were safe and sound. The school also conducted their own investigation, in addition to the police themselves.

The roommate was in deep trouble for the cover up and he cursed Jason deep in his heart. "Jason" said that he would be back soon but three days? He was actually thinking of confessing but the longer it took, the harder it was. He kept hoping Jason would show up.

On the fourth day, a huge commotion erupted.

A jewelry store was broken into. The alarm blasted and the police went to the scene quickly. When the police arrived, shots were fired at them from inside the store through the window. A gunfight began. When things settled down, the police rushed into the store only to find it empty - save for one person that was on the ground, bleeding from a shot in the shoulder.

He was groaning in pain, seemingly delirious as his eyes were glazed over and he was mumbling non-stop but no one could understand what he was saying. The ambulance came and took him away. The surgery took a couple of hours, as the bullet was lodged deep and it had to be conducted without general anesthesia. There were unknown drugs in his system and they couldn"t wait to get it tested before removing the bullet.

When the doctor came out, he was shaking his head. Turns out that the criminal was a victim of the new drug in the street, Drug X. It was highly addictive and if taken in excess, can cause brain damage. The criminal now had the mind of a 4-year-old and would not be of any help. The police took his fingerprints to try and find out his ident.i.ty. When his fingerprints went through the system, it was found to be a match to several heists that had been done in the past four days.

Worse, it also matched a missing person"s report.

Kay watched the news about Jason without any emotions. The news was full of it. How an exchange student sneaked out and caused trouble. The more the reporters dug, the more "dirt" they found. He had started hanging out with the wrong crowd and eventually became addicted to Drug X. Started stealing to fund his habit. Now, a wreck. His parents came flying in, crying and hysterical but they couldn"t blame anyone.

Initially, they wanted to sue the school because it failed to protect their child. Then, it was found that Jason was the one who duped the system, slipping out and using various ways to avoid the school. He had hid his habit quite well until the last few days when his money started to run out. His parents remembered how "Jason" had called them asking for more money and they refused, saying that he had more than enough. Now they realised why he had no more money.

In the end, they flew back with a damaged child. He was harmless but useless.

"He won"t be hurting anyone in the future," Kyle replied as he switched off the television.

Kay bit her lips. As much as she hated Jason, she couldn"t help but think that it was her inept attempt at getting to know him that gave him the wrong idea. Was it her fault that he tried that?

Kyle seemed to know what was on her mind when he brought her closer to him, kissing her on the top of her head, saying, "Get that stupid thought out of your head, Kay. He tried to **** you. There is NO excuse for that. No is no. He went beyond that. He already had that thought of controlling you and owning you in such a way. If not you, it would have been someone else."

Kyle shrugged, "I just saved the world from a monster and his parents got back their innocent little boy."

Kyle snorted. Jason still got it easy in his books. After all, he only suffered for four days and is now in dreamland, never to be hurt again. If he could have left Jason there forever, he would have but it would have left a huge blemish on the school and his parents would never know what happened to their child. He couldn"t have that.

After the week was up, Kay was ready to get back to school. Kay was grateful that she had Kyle to depend on and the bond they shared. She knew that most people would take months, if not years, to get over the trauma. It wasn"t that she had forgotten it, but she found that she could now face it without s.h.i.+vering. She also didn"t have nightmares because of her being able to accept it.

Kay also requested Kyle to teach her self defence and he refused. She was angry at first, until Kyle explained that his martial arts were not suited for her small frame. He suggested Wing Chun, which was martial arts that had been developed by a woman and it did utilise pressure points. Thus, the art focused on utilising the woman"s physique to overpower a stronger opponent. Softness and performance in a relaxed manner are the fundamentals of Wing Chun.

It"s not to say that a man cannot learn Wing Chun, but the benefits of a woman learning it are better. For example, a woman"s dainty hand and fingers would be better equipped to deal blows towards an opponent who was stronger and bigger than them as compared to the bigger hands and fingers of a man towards another man. A man has more bulk and muscle, as compared to a woman who can execute the moves better. Quick hand movements and strong legs were its strengths as well, which was way better art for a woman than most other martial arts.

After listening to Kyle"s explanation, she agreed. Finding an instructor though, would take time.

On the first day back, Kyle and Kay were swamped with calls of concern and (as according to Kyle, "tweets" aka girls talking in high squeaky voices). Having to put on a plastic smile and talk to the birds were rather taxing so when an announcement was made over the PA system for Kyle to go to the Princ.i.p.al"s Office, he practically ran there.

Once inside, however, it was as if Princ.i.p.al G.o.dric and Kyle were having a staring contest. Kyle went in after being called then sat down. Since then, the princ.i.p.al just kept looking at him then at the paper in his hands. Then back at him and pursed his lips. Then back at the paper. He opened his mouth once or twice then stopped, looking back at the paper.

Kyle found this funny.

He could have just asked the Princ.i.p.al what was going on but decided it was funnier to just sit there and wait. Whatever it was that the Princ.i.p.al wanted to say must be difficult for he seemed to keep changing his mind.

Finally, after about 6 minutes of this, the Princ.i.p.al put down the paper and sighed. He rubbed his forehead and started tapping his chin.

"I can do it, Sir," Kyle said.

The Princ.i.p.al"s eyes shot wide open and he stared at Kyle, "You can? Really?"

He was about to get up and shake Kyle"s hand when he suddenly stopped, "Wait. You can do what?" he asked, staring at Kyle.

Kyle smiled, "Whatever it is you want to ask me but somehow can"t seem to?"

"Then how do you know you can do it?"

"Because you trusted my data enough to think that I can, but my young appearance made you hesitate," Kyle explained, hitting the nail on the head.

Princ.i.p.al G.o.dric"s mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air and Kyle"s smile became a grin. G.o.dric leaned back in his chair with a sigh and picked up the paper with Kyle"s data again then up at Kyle"s fresh young face. His new plan involved the young man in front of him quite extensively, so he was hesitant. Data is one thing but capabilities? When push comes to shove, could he really do it?

He looked at Kyle"s confident and steady gaze. He drummed the table with his fingers, thinking hard. He then hit his hand hard on the table and stood up, saying while extending his hand towards Kyle, "By Golly! I"ll do it! We"ll do it! Welcome aboard, son!!"

Kyle stood up as well and shook his hand firmly then smiled again as he asked, "What am I getting on, Sir?"

Princ.i.p.al G.o.dric rubbed his hands with glee and showed Kyle a file. Opening it, Kyle flipped through the pages and raised his eyebrows at him.

"This is ambitious indeed," Kyle commented, as he lay down the file on the table, "I"m in."