Two bad things happened in grade 7. The first one was general, it was about my class mate, Bae kae, who was kidnapped and injured mercilessly and the second one deals with me and Chun jo. Few weeks after the first incidence I and Chun jo had a disagreement. It wasn't our first but it was the toughest, it was about the new boy in class, who Chun jo was desperate to befriend and that made me jealous I don't know what they see in him, as if he is handsome. I thought and even if that was my thought I knew it was the truth. Jeremy was the cutest in our class and I also would have wanted to be his friend, if not for Chun jo who was now slipping away from my finger. So I challenged her.
"I don't want you to be friend with that boy"
"Who?"
"Jeremy"
"Why?"
"He is not as good as he will make you people believe"
"What makes you say that?" she asked looking at me in a defensive manner and I knew the conversation was not going as expected.
"Just my instinct" I replied looking straight ahead.
"And you expect me to act on that, he is now one of us and shouldn't be treated as an outcast"
"That is not what I'm saying"
"I understand everything you have been saying it just that I least expected it from you" she said changing her direction and I regretted bringing it up because it made our relationship sour for the following semesters.
Jeremy and Chun jo were now friends in some kind of ways and I prayed for his downfall, which never came. Seeing them together, I knew it was not like the kind of friendship I had with Chun jo but I couldn't pinned out what was wrong until I heard Kim discussing how he caught Jeremy and Chun jo at Jeremy's house one Saturday when he went there unannounced and that made me went red in the head, it was as if I was been cheated and I cursed Jeremy ten thousand times.
Few weeks before Christmas in grade 8 was when I had another dream. I saw myself in a park full of kids, mostly my school mate and everyone was happy or at least pretended to be. I saw Chun jo and Jeremy at one side of the park, Chun jo was smiling as Jeremy was whispering something into her ear and I instantly took my eyes of them and looked at another corner, which was not a good one either because it was Kim and his bullying mate that my eyes landed on and I took my eyes off them immediately because I knew staring at them is not always a good sign and that was when I saw a girl on white and black, the same pattern with the one in my room but this time around, it was not a gown but a winter suit on a black trouser and her hair was packed in a ponytail.
She is here I thought and started walking toward her when I heard a girl called Cynthia and she waved back, smiling wholeheartedly to the other girl.
"Cynthia, so that is her name" I said quietly before reaching her.
"Hi" I said but this time around, it wasn't like I was in a dream, it was like I have power over my thought.
"Merry Christmas in advance" she said stretching her hand for an hand shake which I took with shaky hand.
"Same to you"
"Longest time"
"Same to you" I repeated because that hand in mine was making me unreasonable.
"It had been more than a year" she said releasing my hand from the handshake.
"Yeah, that is true. I thought you weren't coming back"
"Why will you think that way? I was just busy" she said smiling.
"So, are you now through with what you were doing?"
"Absolutely yes"
"That girl over there" I said pointing toward the girl "she called you Cynthia. Is that your name?"
"Yeah, it my name. My second name"
"So, what is your first name?"
"We have all the time to ourselves. So don't worry, I will tell you some other time. Your friend Chun jo, you miss her" she said Looking towards Chun jo's direction.
"Yes but I'm getting over it" I said as fast as I could, not wishing for the next topic to be Chun jo because saying her name made my mouth bitter.
"She likes you but she is not doing the right thing. Can we go and try that train?" she asked changing the topic which I was really grateful for.
"Yes of course" and so we found ourselves on the train, grinning at each other as the train was moving and then I woke up.
It had been in our school agenda that we were to go to a park two weeks before Christmas and because it was compulsory, My dad allowed me to go. It was my first time in that park but as soon as we went in, I realised it was the park I dreamt about few weeks earlier.
Everything was exactly the same, Chun jo and Jeremy smiling at each other. Kim and is bullying mate hitting a boy at a corner and I looked at other corners sharply trying to see if I could see a black girl with a twisted white and black hair packed in a ponytail but to no luck. So I went for an ice cream but stopped on my track when I saw a girl in white and black. I did not even checked her out until it was almost too late because it wasn't Cynthia but grade 9 cruel So rim that I do not want to cross path with and with one step after another, I reversed my direction. Everyone was happy but me because I felt so lonely to the extent that I prayed for everything to be over soon.