Destined 遐想 - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Mystery Unfolds

"Stop it there girls!!!! Can you tell me what's happening here? I'm confused. Who and what are you talking about?" questioned Jun, still confused and blur at what happened.

"It's that guy that I banged into a while ago. He's actually.... Ting's.... ex-boyfriend," replied Ning.

"What are we going to do? We can't let Ting and Arron meet, after what he had done to her".

"You are right. We better watch Ting, and not let them meet. Since, we are leaving only the day after tomorrow, we better keep a look out."

"Huh? What did he do? Why can't Ting meet that guy? Even though they had broken up, there is still a chance for them to be friends. There is no need to do that."

"You don't understand, Jun. A year back......."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A year ago........

"Could you lend me a pen? I forgot to bring my pencil-box today. If it's possible," asked this shy guy.

"Hmm.... Wait... I'll have to find it first. Sorry... It takes a while to find my extra stuff," replied Ting.

Ting had to dig through her whole bag inside out just to find her stuff. She places everything and almost anything inside that bag of her. Sometimes, even Ting herself does not even know what is in her bag.

After a long and thorough search, Ting managed to dig a pen out of her bag for Arron.

"Thanks..."

"No problem...By the way... My name is Ting..."

Ting extended her hand out to Arron. Arron looked at her and smiled, and extended his hand to shake hers.

"Hi... I'm Arron..."

"Nice to meet you Arron..."

Ting smiled when they shoke hands. Then she noticed that he was new in the class.

"Erm... Arron... Right? Are you new here? Cos I don't think I've seen you before..."

Arron was an exchanged student from Taiwan, who came to Singapore. The first person that he spoke to in class was Ting. Ever since that encounter, Arron began to unconsciously choose to sit next to Ting during lessons. The helping hand that Ting extended to Arron had left a deep impression on the very introverted Arron. He found her very easy to talk to, despite his own introverted personality. Whenever she spoke to him, he just opened up and poured his heart out to her. Especially when he saw that cheeky glint in her eyes when she smiled.

Just like magic, Ting and Arron literally "became one". They were inseparable in school. Doing almost everything together, except for going to the restroom. And both of them seemed to understand what the other was thinking without speaking out loud. They were able to finish off each other's sentences to an unbelievable accuracy. The special bond or rather telepathy that they both shared, brought their friendship into a level.

And during Valentine's day, Arron puckered up all the courage in his entire life, and asked Ting to be his girlfriend.

"Ting..."

"Hi Arron... Happy Friendship Day!!! Got any chocolates from prospective admirers???" Ting teased.

"Well... No..." Arron replied nervously.

"So are you going to give out any love letters today to prospective...."

"THIS IS FOR YOU!!!"

Arron closed his eyes and pushed the gift in his hands into Ting's hands, cutting her sentence short. Ting was shocked by Arron's sudden outburst. And the other students in the canteen all turned to look at the both of them, when they heard Arron shouting. Ting blinked her eyes in shock, but she raised the gift up from her hand.

"This is for ME???" Ting asked in shock.

"Yes..." Arron replied shyly.

"A Friendship Day gift for your good friend??" Ting probed.

"..."

"Well... Thanks... Arron... But I didn't get anything for you... I...."

"It's not a Friendship Day gift..." Arron interrupted Ting.

"Huh??"

"It's... It's... It's... A... Va... Valentine's... Day... gift..." Arron murmured nervously.

Ting stared at Arron in surprise. She did not quite expect this from him. She knows that they were on REALLY good terms. And there was certainly some chemistry going on between them, but she didn't expect him to ask her so soon...

"Ting..."

"Huh??" Arron's voice interupted her thoughts.

"... Will.. you... Will you..."

"Huh??"

"Will you... be my... girlfriend??"

Ting smiled. Arron was looking at her with those shy puppy dog eyes of his, which she could never resist...

She nodded her head.

Arron's eyes lit up when he saw her nod her head. He grabbed her shoulders.

"You mean..."

Ting nodded her head again.

"Oh my..."

Arron pulled her into his arms and gave her a long hug. He couldn't believe this was happening. He was too delighted beyond words. He just hugged her tightly to make himself believe that this was reality...

So this is how from friends, they become lovers, and then soul mates...

This special relationship that they shared made Arron wanted to stay by Ting's side forever. Once, he made a promise to Ting to finish his education here in Singapore before returning back to Taiwan. With this new found commitment in the relationship, it seemed that nothing could separate the both of them.

However, the honey moon period was short lived. The day of pain and separation has finally arrived. Arron received a letter of acceptance from a school in the States. Studying in the States had always been a life long dream for Arron. Seeing the letter in his hands, he felt both happy and sad at the same time. He wondered if he should just give up this chance of studying overseas or stay by Ting's side forever. In the end, Arron made a harsh decision.

Rrrrrrrrrring......... Rrrrring........

"Hey Arron! How come you didn't come to school today? Are you sick?" questioned Ting on the phone.

"I'm at the airport right now. I'm going to the States for my studies. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, cos I actually wanted to leave without saying goodbye... Cos I don't think I can bear to leave if I did... But.... But.... It's also a hard decision for me. I can't abandon my dreams.... because of you... I know I'm selfish. But..... I....," came the voice over the mobile.

"Stop it Arron. Stop it!!!! You can tell me honestly. There's no need to lie to me. I'll let you go if you tell me honestly. But why are you still calling me now for, since you've already made up your mind to leave without bidding farewell? You are too selfish... You never thought about my feelings at all... It's over Arron.... Over between us...."

Immediately, Ting hung up the phone. Tears started to take its place in Ting's eyes. It reached until a point where Ting was unable to hold back the tears, and the tears started to flow down her cheeks. She squatted down and cried loudly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was the last time Ting ever had contact with Arron. After that incident, she cried for days before she could get back on with her life. That period was very tough for Ting," said Ning.

"Yeah. Both of us had to be there most of the time to accompany her. We were afraid that she could not take the blow and would do something silly. We really don't want to go through this all over again," added Ying.

"Since she had Show with her now. I don't think there a need for her to meet that Arron again. Why not we all go out together and do some sight-seeing with the rest tomorrow? I'll inform the rest of the guys."

"I'm fine with that. I know Ning.... You want to keep an eye of Ting, so that she would not meet that guy right?"

"Yeah. So, Ying? How about you?"

"I'm fine with it. I've got to tell Roy though, cos I think he's actually made plans to go out tomorrow with Milk, Zax and Wilbur to get some sports stuff. But, I think it should be fine, since we're all going out together anyway."

"Alright. I'll find a place for us to go, and inform Ting and Show about it".