《The Enigma of Leadership #1》


 2012: Undeserving

    Let¡¯s talk about fairness. Visualise a person who is very popular, is friends with practically everyone in school, has the support of masses and goes out of his ways to flaunt the ¡®virtues¡¯ he possesses. Pretty awesome right? In reality that is just the surface of this person and if you bother to pierce your way to know everything about him, you will realise the cold, dark truth.


    I am talking about a senior from both my primary and secondary school whom Rebecca and her close friends tolerated for eight years since 2009. Rebecca was already telling me what he did in school before I even entered primary school and I had the privilege of getting a clearer picture from my Choir senior - Cuthbert Ng.


    I was in Primary Three in 2012, a significant year, as I would take up a new subject - Science, as well as join a CCA. Besides, I would be meeting new classmates. Oh well, it took a long time for me to get over my horrible Primary Two results. I really wanted to get into 3A but I apparently missed it by two positions. The best part about getting into 3B was that I could be with my best friend, Vera Ang, again! Blame me for being lazy to get to know more classmates during the previous two years.


    Honestly I barely had more than two friends in Primary One and Two. Vera and I stuck together most of the time. During recess I would hang out with Rebecca and her friends (Vera too of course), since we shared the same recess slot. Sometimes I would talk to my cousin, Leo, who would be with his friends. Before I entered primary school, I could already get along quite well with her closest friends namely Nicole Tan, Liu Kai Le and Ng Jing Xuan. Upon entering school, I befriended my buddy Joseph Lee Boon Hai but after the first three days of school we only greeted each other and spoke a few sentences, as he was spending more time with his friends. I befriended Elijah¡¯s friends too, but we did not meet as much as I met Rebecca¡¯s friends because of our different recess timings. In 2009, Elijah brought me and Rebecca along when he went out with his friend, Dylan Fung, and our mothers. That was how I befriended him. Despite not going out with them, I still managed to befriend two more of Elijah¡¯s friends - Ann Tan (who was also my Choir senior) and Maybelle Seah.


    Alright, back to the main subject.


    The year was 2012. This guy was P6 and he got appointed to be school Vice-captain (thankfully not the Captain). Regarding this there were mixed responses - the overly excited girls, the supportive boys, the jealous boys, the puzzled students and disapproving students. Based on all the information I was given regarding him, I would confidently say I fell in the category of the disapproving students.


    You can say that I am weird, but when I first met him on my very first day in primary school, I was slightly overwhelmed by his behaviour. He was talking quite loudly to many of my classmates who were laughing away at his jokes. He then approached me and wanted to find out more about me. When I told him I am Rebecca¡¯s brother, his expression changed instantly and said, ¡°You watch out,¡± before walking away.


    As a child who was about to turn seven at that time, that left me with a chain of question marks in my mind. What did I even need to watch out for? What is wrong with telling him I am Rebecca¡¯s brother? Quietly, Rebecca explained to me how that person used to squirt water at Elijah the year before, because he was clinging on to her a lot. Nicole added how that person was already dating a Geraldine and was still eyeing Rebecca, which explained his aggressiveness towards people who were close to her. That is actually quite dumb. Why would he want to date my sister when he was already dating someone else? He had not lived for a decade and he wanted to try out romantic relationships? I was wondering how someone with such an immature mindset would be elected by the teachers as the Vice-captain.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    On the other hand, I feel the teachers were too convinced by his ¡®good character¡¯ he was portraying in front of them. They saw him as a caring and passionate student who would reach out to the student population. I have to admit he had charisma and was also a good orator.


    The question is: What was he doing all these for? Did he do these because he genuinely wants to bless others or was it all for personal gain? I did not bother probing myself, but what I heard from Cuthbert, Kai Le, Nicole, Jing Xuan and my siblings, I would say the latter. I was being told that this person has tycoon parents and would frequently invite friends to his huge house for parties. These friends could be from his class, other classes, church and even those he talked to online. He has many rich friends too, and they would hang out when their rich parents were at ballroom dinners. He would ride with them in sports cars and go on expensive holidays, afterwards bragging about what he did to his batchmates and juniors and encouraged them to tag along. I wonder how he would react to a policy where the government decides to increase the tax rates tremendously for the rich people.


    What was even worse was how he treated girls. He actually ditched Geraldine in the middle of P5 because he did not want their relationship to affect his chances of being the School Captain. It surely was good news for some girls who wanted to get close to him very badly. Unfortunately, I would say these girls were too shallow and only deceiving themselves with the surface of him. Like I mentioned, this person was eyeing Rebecca, and still was after ditching Geraldine. This makes it even more questionable about his intentions - was he really doing that for power in school? Before I forget, I heard from Cuthbert that he targets several girls simultaneously, and they are the ones who look good (yes, my sister is quite pretty and has many pursuers), with Nicole included too. This further affirms that this person was not sincerely dating Geraldine and was doing so for his own pleasure.


    Thanks to Cuthbert who had been keeping abreast of his actions, I learnt that this person got attached to his Swimming junior right before 2012 and their relationship was kept secret until he finished his PSLE. I heard he said mean things to girls who wanted to go out with him solo because they were not up to his standard and it was shameful when they appeared in his social media pictures. I still do not understand why his popularity hardly dwindled despite him doing such things. It was only later that Cuthbert found his tactic - bribery.


    Talk about a racist person. An international student from Tajikistan called Pagzman joined Rebecca¡¯s class in P5 and she befriended him. That person mocked Pagzman for his accent and insulted his heritage very badly, because he was hanging out with Rebecca majority of the time and she would often hug him, hold his arm briefly and rest her arm on his shoulder (she is very open about doing these to boys she is close to). He almost got into a fight with others who were trying to defend Pagzman when he became furious after seeing Pagzman merely touch his wallet. Kai Le was another victim of this person because he has been Rebecca¡¯s best friend. This person affected Kai Le so badly that he loathed going to school and would break down in class occasionally.


    This is definitely not fair! Such a person does not deserve to be a student leader! What kind of student leader will be nice to promote his outer image and at the same time make enemies? Who was I ranting about all these while? None other than Joseph Ezekiel Adams.


    Time for my experience now.

 2013: Start!

    I was Primary Four (P4) in 2013. The good news was that Joseph Adams had graduated from primary school! The bad news was that he chose to go to the affiliated Flowing River Secondary School (FRSS) and would occasionally come back to visit his friends and the even worse piece of news is - Rebecca was no longer in the same school as me. She went to FRSS and thankfully in a different class from Joseph, but I missed the common recess breaks we had together.


    I also made more friends in class. I would not say I am or was an antisocial person, since I actually enjoy hanging out with people. I had hardly more than two friends in class in P1 and P2 mainly because Vera and I spent our recesses with Rebecca, her friends and Leo. You know, teachers were more particular about making sure nobody talks during lessons in primary school, so I dared not take the risk to talk to other classmates. Even though the teacher was not around, I would always have Vera to talk to.


    I was glad that more students were opening up to the both of us in P3 and P4. There was Willis Chia, who was also interested in Geography, so we had something in common to talk about. One more person joined the Vera and Me duo - Kristy Joel.


    I behaved well in class, respected others and participated actively in group discussions. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised by my form teacher issuing me a form - nomination to be a Junior Leader (basically P4s before promoting to prefects). I was astonished. I did not expect to be nominated, since I never had the opportunity to lead in class. Elijah, due to his excellent job as a class chairman, got nominated and managed to be promoted to a prefect. Me? I never contributed much to my class as far as I knew. Perplexed, I decided to approach my form teacher.


    ¡°You definitely deserve it! You consistently ensure your work is done, take initiative to keep your friends quiet and keep the class clean. The other teachers don¡¯t find you an issue. I also heard you are very helpful to the P3s who just joined the Choir this year.¡±


    I got a clearer picture then. I was still contemplating on whether my decision to join the Choir was a mistake. I would surely say I loved singing, but my music taste did not really suit many of the songs sung and I felt awkward singing them. These were fortunately not as bad as the vocal training we had to go through, which I absolutely loathed. I also dreaded being a Tenor Two, as there was no way I could convince the teachers to let me be in the (non-existent) Baritone Section. Worst of all, my siblings were both in Environment Club and I was alone in Choir. Nevertheless, I got to meet many awesome friends whom I was closer to than many of my classmates. Of course, Nicole and Cuthbert were two of them. There was also Ann.


    Back to my nomination, five other classmates besides me and Willis were nominated too, namely - Vivian Ho, Chew Huayi, Sylvia Chisaka, Elise Wong and Viktoriya Kozlovskaya. We all accepted the offer and went for the interview. Unfortunately, we were not grouped together so I could not be with Willis and Elise whom I was more comfortable with.


    Nervous, I sat down behind a boy who was chatting away with a girl from another interview group. After a few moments, he turned to me.


    ¡°Yo! Nice to meet you! I¡¯m Daniel Lim. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Jordan Lee. Nice to meet you,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Jordan. You are in the Choir? I remember seeing you sing on stage. I am from the Band, the percussion section. You are in 4B right? Vivian¡¯s class¡­ oh there he is with my classmate Nazreeen! Woah, Elise is nominated too? That¡¯s good, that''s good.¡±


    ¡°You and Elise know each other?¡± I asked Daniel with a confused expression.


    ¡°Yeah, it was last year. Your classmate, Chester was my classmate in P1 and P2 and one day I was eating with him and I got to know Elise. Oh, Raj and Naomi too.¡±


    So that was Daniel Lim! I remembered a student from 4A who was extremely talkative and would sometimes come to eat with some of my classmates during recess. How would a person like him get nominated?


    ¡°You seem to have a lot of friends from my class,¡± I said.


    ¡°Really? Maybe¡­oh! Hi Hui Wen! You¡¯re in Group Five too?¡± Daniel suddenly greeted a girl who joined our line.


    ¡°Guys! Sit closer! Let¡¯s talk about life!¡± he said enthusiastically. ¡°Alright for some of us we might be seeing each other for the first time, so let¡¯s introduce ourselves. We can share our name, class, CCA, what you like to do and other stuff you want to share. I¡¯ll start. My name is Daniel Lim Jia Jun. I am from 4A. I am in the percussion section of the Band. Besides playing percussion instruments like the triangle and xylophone, I like to play the piano and guitar too. Oh and I really love singing and I want to start a band.¡±


    Daniel nudged me.


    ¡°I am Jordan from 4B. I am in the Choir. I play the bass. I don¡¯t really know what else to say so I will say I wanted to get into 3A last year but my teacher said I was a few marks short. I hope to be in 5A next year.¡±


    ¡®It¡¯s okay man! I believe you are hardworking and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll make it,¡± Daniel reassured me.


    The self-introduction continued until a senior prefect ushered us to proceed to our interview station. We were being asked a few questions before we had to do an activity, that was to build a structure using the given materials that could support five Chinese textbooks for a minute without collapsing.


    I was in awe at Daniel the entire time. He was being very encouraging and ensuring each of us in the group had equal opportunity to contribute. In the end, we succeeded. On the flipside, his interview responses were ridiculously long that our group took a longer time to complete the interview, making me worry about being dismissed late which would make my siblings, who were having their Chinese supplementary lessons, wait for me longer. No doubt about it, Daniel¡¯s responses did show a degree of maturity in his thought. He brought up many points and personal experiences which I did not think about.


    While leaving the interview venue, I all of a sudden established a link between him and Joseph Adams. They were annoyingly talkative students and meanwhile good orators. Perhaps I should not jump into conclusions having only met Daniel in person for the first time.


    I was really afraid Daniel was the next Joseph Adams, that I tried to avoid him for the next few days.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really like where we usually sit in the cafeteria. Where is a good place to move?¡± I asked Vera and Kristy.


    ¡°Why do you suddenly want to move? You seem fine at our usual seat.¡± Kristy replied.


    ¡°How about those benches near the secondary school canteen?¡± Vera suggested.


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t get me into trouble please. I am waiting for my junior leader interview results,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh sorry! I forget that was a rule,¡± Vera giggled.


    ¡°You know what? Just sit behind the sinks over there,¡± I said.


    It was really stressful trying to hide for an entire week. I kept peeking over during my meals, which made Vera and Kristy suspect greatly. I also avoided walking past the 4A classroom.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You are avoiding someone right?¡± Vera asked.


    ¡°Erm..no! I am just tired of the same things every single day,¡± I tried to cover up.


    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t lie. We can help you with the issue,¡± Kristy reassured.


    ¡°Fine. It¡¯s about someone from 4A. Do you know Daniel Lim?¡±


    ¡°Wait, is it the guy who sang and played the guitar for the teachers during Teacher¡¯s Day last year?¡± Vera asked.


    ¡°I cannot remember who that person was but this Daniel is a very annoying person from Band!¡± I ranted and slammed the table.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t annoying. He is a nice and friendly person,¡± Kristy said.


    ¡°What? Don¡¯t be tricked! This kind of person shouldn¡¯t be nominated to be a junior leader!¡± I protested.


    ¡°How did he annoy you?¡± Vera queried.


    ¡°We were in the same group for our interview and before it started, he just kept talking and getting us to introduce ourselves. Then, his interview responses were so long and wasted our time. He didn¡¯t only annoy me. He goes from table to table annoying people during recess!¡± I rattled.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know him well so you shouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Kristy frowned.


    Kristy was right. I might be thinking too much. I should not jump into conclusions having only met Daniel once. I felt I should ask other classmates about their opinion of him, but I was afraid they might criticise me.


    It was the Friday of the ninth week of the first term - three days before we knew whether we would take on the position as junior leaders. I did want to take up the role, even though I would no longer have the freedom to wear whatever I like to school every day. The outfit was green in colour, coming with a badge that comprises the school logo and the student¡¯s name. The boys¡¯ outfit comprised a buttoned shirt and shorts (I did not like wearing shorts to school), with a tie for P5 and P6 prefects and a vest for executive committee (Exco) members. The girls¡¯ outfit was just a one-piece sleeveless dress, with a sleeveless bolero jacket for exco members.


    I plucked up courage to approach the nominees in my class to ask them about their opinions about Daniel.


    ¡°He¡¯s really good! Do you remember what he did during Teachers¡¯ Day last year? He sang a song for the teachers on his own and made his classmates give out biscuits to the teachers. He¡¯s really polite and always greeting teachers and students, even those he doesn¡¯t know,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m friends with him. He talked to me during the Band trial last year. I didn¡¯t join in the end but he still greets me and asks how I am doing whenever we see each other,¡± Sylvia said.


    ¡°Funny and cool kid. My cousin has a crush on him. He¡¯s the kind who will make you happy when you¡¯re sad,¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°He¡¯s in Percussion section. He is the P4 who can play the most instruments there - chimes, triangle, xylophone and marimba. He said he is learning to play the drum set now and wants to switch to Woodwind section next year. I don¡¯t know why. He is quite good at the percussion instruments and I don¡¯t see why he wants to switch. He sings so well! Very well! He should join the Choir but I don¡¯t know why he joined Band,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Hmm.. I don¡¯t really pay much attention to him but I guess he is quite outspoken? I don¡¯t really know,¡±  Viktoriya laughed.


    Now I came to Elise and decided to get more information from her, since she got to know Daniel through a friend.


    ¡°Nah! He¡¯s not a nasty guy like you think. Why don¡¯t you get to know him more? He is quite a friendly person. He cares for others. Do you see other students giving small gifts to the cleaners and general office staff? No right? He has a really big heart for people. He wants to make everyone happy by entertaining them. I understand he might be a bit forceful when he is too excited about meeting a new friend. I am sure he is not a bad person. I never heard anything about him wanting to be nasty to others or just acting like a goody-two-shoes. He won the Character Award last year. So, just take some time to understand him.¡±


    Wow! I did not hear anything negative. How far should I trust these one-sided opinions? Not yet. I was still very skeptical.


    The day had come. After morning assembly, the announcement requested for all junior leader nominees to report to the lecture theatre.


    ¡°I¡¯m so scared! I need this position!¡± Sylvia groaned.


    ¡°And I have to wear shorts every day if I get in!¡±  I added.


    ¡°You don¡¯t like shorts?¡± Vivian chuckled.


    ¡°Yes. Can we just wear the shirt and not the shorts?¡± I said.


    ¡°Woah. I like shorts so if I get in I will need to get used to wearing a dress every single day,¡± Elise sighed.


    We entered the lecture theatres to see other nominees chatting nervously, as well as the exco prefects who were sorting out the outfits that would be presented to successful candidates. The teacher-in-charge made a short speech before flashing the list of nominees and whether they were accepted, starting with 4A. Daniel¡¯s name was second on the list and he no doubt was accepted. Students were clapping and cheering loudly, including some of the exco prefects. Was he that deserving? I was too nervous to look at what happened next, only hearing the teacher read out the names one by one..


    ¡°Chew Huayi!¡± the teacher read.


    I instantly looked up at the screen and saw that all seven of us in 4B were accepted! I thanked God. I could finally be a student leader! I exchanged hi-fives with Elise and Sylvia.


    ¡°Good job Jordan!¡± Daniel shouted from where he was seated when I walked to the front to receive my new attire from the school captain.


    He actually remembered me.


    On Wednesday that week, we were called back to the lecture theatre to settle our duty allocations, which would take effect the next term. There were both morning and recess duties, where those doing morning duties would have to keep the lower primary classes in order, catch latecomers or lead the assembly; those doing recess duties have to ensure order in the various school facilities and ensure no one goes up the staircases back to their classes before the end of recess. Sylvia, Elise and I decided to take up morning duties, where we were attached to a lower primary class, with our senior prefects to guide us. Sadly, the class I was allocated was not the same as Elijah¡¯s, so I could not do my duty together with him. After the morning duties were settled, the teacher asked if anyone doing morning duties did not mind doing a recess duty as well. I looked around and saw Daniel put up his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it!¡± he said with much confidence.


    ¡°Do you have any preference on where you want to take charge?¡± the teacher asked.


    ¡°I would like to be in the school garden, but if anyone wants to take it very badly I¡¯ll give it to him or her,¡± Daniel replied.


    No! He had to take charge of the school garden! It had been my favourite spot to hang out with Kristy and Vera! Not exactly our only spot, as we had the school aquarium to hang out at too. I silently hoped someone objected, but no one said anything.


    Willis chose to take charge of the staircase near the foyer, Viktoriya chose the field, Huayi chose another staircase near the laboratories while Vivian chose the library.


    The Friday of that week was inter-class games, which I loathed and found a complete waste of time. It was compulsory for everyone in class to participate, regardless of how physically unfit or unwilling to play one was. What was the purpose of these games? The principal said it was to ensure class bonding and unity. I begged to differ. Anyway, I learnt new things from that year¡¯s games, because I decided to divert more attention to a particular class rather than talk to Vera and Kristy the entire time.


    Vera, Kristy and I chose to participate in the link race. Sylvia chose it too. We were supposed to form a line of ten of us interlocking our arms and run a required distance. If anyone broke away, we had to stop. Guess what? 4A was one of our opponents¡­and Daniel had to be one of the ten participants of his class. I managed to notice what he was saying before the relay started.


    ¡°Winning or losing is not important now! What is important is that we have?¡± Daniel¡¯s loud voice rang in the air.


    ¡°Fun!¡±  his classmates replied in unison.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Hey 4B! Hey 4E! All the best to you! F-R-P-S  go go go!¡±


    I was very irked at that moment. Who on earth would care about this annoying kid who just wanted the whole school¡¯s attention?


    ¡°We are from 4A and we¡¯re on our way! To do our best and seize the day! Though hardships and troubles may come our way! Nothing can take our hopes away! Ad Alta!¡±


    Really? That class had to do cheers? That only added on to the level of annoyance Daniel possessed. I had totally no mood to participate in the relay. I was still in a daze when the horn was sounded. All I heard then was the cacophony of ¡°Let¡¯s go 4A let¡¯s go!¡± .


    I just advanced according to my senses as well as the guidance of Vera and another boy, until I heard, ¡°Go Daniel!¡± My feet instantly became numb and I accidentally tripped over Vera¡¯s foot, causing me to break off from the chain.


    ¡°Ow! Jordan!¡± Vera shrieked.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! Quick! We need to win them!¡± I said as I got back up.


    As expected, my class ended up last and the winner was obviously 4A. I was angry. How did such annoying people deserve to win?.


    ¡°Guys! Don¡¯t go! Let¡¯s shake hands with the others!¡± Daniel shouted to his classmates and all of them began shaking hands with us and telling us we did a good job.


    ¡°Hey Jordan! That was great! How¡¯s life?¡± Daniel said when he approached me.


    ¡°Good! I just don¡¯t like playing with others like this,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I see. We all have our different interests but it is a very good chance to work together with your classmates outside of the classroom. Alright, see you around. Oh and enjoy your Choir Camp later!¡± Daniel continued.


    What was his purpose for all those? I observed his class from then on.


    ¡°Who is going to lead the cheer for the next game?¡± a boy from 4A asked. A girl instantly pointed to a boy who was sleeping on his bag.


    ¡°Wake up!¡± another boy kicked him.


    ¡°What?¡± the boy who was asleep put on his glasses and sat up.


    ¡°Do you want to lead the next cheer?¡± Daniel asked him.


    ¡°What? Me again? I¡¯m tired! Can I sleep?¡± the boy groaned.


    ¡°Come on! You can do it!¡± Daniel and other students persuaded him.


    ¡°Okay...but which cheer?¡± the boy asked.


    ¡°Any one you like,¡±  Daniel replied.


    ¡°Everywhere we go! People want to know! Who we are! Where we come from! So we tell them! We are from 4A! Mighty Mighty 4A! Pretty Pretty 4A! Ad Alta!¡±


    How nasty of Daniel to gang up with his classmates and force that boy to lead the cheer! Then, I had the sudden thought that I would stop working as hard as I wanted so I would not enter 5A the next year and be stuck with Daniel. I just needed information about how Daniel usually performed in class.


    After the event was over, I went over to 5A to meet Elijah who was talking to Xavier and Ann. I immediately complained to them about what Daniel was doing.


    ¡°Just ignore him if you feel irritated. There¡¯s no use observing him,¡± Xavier advised.


    That was a good piece of advice. I wanted to ignore him. I wanted to stop bothering about him. It was just so difficult, as his voice and appearance would inevitably hover around my brain and my vision.


    After chatting for a few minutes, Elijah and Xavier left with Dylan and Maybelle. They were going for lunch with our mothers and thereafter Aquarius Water Park. Rebecca and Kai Le would join after they ended school. I was sad. I wanted to have fun with them but I had to go for my CCA camp. I left with Ann to put our bags in the Music Room. I kept questioning myself why I landed in Choir. I detested most of the songs we sang. The teacher flashed the groupings for the camp on the screen, and I desperately looked for my name.


    My group was not too bad after all by looking at the names. Harlan was our vice-president and also in the tenor section. He was quite patient with guiding our section. Chi Chen (we call her Qizhen) was the head of the mezzo-sopranos who was rather quiet but committed. Ivan was quite nice and funny, but liked to crack dirty jokes.


    As for the two batchmates in my group - Alicia Tan and Vernice Chin, I had yet to know them well, especially Vernice. I had not spoken to her, as she was with Chloe Liew and Natsuko Wantanabe most of the time. As for Alicia, she was a jovial and friendly person, and was also my closest batchmate in Choir. She would occasionally come over to talk to me during recess and eat with me before our afternoon CCA sessions. However, I spent most of my time with Ann and other seniors during CCA which made it seem I had no friends in my batch. Moreover, I avoided going over to 4A talk to Alicia because someone was in her class - Daniel Lim. I did not want Daniel to notice me, so I felt it was best that I avoided approaching anyone from his class.


    There were three juniors in my group - Kok Beng, Jeremy and Clarabel. Kok Beng was someone I could relate to due to his interest in The Who. Jeremy was in my section but was very reserved. Clarabel on the other hand was extremely disruptive and frequently complained to others about how difficult her homework was. Nonetheless, it was quite amusing to see her doing so and we would have a good laugh.


    We proceeded to the cafeteria for our catered lunch, where we played some games at the same time.


    ¡°So how¡¯s life guys?¡± Ivan asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me anything about school please. Everything is so hard!¡± Clarabel complained.


    ¡°You¡¯re just not working hard! We have free time later, right? Take out your homework and do them!¡± Ivan replied.


    ¡°Bro, do you think anyone brought their homework today?¡± Tiffany chuckled.


    ¡°Of course some will bring them because it is too boring to watch the games throughout,¡± I commented.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you were studying the entire time,¡± Ivan shook his head.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t. I mean the P6s. They have to work extra hard this year so what is the point of wasting their time watching boring games?¡± I added.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a nerd, but you are right. I did see some P6s studying,¡± Harlan said.


    ¡°Hold up! None of us have answered Ivan¡¯s question yet. Why don¡¯t you share, Vernice?¡± Qizhen interrupted.


    ¡°Bad. My holidays are just going to be full of tuition classes,¡± Vernice grumbled.


    ¡°Tuition? Oh no! I hate those! My parents want to sign me up for those! Help me! I don¡¯t want tuition!¡± Clarabel complained.


    ¡°They are to help you! With tuition, my English improved a lot,¡± Qizhen explained.


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna study!¡±


    ¡°What are we doing today?¡± Alicia asked.


    ¡°Facilitators will come to lead the games and in the evening we will go out to the city for treasure hunt as mentioned in the consent form and then watch the Songjoy concert, then come back, shower and sleep,¡± Qizhen said.


    The games were so boring that I felt like sleeping. The only thing that kept me awake was talking to Alicia and Kok Beng. I repeatedly questioned myself why I joined the Choir.


    When we set off for the city, I sat with Vernice on the bus.


    ¡°So, how¡¯s the camp so far?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Boring. I want to sleep,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Same. Oh! What kind of music do you listen to?¡±


    ¡°Can you let me sleep first?¡±


    ¡°Erm¡­ alright.¡±


    There went my opportunity to get to know Vernice, but of course, I still had time during the treasure hunt. When we alighted, Vernice instantly went to look for Natsuko and Chloe.


    I turned to Alicia. ¡°Hey, do you know what kind of music Vernice likes?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Let¡¯s join them!¡± Alicia walked forward. ¡°Hey guys! Can we join you?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Come!¡± Chloe replied.


    ¡°What kind of music do you like?¡± I asked them.


    ¡°Do I have a kind I like? I listen to anything!¡± Chloe chuckled.


    ¡°Yeah! Anything that¡¯s popular!¡± Natsuko added.


    ¡°Same,¡± Vernice said.


    ¡°This guy loves old music!¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s special! I think Songjoy has some covers of old songs, you¡¯ll enjoy the concert,¡± Chloe told me.


    We assembled in our groups to commence the treasure hunt. Ivan was the one giving his usual corny ideas. Alicia tried to contribute too. On the other hand, I could not focus, as I was caught up with the Daniel issue. I was also looking forward to hearing the classics Songjoy would perform later.


    I could not seem to appreciate the concert, although Songjoy performed songs I actually like such as The Longest Time, Beautiful Sunday, Nights on Broadway and (Just Like) Starting Over. Daniel and what he did that morning was still hovering in my mind. I needed to talk to someone about it, but whom? The best person would be Alicia, since I was quite comfortable talking to her. I decided to sit with her on the bus on our journey back to school.


    ¡°Is Daniel Lim very irritating?¡± I asked.


    ¡°My classmate? I actually had a classmate in kindergarten called Daniel Lim too. How should I answer your question? I think he is irritating when you can¡¯t hear what he says but he is not when you can hear what he says,¡± Alicia replied.


    ¡°Er¡­that means it won¡¯t be irritating when I am actually paying attention to what he is saying?¡± I enquired.


    ¡°Something like that. Why are you asking me that?¡±


    ¡°That person just makes me uncomfortable. He reminds me of someone...someone who..¡±


    ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t tell me he bullied you!¡±


    ¡°No he didn¡¯t do anything bad to me but I am afraid he is going to be like the previous school vice captain!¡±


    ¡°Joseph? He¡¯s good!¡±


    ¡°No! Please don¡¯t believe what those people say! He is not a good person at all! He should not even be a prefect in the first place! I¡¯m not kidding. My sister and her friends were bullied by him so badly! If you start becoming friends with him I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll die! Oops. Sorry. I¡¯m too mean.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You seem worked up. Drink some water and calm down for a while.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I am very serious about what I said about Joseph. Please tell me you are not cheated by him.¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t done anything bad to me or my classmates yet but there was once he invited a few of my classmates and me to some party. I didn¡¯t go. I think Daniel was one of them who went.¡±


    ¡°See? Daniel mixes around with these kinds of people. I don¡¯t think he is a good person. From what I saw this morning, he wants people to notice him and to like him. He was also nasty enough to gang up with your classmates to force someone to lead the cheers. When someone is unwilling to lead the cheer, it would be better if he just leaves him alone.¡±


    ¡°Did he?¡±


    ¡°Obviously. Your classmate was having a good sleep on his bag and Daniel was one of them who woke him up and forced him to lead the cheer!¡±


    ¡°Ace? He¡¯s my boyfriend!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Forget it. Not exactly a boyfriend, let¡¯s talk about Daniel before I tell you about Ace. Daniel started the class cheers this year to hype up the class spirit, not because he wants everyone to notice him. We have this identity cheer: Everywhere we go! People want to know! Who we are! Where we come from! So we tell them! We are from 4A! Mighty Mighty 4A! Pretty Pretty 4A! Ad Alta! Yup, I know we did not write it ourselves but it¡¯s quite fun. And this one: Fight! Fight! 4A let¡¯s fight! Let¡¯s ride the tides and make it right! Ad Alta¡¯s our motto and we¡¯re gonna see the light. Let¡¯s work together and make our future bright! And this one: We are from 4A and we¡¯re on our way! To do our best and seize the day! Though hardships and troubles may come our way! Nothing can take our hopes away! Ad Alta!¡±


    ¡°Oh I just remembered hearing them at the P4 camp. What else did Daniel do?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s our chairman and is always trying to make sure we are united. Not easy, but he makes sure no one is lonely.¡±


    ¡°Does he even try? He keeps irritating my classmates during recess.¡±


    ¡°He talks to more people during recess but that is after he makes sure our class has no problem. He is not a bad person. He gets us to write cards and buy gifts for our cleaners. He performs at the orphanage and old folks home and does charity work. I don¡¯t know how but he can hype the very quiet classmates up. A lot of girls have a crush on him, including those who are older.¡±


    ¡°You said similar things to others. Is he dating someone right now?¡±


    ¡°If he is, would he have time for so many friends? Right now I can¡¯t tell who his best friend is, as if he never had one before. I have two classmates who wanted to date him but he explained very nicely that they are too young and blah blah blah.¡±


    ¡°And why are you dating someone?¡±


    ¡°Long story. I wouldn¡¯t say I am actually dating Ace, it¡¯s more like semi-dating.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that? I don¡¯t think you can semi-date a person. It sounds wrong!¡±


    ¡°It was last year. Our Math teacher punished about eight of us for not completing our homework so we were made to stand at the back of the class. It was the first time Ace got punished and he was very scared. Then I looked at him and he looked at me. I held his hand. He seemed to be less afraid and whispered to me that he wants to hold my hand forever. Sounds weird but both of us were good friends before that happened, it wasn¡¯t magic of course. During recess that day, I asked him what he was talking about. I knew what he meant but I just wanted to be sure. He asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend. I was so happy when I heard that. I had been waiting for that day. I immediately said yes. It was the best day of my life, and the day after April Fools. So, after that we talked and hung out more often. I wouldn¡¯t say we are really dating because we are keeping our relationship a secret to our families and quite a few of our classmates think we are actually not a couple.¡±


    ¡°I think both of you are just close friends. Why did you even hold his hand?¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯m sure I like him and he likes me. The feeling is different when I am with other close friends! I held his hand because I knew both of us were very scared. Before we got together, I was quite jealous of older kids who are already dating and wondered when I¡¯d be like them.¡±


    ¡°Oh. How are Daniel¡¯s results?¡±


    ¡°Better than mine. I was second last in class last year. Ace is helping me right now and I think I am improving. Hope I can stay in 5A with him next year. I don¡¯t know how exactly he did but I remember he cleared the Gifted test last year. He didn¡¯t go to a better school because he wanted to stay with us. Three of my classmates transferred out.¡±


    ¡°Two of mine left. Do you know how well Daniel does for each subject?¡±


    ¡°Not very sure. I know his Chinese isn¡¯t that good and our teacher is saying how he can¡¯t take up Higher Chinese if he continues to do this badly.¡±


    That is clearly a lack of information to determine how hard I should study that year to secure a decent score yet be unable to be promoted to 5A. I did not have issues with the Chinese Language and was aiming to get into Higher Chinese. I hoped Daniel¡¯s Chinese would not improve to the point where he qualified for Higher Chinese.


    We got ready for shower after returning to school. While queuing up, some of the seniors were talking about the Sonjoy concert.


    ¡°We should just sing acapella with one of those songs,¡± Harlan said.


    Our president, Ah Heng, said, ¡°Or I can write songs!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to step down soon and you still want to write songs for us?¡± another boy said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to write them this year!¡± Ah Heng said. ¡°I plan to call myself Mr...Ah Heng!¡±


    ¡°Nice name indeed. If you want to cover songs, I suggest you cover those classics Songjoy performed just now. And I¡¯m very happy Chiquitita was chosen because it''s a great song. We should have more classics as our performance songs. We need to know good music,¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not us deciding the songs most of the time, sadly,¡± Harlan said.


    While waiting for our hair to dry back in our assigned classroom for sleeping, Stuart randomly asked me, ¡°You and Alicia were talking about Daniel Lim on the bus just now?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I need to know what nonsense he has been up to,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Nonsense? He¡¯s a godsend!¡± Stuart protested.


    ¡°Why do all of you think he is so good?¡± I frowned.


    ¡°No, really-¡± Stuart wanted to continue.


    ¡°You mean the guy from the boarding house?¡± Jeremy interrupted.


    ¡°Yes he goes to the boarding house,¡± Stuart replied. ¡°He¡¯s really a miracle. One day, I forgot to bring my pencil case to school and there was a test that day. I was very scared because I didn¡¯t know how my teacher would punish me. Suddenly, Daniel came and told me to stay happy and hopeful. How? How did he know I was secretly calling for help? He then lent me a pencil and eraser. Oh and I am going to his church in two weeks.¡±


    ¡°Which church is he in?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Genesis. I am from Rubosia Christian Centre. My brother and I wanted to invite our neighbour to church. I told Daniel about it and he said his father had a book he could give my neighbour,¡± Stuart continued.


    ¡°My friend is from his church!¡± a boy commented.


    ¡°But he is a very irritating person!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Do you want me to call him right now and tell him that?¡± Raju said while taking out his phone.


    ¡°No! He¡¯s going to kill me! He is not a good person. He is Joseph Adams!¡± I blurted.


    ¡°Huh? What do you mean? The guy from swimming last year?¡± Kok Beng asked, looking up from his book.


    ¡°You¡¯re right that Joseph isn¡¯t a good person, Jordan,¡± Stuart said. ¡°He¡¯s a pedophile! Last week I saw him talking to the P1s in a very weird way and my brother saw him taking pictures of the girls Swimming team having their training!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s normal for Joseph to do. Thanks for agreeing with me that Joseph isn¡¯t a good person. Now do you think he deserved to be a prefect?¡± I asked.


    Stuart shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me how he got in. It was a big mistake the teachers made. Which class are you taking for your morning duty?¡±


    ¡°1G,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking 2F,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°I don''t understand why Alicia thinks Joseph is good,¡± I signed.


    Raju chuckled, ¡°That guy is different to different people. I didn¡¯t really care about him.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ Alicia told me she is dating someone,¡± I told Raju.


    ¡°Ace? He¡¯s from Drama. Some people say they are a couple and some say that they are not. I don¡¯t really know whether they are a couple or just best friends. Alicia has a lot of photos of them together on Facebook. What¡¯s your phone number? I can send them to you,¡± Raju spoke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a phone,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll show you her Facebook photos,¡± Raju said and showed me many pictures of Ace and Alicia together.


    ¡°Wow, they take so many pictures together and I don¡¯t think I see as many of her other friends. She told me they are semi-dating, even though I feel there¡¯s no such thing, so that means they are a couple,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh nice, good girls will always get taken first!¡± Raju exclaimed, winking at Stuart.


    ¡°What? I didn¡¯t say I like her! She¡¯s just my good friend!¡± Stuart frowned.


    Without thinking, I linked what Raju said to Daniel, ¡°Good girls will get taken first. Daniel is not taken, so this means he isn¡¯t a good boy! Ha!¡±


    Kok Beng laughed.


    ¡°Ha ha ha. Girls already like him. It is just his choice that he doesn¡¯t want to date, Jordan,¡± Raju rebutted. ¡°Let me show you his Facebook account.¡±


    What I saw was pictures of Daniel with a whole lot of random people. Nothing stood out to me besides his excessive popularity, which I wondered why everyone seemed to know things regarding him while I just had a different perception after meeting him at the interview.


    ¡°Wait a minute Jordan, aren¡¯t you dating someone?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°The girl I hang out with most of the time? Don¡¯t get the wrong idea. We are just friends,¡± I replied.


    Soon, we all fell asleep and the next thing I felt was someone tapping on my hand. I was actually amazed that I managed to sleep without any dreams¡­ but it was only two at night when that happened.


    ¡°Vernice is looking for you,¡± the voice whispered.


    Was I hallucinating? Why would Vernice want to look for me in the middle of the night?


    ¡°Wake up!¡±


    I finally recognised the voice. It was Stuart. Apparently, Vernice wanted me to help her recall the lyrics of Chiquitita. That sounded strange. We had not even started practising the song and she wanted to master the lyrics? I admired her excellence in that but it was simply strange that she would look for me at an ungodly hour just to recall song lyrics.


    I took eleven hours to sit up, followed by eleven days to stand up and eleven weeks to walk to the door and out of the classroom.


    ¡°Oh, hi. You¡¯re here to ask me to help you recall Chiquitita¡¯s lyrics?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes. I asked Alicia just now but she said she couldn¡¯t remember the tune, and told me to come to ask you,¡± Vernice replied.


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember all the lyrics. It is more like when the song plays I am able to sing along to it. I can try running through part of the song? Probably the chorus?¡±


    Within a second, I heard loud coughing and I was back in my sleeping bag. Does that mean that was all a dream?


    It was, to my surprise. Anyway, the dream sort of gave me the urge to lead everyone in the bunk the singing of Chiquitita¡¯s chorus.


    ¡°What are you guys doing? You are already practising the song now?¡±  Harlan popped by at the window.


    ¡°Oh hi. Last night I had a dream of Vernice coming over to ask me for help to remember the chorus of the song, so I thought we better do it before it¡¯s too late,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I love your passion man! You¡¯ve got to help Tiffany. I have a feeling she will have great difficulty with this one,¡± Harlan chuckled.


    ¡°I only know the chorus. I can¡¯t remember all the lyrics to the verses,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°At least you know it best among us!¡± Ah Heng popped up beside Harlan.


    That was really encouraging. I was always doubting myself with my decision to join the Choir. It seemed like only my taste in music could motivate me. Well, I should not complain about the song choices and instead hone my leadership and social skills.


    We proceeded to wash up and head to the cafeteria for breakfast.


    ¡°So Jordan, would you like to tell us your dream?¡± Harlan asked.


    ¡°Why not? So, I dream that I woke up in the middle of the night and a voice said that Vernice was looking for me. I went out of the room and she said she needed help learning Chiquitita, so I helped her,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Yes I really needed help,¡± Vernice said.


    ¡°He was training the P3 and P4 boys when they just woke up just now,¡± Harlan added.


    ¡°Wow, that''s nice!¡± Qizhen said. ¡°Future exco member?¡±


    That camp felt satisfying at the end. I managed to lead and my seniors saw potential in me.


    The second term came, and so did the mid-year examinations. I decided to tell Vera about my strategy.


    ¡°This year, I will only study Chinese and nothing else. I want to get into Higher Chinese and hopefully get a level position of around 45. That will be safe.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine you doing that! I thought you care a lot about grades?¡± Vera questioned.


    ¡°I used to. Now I realise that safety is first, and it is better to do badly now than to do badly next year because of the danger around you,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Is this some Daniel Lim escape plan?¡± Vera asked.


    I nodded. ¡°And we can be together too. I am only doing that this year. I¡¯ll make sure I work the hardest for PSLE the next two years.¡±


    Vera actually supported my plan in the end, as she felt she would not be able to integrate into a new class all by herself, given the fact that Kristy was very likely to return to New Zealand after that year. With some assurance, I proudly told my siblings about the plan. Rebecca talked about how it was a huge gamble to forgo my grades just to avoid a particular student, whereas Elijah told me not to be too afraid of Daniel, as there was absolutely no evidence to prove that he was a bad person. I have always trusted my siblings but I was still quite insecure about having Daniel around. This was especially so when the June holidays had two events for the prefects - an adventure course at Aqueris Ridges and a two-day leadership training course which involved FRSS and FRJC.


    The adventure course came first. It was not compulsory for all to go, but we were highly encouraged to. I had always wanted to try the adventure course and also bond with the other junior leaders in my class, so I signed up. I saw it as a good opportunity to tell them my plan. I sat with Sylvia on the bus while Elise and Viktoriya were behind us.


    ¡°Jordan, what¡¯s your class position?¡± Sylvia asked.


    ¡°Eighth, and my level position is 39th. This is dangerous. I studied a little too hard,¡± I sighed.


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait. You were in the top five last year, but now you¡¯re worse, and you just said you studied too hard? What?¡± Sylvia asked with a shocked look.


    ¡°That means I beat you!¡± Elise said from behind. ¡°I got seventh in class!¡±


    I shook her hand. ¡°Congratulations! Keep it up. My plan is succeeding. I just need to deprove by two more class positions at the end of this year.¡±


    ¡°Wow you are so nice! You want to give everyone the chance to do better than you?¡± Sylvia laughed.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong. My main plan is to be in 5B so I can avoid Daniel Lim. My plan is to not study for anything except Chinese. I heard Daniel¡¯s Chinese is bad, so there is no way he should be able to take Higher Chinese next year, so I can take it without him in class,¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Oh man! That¡¯s so mean!¡± Sylvia chided.


    ¡°Is he in this bus?¡± I asked and scanned the bus rapidly. ¡°Oh great, he isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that to yourself. You shouldn¡¯t do badly just because you want to avoid him. What if you do so badly that you can¡¯t even be in 5B?¡± Viktoriya warned.


    ¡°Exactly! I told you so many times that Daniel is not a bad person,¡± Elise frowned.


    ¡°I just can¡¯t be in 5A. That person just gives me chills,¡± I protested.


    We then had a friendly argument about the topic until we reached our destination. After I got out of the bus, I felt someone twist my head.


    ¡°Look!¡±


    It was actually Vivian who wanted to tease me by making me look at Daniel, who alighted from the other school bus. Huayi was laughing at my reaction.


    ¡°Stop! You are teasing me off! Don¡¯t get me into trouble!¡± I tried to reprimand Vivian.


    ¡°We will prove to you that Daniel is not a bad person. It¡¯s your problem that you are stubborn,¡± Huayi smirked.


    ¡°You hear that?¡± Sylvia raised her eyebrow.


    I did not want to argue with my friends anymore. I was very tempted to spy on Daniel that day.


    ¡°Daniel! Go for Pro Level!¡± I heard a girl telling him.


    ¡°Why not? You¡¯re coming along?¡± he replied the girl.


    Vivian nudged me. ¡°You didn¡¯t want to observe him just now, and you are observing him now. Really?¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯m giving you a chance to prove you are right,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Oh. Can I call him and tell him to come here?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°No, not that. Let me observe him from here. I think I will choose the pro level. Let me wait for my brother,¡± I replied.


    Elijah was there too with Dylan. Elijah and I decided to choose the Pro Level, which had the most challenging obstacles. Vivian came along too. Elijah and I kept an eye on Daniel. We noticed he was with another boy who was talking and laughing very loudly.


    ¡°Do you know those people Daniel is with now? Especially the very noisy boy beside him,¡± I questioned Vivian.


    ¡°I think that guy is called Ethan. He is good friends with Corey. I think he was the guy who always led the cheers during P4 camp?¡± Vivian replied.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that Daniel?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Daniel did too, but this Ethan is a lot noisier than Daniel. I hear his voice a lot next door during lessons. I don¡¯t know how he got nominated to be a junior leader. I heard people say he is annoying. He sometimes pops by the back door to talk to Jasmine during our lessons,¡± Vivian rattled.


    ¡°If this Ethan doesn¡¯t deserve to be a junior leader, why would Daniel?¡± I protested.


    ¡°It is more complicated than you think. We don¡¯t see them all the time,¡± Elijah pointed out.


    ¡°Yes. I didn¡¯t realise that Ethan was actually that annoying but Daniel still gets on my nerves,¡± I said.


    ¡°We don¡¯t understand a lot of things. I think it is the teacher¡¯s style of choosing junior leaders. I always thought the teacher would choose the well-behaved ones but looks like the 4A teacher is different. Maybe you can ask Alicia about how her teacher chooses junior leaders,¡± Elijah said.


    ¡°Yes, I''ll ask someday. Like what Rebecca said, the prefects in the secondary school are bad. Looks like this is beginning to happen here too,¡±  I added.


    That day just left me thinking even harder than before. Not even my siblings could give me a concrete answer about who should be selected to be a leader and who should not. I hoped the leadership training would give me an answer.


    As expected, I got allocated in the same group with students I never knew before. The group consisted of students from FRSS and FRJC too. My batchmates in the same group as me included Jerome Koh and Li Xuanyu from 4A as well as Megan Teo from 4E. Jerome arrived before me and greeted me.


    ¡°Hi bro, I¡¯m Jerome.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Jordan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you around in school before. How¡¯s your holiday? Was the adventure course fun?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes it was fun. I want to try it again. Do you know the others in our group?¡±


    ¡°Xuanyu is my classmate. I don¡¯t know Megan yet.¡±


    ¡°Hi!¡± Xuanyu popped by.


    Jerome introduced me to her and her to me. Soon, Megan arrived.


    ¡°Xuanyu and Jerome, both of you are in 4A right? Can I know how your teacher chooses junior leaders?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Tough question,¡± Xuanyu remarked.


    ¡°Yeah,  it¡¯s a tough question. I have four older siblings. They were all prefects. Two of them are P5 now. Yes they are twins. They said the teachers will pick those who know how to behave, but not those who are too quiet. I don¡¯t quite agree,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Yes. My sister said some of the prefects are just bad. If you remember the vice captain last year, that guy is a big bully!¡± I continued.


    ¡°Joseph? He is quite a friendly and nice person,¡± Megan commented.


    ¡°He¡¯s okay,¡± Xuanyu added.


    ¡°You¡¯re just tricked. He is so bad that he bullies my sister¡¯s friends and bullies many other girls,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Jordan makes sense. What I heard from my older siblings is that Joseph acts a lot in front of the teachers. He bullied my brother so much that he left for a worse secondary school just to avoid Joseph. He ditched his friends just to avoid Joseph, and he is much happier in his new school. Good for him,¡± Jerome explained.


    That sounded very familiar. It sounded almost like me avoiding getting into 5A to avoid Daniel.


    ¡°That¡¯s very smart of him. I think for our batch, a whole lot of people will do the same as your brother,¡± I said.


    ¡°Why? Who¡¯s so bad in our batch that we must avoid?¡± Xuanyu enquired.


    ¡°Your obvious classmate,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of anyone in our class who is that bad. There is some bullying and teasing here and there but most of us can get along quite well,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Watch out for that Daniel Lim. He seems good but I feel he is a dangerous person. Really. I don¡¯t feel comfortable when I am around him. I have this bad feeling that he will be the next Joseph,¡± I protested.


    Megan and Xuanyu began to giggle. I was frustrated. How could people be so simple-minded?


    ¡°Daniel? He¡¯s my good friend. What bad things did he do?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Annoy my classmates and act like a Joseph,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure both of them are quite different,¡± Jerome explained, ¡°Daniel has a lot of friends, but he doesn¡¯t act. He is quite kind.¡±


    ¡°I am not friends with him but I see he is actually quite funny and nice when he talks to my classmates,¡± Megan added.


    ¡°It¡¯s just your imagination! A bunch of us are meeting at my house next week. Do you want to come along? Oh yes, Megan, you can come too!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Why? To meet Daniel?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°To play and have fun. I can show you that Daniel isn¡¯t bad,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    I declined the offer. I was still skeptical at that point. Anyway, a takeaway I got from the course was that a leader must ensure everyone is treated equally and no one is left out. Based on the descriptions of Daniel heard, Daniel seemed to fulfil the above quality of a leader, but obviously not Joseph Adams. Joseph was only nice to those he deemed likeable, while nasty to those he disliked, and made use of his threatening to prevent victims from slandering him.


    My duties went quite well that year and I was glad to continue serving as a class buddy. As for my plan, it did succeed. My level position was 43, meaning I missed 5A by two positions. I topped my class for Chinese too and was accepted into Higher Chinese.


    Vera would be following me to 5B too. Unfortunately, Kristy indeed left for New Zealand. Vera and I wondered if we should broaden our circle of close friends in our class. Vivian, Huayi and Sylvia were promoted to 5B as well but they were in different cliques which made it hard for Vera and I to decide whom to join. Viktoriya was posted to 5C while Willis and Elise were posted to 5A.  I was disappointed that the junior leaders were all split, as they were the ones I would be comfortable with besides Vera and Kristy. On the last day of school that year, we had a short orientation for our P5 classes. I took the chance to warn Elise.


    ¡°Next year, just watch out. If you feel Daniel is up to no good, watch out. Don¡¯t fall for his tricks. If you see him do anything bad, report him. You will meet this girl called Alicia. Befriend her. She is very nice. Oh and Jerome too. He is a junior leader.¡±


    Elise was sick of hearing my negative opinions about Daniel but she just agreed and told me that we could still meet at the staircase she carried out her recess duty at (she signed up for a recess duty slot nearing the end of the year). When we were gathering outside our new classes, I tried to make eye contact with Alicia, who had agreed with me earlier that she would signal to me Daniel¡¯s level position. On seeing me, she formed the number ¡®7¡¯ with her fingers, indicating Daniel was seventh in level. I promised myself that I would work harder in 2014, in academics and leadership.

 2014: It鈥檚 Hard to Differentiate Real from Fake, for Faces are Deceiving

    On the first day of school, Vera and I met up before proceeding to the assembly venue. At the venue, Jerome approached us.


    ¡°Sup,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh hi. You¡¯re in 5A?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Yes. 5B isn¡¯t too bad as long as you work hard. And your name is?¡± Jerome turned to Vera.


    ¡°Vera,¡± she replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jerome. So, how were the holidays?¡±


    ¡°The same old things. Studying, playing, hobbies and hanging out with siblings and friends,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Your brother is Elijah from 6A and your sister is called Rebecca?¡± Jerome queried.


    ¡°Yes! Your siblings told you?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Right. I have four older siblings and two younger ones, so there¡¯s seven of us.  What are your interests?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Astronomy. I want to be an astronomer. I love Geography a lot too.¡±


    ¡°What about you, Vera?¡± Jerome turned to Vera.


    ¡°I like to play Plants VS Zombies 2 and Minecraft,¡± she replied.


    At that moment, Jerome smiled and waved at someone. Within seconds, I heard a new (probably not) voice.


    ¡°Hey Jordan! Congrats for topping your class in Chinese last year!¡±


    It was Daniel.


    ¡°Er¡­how did you know?¡± I asked, still shocked by his sudden appearance.


    ¡°Willis told me just now. Have fun in class! I¡¯ll catch up with you later,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Top in Chinese? How? My Chinese has been so bad even though I attended a Chinese church all my life!¡± Jerome chuckled.


    ¡°I¡¯m from a Chinese church too. I just like the subject and study it a lot. I¡¯m sure you can do well if you study hard for it,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Yeah, alright I¡¯ll see both of you around! I¡¯ll talk to some new classmates,¡± Jerome said and went to join his classmates.


    While waiting for assembly to start, I chatted with Vera about how Jerome was a much nicer and less dangerous person than Daniel. Vera agreed to some extent, as from her own experience, Daniel did not make an effort to socialise with her. Overall, she did not see much difference between the two, besides Daniel being much more popular than Jerome. She then told me that she felt sad she was not chosen to be a junior leader because she could not take part in the relevant activities with me. That triggered a thought - why didn¡¯t Vera get nominated out of nearly 40 students in 4B the previous year?


    That thought made leadership seem like an even bigger grey area. Vera was very well-behaved, hardly got into trouble in class and was serious about her studies. Could it be her being too reserved which hindered her ability to lead?


    Recalling how Elijah mentioned that P5s who were not nominated as junior leaders in P4 could be nominated in P5, I told Vera to take up a leadership position in class. She said she would want to be the IT (Information Technology) Representative. As she was a shy person, she found initiating conversations with new classmates a challenge, but she said she would try to do it.


    There were two other junior leaders in 5B, namely Rayana Aliyeva and Wong Li Xuan. They already seemed to have friends in class so I had no chance to speak to them. Our seats were allocated according to registration number so I was separated from Vera. As her name began with ¡®Ang¡¯, her registration number was one, so she sat at the front right corner of the classroom. On the other hand, my registration number was 21 so I sat in between Sonia Lee and Thalia Siew.


    Sonia actually turned to me to say something, ¡°This teacher is so boring. She takes so long to think of an activity for us to do. I want to sleep.¡±


    ¡°I heard from my sister that she cannot control the class and keep it quiet, and our class is unusually quiet,¡± I whispered back.


    ¡°I think things are like this on the first day of school. Everybody just wants to sleep, stay at home and play their games,¡± Sonia groaned.


    ¡°Hear the noises coming from next door? That¡¯s not surprising at all because of people like Daniel Lim. He kept annoying my classmates last year and there is also a junior leader called Ethan who talks a lot,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ethan is not a junior leader anymore!¡± Sonia laughed. ¡°He didn¡¯t wear the junior leader uniform for quite a long time. I sort of know him because he is Jasmine¡¯s friend. They take the same school bus. Daniel is friends with Jasmine, I think. Both are in Band. I was in 4C last year and Daniel mostly talked to the Band people and his classmates in P2?¡±


    ¡°What do you think of him?¡± I enquired. ¡°And serves Ethan right.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t really know Daniel well but my classmates last year are quite good friends with him,¡± Sonia replied.


    I realised at that moment that I forgot about initiating talk with Thalia, who has been my classmate for the previous two years too, but I have yet to interact with her.


    ¡°Hey Thalia, what do you think about our new class?¡±


    Thalia just rolled her eyes and gave the gesture that our new class was average.


    ¡°Ah. How do you feel about entering P5?¡±


    She just shrugged. I decided to stop, as I was probably pushing her a bit too much. She stuck to her close friends most of the time, so I had no position to criticise that, since I spent most of my time in school with Vera and Kristy. Anyway, I felt Sonia was quite friendly and someone whom I could continue talking to. Before we were dismissed for recess that day, Vera came to my seat.


    ¡°My CCA friend wants us to sit with her later,¡± she said as we walked out of the classroom.


    ¡°What? You have a CCA friend in this class? I am the only one from Choir here,¡± I remarked.


    ¡°There are two others from Chess in our class. I am only friends with one of them. Today was so boring but I like how quiet the class was and how I don¡¯t need to talk to anyone,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°I wonder how new prefects are going to be chosen from our class,¡± I sighed. ¡°Thalia sits beside me but she doesn¡¯t want to talk to me. I can talk to Sonia. She¡¯s not bad.¡±


    ¡°So that means I have no chance. I already volunteered to be the IT Rep. If our teacher is still not happy with me that¡¯s it,¡± Vera grunted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give up. We have our English and Chinese teachers who can help to decide too, and don¡¯t forget your CCA teacher,¡± I assured Vera.


    At the cafeteria, Vera led me to the table where her CCA friend and another girl were. They were Joey Lam and Clarice Ng.


    ¡°Hi Jordan!¡± one of them chirped.


    ¡°Hello. If I remember correctly your name is Joey? And you are Clarice?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Right! You two can join us next time!¡± Joey said, bouncing.


    We settled down with our food and continued talking.


    ¡°It was so funny just now when our teacher said nothing when Joey introduced herself,¡± Clarice said laughing.


    Joey accidentally spat her food out on hearing that. ¡°And she was staring at the class list!¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s the joke about? I don¡¯t get it,¡± I questioned.


    ¡°I think I know,¡± Vera smirked.


    ¡°Yes, because it happened during CCA last year! The name you see on class lists is Lam Cho Yee. My Chinese name is Zu Er. My parents said it is Zouyi in Cantonese, so they just call me Joey,¡± Joey explained.


    ¡°Do both of you take Higher Chinese?¡± I questioned.


    Clarice shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to take an extra subject. I have a lot of swimming training. I have water polo and kayaking classes during weekends too.¡±


    Vera looked at me and shook her head.


    ¡°Can¡¯t relate,¡± I commented. ¡°I hardly exercise outside of PE lessons. You sound like you want to take part in the Olympics.¡±


    ¡°Yes I want to. My brother is training to be an Olympic water polo player,¡± Clarice replied.


    Soon, it was our Chinese lesson, which would be held in the 5A classroom. Vera and Huayi took Higher Chinese too. While waiting to enter the classroom, I bumped into Leo, who was the only one in his class, 5D, who took Higher Chinese.


    ¡°I can¡¯t take Foundation English with Higher Chinese. I checked with the teacher again and he wants me to take normal English,¡± Leo complained.


    ¡°Just work harder. We can help you,¡± I reassured him.


    ¡°Jordan, Daniel is taking Higher Chinese. Look, he is staying in his class,¡± Huayi told me with a smirk.


    I did not believe him at first, but when I looked into the class, my heart almost escaped from its original position...Daniel indeed stayed in class with his textbook on the table. My perfect eyesight asserted that the textbook was definitely the Higher Chinese textbook. Daniel was talking to a girl beside him.


    ¡°What? This can¡¯t happen!¡± I turned to Vera and Leo.


    ¡°You are still scared of Daniel now?¡± Leo asked.


    ¡°We already told you that Daniel is not a bad person,¡± Huayi said with an irritated tone. ¡°If you want to be stubborn we¡¯ll let you be. I can¡¯t help you anymore.¡±


    I saw Willis still in class with a few empty seats around him. The 5A seating arrangement was in groups, unlike my class where everyone was seated individually. Huayi was set on sitting with his other friends. I pointed at the seats beside Willis, signalling Vera and Leo to sit at those seats. When the non-Higher Chinese students left, we entered the classroom. Meanwhile, I made eye contact with Xuanyu, whispered to her to sit with us and she agreed.


    ¡°Hello! How¡¯s 5B? Willis asked Vera and me.


    ¡°It¡¯s so bad! I felt like sleeping the whole time!¡± Vera groaned.


    ¡°It will be better next time. 5A is really not bad, quite a fun class..¡± Willis replied, and I felt someone appear by our side.


    ¡°Hi!¡± It was actually Daniel.


    ¡°Hey! How¡¯s your drumming?¡± Leo asked him.


    ¡°Not bad so far. It¡¯s really fun! My sister is teaching me how to play the saxophone too! And you were learning the Cantonese songs?¡± Daniel said with his usual bubbly voice.


    ¡°Yes. I am learning songs by Faye Wong and Leon Lai, but mostly doing Art. I¡¯ve also been doing this cool thing called Rainbow Loom!¡± Leo replied.


    Why would Leo be so enthusiastic when talking to Daniel? Leo told me before that he got to know Daniel through his friend but they did not meet very frequently.


    ¡°And what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Daniel,¡± Daniel asked Vera.


    ¡°Vera,¡± she replied and gave me a weird smile.


    ¡°And here¡¯s our Chinese talent,¡± Daniel said while giving Xuanyu a light slap on her back. Xuanyu was trying to move over to sit with us.


    ¡°China Talent? My English is bad,¡± Xuanyu giggled.


    ¡°But it¡¯s not as bad as me!¡± Leo interrupted. ¡°I asked my teacher to give me Foundation but he said no.¡±


    Daniel left and went to talk to some other students.


    ¡°Er...where do you want me to sit?¡± Xuanyu asked with a confused look.


    I was sitting between Vera and Leo so I checked if Vera was fine with me switching seats with Leo so I could sit beside Xuanyu. She was, so I managed to sit beside Xuanyu.


    ¡°I want to know. How did Daniel manage to take Higher Chinese?¡± I whispered to Xuanyu.


    ¡°Because he likes it? And I think he got above 80 for Chinese?¡± Xuanyu seemed uncertain.


    ¡°What? He actually got above 80 for Chinese? I thought his Chinese is bad?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Our teacher said so last year. He asked me for help a lot, so I asked him to help with English,¡± Xuanyu laughed.


    ¡°No way, no way,¡± I muttered. ¡°Alicia was very sure his Chinese is bad.¡±


    ¡°Daniel is quite smart. He''s just too lazy to study Chinese,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    I was still recovering from the state of shock. I could not accept the fact that Daniel and I would have common Chinese lessons. During that first lesson as Higher Chinese students, I realised Daniel and quite a few of his classmates were quite participative, though Daniel was not the best of them. He was actually quite humorous and eloquent and would make everyone have a good laugh when he pronounced words wrongly or used words wrongly (I don''t know whether it was deliberate or not). Admittedly, I did laugh at some of those. I guess I understood what my friends meant by Daniel being a funny person. The issue was: what exactly made him get selected to be a junior leader? No one could give me a definite answer.


    After the lesson, Leo nudged me, ¡°You made Vera sit with your friend because of Xuanyu.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay,¡± Vera chuckled. ¡°They have important things to discuss.¡±


    ¡°Which is Daniel Lim,¡± Leo continued.


    ¡°Yes I need to know what he is like during Chinese,¡± I said. ¡°I forgot to ask you if you want to be a prefect. They are going to select more soon.¡±


    ¡°Me? A prefect? I''m doing too badly to be one!¡± Leo protested.


    ¡°What? Aren''t there junior leaders from 5F and G? If your teacher doesn''t select you because you do badly, that is stupid!¡± Xuanyu answered with a slightly raised voice.


    ¡°I want to be a prefect,¡± Vera groaned.


    ¡°No chance!¡± Leo teased. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask your parents to call your teacher and make her nominate you?¡±


    ¡°Are you for real? We should cheat like this!¡± I said.


    We left the classroom and bumped into Alicia.


    "Daniel takes Higher Chinese! How did he--"


    "Oh my, I''m so sorry! I didn''t know he actually made it in! I only saw his level position last year. I totally didn''t know he is taking Higher Chinese until today," Alicia apologised.


    ¡°He¡¯s quite funny during Chinese lessons!¡± Jerome added. ¡°I don¡¯t dare to answer questions that much because my Chinese is worse than his.¡±


    ¡°Er...he was funny,¡± I admitted.


    That was only the first lesson so I could not ascertain whether Daniel was genuinely a funny person or someone who was asking for trouble. The teacher did not seem annoyed with him and the noisy students. As for Vera, she was still very keen on being a prefect that year but was afraid that our teacher would not bother electing new candidates due her attitude then.


    On the second day of school, I needed to report for my morning duty. Vera usually came quite early, as she took the school bus. Sonia was there too.


    ¡°Do you usually come this early?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Yes, I take the school bus. I stay in Beachfront. Where do you stay?¡±


    ¡°The newer parts of Middletown. I take the train with my siblings. Do you know when Joey usually reaches school?¡±


    ¡°On the dot, I think.¡±


    ¡°Has she gotten caught by the prefects before?¡±


    ¡°I think so, why?¡±


    ¡°Do you know more junior leaders will be selected soon? I am thinking of encouraging more of us to be junior leaders. Vera wants to be one so she became the IT Rep to try out leading,¡± I explained to Sonia.


    ¡°No please. I can¡¯t lead. I am too quiet to control people,¡± she laughed.


    ¡°Ah. I can¡¯t force you. See you later!¡± I said and was about to leave for my buddy class.


    ¡°You are going for your duty now? So early? Li Xuan is still sitting there,¡± Sonia pointed out.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I smirked and left.


    At recess, I walked down with Vera again. We saw Joey walking and chatting incessantly with our Indian classmate Graham Stewart whom she sat near to. I told Vera about how I had the chance to get more information about Daniel if Graham sat with us because he was from 4A. We saw both of them and Clarice settling down at a table in the cafeteria. On seeing us, Joey waved and signalled us to go over. She said that Graham would join us from that day on. After getting our food, I was ready to ask Graham things regarding Daniel, but Vivian came to sit with us.


    ¡°Hello, can I join you guys today?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes yes,¡± Graham replied.


    I lost my train of thought, so instead of enquiring about Daniel, I asked the rest if they wanted to be prefects.


    ¡°Erm, you are not asking me right?¡± Vivian smirked.


    I did not know why I got so distracted at that point in time that I failed to remember that Vivian was actually a junior leader.


    ¡°In case you are wondering why I¡¯m here, I actually switched with Isabel so I will be in charge of latecomers now,¡± Vivian explained.


    ¡°What happened to Isabel?¡± Graham asked him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. She just wants to switch with me,¡± Vivian shrugged.


    ¡°And to answer your question Jordan, I don¡¯t want to be a prefect. I am so busy and tired,¡± Clarice complained.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care about these prefect stuff,¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Sonia said she doesn¡¯t want to be a prefect because she is quiet and cannot lead,¡± I told them.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t really talk a lot in class. She mostly talked to Milenka and some girl who went to 5C,¡± Joey clarified.


    ¡°You see here Jordan, I know you¡¯re concerned about how prefects are chosen. If the teachers told us exactly how prefects are chosen, don¡¯t you think there will be a lot of competition? Everybody¡¯s going to act according to the requirements and put on a nice show for the teachers, so nobody will know who is a true prefect and who is an actor,¡± Vivian explained.


    Graham applauded and said, ¡°Woah! That was good! Who told you that?¡±


    Vivian just winked.


    ¡°Is it Daniel Lim?¡± I asked.


    Vivian sighed, ¡°It¡¯s not important who said it.¡± He then whispered things to Graham.


    ¡°You are actually very curious about Daniel and want to know what he does all the time?¡± Graham asked me. ¡°He goes to the boarding house, so that is how he makes a lot of friends. He talks to everyone in class too. Vivian told me you always said he is annoying. I don¡¯t think he is. He¡¯s just outspoken and likes to crack jokes. In class and Band, he is very helpful and kind to everyone. He has a lot of good ideas for Teachers¡¯ Day and Christmas gifts. I think it¡¯s because his parents drag him out for a lot of volunteer work.¡±


    ¡°His parents didn¡¯t drag him! He told me he likes volunteering!¡± Vivian corrected Graham. ¡°And back to you Jordan, you really need to stop avoiding Daniel. You don¡¯t have to be friends with him, but just don¡¯t keep thinking he is a bad person. You are actually smart but you did worse than usual on purpose last year to avoid getting in 5A. That¡¯s not worth it.¡±


    ¡°Whereas I did badly because of performing arts,¡± Graham added.


    ¡°Oh! And someone is in the same performing art as you,¡± I said.


    ¡°Like what Vivian said, I think you should stop talking bad about Daniel,¡± Joey said.


    I gave up speaking. I did not want to waste my breath on arguing about Daniel anymore. I would always lose the argument anyway, thanks to the sheer number of people Daniel tricked. After eating, Vera and I went to meet Elise at the staircase she was doing her duty at.


    ¡°Hey! How¡¯s life?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Good! 5A is really fun, but I have to guard this staircase all by myself. Hope the P2s don¡¯t give me too many problems,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I help you after I am done with my food? Oh!¡± I turned to Vera. ¡°It¡¯s your chance!¡±


    Vera jumped. ¡°You are so right!¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your help. Vera, you want to help with prefect duties?¡± Elise asked.


    ¡°No, I want to be a prefect,¡± Vera clarified.


    ¡°Uhhh...let''s hope Mrs Edgeworth or Mr Sinnathamby sees us here,¡± Elise replied. ¡°How''s your new class?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what to say about it. I don''t really like it,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I see. 5A is quite a noisy class. Like you said, I did talk to Jerome and Alicia. The Alicia you were talking about is Alicia Tan right? She''s from Choir and close to Jerome. They are really fun to talk to. There''s also an Alicia Chng if you don''t know,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Alicia says she has a boyfriend,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ace? She is always with him. I haven''t heard anyone saying they are dating. Oh and I know you¡¯ll want to know more about how Daniel behaves. He''s quite friendly and nice to the newcomers. Many of the 4A students are quite friendly too. I feel the class spirit is quite good. We do cheers and set goals as a class.¡±


    ¡°If you say so, can Daniel really do all of those?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just him. There are others in class who lead all those. I know Jerome does quite a lot too. Alicia does sometimes,¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°Is there a very talkative guy called Ethan?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°Ethan Tay? There is an Ethan Johanan who is quiet so far but yes, Ethan Tay is very noisy. He¡¯s on suspension from his position according to Jerome,¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°Serves him right,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s already on suspension and still doesn¡¯t realise his mistake.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. He can¡¯t control his mouth. He comments on almost everything the teacher says. Daniel doesn¡¯t do that. Daniel has to tell him to shut his mouth sometimes. But Ethan is quite a nice guy too. He can lead and make the newcomers comfortable. I realised I can actually get along with him,¡± Elise spoke.


    I may never know how teachers elect junior leaders, but from Ethan¡¯s example, I know that one should behave responsibly on getting the position. It does not mean that one should act and portray a favourable image in front of the teachers just to get a leadership position, then behave however one wanted after the position is obtained.


    For the next three weeks, Vera and I helped Elise with overseeing the staircase she was stationed at. The job was not too difficult, as most of the P2s already accepted the fact that they could not go up to the classrooms before the end of recess. Vera was glad that she was able to help, even though Elise could actually manage mostly on her own. Furthermore, there were not many students waiting at the staircase every day, as quite a few of them would be with Daniel in the school garden. Apparently, Daniel would distract the P2s from misbehaving by telling them stories and explaining the various flora and fauna in the garden.


    The fourth week of school was a week full of suspense for Vera, as she would know whether she would be nominated by our teacher. Within those weeks, I saw improvement in her, as she took initiative to help the teachers whenever they encountered difficulties with the electronic equipment in class. She also did well in explaining to the P2s why they were not allowed to go back to the classrooms before recess ended, that was when Elise let her try explaining. However, Vera felt that our teacher did not really put her in her eyes, on top of the fact that she was still very shy and reserved. As such, she was not confident of being elected at all.


    One of the days in week four, Sylvia came up to me and said, ¡°Eng Soon  got the form.¡±


    I understood. Our teacher silently nominated our classmate Neo Eng Soon.


    ¡°Only him?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Sylvia replied. ¡°I only saw her holding one form, and Eng Soon got it.¡±


    I felt as if I was bamboozled. What did Eng Soon even do to get the nomination? I did not really pay much attention to his behaviour since P3. He was in the same seating group as me for a term in P3 but I noticed nothing significant about him. He was generally quiet and attentive. He did contribute well in group discussions and activities and was relatively patient when working with others. This description of him does fit Vera too, but the issue is that Eng Soon was never in the class committee since P3. He was in the Visual Art Club (Leo was in it too) and not any CCA which requires a lot of interaction with other students like the sports, uniformed groups and performing arts. Nonetheless, I decided to congratulate Eng Soon - perhaps the first time I would initiate an actual conversation with him.


    ¡°I heard you got nominated to be a prefect! Congratulations!¡± I told him.


    ¡°Thank you. Do you know when the installation ceremony is?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Week seven,¡± I replied. ¡°Your interview will be next week and the results will be out the following week. Were you told why you are chosen to be a prefect?¡±


    ¡°No. I just got the form this morning. I have no idea why the teachers chose me,¡± he replied.


    That was even more perplexing. It seemed as though our teacher nominated a new prefect by merely drawing lots. Vera was disappointed, but she already expected that she would not be nominated. The main thing that made her upset was that Eng Soon was nominated out of all students in class, as he did not stand out in terms of leadership qualities. I felt sorry for her too. However, she said it was good in a way, as she felt she would not like wearing a sleeveless dress every Monday to Thursday. On the other hand, Joey and Graham were happy for her, as they felt not being a prefect would mean a less busy lifestyle. I begged to differ, due to the fact that prefects hardly do much outside of their curriculum time. They do assist the teachers in maintaining order within the school, but have no influence on school culture and spirit.


    The following week had the interview sessions for the newly nominated P4 junior leaders and P5 prefects. I signed up to be one of the interviewers. I got accepted...was this a sign I would be promoted to a prefect too? I was quite relieved that I was not allocated to be in the same group of interviewers as Daniel. Despite that, he still found a way to talk to me.


    ¡°Hey Jordan! How¡¯s everything?¡±


    ¡°Good! How many of your classmates got nominated?¡± I decided to give a proper reply to play along.


    ¡°Three. Darren, Khairul and Cynthia. Darren is a Math genius. Really. How many are nominated in your class?¡±


    ¡°Just one, I don¡¯t even know what he did to get nominated.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...Eng Soon? I think the role of a prefect suits him.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°From what I observe he¡¯s quite respectful and will complete his tasks well. You will be interviewing the new P5s, I saw the list. I¡¯m interviewing the P4s.¡±


    How did Daniel get information about every single student in the level (maybe not as many as I thought)? Based on our conversation, Daniel did not delve into the details about Eng Soon¡¯s character so he probably knew him on the surface only. Anyway, it was not possible for Daniel to know every student thoroughly. I had to admit - Daniel was right when he said that being respectful and able to complete tasks well should be qualities a prefect should possess.


    I was allocated to be interviewers together with my classmate Li Xuan and two P6s. The interviewees were Darren Gore from 5A, Clarissa Yeo from 5C, Priscilla Collins from 5E and Rei Fujimoto from 5E. Li Xuan and I looked at the interview questions and rubrics. They made me very dissatisfied, as they were too shallow and only asking basic ideas such as why the interviewee thinks he or she deserved to be a prefect, his or her strengths and weaknesses and how he or she would carry out his role.


    I spoke to Li Xuan, ¡°The questions are not good enough. They need questions on how the Prefectorial Board should be improved, how the nomination should be improved and how prefects should actually contribute to the school besides just doing their duties.¡±


    ¡°Wow! Those are quite hard. I think they are for the teachers and not students,¡± Li Xuan chuckled.


    ¡°You want those questions in?¡± one of our P6 partners asked. ¡°If you¡¯re the school captain next year, you can try asking for those questions to be added in, but the final decision is made by the teachers.¡±


    The contest for the position of School Captain was obviously a popularity contest. It was a rigged selection process, where those prefects deemed more popular by the student masses and more favoured by the teachers would have the upperhand. The system was terribly flawed.


    Before the interview started, Clarissa asked me, ¡°Are you doing morning or recess duties?¡±


    ¡°Morning. I am a class buddy. Don¡¯t worry about your duty, the teachers should give you one that you like,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I want to help with the aquarium!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s quite nice to be there.¡±


    The interview began shortly. The P6s told me and Li Xuan to grade the interviewees leniently. I let Li Xuan do the final grading, as I did not trust that I would be as lenient as expected. All four interviewees fared well for the interview. Darren mentioned additional points on how his junior leader friends would want to help with the academic aspect of student life by mentoring the younger students. I had a feeling that was Daniel¡¯s idea, but it was indeed an excellent initiative and it answered my suggested question which I did not reveal to the interviewees. Clarissa was quite polite and maintained her enthusiasm throughout the interview. Priscilla talked about her experiences with class buddies when she was in lower primary which encouraged her to accept the offer. Rei pointed out her lack of confidence to be a leader and how her teacher was willing to give her the chance to improve her confidence.


    After the interview ended, I walked towards the train station with Li Xuan.


    ¡°Just asking, why did you think of those extra questions?¡± she enquired.


    ¡°A lot of things have been bothering me,¡± I explained. ¡°The Prefectorial Board is severely flawed, especially with how prefects are chosen. The biggest mistake made was nominating this person called Joseph Ezekiel Adams. I have friends who know he is not a good person but one who acts and threatens others to be popular. That was the biggest mistake, which caused him to be chosen to be the vice-captain later on and wreak havoc in school. I heard the prefects from his batch did not really have a good time under him, except those girls he liked.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I heard those too. My friends also ask me how prefects are chosen,¡± Li Xuan said.


    I sighed. ¡°Vera has been wanting to be a prefect. She volunteered to be the IT Rep and helped my friend out at Staircase 5 during recess to try out serving. And guess what? Eng Soon got nominated. I was his classmate since P3 and I totally can¡¯t tell why he got nominated.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know much about Eng Soon but I see he¡¯s well-behaved. Hope Vera is not too sad,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine. I told her that she does not need a leadership position to lead others in school, and that prefects don¡¯t really do much because the teachers do most of the leading work. Anyway, she doesn¡¯t like to wear this dress four days a week.¡±


    ¡°This dress is good! My sweat dries up really fast than when I am wearing a shirt with sleeves. Like Vera, I didn¡¯t like dresses without sleeves at first, now I quite like them.¡±


    ¡°Back to what we were talking about, someone from 5A got suspended from being a junior leader because he talked too much in class. He is quite friendly and can lead, but comments on everything the teacher says.¡±


    ¡°Heheh, that sounds like one of my classmates last year. She¡¯s quite naughty and will get into trouble very often. She¡¯s quite close to the Clarissa we interviewed just now. Do you know Mavis?¡±


    ¡°Oh so that¡¯s her name! I saw her getting scolded before. Clarice did mention her before. Do you remember what Darren said about how else prefects should contribute to the school? He was actually answering my suggested question! We should have boosted his score even more! I feel the idea of mentoring the juniors belongs to Daniel Lim.¡±


    ¡°Wow that guy! He talks to a lot of juniors. I was in the boarding house last year. His father is a parent volunteer and would bring us snacks he baked every week. He will play games, joke and sing songs for us with his guitar. I guess Daniel got influenced by his father a lot because I notice they behave pretty much the same way.¡±


    ¡°Let me ask you. Is Daniel really a good person? Does he deserve to be a prefect?¡±


    ¡°Why not? With his father¡¯s influence I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll dare to act in front of teachers. I¡¯d want to help out if he is starting the mentoring.¡±


    ¡°I want to do more to help the school too, but I¡¯m still very cautious about Daniel. People like him are probably going to be school captains automatically because they have everyone¡¯s support.¡±


    ¡°School captains are not chosen by how popular you are. I¡¯m quite sure, but you were so right today about how prefects don¡¯t actually do much to help the school.¡±


    That day was a fruitful one. It actually helped me to see the need for prefects to step up more even more clearly. Prefects cannot be students with enhanced portfolios for unknown reasons but contribute to the school as much as ordinary students.


    The next week was the week of true suspense, as the finalised list of P5 prefects would be released. It would be known whether the P5s recently interviewed would get their positions, and also whether the current junior leaders would be promoted to prefects. There were a handful who were not promoted, but fortunately, my friends and I were all promoted. The four interviewees got their positions too.


    During that meeting, there was a major reshuffling of duties, especially for the recess duties. There was no change to my duties. We got our new ties and badges, and had an individual photo-taking session for our pictures to be flashed on screen during the installation ceremony the coming week. For Elise, she got a new partner to help her with her staircase duty - Yong Kok Weng from 5D. He was good friends with Leo too.


    On the day of the installation ceremony, parents were invited. The ceremony took place in the school hall, but we were waiting in the auditorium before it started. I sat with some of my friends from 5A (it was fine because it was not time for me to get in position yet). I was in between Xuanyu and Elise, with Jerome in front of me and my classmates behind me. Daniel was some distance away so it would be unlikely that he could hear what we were saying.


    ¡°So guys, from next week onwards, we¡¯ll talk to all the other prefects about our plan. Agreed?¡± Jerome hollered.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we split the job? Daniel has a timeline for this right?¡± Willis asked.


    ¡°Yes that¡¯s an amazing idea,¡± Darren replied. ¡°We need the full namelist. I assume Daniel knows everyone¡¯s names-¡±


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s going on here?¡± I interrupted.


    ¡°Daniel and Jerome feel the prefects can do more than just their duties. They say the teachers will be very tired if the load of taking care of students is fully placed on them, so we are thinking of asking the other prefects how we can help,¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°Yup! We¡¯re gonna make this student-led as much as possible!¡± Jerome said.


    Why did that sound exactly like what I was thinking about the role of prefects? How did my thoughts get aligned with Daniel¡¯s?


    ¡°Oh! I remember now! Darren, you said something about that during the interview,¡± I said to Darren.


    ¡°On behalf of Jerome and Daniel, I forgot to say,¡± Darren laughed.


    ¡°Is Ethan helping us with advertising?¡± Elise asked and Xuanyu began to chuckle.


    ¡°Hmm...I trust him but do the other prefects trust him anymore? He was an imposter among us!¡± Jerome said sternly.


    ¡°Wow Jerome!¡± a girl laughed.


    I whispered to Xuanyu, ¡°Daniel is the imposter among us.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± she replied, giving me a weird look.


    ¡°I heard that Jordan,¡± Jerome smirked. ¡°So...should Ethan help us?¡±


    ¡°He was talking too much in class and got kicked out. Serves him right,¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s just half the story,¡± Jerome clarified. ¡°He was supposed to do his duty at the field last year but he was fooling around, which got him into trouble.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you help us? You seem very interested in helping,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°What¡¯s your phone number? We can communicate on Whatsapp,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a phone so you can send me via school email. Search for Lee Sheng En Jordan when you are finding my address,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I can help out too!¡± Vivian said from behind. ¡°I don¡¯t use Whatsapp too, so send the namelist to Ho Wei Ren Vivian.¡±


    ¡°But how are we going to tell everyone? Somebody can make an announcement now?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°Er...let¡¯s not steal the job from the teachers yet. Like what Daniel said, we have to get their approval before we start anything. We can ask everyone for their opinion first. No harm. If the response is good we can tell the teachers. Should I get the entire namelist from Tricia?¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Will she feel like we are leaving the P6s out?¡± Elise asked.


    ¡°I doubt they will want to help,¡± Jerome replied. ¡°Let¡¯s not give them additional pressure. My siblings say the P6 prefects shouldn¡¯t be very keen on such projects.¡±


    ¡°Good for us to include the P4s because we¡¯ll have more manpower, but it¡¯s a bad idea to overload them when they just get installed, you see. We have to integrate them first. That¡¯s why we need the entire level¡¯s help,¡± Darren explained.


    ¡°Wow! Nice one! You¡¯re so right! We need a wel-come par-ty!¡± Jerome said, while clapping his hands.


    ¡°So many things! We don¡¯t have so much money!¡± a girl said.


    ¡°Yeah...if we were supposed to have a welcome party, we should have planned weeks ago,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, you can¡¯t plan one on the spot. Don¡¯t scrap the idea. We can try having one. I think for the advertising, we can actually tell just one student from each class and they will help to inform the rest,¡± Willis suggested.


    ¡°Are you sure? The other classes are not bonded like ours. Jordan already said how divided 5B is. Even among the prefects of the same class, they may not talk to one another. The best thing to do is to split the job up among us. I¡¯ll talk to Tricia about it during the reception later and I¡¯ll try to get the name list with your assigned prefects sent to all of you by tonight, through Whatsapp or school email,¡± Jerome said.


    I was quite impressed with Jerome. He could lead a discussion so well. I silently wished I would be in the same class with that bunch of prefects, as they were so enthusiastic about serving the wider school community. However, that paled in comparison to wanting to stay in 5B for Vera and to avoid Daniel.


    Soon, we were asked to get ready to form our line to enter the hall. I was supposed to be standing beside Vivian. While scrambling for my position, I felt someone tap my elbow. I turned and saw Clarissa waving at me. What a polite person! I felt bad for not talking to her more so I decided that I would talk to her after the ceremony.


    There were light refreshments outside the hall. Mother was there talking to Sylvia¡¯s and Vivian¡¯s parents.


    I was chatting with Sylvia and Vivian when I heard Jerome shout, ¡°Uncle Jerome!¡±


    I was literally confused at that point in time.


    ¡°Hi Jerome! Congrats!¡± a man replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s Daniel¡¯s father. His name is Jerome too. He bought snacks for the band members and played games with us during our camp,¡± Vivian whispered to me.


    Meanwhile, I might or might not have heard Daniel saying this to his father: That¡¯s Jordan, Vivian and Sylvia. I might or might not have seen Daniel¡¯s father walking towards us. I might or might not have felt him shake my hand. I might or might not have heard him congratulating us. I might or might not have heard him offering to take a picture for the four of us.


    Sylvia slapped me. ¡°Stand here! We¡¯re taking a photo!¡±


    Daniel¡¯s father offered to take a picture for the four of us and Daniel was standing beside me! Daniel¡¯s father then greeted Mother and Sylvia¡¯s and Vivian¡¯s parents before chatting with them. I realised he was actually equally animated and lively while talking to people, just like Daniel. Li Xuan was right! It was soon time for us to return to our classes, so I had no chance to talk to Clarissa and congratulate her.


    That night, I checked my school email and actually received the namelist with allocations from Jerome.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 89.8527%">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    1


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Ariana Khine Minh Thant


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="12"> </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    2


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Daniel Lim Jia Jun


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    3


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Darren Wayne Gore


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    4


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Elise Wong Jing Wen


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    5


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Jerome Koh Wing Khuen


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    6


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Li Xuanyu


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    7


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Muhammad Khairul B Ahmad Ismail


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    8


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Nazreen Nandita Pranav Mahendra


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    9


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Png Cui Tiang Cynthia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    10


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Sim Jia Jie


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    11


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Tanaka Izumi


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    12


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5A


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Willis Chia Yi Heng


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    13


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5B


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Chew Huayi


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="2">


    Daniel


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    14


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5B


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Chisaka Sylvia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    15


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5B


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Ho Wei Ren Vivian


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="2"> </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    16


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5B


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Lee Sheng En Jordan


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    17


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5B


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Neo Eng Soon


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%">


    Daniel


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    18


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5B


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Rayana Aliyeva


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="4">


    Jerome


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    19


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5B


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Wong Li Xuan


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    20


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Clarissa Yeo Su Yin


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    21


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Goh Chin Eng Elliot


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    22


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Lim Xin Ying


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="3">


    Jia Jie


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    23


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Mohamed Irfan Bin Danish


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    24


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Poon Kok Keong


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    25


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Viktoriya Kozlovskaya


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="3">


    Vivian


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    26


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Wong Hui Wen


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    27


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5C


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Yap Xin Jie


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    28


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5D


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Elina Khachatourian


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="3">


    Elise


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    29


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5D


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Felicia Chua


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    30


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5D


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Lloyd Karimov


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    31


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5D


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Megan Teo Shan


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="3">


    Jordan


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    32


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5D


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Stuart Low Kay Poh


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    33


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5D


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Yong Kok Weng


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    34


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5E


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Chiam Guang Dao Joash


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="3">


    Xuanyu


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    35


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5E


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Elvin Chong


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    36


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5E


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Fujimoto Rei


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    37


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5E


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Priscilla Thirlynn Collins


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="3">


    Willis


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    38


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5F


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Ian Sean Tsakonas Zheng De


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    39


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5F


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Kamon Chanthahom


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    40


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5F


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Liew Xuan Ling Isabel


    </td>


    <td style="width: 14.7807%" rowspan="3">


    Darren


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    41


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5G


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Ler Wei Xuan Novan


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 5.62007%">


    42


    </td>


    <td style="width: 6.50995%">


    5G


    </td>


    <td style="width: 65.0007%">


    Nur Farah Mariam Bte Danial Irfan


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I was actually surprised Jerome allocated me to advertise to prefects I already knew. He actually knew me well, or was very observant of me. During recess the next day, I gathered Stuart and Megan to discuss the plan.


    ¡°The 5A prefects are thinking of ways to improve student life here and I agreed to help them publicise their plan. They feel the prefects should do more than their duties to help the school. I feel the same too. We want the rest of the P5 prefects to help us with this so I¡¯ve been appointed to ask both of you, and Kok Weng later, how you feel about this,¡± I told them.


    ¡°That¡¯s very nice of the person who started it and I want to help out,¡± Stuart replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure...I heard my friend from CO talking about it. I may not have time and my parents may not allow me to have extra duties in school,¡± Megan said.


    ¡°Alright, thanks for your responses. We¡¯re only studying the suggestion. I¡¯m not sure when this will actually start,¡± I said.


    Later, Jerome approached me. ¡°Daniel is very happy that you are willing to help us! How¡¯s the publicity going?¡±


    ¡°Stuart said yes but Megan is still unsure. I¡¯m going to Staircase 5 to ask Kok Weng later,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Ah that¡¯s nice! We don¡¯t need all to say yes. Staircase 5...Elise might have told him already, I don¡¯t know,¡± Jerome replied, then raised his eyebrow and pointed to someone behind me ¡ªDaniel. It turned out there was another prefect stationed at the school garden so he could take a toilet break.


    ¡°Thanks for your help man!¡± he said. ¡°We really appreciate it. Good news! Your classmates all agreed to help us!¡±


    ¡°No problem. I feel, as prefects, we should help the students and teachers out more,¡± I replied. Was I indirectly making Daniel my ally?


    ¡°That¡¯s so true. I give the credits to my parents. If not for them we wouldn¡¯t have learnt to look out for others more,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Your parents?¡± I was puzzled.


    ¡°His father is a parent volunteer,¡± Jerome explained. ¡°He would chat with us about our school life and show his concern. Quite an amazing dad.¡±


    ¡°My mum cares a lot about the school too, but sadly she can¡¯t afford the time to be a parent volunteer,¡± Daniel said. ¡°And before I forget, I talked to Tricia yesterday. She said our plan sounds tough, but not totally impossible. I can bring it up to Mrs Edgeworth soon. I bumped into Kok Keong from our Higher Chinese class just now and he said he can be part of the planning committee.¡±


    ¡°My brother can help us,¡± I said.


    ¡°And my siblings too!¡± Jerome added.


    ¡°That¡¯s nice but we don¡¯t want to reduce their PSLE preparation time. It is heartwarming that our P6s want to help, but we have to draw the boundaries between serving excessively and not sacrificing their studies. I might have said that PSLE is no big deal but it might be a big deal to a lot of our seniors...yeah. Worth brainstorming,¡± Daniel said.


    How reliable were Daniel¡¯s words? He did sound sincere about not bothering the P6s too much. As for what he said about PSLE not being a big deal to him, it was valid, since Rebecca often emphasised that PSLE is nothing compared to the O and A Levels. Like what my friends said, I should not be so stubborn regarding my stance on Daniel and instead try to understand him more, with our plan being my chance.


    As usual, Vera and I went to Staircase 5 to wait for the bell to ring.


    ¡°He knows about it,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Yes, she told me. The plan sounds cool and I am most likely able to help,¡± Kok Weng added.


    ¡°Argh! I haven¡¯t asked the three I am supposed to ask yet! I don¡¯t even know them!¡± Elise complained.


    ¡°Who?¡± Kok Weng asked.


    ¡°Elina, Felicia and Lloyd,¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°They are my classmates. Elina and Lloyd do recess duties too. We can ask them after we¡¯re done. I can ask Felicia for you,¡± Kok Weng said.


    ¡°I wonder why Jerome made the list, giving you names of prefects you don¡¯t know while I got names of prefects I know. Or was it Daniel who made it?¡± I said.


    ¡°Jerome, not Daniel. Tricia emailed the list to him and he just added the allocations on the right. He told me he¡¯s quite sure you know two of those he assigned you. He said we don¡¯t need to follow the allocations too strictly and we can swap if we want to talk to someone we know,¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°Anyway, I think I want to try conquering my fear of Daniel. I already volunteered to help you and your classmates so I want to try how it is like to work with Daniel,¡± I said.


    ¡°And I will keep you company, like I said,¡± Vera added.


    ¡°Err...we haven¡¯t decided whether non-prefects can help. Ethan wants to help a lot. I think he did talk to one of his prefect friends about it. We told him to be patient,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°He has a lot of energy. Sadly he got suspended and then kicked out,¡± Kok Weng said.


    ¡°You know him?¡± I asked Kok Weng.


    ¡°I¡¯m in Boys¡¯ Brigade too!¡± he replied. ¡°I know Jerome as well. Both are quite good leaders. The problem with Ethan is that he cannot control his mouth. I heard rumours that Jerome will be the Staff Sergeant next year.¡±


    A week later, Jerome approached me and my friends during recess.


    ¡°So, the final result is...yes!¡±


    ¡°Who said yes? The teacher?¡± I asked.


    ¡°More than half of the students said yes! We have decided to proceed with it but we do hope that all prefects can be involved-¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this extra prefect duty going on?¡± Graham interrupted. ¡°Is it to take away more study time?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not even a prefect so why do you care?¡± Joey asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°I¡¯m concerned! Sooner or later they will ask us to help and make our lives even busier!¡± Graham complained.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Graham, if we¡¯re involving non-prefects we won¡¯t make it compulsory. You can concentrate on your studies and piano. I know you indicated interest in helping, Vera. Thanks so much! We are still discussing how non-prefects can help. Mrs Edgeworth wants us to do a rough proposal. My older siblings in secondary school know what it is so they are formatting it for us. She didn¡¯t say no but she thinks we can¡¯t do it,¡± Jerome spoke.


    ¡°We can¡¯t do it? Because we are young?¡± I asked.


    Clarice laughed.¡°You may be right,¡± Jerome said with a smirk. ¡°But we must prove to them we can! My classmates were not very confident at first. Daniel said that we shouldn¡¯t let our young age stop us from doing good.¡±


    ¡°Precisely!¡± I replied.


    Graham turned to Vera. ¡°No, don¡¯t join that. If you are going to help them you will get below 200 for PSLE.¡±


    ¡°What did you just say? Helping us out won¡¯t make you do badly! I think you need to think about it, Graham. Band did not make you do badly. Look at Daniel, Darren Tan, and the other band members who are able to do well even though they are in Band,¡± Jerome said.


    Graham just flicked his hand repeatedly at Jerome.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Vivian? I need to tell him too,¡± Jerome continued.


    ¡°He got a new recess duty at the first floor classroom corridor,¡± I replied.


    After finishing our food, Vera and I walked through the school garden to Staircase 5. It had been a long time since we used that route and I wanted to try that route again, as I wanted to overcome my fear of Daniel.


    ¡°Hi Jordan! Hi Vera!¡± Daniel hollered.


    Before he could repeat whatever Jerome said, I decided to inform him about my awareness of the news.


    ¡°Hello, I heard we need to make a proposal and Jerome¡¯s older siblings are helping us,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yup. Elina!¡± Daniel called out to the other prefect, Elina Khachatourian, on duty. ¡°This is Jordan, and Vera. She wants to help us with our project too.¡±


    ¡°Oh hi! You are Leo¡¯s cousin right?¡± Elina asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not stand here. We should move around because we should still keep a lookout for any misbehaviour around here. Basically, we have to make our intentions clear. It is not to boost our portfolio or anything, but to improve the learning environment for the school and strengthen cohesion. We believe the students themselves know better what kind of schooling environment best suits them so we are negotiating with the teachers to let us have student-led initiatives to improve school life,¡± Daniel explained.


    ¡°Yes, and Jerome was saying the teachers think we cannot do it because we are young?¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question,¡± Daniel replied. ¡°We believe so, but there are other factors that will make our project challenging. There are quite a few of us who can¡¯t help for the moment - Farah, Joash, Xin Ying, Isabel; just to name a few. That makes our project exclusive in some way. They have a lot of concerns regarding time, parents and studies, the same applies for the teachers. What can overcome these obstacles is unity, something our school lacks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I have to say. It¡¯s definitely not easy,¡± I said.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Daniel yelled in the direction of the Pacu in the fish pond. ¡°Improving unity in school isn¡¯t easy right?¡± Daniel waited for a few seconds before turning back to us to say, ¡°Yup, it isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Daniel likes to do this with the P2s,¡± Elina said.


    I did not find that funny at all. How would they be amused by Daniel?


    ¡°Daniel!¡± a few P2s shouted.


    ¡°Your juniors are looking for you. We won¡¯t bother you. Bye!¡± I decided to end the conversation with Daniel there and left with Vera.


    I told Vera it was a bad idea to walk that route every day, as I would not want to meet Daniel on a daily basis. At that point, I recalled I had not congratulated Clarissa yet. Vera said she would wait for me at Staircase 5. Clarissa was stationed at the school aquarium, which was relatively near to Staircase 5. When I made eye contact with her, I waved at her, and she waved back. Before I could say anything, the bell rang - it was time to return to class. I bit my teeth in disappointment, which led to Clarissa laughing. She then waved at me again and I hurriedly went to find Vera.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Daniel created a Google document. He says we can meet online at 8 pm to discuss and do part of the proposal,¡± Elise told me before I went up the stairs.


    That night, the meeting amazingly took only an hour to complete. There were three new members in the planning committee - Nazreen, Ariana and Kok Keong. Daniel¡¯s instructions were very clear and the document was already well-formatted by Jerome before the meeting started. Daniel wanted to communicate via video call, but not all of us had the software, so we used the Google Drive chat.


    We decided on the objective - To promote unity and improve the learning environment of students. Daniel had also suggested having a bottom-up approach to some extent, where students would provide us with feedback about student life and what can possibly be done to improve it. The idea of having a welcome camp for the P4s was well approved by most of us. As our plan was not one-time, we decided to have multiple service learning (SL) projects open to non-prefects. To give more of us the chance to hone our coordinate skills, I suggested rotating the main prefects in charge of each project. Xuanyu suggested that we could create presentation slides and split up to present to each class in the school during the 30 minute administrative period every morning after assembly. Those were the main points we needed to submit to the teacher, on top of some project ideas.


    I was very amazed by how Daniel and his classmates could coordinate the discussion so well. He seemed to give the impression that he was passionate about the welfare of others. That led me to think about Joseph Adams, who did not initiate such SL projects as far as I knew. All he cared about was his own prestige. I was starting to see the distinction between the two, but I was uncertain whether Daniel was doing all these for prestige or because he genuinely cared for others. I just had to observe him more.


    The next morning, the prefect teachers-in-charge called for a meeting with the P5 prefects and P6 exco. They wanted us to explain our rationale for spearheading such a major project. Someone was supposed to give an explanation.


    Darren said, ¡°Daniel, you¡¯re the best speaker here and it¡¯s all your idea.¡±


    ¡°What is the purpose of a physical school? Since we have computers, why don''t the teacher just record all the lessons and post them online? Isn''t that very good? Nobody needs to go to school and we can all stay at home? You might like the idea, but how are you going to apply your life skills if you are just cooping yourself at home, absorbing knowledge like a sponge? We are humans. We need social interaction. We need one another''s support. That''s why we come to school. We can''t expect to learn all these skills through online lessons and boom! We apply them perfectly when we grow up and start working! Many students may not have the privilege of learning these skills effectively so the school is a very crucial place for them to learn and apply these skills. For this to happen, we need unity. Unity among students and unity among teachers and students. Name me a person who can master everything by himself....¡±


    There was no response.


    ¡°See? Nobody! Unity is plainly lacking in FRPS. We can''t have a cold school environment. Our school spirit needs to be lifted up. As prefects, we should not say ¡®Ha! Look at me! I''m a prefect!¡¯ We are here to assist the teachers in driving FRPS to a brighter future. Unity is a big step to that.¡± Daniel continued.


    A boy began cheering and applauding. Others followed.


    ¡°You¡¯re awesome!¡± Tricia, the school captain said. ¡°All these years nobody dared to step up to present such an idea to the teachers. I don¡¯t think Eunice did it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that please! Eunice has a heart too. She and our parents inspired me a lot. She wanted to do more but a lot of prefects objected. We should be thankful we have the opportunity to contribute,¡± Daniel replied.


    At that instant, I remembered who that Eunice was. She was my class buddy back in P1 and thereafter became the school captain in 2011. Many of my then classmates liked her a lot and would still maintain friendship with her until she graduated.


    It was my turn to speak. ¡°Our project cannot just take place once because we want the school to be improved for as long as possible. That means, we have to train the P4s later this year. Some suggestions of projects we can organise can include mentoring our juniors, writing encouragement notes for others during the exam season and even some that can extend to the community outside of school. To give each of us the chance to lead a project, we can have a rotation of project leaders.¡±


    ¡°We feel it would be easier to communicate with the P4s if we have more activities where we can work and have fun with them. It will be good to have a prefects bonding camp for P4s and 5s during the June holidays, so sorry P6s. If we do not have enough money to run a full camp, we can think of something else,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°Nazreen, do you want to give it a shot?¡± Daniel asked Nazreen, who just joined the planning committee.


    She nodded and began to speak. ¡°This project will have a...a¡­¡± She then looked at Daniel desperately.


    ¡°Bottom-up approach,¡± he whispered back.


    ¡°Bottom-up approach,¡± Nazreen continued. ¡°For the first few weeks of term two, we will go to each class to present our ideas and conduct a survey to find out what should be improved in the school. This is to help us plan the projects. Participation is open to non-prefects too but we hope all of us can help, whether or not we are in the planning committee.¡±


    ¡°That was a great one,¡± Daniel said, patting Nazreen¡¯s back.


    ¡°I¡¯m actually surprised you know ¡®bottom-up approach¡¯,¡± one of the teachers said.


    Stuart put up his hand. ¡°Can I join the planning committee?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes oh yes! Thank you!¡± Jerome exclaimed. ¡°Anyone else? You don¡¯t have to decide now!¡±


    No one responded.


    ¡°We can ask more teachers to help if you need,¡± one of the teachers said.


    ¡°That¡¯s nice but we feel all of you teachers have done so much for us and you really deserve to have your load lightened. We do appreciate your suggestions and feedback but we don¡¯t wish to make your lives busier. Instead, we hope to strengthen the teacher-student bonds, yeah,¡± Daniel explained.


    ¡°But can all of you really do it?¡± an exco prefect asked.


    ¡°If we say yes, feel free to take it with a pinch of salt. It is our vision and it doesn¡¯t mean it will be fulfilled,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Not to worry. For the presentations in classes, we can ask the P6s for volunteers to help out,¡± Tricia said.


    ¡°Oh yeah! If any of you cannot help out with presentations, please let us know, if not we will allocate every single one of you to a class. It will be done in pairs,¡± Vivian announced.


    Li Xuan whispered to me, ¡°Should I just not present? I can¡¯t speak well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not too good a speaker either. You can present with me,¡± I replied.


    ¡°We need an easy way to communicate and make announcements. Who doesn¡¯t have Whatsapp?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    A few of us put up our hands, including me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think all parents would want to give their kids a smartphone at this age, or even a phone,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xuanyu said. ¡°I don¡¯t have a phone too. Maybe we can use the school email and Google Sites?¡±


    ¡°That works. We can use Google Sites to post the announcements and plans,¡± Jerome said.


    While we were leaving the room after the meeting, someone tapped me on the back - it was Clarissa again.


    ¡°Oh hi! We meet again! I¡¯ve always wanted to say - congratulations for clearing your interview!¡± I said.


    ¡°Thank you! You guys are really awesome to think of these ideas!¡± Clarissa replied.


    ¡°Not me. Darren already said it during the interview. See you during recess!¡± I said and caught up with my classmates.


    Wow. Daniel actually raised so many valid points about the purpose of a school. He must have quoted his parents¡¯ words because they did not sound like what an eleven year old would say. I noticed he was quite encouraging and willing to give others the chance to speak, like Nazreen. However, I highly suspected that Daniel was doing all those to gain approval from the exco and teachers, just like Joseph Adams. It was not time to jump into conclusions yet, I just had to observe further.


    During recess, I went to look for Clarissa at the school aquarium.


    ¡°Hello! How¡¯s your duty?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Fun! It¡¯s nice to see everyone excited about the fish and other creatures!¡± she replied.


    ¡°Yes I¡¯m excited too, but can I ask why your teacher nominated you to be a prefect?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re so interested! I remember my teacher just said ¡®Good job!¡¯,¡± Clarissa replied.


    ¡°Yes I¡¯m interested. I don¡¯t know why. I feel there are flaws in how the school selects its prefects, same for the secondary school but that¡¯s a different story. The best example is Joseph Ezekiel Adams. He¡¯s totally fake and nasty. My senior says he bribed a lot of students to cover up the bad things he did. Even in secondary school he cheated people for money. Oh yes, he was dating a girl called Geraldine in P4 and broke up with her because he did not want their relationship to affect his chance to be the Vice Captain. I don¡¯t know why the teachers were so blind to select him! Never mind, that was a bit rude, but you get what I mean right? I want to talk about Daniel Lim. He seems good and looks like a good leader but I¡¯m very afraid he will be the next Joseph. Everyone says I¡¯m thinking too much. I have decided to try getting to know him better. I have to admit - he didn¡¯t do anything bad to me.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s okay. I heard things about you and that you¡¯re quite special,¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°In what way?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You like to say funny things about Daniel, Viktoriya told me-¡±


    ¡°Funny? I wasn¡¯t kidding when I said Daniel is dangerous!¡± I protested.


    Clarissa giggled. ¡°We all laugh at your Daniel jokes and how you like to tell people to watch out for him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually quite sick of telling everyone those but I felt I needed to tell. I want to surrender. Everyone just disagrees with me,¡± I said.


    ¡°You can tell me! I want to hear them!¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°Nothing too interesting for now. What I can think of is the project a bunch of us are planning. Remember the huge chunk of words Daniel said this morning? His parents are probably helping him to be the next school captain in secret. There was once he was talking to me and my friend in the garden about the purpose of the project. He said that there are a lot of challenges we will face but unity will solve the problem, along those lines.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He must love the school a lot for him to start this project. I know you guys feel the teachers do everything and you want to lighten their burden?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. Come! Join our committee!¡±


    ¡°Should I? Do you guys stay back a lot?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not confirmed. I think we will be notified of committee meetings via the Google Site so anyone can see them. Some of us don¡¯t have phones so all announcements should be made there. Think about it. You don¡¯t have to join us now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take part but I¡¯m not sure whether I¡¯ll join the committee.¡±


    It was a nice recess talking to Clarissa. She and her classmates took my complaints about Daniel as jokes. Was that a compliment? I was indeed very tired of warning everyone about Daniel, but I felt I should continue telling Clarissa about Daniel, since she found it funny. Without a doubt, I was still set on conquering my fear of Daniel.


    That evening, Jerome created the Google Site and there was already an announcement asking the committee members to fill up a Google Form. We were supposed to indicate our mode of transport back home after school, whether we attend afternoon supplementary classes, whether we have CCA sessions on other days aside from Friday as well as our preferred mode of discussion.


    Over the weekend, Xuanyu posted an announcement which mentioned that the best possible times for physical meetings would be during the lunch break after normal dismissal before supplementary lessons every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. We would not be required to carry out our duties during those timings.


    The coming Monday, we had the meeting during our lunch break. Vivian and I were dismissed first so we managed to get seats in the cafeteria with our food. When we returned to the seats, some of the 5A prefects had just arrived.


    ¡°Hello! You two are quite early! Thanks for finding seats for us!¡± a girl said.


    ¡°No problem. You are Jia Jie?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yup! Is everyone here? Oh wait, where¡¯s Kok Keong?¡± she said.


    ¡°Kok Keong is right there queuing up. I¡¯ll call him,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Who¡¯s not here today?¡± Vivian enquired.


    ¡°Darren!¡± Jerome replied. ¡°He¡¯s too smart so he doesn¡¯t need supplementary.¡±


    ¡°Smart Jerome! Darren was always excused from Monday supplementary because he doesn¡¯t take Mother Tongue!¡± Jia Jie laughed. ¡°But Xuanyu still comes even though she doesn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Erm...wasn¡¯t supplementary always compulsory especially for Higher Chinese? Anyway nobody in our class got excused and my parents will be too lazy to write an excuse letter,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Ariana left too right?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± Ariana replied.


    ¡°Oh man I¡¯m so sorry! Thanks for staying back!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not taking the school bus so I can stay,¡± she said.


    ¡°Such passion and dedication! Keep it up Ariana!¡± Daniel came back with Kok Keong, holding their food.


    That day, we were supposed to confirm the list of P5 prefects who would be doing the presentations in different classes the next term as well as discuss the feasibility of a welcome camp for the P4s.


    Jia Jie opened her laptop and said, ¡°So far, we have Novan, Rayana, Felicia, Lloyd, Joash and Isabel who do not want to present. Anyone knows of more?¡±


    ¡°Rayana is just unsure. She didn¡¯t say she doesn¡¯t want. I will check with her again,¡± Vivian replied.


    ¡°Okay, is that all?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    No one said anything.


    ¡°If not, did any prefect voice any concern?¡± she asked again.


    I replied, ¡°Pair Li Xuan with me please. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Hui Wen and Xin Ying want to be together,¡± Daniel added.


    ¡°Xin Ying doesn¡¯t want to take part in our projects,¡± Kok Keong pointed out.


    ¡°She¡¯ll just need to help with the presentation because there are so many classes. To make it clearer, this round of asking is different from the previous round. Those who cannot take part in our projects have to present if possible because the presentation will take place during admin time in the morning,¡± Jia Jie clarified.


    Jerome then volunteered to create a Google Presentation to give all P5 prefects the chance to contribute to the contents of the presentation. We would finish the slides within a week and spend a couple of mornings the next week running through what to say during the presentation.


    ¡°We only have a little bit more time before we round up. So, we can talk a bit about our welcome camp. Just asking, did any of you talk to the P4s about it?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°Daniel and I did tell some of our P4 Band juniors,¡± Vivian replied.


    ¡°We did tell the CO people right?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°Yes! Never mind. We¡¯re not asking the P4s like that, but we need to know what to say to them. There are many other considerations like the duration of the camp, whether we need trainers from elsewhere and so on,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°We can have a meeting with them next week and ask them to fill up a Google Form which we can post on our website,¡± Ariana suggested.


    ¡°Of course, and we¡¯ll talk more about that tomorrow? Should we have a meeting tomorrow?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°We might as well use the time to bond. Only Darren won¡¯t come tomorrow for sure,¡± Jerome replied.


    ¡°Wait a minute guys!¡± Daniel said. ¡°I think someone¡¯s missing...Stuart!¡±


    ¡°Was there a Stuart in our committee? I don¡¯t know anyone called Stuart,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°I just remembered he asked to join. He did not excuse himself from Chinese supplementary so he should still be in school. I¡¯ll check with him later on the way up,¡± I said.


    Daniel said, ¡°Well done Jia Jie! Ariana, you gotta germinate that seed!¡±


    What exactly was Daniel talking about? I did notice that Daniel was unusually quiet during the discussion, same for Jerome. Him complimenting Jia Jie could mean he appointed her to lead the discussion. He actually gave others the chance to lead. That could be a good quality of him, as I remembered during the leadership training course the previous year that leaders should try to give others the chance to step up instead of getting everything done by themselves.


    On my way up to my Chinese class, I saw Stuart waiting outside his classroom. I instantly asked him why he was not at the meeting.


    ¡°There was a meeting? They didn¡¯t announce it this morning,¡± he replied.


    ¡°It was posted on the Google site. The same website where you did the Google form about committee meetings,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh no I didn¡¯t do the survey! I forgot all about the website!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. They are not angry with you. Just come tomorrow during this same lunch break. We should have the meetings every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday before supplementary.¡±


    The next day, I understood what Daniel meant by Ariana germinating the seed - Ariana would lead the second meeting. We had nothing much to discuss that day. We decided on several options for the welcome camp. The P4s could indicate whether they wanted to stay over during the camp as well as their preferred activities. Jerome also shared the presentation slides for the publicity of our mega plan and told us to start working on it.


    Contrary to what we expected, hardly any of the non-committee members contributed to the presentation. That Thursday, Willis said I contributed to the slides the most and should conduct the briefing on behalf of the committee to the teachers, the P6 exco and the other P5 prefects. Most of the other committee members agreed, even Daniel. I was quite lost at the moment. I did not know how to go about conducting a briefing. Daniel assured me that the teachers would not put pressure on me and I should just be myself and talk as if I am talking to friends. I begged to differ. It was easy for him to say that, since he was friends with everyone.


    I got home and stared at the presentation slides. What was I supposed to do? I could not deliver a slipshod briefing. I had already paired up with Li Xuan and told her that I would guide her during our presentation to the classes. I would be contradicting myself if I did a bad job and gave her the impression that I was unreliable. I was very confused at the moment. I had no idea what to do. I gave up, picked up my bass and continued practising the song I was learning most recently - We¡¯re An American Band.


    The next Monday was the start of the last week of term one and I totally did not prepare for the briefing - all the best to me. Before I started speaking, I looked around the room, hoping the prefects would give me some form of encouragement. Weirdly, I began to open my mouth upon seeing Daniel nod his head.


    ¡°Good morning to you, teachers, P6 exco and P5s. I will be running through the slides we created and what we can say to the classes we¡¯ll be presenting to next term. If you have any questions, you can put up your hand and ask. For those who are helping to present next term, thank you, and you will be paired with someone else. We tried to pair non-committee members with committee members and the exco so the presentation can be done more easily. We will show you the pairs and the classes you are assigned too later. If you can¡¯t remember...that¡¯s okay.¡±


    Some of the prefects began giggling. I was actually proud of my performance so far. I doubt I fared that badly. What was wrong with including some (accidental) humour in my briefing?


    ¡°Because we¡¯ll upload the list on our website. Firstly, you will need to tell the class what our mega project is all about. We feel a school is not just a place to study, but a place to connect with students and teachers, and to strengthen the community spirit. Then, we will tell them how our project will address the concerns of the students and teachers in the school and how we can try our best to help.¡±


    The first content slide went well. I hoped I would not mess up the next slide.


    ¡°Over here, we will tell them some examples of areas that can be improved and what they can give feedback on¡­¡±


    I had no idea what else to say for that slide, as it was merely listing the examples. I looked around. Stuart was smiling at me. Sylvia was smiling at me. Viktoriya was smiling at me. Elise was smiling at me. Xuanyu was smiling at me. Clarissa was smiling at me. Soon, laughter spread throughout the room, including mine.


    ¡°Dude! Do you know you were moving your hand up and down the whole time? We can see the examples!¡± Huayi pointed out.


    I had totally no clue that my hand was still moving up and down even though I had finished speaking for that slide. What a laughing stock! At that point, I could not control my laughter. Not even the teacher could stop me from laughing.


    ¡°Guys! Stop! Let him continue!¡± Jerome hollered.


    The laughter hardly subsided.


    ¡°Do you want me to take over?¡± Jia Jie asked, while I was still laughing.


    ¡°Sing a song for us!¡± Stuart said.


    That seemed to work, because I immediately began singing.


    ¡°Out on the road for forty days


    Last night in Little Rock, put me in a haze


    Sweet, sweet Connie was doin'' her act


    She had the whole show and that''s a natural fact


    Up all night with Freddie King


    I got to tell you, poker''s his thing


    Booze and ladies, keep me right


    As long as we can make it to the show tonight


    We''re an American band


    We''re an American band-¡±


    ¡°Stop! I didn¡¯t know you like those dinosaur bands!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Hey that¡¯s mean!¡± Daniel answered back. ¡°It¡¯s okay Jordan! Is that Grand Funk Railroad? Your taste is good. You should start your rock band soon. Guys! Settle down! Let him continue!¡±


    I finally settled down and tried to recall what I needed to say next.


    ¡°Next, we will tell them that we cannot just limit the community building to within the school, but outside the school too. To keep things simple, we can encourage them to think of how we can contribute to Lakeridge districts such as Hyacinth, where our school is and Gentian, a nearby district. After this, we can let the teachers take over. They will help to collect ideas and feedback from their students. I think that¡¯s all from me. Anything else from the other committee members?¡±


    Daniel stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s give a round of applause to Jordan!¡±


    Why would Daniel say that when I obviously messed up?


    ¡°Erm...I mean, did I miss out any points?¡± I clarified after the applause died down.


    ¡°To add on to what Jordan said, I feel some students might be shy to share their feedback in front of everyone, so can we have a box where students can drop their feedback in,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s gonna mess with it,¡± Kok Keong pointed out.


    ¡°Maybe we can get a cover, cut a hole and tape the cover to the box?¡± Xuanyu suggested.


    ¡°Absolutely, the box can stay there until it is full. We can¡¯t be going into classes to collect feedback every week,¡± Jerome said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Good points raised,¡± Daniel said. ¡°I think we should take note of some etiquette when we are presenting and facilitating in each class. It is good to encourage our schoolmates to give their views, but we shouldn¡¯t go to the extent of forcing them to do so. The harsh reality is that not everyone can look beyond themselves, so we can¡¯t make it compulsory to make them identify areas of improvement either. We want a genuine uplifting of our school spirit and not one which is done for the sake of it.¡±


    ¡°And one more thing! Work with your partner on a script you can use next term, so you won¡¯t have a terrible presentation like mine!¡± I gave a final reminder.


    Before I knew it, the meeting had ended. I instantaneously made my way beside Li Xuan.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have let you trust me. I did such a bad job today because I didn¡¯t prepare at all,¡± I said.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t prepare? It sounded like you did. Don¡¯t worry, I still trust you,¡± Li Xuan replied.


    My classmate Rayana joined in the conversation. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad!¡±


    ¡°You dare to present without preparing. Can¡¯t relate man,¡± Sylvia said.


    ¡°Are you coming for the Math Olympiad next week?¡± Darren asked me.


    ¡°No. No point going for such things, and you should know if you didn¡¯t see me at the training sessions,¡± I replied.


    ¡°We participate for the fun of it! For the excitement! School is not just preparing for PSLE!¡± Daniel said.


    Had Daniel gone mad? How would one find a Math Olympiad exciting? Being unable to do most of the questions and wondering whether they are answered correctly is definitely not exciting. Anyway, I was shocked that Daniel defended me when Jia Jie said I like ¡®dinosaur¡¯ bands (I knew Jia Jie had no intention to insult me). I was actually glad he knew the song I sang was by Grand Funk Railroad, which made him seem like someone I could talk to about music. With that and him asking everyone to give me a round of applause after my briefing, my impression of him was starting to improve, but I decided to stay wary.


    That recess, I looked for Clarissa again.


    ¡°I messed up this morning so badly!¡± I told her with a chuckle.


    ¡°No no no! It was real fun!¡± she replied, laughing too.


    ¡°I was supposed to prepare for this morning, but I didn¡¯t. Last week, I just stared at the slides. I didn¡¯t know what to do, so I gave up and hoped I would somehow know what to do. I just continued practising the bass afterwards.¡±


    ¡°What song are you learning?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re An American Band by Grand Funk Railroad, the one I sang just now.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That was funny! When you were asked to sing you really sang! And you are a good singer!¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m in the Choir. Did you hear what Daniel said? He said I should start a rock band.¡±


    ¡°You should!¡±


    ¡°My brother plays the keyboards. My sister plays the guitar. They love singing too but they are probably too busy. My cousin plays the drums but he wants to focus on Art. We are so bad at English that we probably can¡¯t write our own songs. I feel like writing a song after PSLE. Do you play any instruments?¡±


    ¡°No! I look at music scores and I want to die! Music lessons are death for me! But I like hearing music.¡±


    ¡°I see. Before I forget, Daniel said something weird to me after the meeting. He said that he participates in the Math Olympiad for the excitement. Has he gone crazy? How is doing tough Math papers exciting? They make you rage and lose your sanity!¡±


    ¡°Right! I hate doing Math so much! But anyway, I saw that Daniel was quite encouraging to you just now. He cares about you.¡±


    I sang two lines of a song. ¡°Nan fan zan yu ga, yan min do him ja.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s from a Cantonese song. It means it¡¯s hard to differentiate real from fake, for faces are deceiving.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I don¡¯t know Cantonese. My father is Hokkien and my mother is Japanese. All we speak is English.¡±


    ¡°Do you plan to learn Japanese?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! Learning English and Chinese is already killing me! Why do you think Daniel is fake?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t confirm he is. What I mean is you can¡¯t tell what a person is like but just looking at him. You need to study the person carefully.¡±


    That afternoon, we had another meeting. It was headed by Elise regarding the prefects camp. We were undecided whether we would still participate in the joint training programme with FRSS and FRJC because having an additional camp would take up a lot of time. Daniel pointed out that having a prefects camp would be essential, since we should focus on bonding with other prefects within the primary school first. Jerome mentioned that just like 5A, the prefects should have a set of cheers. Willis pointed out that there should be school cheers as well. We agreed that we could write the cheers together with the P4s during the camp.


    During the meeting with the P6 exco, P5s and P4s on Wednesday, we got to see Darren shine. Many of the P4s were quite enthusiastic about the idea of a camp, but their main concern was the date, as they wanted to keep the dates for the camp free. There were several suggestions, which included an islandwide treasure hunt, obstacle course, hiking, a picnic at the beach as well as board games. Darren was so encouraged by the zeal of the P4s that he went on giving a brief outline of our mega project. The teachers commented that they were quite glad to see the prefects in my batch being so passionate about serving the school and the wider community. They said that the P4s should learn from us.


    That made me ponder. Did Joseph Adams even bother to make use of serving others to boost his prestige? He did not. The more I observed, the more it dawned on me that Daniel was not really boosting his prestige explicitly, which was suspicious. He could be making use of his ability to divide manpower to flaunt his leadership skills, which made him a manipulative person. Again, I decided to wait and observe still.


    Over the remaining days of the week, Li Xuan and I made use of our evenings to craft our script for our presentation for the next term. The plan was that we would make use of the full March holidays to rehearse our lines and be fully prepared by the first Tuesday of the second term, which was when we would present to our first class. However, I discovered a challenge - presenting words from a memorised script reduced flexibility and hindered improvisation. That made Daniel¡¯s advice on making a presentation as if I was talking to friends make more sense, but both were definitely different and cannot be approached in the same manner. I consulted my siblings. Rebecca believed what Daniel meant was that I should speak comfortably, just like how I spoke to friends, and not robotically follow a script. I decided to remember the key points only and be more flexible when speaking.


    Anyway, my friends said I did a good job for the briefing I did not even prepare for, so that gave me some confidence. My worry was Li Xuan. She had put in effort in trying to practise so it was not nice for me to drop her a comment, telling her to practise presenting in a more flexible manner. I just had to wait until the day itself before I could see how it turned out.


    For the first Tuesday of Term Two, Li Xuan and I were supposed to present to a P2 class.


    ¡°I have to say this. When I was trying to practise with the memorised script in mind, I had a hard time-¡± I said and was interrupted.


    ¡°Same! I kept messing up! Argh!¡± Li Xuan grumbled.


    ¡°Before we enter. I have to say this one thing. If you can, don¡¯t follow the script word for word. If you mess up later, you will have a hard time clearing the mess, so if you can, use your own words. One more, if you think of something interesting, just say it.¡±


    Li Xuan did not reply. I could hear her heavy breathing. Well, the teacher should know we are only around eleven years of age and unable to present like a professional. We entered the class, set up the presentation slides and got ready.


    It was my turn first. ¡°Good morning teachers and fellow students, my name is Jordan.¡±


    ¡°And I am Li Xuan.¡±


    ¡°We are prefects from the P5 level and we are here to present to you The Mega FR Project. The name of this project sounds lame as of now, but we can accept suggestions for better names along the way. On the whole, this project will aim to improve the learning environment in school and unity among students and teachers.¡±


    ¡°Before we talk about the project, we have a question for you to think about - what is the purpose of coming to school?¡±


    Li Xuan and I decided that she would ask that question to get the ball rolling. Little did we expect that the P2s answered the question out loud instead of just thinking. The answers we heard were quite similar, along the lines of learning and making friends.


    I said, ¡°Yes. You are right, but is that all?¡±


    There was no response, so I gestured at Li Xuan to continue.


    ¡°A school is not just a place for education. It¡¯s where we build relationships and learn valuable lessons which will greatly help us in life, so it is important that the school environment is suitable for those. Your experience in school will not be fun if everyone is minding their own business. Imagine you are struggling with a Math question and there is no one you can ask for help. I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t want that to happen. We hope to work together with all of you to make FRPS an awesome place to learn and grow.¡±


    ¡°So, how will we be doing that? We will be accepting feedback from all of you and we will try our best to work with you to address your concerns. Here are some areas you can give feedback on. First, academics. You don¡¯t have to give me your answers now. There will be time for that later, don¡¯t worry. How are you coping with your studies? Do you find yourself struggling? Do you feel that you are unable to complete your homework? Do you feel that you cannot improve even though you are working very hard? Second, school facilities. How can the students behave better in the library? The cafeteria? The school garden? Is there too much littering and vandalism? Third, school spirit. How do you feel being part of this school? Is school life fun enough? Do you enjoy interacting with your schoolmates and staff?¡±


    ¡°We hope that we will not only build community within the school, but also outside of the school. We learn how to build relationships and care for others in school. When we graduate from school in future we will not have teachers to guide us in doing so, so we feel it is good to start looking beyond ourselves from a young age. You can inform us of any issues you see outside of the school in Lakeridge and we will see if we can solve them together. Some issues you can suggest are pollution and lack of community spirit. Teachers, you can feel free to take over and help with the collection of feedback and suggestions. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, a couple more points. We¡¯re not forcing you to give your suggestions now. We¡¯ll leave a box outside the staff room for you to drop anything you want to tell us. You can do so via the online portal too. We can¡¯t accept feedback like ¡®This teacher is bad, please fire him or her¡¯ or ¡®The cafeteria is too dirty, please hire more cleaners or make them work longer hours¡¯. Those are just mean and totally not the point of our project. We want to make the school a better place, so please don¡¯t say those.¡±


    One of the teachers asked, ¡°Do we write the suggestions on the board or key them online?¡±


    ¡°A piece of paper will do,¡± I replied. ¡°You can use the visualiser. We are not using the computer anymore.¡±


    The class was not very proactive, but that was not an issue, as we did not expect immediate answers. There were a few students who wanted more breaks and PE lessons, as well as some who complained about the stressful workload and needing to juggle other commitments outside of school.


    ¡°You can feel free to give feedback on those, but we can¡¯t ensure that we can address everything. We are students too. We¡¯re not the government or principal so we cannot do things like changing the timetable. You can still tell us about that because we want to know how you feel, but, let me say again, do not give offensive feedback on the staff and students in the school,¡± I said.


    Before I knew it, our first presentation ended.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I should have let you speak more. The part on the box and online portal was supposed to be yours,¡± I said to Li Xuan.


    ¡°It was scary! It would be scarier if you let me speak more! I think you added more to your script!¡± she replied.


    ¡°I did? They just came to me, I guess.¡±


    ¡°You were good! How do you actually present so well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m definitely not the best. Look at those in 5A. What I do to force myself to present well is thinking of Daniel. I think about how his speaking skills are so good, get jealous, and force myself to be good. I don¡¯t really present much but that was what I was doing when practising at home.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you like to compete with others!¡± someone said from behind. It was Kok Keong.


    ¡°Uh...you heard other things about me?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°A lot! I know you always talk bad about Daniel. I notice you always gossip about him with Xuanyu, Willis, Leo and Vera during Chinese lessons,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t accuse me of always talking bad about him. I don¡¯t talk bad about him during Chinese lessons that much now. You know what? I seriously give up because all of you won¡¯t believe he is bad and I am starting to see the good side of him more. Right now my plan is to just observe him and try to figure out why all of you think he is so good. Anyway, how was your presentation?¡±


    ¡°Weird, the kids were saying things like the school bus driver is too slow and the cafeteria queues are too long. How are we supposed to solve those?¡± Kok Keong complained. ¡°And, you¡¯ll understand why Daniel is good one day!¡±


    ¡°Fine! Anyway, I told the class that we are not the government or principal so there are things we can¡¯t help with, but they can still tell us how they feel,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Woah!¡± Kok Keong explained. ¡°There were some of them who complained about students from other classes. They gave names!¡±


    ¡°Not surprising at all. I told the class not to give mean feedback about people in the school, because it doesn¡¯t help in reaching our goal,¡± I said.


    ¡°What? That¡¯s smart of you! Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Li Xuan interjected.


    ¡°Oh, my sister was sitting beside me when I was writing the script,¡± I explained.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I saw the mean feedback stuff in the script,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Was it not? It may not be my sister. It could be her friend. We were talking about the project last week when we went out,¡± I said.


    ¡°You and Daniel must be related. You two are probably cousins who didn¡¯t grow up together. Both of you seem to have the same thoughts,¡± Kok Keong pointed out.


    Why did Kok Keong¡¯s words make so much sense? I highly doubted that Daniel and I were smart and mature at the age of eleven. What could explain the similarity was possibly our upbringing and influence from siblings (thumbs up to parents who have raised their children well). In addition, Daniel liked songs I listened to. I just found myself discovering more things in common with him.


    That day during lunch, we had no official committee meeting, but a few of us gathered to eat.


    ¡°So how was today?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°4B wants supplementary to be cancelled,¡± Elise said with a chuckle.


    ¡°3F said that too,¡± Nazreen added.


    ¡°1C was a bit quiet, so Priscilla and I got them to play a game. They were supposed to draw something or someone that would first come to their mind when they think of FRPS. Then, Priscilla and I picked a few students to share with the class what they drew and their thoughts about it, inclusive of areas for improvement,¡± Daniel explained.


    ¡°That¡¯s cool. We should do that for every class tomorrow,¡± Xuanyu suggested. ¡°Where did you get the idea from?¡±


    ¡°The childcare centre I volunteer at,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good way to get the P1s and P2s interested but I think it won¡¯t work for the older ones,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Totally,¡± Daniel replied. ¡°What we can do for the older classes is tell them stories of our experiences at the various school facilities or the neighbourhood, if applicable. We don¡¯t have to get answers during that half an hour. If we finish presenting early we can just talk to them about life and so on so they won¡¯t feel pressured.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s some community spirit there!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Alright, I think we must address something. Kok Keong told me that the class he presented to said things like the school bus driver is too slow and the canteen queues are too long. We can allow them to give such feedback so we know how they feel about what¡¯s going on in school. But, we have to tell them we are neither the government nor the principal, so we can¡¯t address every single concern. What is unacceptable is the students giving nasty comments about other students and staff. We can¡¯t accept those because it is against our goals,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s so true Jordan! How are we informing the rest on that? You know what? I¡¯ll post an announcement on our website later,¡± Daniel said.


    The next day, Li Xuan and I were assigned to present to a P3 class. I decided to let her take more lines of the script and interact with the students more. We managed to hear more feedback about the students¡¯ inability to manage their time and study effectively. What impressed us most was a girl saying that we only celebrate Teachers¡¯ Day and do not have a day for the non-teaching staff. She was really on point. My siblings and I had that thought too. The girl went on to talk about how we could befriend students of other primary schools in Lakeridge. It sounded like a good idea but we needed to be clear on what we would do to forge ties with them.


    That afternoon before supplementary, we had an official committee meeting (without Darren as usual).


    ¡°Are things better today?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Yes I actually did what Daniel said yesterday and it was better,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°The announcement?¡± Stuart asked. ¡°I forgot about it.¡±


    ¡°Fret not guys. We are not demanding a lot of responses today. Don¡¯t be sad if you didn¡¯t really get any responses,¡± Daniel reassured.


    I spoke, ¡°There¡¯s this girl from 3A who is really amazing. She said we need a day to celebrate the other staff in the school besides teachers, and we can befriend students from other primary schools in Lakeridge to improve community ties.¡±


    ¡°Wow who¡¯s that?¡± Willis asked. ¡°Future school captain.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any idea what her name is?¡± Daniel enquired.


    ¡°No, Li Xuan doesn¡¯t know too. We only know she¡¯s Chinese...or Japanese, can¡¯t confirm,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Similarities I heard for both days are mostly academic-related. Many students complained about how they hate studying and the mountain of homework. Many also wanted more places in school for entertainment like a video game room, a movie room and more places for sports,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°We literally have a game room in the boarding house!¡± Daniel said with a chuckle.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bad idea to have those in our school,¡± Vivian pointed out. ¡°Our principal talked a lot about how games are bad and we should not spend so much time on them. I think it¡¯s not possible to have those rooms because we have no more space. How big must they be? If they are small, everyone will just fight for them.¡±


    ¡°Yes Vivian, it is best to not have those rooms in a primary school. My oldest brother¡¯s secondary school has a student lounge where students can rest, watch TV, play some games and music. They must sign in and out and can only spend a maximum of 30 minutes in there. It will be a bit hard to control because we probably need teachers to help maintain order, which is the opposite of our goal,¡± Jerome explained.


    ¡°I think a lot of students raised that too. One even wanted a playground and a slide from the roof of the building. I think for this we need to work with the teachers because there is nothing we can do ourselves,¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°Darren has been giving ideas for a tutoring programme. I think that¡¯s more important,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Yes we need his gifted brain cells!¡± Jerome remarked.


    ¡°He skips supplementary so he can use that time to teach the P1s and 2s!¡± Willis said.


    ¡°But he needs to catch the school bus,¡± Daniel pointed out.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the discussion going?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°Thanks Stuart. We are supposed to discuss how we can narrow down to specific projects but we won¡¯t decide the projects now. I guess the one on tutoring is pretty much confirmed because everyone complains about studies. Who wants to volunteer to bring the box home every weekend?¡± Jerome spoke.


    ¡°Do we have to?¡± Xuanyu asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°I think so,¡± Nazreen replied. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to check everything in school.¡±


    ¡°Yes. We are not allowed to bring ¡®weapons¡¯ to school so someone has to use a penknife to cut the tapes off at home. Who wants to volunteer?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°I can,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Thanks so much. Since you can see all the responses, can we trouble you to dump the inappropriate ones, keep the remaining and sort them out into those we can help with and those we cannot? You can create a document for that,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Jordan, do you mind reiterating what¡¯s appropriate and what¡¯s not?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Inappropriate feedback includes those which insult other people in the school. If you feel it is quite mean just don¡¯t key it in. Appropriate ones are those which are not too negative. Those we can help with include tutoring, organising activities and so on while those we can¡¯t are building a giant slide, renovating the library and setting up a games room,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can ask any of us if you¡¯re not sure,¡± Jerome assured Nazreen.


    ¡°Are you in our Whatsapp group?¡± Nazreen asked me.


    ¡°Wow! You are already using Whatsapp at P5?¡± I asked back.


    ¡°Why not? Just download it!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Not everyone gets a phone at this age. My older brother doesn¡¯t have a phone either. Please understand that it is not compulsory to get a phone now,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a phone either,¡± Stuart added.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay guys. Jordan is right. We shouldn¡¯t expect everyone to have a phone and use Whatsapp, because our parents have their concerns about phone usage. Over this weekend, we can look at the various concerns and group them together by category. Whoever has ideas of projects can suggest thereafter,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Is this open to the whole level?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°Yes. Open it to all the P5 prefects. Who knows? They can have ideas but just cannot join our committee,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Why do I feel Khairul has ideas?¡± Willis randomly asked.


    ¡°Wait, is the Google Form up?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°Darren is supposed to inform the teachers to put it up. He did it already so don¡¯t worry. Nazreen, you can create the document anytime,¡± Daniel said.


    By the end of the week, we received a deluge of responses, mostly from the box. It was discovered that most of the suggestions were to provide more help with academics and stress management. There were quite a number which mentioned that expectations from parents were too high and that they are always feeling sad because of their poor performance and heavy workload. There were a decent number of responses which raised the issues of bullying and negative behaviour. Lack of environmental awareness, lack of empathy, lack of respect and lack of concern for the wider community unfortunately made up the minority of the responses.


    Darren created a section in the document for project suggestions. On top of the tutoring project, he suggested synthesising it with a time management workshop, since there were responses which talked about poor time management. There were not many contributions by non-committee members (in fact most of them just glanced through the document). There was a suggestion by Sylvia to increase the frequency of classroom spring cleaning. I felt the need to have chit-chat sessions with students facing difficulties coping with issues with studies, stress and relationships. It is essential that prefects were approachable and able to provide a listening ear to their schoolmates, for they may not be willing to open up to adults. There was an obvious challenge here, as we were not trained in counselling and coaching our peers.


    The next Monday, we had a meeting to address two things - first projects under our mega project as well as the prefects camp.


    ¡°Thanks to those who contributed, we have four suggestions. I¡¯ll start with Sylvia¡¯s. Special thanks to her because she tried to add something even though she¡¯s not in our committee,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Get her in!¡± Jia Jie suggested.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t want to. I asked her last term,¡± Willis replied.


    ¡°Yeah, same,¡± Vivian continued. ¡°On the document, she said that we only do spring cleaning at the end of a semester, which is true. What she suggests is we do it more often, so we will learn to love the school property more and do our part to keep them clean often, instead of being forced by the teachers to do so. Any thoughts?¡±


    Jerome spoke up. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the teachers still force the students to clean? And it will be worse this time because the teachers are forcing the students more often?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I think what Sylvia means is the prefects decide on when to do spring cleaning and not the teachers,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°That¡¯s part of it. I asked her this morning for a clearer explanation. She did say the prefects can help decide on when to do the spring cleaning but we shouldn¡¯t always decide for them. The students are supposed to decide as a class how often they want to do the spring cleaning,¡± Vivian explained.


    ¡°That sounds a bit weird. If they want to clean themselves we need to make time for it, because they need to catch the school bus and return the class keys in time. If the teachers don¡¯t decide anything, I think nobody will clean the class,¡± Ariana commented.


    ¡°Absolutely true. Good points raised by all of you. If we want to help the students learn how to love school property, spring cleaning is not the only way. To ensure regular cleaning of the classroom by the students, we should have scheduled spring cleaning dates rather than let them decide themselves, unless the class can be trusted with meeting expectations. Is there an ideal class in this school? If we can have one class in the school which can take ownership of classroom property, totally lighten the burden off the teachers¡¯ shoulders and has very supportive classmates who all have a common positive goal, I¡¯m sure that class will make headlines tonight. The point is - we can¡¯t let the students take charge of everything because things won¡¯t turn out right. The mission, again, is to lighten the load from the teachers, not totally remove the load, so we have to work closely and cooperate with them,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes that¡¯s right,¡± I added. ¡°I think we have to conduct surveys and check with the students. Is there one of us in charge of communicating with the teachers.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for asking. We were supposed to appoint roles today. Sorry if some things were already discussed without you knowing. Darren Gore is pretty much confirmed the role of communicating with the teachers. Who wants to be the overall project leader and assistant leader? Anyone wants to volunteer?¡± Jerome said.


    I glanced at Daniel, then asked, ¡°What does the overall project leader do?¡±


    I expected Daniel to self-elect as the overall leader, since he was so ¡®great¡¯. I continued to glare at him, and he did not respond. I was seeing if I could have a chance to overpower him.


    ¡°Daniel and Jerome,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°You are saying that we should be the overall leaders?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Obviously! Both of you are the best at organising projects! If anyone disagrees please say now!¡± Jia Jie said.


    I wanted to voice up, but it was too late.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s just confirm that,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is not a serious school project so don¡¯t be sad if you¡¯re not the leader now. I¡¯m sure Jerome is fine with doing a rotation,¡± Daniel reassured us.


    ¡°Yup, there are more roles to come and you can be leaders for each project too! Any suggestions of roles?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Nazreen is the Box IC,¡± Elise said with a chuckle.


    ¡°That works,¡± Daniel replied. ¡°Who wants to be the Online Form IC?¡±


    ¡°Me!¡± Kok Keong replied.


    ¡°Okay guys, I am creating a table in our document now. Shout out some roles please. Don¡¯t say any names yet. I¡¯ll be confused,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Timekeeper!¡± Xuanyu suggested.


    ¡°Announcer!¡± Stuart said.


    The next few minutes were just the shouting out of random roles. Vivian resorted to creating a table with our names then typing out the roles one by one.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Daniel


    </td>


    <td>


    Overall IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Jerome


    </td>


    <td>


    Assistant Overall IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Darren


    </td>


    <td>


    Link to teachers


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Kok Keong


    </td>


    <td>


    Online Forms IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Nazreen


    </td>


    <td>


    Box IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Elise


    </td>


    <td>


    Assistant Manpower IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Ariana


    </td>


    <td>


    Post-project IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Willis


    </td>


    <td>


    Assistant Post-project IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Jia Jie


    </td>


    <td>


    Publicity IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Xuanyu


    </td>


    <td>


    Timekeeper


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Jordan


    </td>


    <td>


    Manpower IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Stuart


    </td>


    <td>


    Categoriser


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Vivian


    </td>


    <td>


    Assistant Publicity IC


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As you can see, I was the Manpower IC with Elise as my assistant. Our role was to oversee allocations of participants for the different projects to come as well as track attendance. Jerome was disappointed that we accomplished much less than expected. He told Xuanyu to take over Vivian in leading the discussion the next day. She was quite stressed up at the moment because she was the timekeeper and needed to oversee not only the discussion and meeting timeframe but also the project timeframe. I volunteered to help her, and suggested that we could have an online meeting that night.


    The meeting that night was mainly to advance our discussion regarding the prefects camp. We managed to confirm that the camp would span roughly three days - the first three weekdays of the June holidays. Due to budget constraints and a potential strain on manpower, we agreed to make the camp a day camp, provided there were no objections from the other prefects. We also settled on the decision that the P6 prefects could choose to participate in the camp if they wanted to. Kok Keong created a Google form and sent it to the teachers for vetting. It was to confirm the types of activities the prefects preferred to be in the camp. Fortunately, that meeting went pretty well and we were up to date.


    The next day, we were supposed to generate ideas for our first project - the tutoring project.


    ¡°Before we start, let¡¯s think of a cool name for this project!¡± Xuanyu said, trying to sound convincing.


    ¡°Er...something like Worry About Grades No More or Your Brain Expands Today?¡± Jerome said, laughing.


    ¡°What kind of names are those?¡± Jia Jie asked with a raised voice. ¡°Even top students worry about results, right Darren?¡±


    ¡°Worry about whether you can maintain your standard,¡± Darren said.


    I knew the discussion was veering off. Ensuring eye contact with Xuanyu was made, I repeatedly raised my eyebrows. Seeing that she was totally oblivious, I tapped on her watch twice and she gave an annoyed look. Anyway, I was supposed to assist her with facilitating that meeting.


    ¡°I think we should really start now,¡± I said, then raised my eyebrow at Xuanyu again.


    ¡°Sorry, we should do that later,¡± she said with a giggle. ¡°What we need to discuss is the duration and what we need to do for the project.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Darren!¡± Jia Jie said while plopping her head on Darren¡¯s shoulder for a brief instant.


    ¡°Oh please! For the benefit of those not in 5A, I was thinking that this tutoring programme should be a long and sustainable one. Along the way, we should train our junior leaders because they have to take over next year. For P1s and 2s they can use the remedial time slot so we might have to liaise with the teachers and request for some students to be excused. For P3s and 4s maybe use the morning assembly timeslot? I haven¡¯t thought deeply enough about it yet. Oh yes, besides tutoring, the same project can have a time and stress management workshop. Goal setting should be good too. I¡¯m so sorry but I really need to leave now or else I¡¯ll miss the school bus. Have fun guys!¡± Darren rattled and picked up his bag. After walking a few steps, he turned around and said, ¡°I¡¯ll probably withdraw from the school bus programme to help out soon!¡±


    Jerome clapped his hands. ¡°That¡¯s finally happening.¡±


    ¡°Can we actually use the supplementary lessons for the tutoring? Like what we saw from the feedback, supplementary lessons should be cancelled. It doesn¡¯t make sense for the primary school to end later than secondary school. At 2 pm everyone is already leaving the secondary school in case you don¡¯t know,¡± Stuart pointed out.


    ¡°The teachers did look at the feedback,¡± Daniel said. ¡°They are aware that we don¡¯t want supplementary, but...it¡¯s hard to convince them why. If we say we have private tutors, we can go out of school to the shop selling cleaning supplies to buy brooms and dustpans to clean up the pieces of their shattered hearts!¡±


    ¡°What he said about using the morning assembly time can be good,¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°Yes! That is the exact time the I Can Read programme takes place, but more people will disappear from assembly,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Huh? There¡¯s a morning programme? What is it about?¡± Elise enquired.


    ¡°It is a programme to help the P2s and 3s with reading, mentored by secondary school students. My oldest sister is involved in the mentoring. She said you don¡¯t exactly skip assembly because you will still need to sing the national anthem and say the pledge indoors. My sister is in charge of mentoring those who need help with reading English which takes place every Monday and Tuesday. She said Wednesday and Thursday are for Mother Tongue. Darren knows about this already so he is asking the teachers about the possible time slots for our project,¡± Jerome explained.


    ¡°Can we actually combine I Can Read with our programme?¡± Vivian asked. ¡°For English and Mother Tongue we can include sessions for Comprehension and Cloze Passage besides reading.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that''s a nice one. I¡¯ll note it down,¡± I said.


    ¡°Anyone knows of better times to do the mentoring?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°Weekends,¡± Kok Keong replied.


    ¡°Weekends? I dare you to ask a random student at that table if he or she is willing to come to school six days a week,¡± Daniel said with a smirk.


    ¡°That¡¯s the problem. The students are asking for help, and we need time to give them the help. Publicity ICs, I think we need to do something,¡± I said.


    ¡°And that something is to broadcast to the school and ask them to suggest their preferred time slots,¡± Jia Jie added.


    ¡°Looks like I have to make a form later,¡± Kok Keong said, chuckling.


    ¡°Wait wait wait. Broadcast as in, make the morning announcement? Are we allowed yet? They haven¡¯t chosen the new P5 assembly leaders!¡± Vivian voiced up.


    ¡°To play safe, both of you might want to write down the pointers for whoever is making announcements to broadcast. There shouldn¡¯t be too much a difference here,¡± Daniel said.


    I finally realised how hard it was for a bunch of children to work together for the purpose of improving the schooling environment. There was literally so much to accomplish and unity was indeed crucial, like what Daniel said.


    When walking back up to our classes, Xuanyu said to me, ¡°Argh! This is getting so stressful. Thanks so much for your help! If only I can have an assistant for timekeeping!¡±


    ¡°You can ask me for help, but don¡¯t expect too much, because I seriously need to top my class,¡± I replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re just like Josephine Lo. Wait, I remember Elise telling me you are smart but you didn¡¯t study last year so you could do worse and avoid Daniel?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes she¡¯s right. I think I half-regret doing that now. Your class is a lot more fun than mine, but I dare not leave Vera on her own,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Woah you¡¯re such a good friend. I see Graham hanging out with both of you,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Yes. Does he always complain about his parents forcing him to learn music?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I think so. He got scolded quite a few times for daydreaming or sleeping in class. I don¡¯t think he studies a lot. He said he is so busy that he has no time to play computer games. I think he just does nothing at home,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°What he told me was that music drains his energy completely until his brain cannot work when he studies. That sounds wrong, just wrong. Don¡¯t be too scared that I am wasting my time helping you. Jerome, Daniel and Jia Jie told me you are smart, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯m smarter than you,¡± I said.


    ¡°Erm...Daniel beat me a lot of times. I only started learning English when I was six, when I came here. How much do you study every day?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°You can¡¯t study much in primary school,¡± I explained. ¡°What I do is finish the homework, do assessments until I am bored, then do my own things, oh and practise my Choir songs too. I should have enough time to help you at night.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Media Club doesn¡¯t need practise! Yeah mine¡¯s similar to yours. I watch shows and play Candy Crush during my free time. Wait, I think Daniel also said that we can¡¯t study much in primary school,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°I said the exact same thing as him? This is not looking good. Kok Keong told me I am probably Daniel¡¯s relative of some sort because we think the same. What¡¯s going on?¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°Jia Jie says both of you care a lot about serving the school. You¡¯ll be his good working partner,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Yes? No? Maybe? He isn¡¯t as bad as I thought he is, but I just have to watch out. Before I forget, how can I help you tonight?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Erm...look at the Google Calendar and make sure our past meetings match the dates. Also, make sure the upcoming meetings and stuff are not too packed. Thanks so much,¡± she replied.


    The next morning during assembly, a message was broadcasted to the school, saying a tutoring cum stress management cum time management programme was in the works, and the committee needed the student population to indicate their preferred time slots for the programme via the online form or the box. We confirmed that the project name would be Project Phoenix, something arbitrary and we would study the details of the project more in-depth over the weekend, after the responses have been collated. Thankfully, Daniel decided that the committee should take a short break before the collation of responses for both Project Phoenix and the prefects camp during the weekend.


    Although I could take a breather, I was still worried that the committee would lag behind for the subsequent discussions and tasks, so I made the point to talk to Sylvia about her suggestion that day.


    ¡°We finally confirmed our first project! I want to know more about your spring cleaning suggestion. Vivian did talk to us about it but I want a clearer picture,¡± I told Sylvia.


    ¡°Er...it was quite a random idea. It may not work, actually. What do you guys think about it?¡± she asked.


    ¡°We feel that doing spring cleaning more often is not the only way to show love for our class and school property. If we let the students take charge of the spring cleaning, they won¡¯t do it at all. We can give them dates to do the cleaning, but will they listen to us? They listen to teachers, not prefects. Anyway, no point cleaning if the class is going to be dirty again after cleaning,¡± I explained.


    ¡°It is to lighten the cleaners¡¯ burden, not just the teachers,¡± Sylvia pointed out.


    ¡°Ah yes! We saw responses about cleanliness, so we can have the spring cleaning in the cleanliness projects. As for love for class and school property we may need another project,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yup, of course. You can talk to Daniel about how to love the class. I think he¡¯s quite good at it, same for the other prefects in his class. I see that you can get along with him now,¡± Sylvia said.


    ¡°I can get along with Daniel? I can¡¯t say yes or no yet. I¡¯m still observing him. Nan fan zan yu ga, yan min do him ja. In English, that means it¡¯s hard to differentiate real from fake, for faces are deceiving,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Like what Huayi said, stubborn people will learn the hard way,¡± Sylvia said, before giving me a smirk.


    ¡°I¡¯m already trying! I stopped telling everyone to watch out!¡± I protested. ¡°Anyways thanks for your explanation, I¡¯ll tell the rest about it. One more thing, are you able to join our committee?¡±


    ¡°All of you have roles right? If I join, what will I be?¡± Sylvia questioned.


    ¡°Probably an assistant timekeeper? Just tell me whether you are interested in joining or not,¡± I said.


    ¡°I can¡¯t, but I¡¯ll take part in the projects if I can,¡± she replied.


    The Thursday meeting was skipped as Daniel suggested, and I waited eagerly for Kok Keong and Nazreen to key in the responses from the online form and box respectively. Due to the responses from the box suggesting a wide variety of time slots, Stuart had to sort them out based on the time slots given in the online form - 7 to 8 am on weekdays, 2 to 3.30 pm from Monday to Thursday, 3.30 to 5 pm on weekdays as well as Saturdays. Majority of the older students preferred the programme to be run on weekday mornings whereas the younger students seemed to prefer weekday afternoons. This was totally brain-wrecking.


    The other committee members were panicking over the Google Docs chat. They had no idea what to do. Daniel was unable to make it for that particular meeting, as he was at a church event. Both the preferred time slots seemed totally unfeasible, since most of us would be involved with our morning duties and supplementary lessons. It looked like we had to trouble teachers to oversee the project if it took place during those two time slots. I tried to calm the rest down. I tried to explain that we agreed the project could involve non-prefects. I tried to explain that it was not compulsory for all prefects to help out. I appreciated the fact that Vivian was trying to back me up amidst the chaos in the chat. All of the sudden, Jerome ended the meeting and everyone just left. What exactly just happened?


    All I could recall was Darren typing long chunks of text in our document chat and allocating work to Ariana and Kok Keong.


    I felt uncomfortable. I had a chat with my siblings about it. Being the awesome siblings as always, they gave me my much needed support and encouragement. I realised how tough it was to coordinate with others in a bid to make improvements in school. We were only a bunch of eleven year olds - in what position are we to effect change in a school (while trying to lighten the burden off the teachers¡¯ backs)? For some reason I could not explain, I thought of what Daniel said regarding not letting our young age stop us from improving the school and how unity could overcome it. How naive! I wonder why Daniel would be simple-minded enough to think unity was the answer to overcoming the problems in school. Still, I was going to continue observing him.


    No one edited the document or posted any announcement over the weekend. I felt I had to address this straight away on Monday morning. I walked at my maximum speed to class and was already breathing heavily when I reached my seat.


    ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯re quite early! Why are you rushing?¡± Sonia asked.


    ¡°I have urgent things to settle,¡± I hurriedly replied and aimlessly paced around the class before stopping at Li Xuan¡¯s table. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I need to ask you a quick question. Is conducting Project Phoenix during assembly time for P1s and P2s and during supplementary time for the rest good?¡±


    ¡°Yes, so they can skip the boring assembly and useless supplementary,¡± Li Xuan replied.


    ¡°If Vivian comes before you leave for your duty, tell him not to be rash with any decisions about the project. Discuss with everyone before doing anything. And you can tell him what you think about what I asked. Thank you! I need to go next door now,¡± I said and scurried over to the 5A classroom, where I saw Jerome, Jia Jie and Nazreen chatting.


    ¡°Sup Jordan!¡± Jerome said. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about what happened last Friday. I got very mad so I ended the meeting on impulse. I shouldn¡¯t have done that. I was just upset that we couldn¡¯t get anything done then.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. We will find a way. Anyway, I came here to say that we should discuss this together and not make any rash decisions. We can¡¯t mess this project up with someone¡¯s wrong move,¡± I said.


    ¡°Thanks. Don¡¯t worry. Our Whatsapp group chat was completely quiet. I bet no one did anything at all. The thing is - should we even meet for lunch discussion?¡± Jia Jie said, sighing.


    ¡°Yes please, I need to apologise to everyone,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°I support that, where are the rest?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The rest don¡¯t come so early. Willis is sick. Daniel is downstairs asking for opinions from the younger ones,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Wow he actually cares,¡± I muttered. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going for my duty now. Tell the rest that we should have a meeting today.¡±


    After assembly ended, I walked with Elise up the stairs.


    ¡°What was that last Friday?¡± she asked with a grumble.


    ¡°Jerome said he¡¯s sorry. He got mad and ended the discussion on impulse,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Nah! He told me. I mean, why was everyone out of control on Friday?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Because Daniel believes that unity can solve everything but actually no!¡± I said.


    ¡°He did not say exactly what you said. I think this project is way too hard. We are the Manpower ICs and I think we have the hardest job! I think Ariana wants to quit,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°What? Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I feel she wants to. Darren was a bit too much with all his expectations. Jerome was trying to explain to her just now but she told him to go away. Same for Jia Jie.¡±


    ¡°Oh no...this is not good. Do you want to have a lunch meeting?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Something random - Jerome likes to talk about religion in class.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear...anyway, please tell your classmates to meet during lunch. We need to make peace.¡±


    When I settled down back in class, Vivian turned in my direction and showed me the ¡®okay¡¯ sign. I nodded. I understood he meant he agreed with what I told Li Xuan. I had difficulty focusing in class that day. I was afraid this committee would crumble and fall apart.


    During lunch, all of us were present, except for Willis, Darren, Ariana and Kok Keong.


    On seeing us, Kok Keong immediately chided, ¡°What¡¯s this now? Trying to pretend nothing happened? What was the point of creating that Google Form?¡± He walked to Jerome. ¡°And you? What¡¯s with those nonsense you were typing in the chat? And you just stopped everything? Coward!¡± He walked away afterwards.


    ¡°P..please come back! L..let me explain!¡± Jerome articulated with a quiver in his voice.


    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s talk things out!¡± I added.


    ¡°Guys, calm down. Give him a breather,¡± Daniel said, then turned to Jerome. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. It will get better.¡±


    Meanwhile, Jerome faced away from us, with a red face, taking deep breaths.


    ¡°So what are we supposed to do now?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°Alright, just one question. How many of you still want this project to continue?¡± Daniel asked.


    All of us put up our hands.


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Willis is sick. He texted me this morning and said that he did not want our efforts to go to waste and hoped that we would continue what we are doing. As for Ariana, give her some space. She¡¯s quite stressed. She has to juggle her Soccer training and tuition classes on top of our project. It¡¯s quite heartwarming to see her help us even though she is in charge of the post-project consolidation. I worry for Darren though. He says he can do more work while Ariana takes a break,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Darren is smart, he can still do well. He¡¯s in a club so he doesn¡¯t need to dedicate time for CCA,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Do we need replacements? I can try asking,¡± I suggested.


    ¡°Better not. We managed to form this group of friends and are progressing quite well. It will be hard for someone new to fit in,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Progress is important. What does getting a replacement hint to Ariana or Kok Keong? It can mean ¡®We found a new member! Thank you and goodbye!¡¯. We¡¯re not giving them a chance. We can be sure they were not reluctant when they joined us, so I doubt they will leave us like that. Cheer up guys! We can do this!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°We really need a group cheer now,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°We will write the cheer when everyone is present. Leave no one out!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Oh yeah Daniel, you went around the school asking for opinions on the best time slot?¡± Elise asked.


    ¡°I almost forgot! I only managed to talk to the P1s and 2s. Not many of them actually care about Phoenix. Nothing wrong, those are the more carefree years and you won¡¯t have much issues with coping with your academics and time management. A lot of them like to play and watch shows after school so it¡¯s not nice to deprive them of their entertainment. So, the 7 am slot is best for them. Darren said we shouldn¡¯t force so many P1s and 2s into Phoenix because the P1 and P2 exams aren¡¯t that important. He says select those at risk of retaining. What do you guys think?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Good,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Can we also give them the choice whether they want to join or not?¡± Stuart asked. ¡°Those we didn¡¯t select.¡±


    ¡°Depends on space and manpower,¡± Jerome replied.


    ¡°Did you ask people in the boarding house?¡± I asked Daniel.


    ¡°I left the boarding house last year,¡± Daniel said with a chuckle. ¡°There is a mentoring programme by the JC but it only takes place once a month. I can ask my boarding house friends if I see them. Mentoring the P3s and above will be more challenging because they may prefer different time slots.¡±


    ¡°So who¡¯s mentoring the P6s?¡± Elise asked.


    ¡°Ahaha...call the secondary school people,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°P6s and perhaps P5s are challenging. We have a new problem now because we have to hire mentors from elsewhere,¡± I said.


    ¡°Is anyone taking the points down?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°I can remember them,¡± Nazreen said.


    On one hand, I was relieved we made progress regarding Project Phoenix for the P1 and P2 students. On another hand, I was worried. We could not afford to lose committee members and potentially friends because of one tough discussion. No one was in the mood for a meeting the next day, since two of our members were unhappy and likely to withdraw. It seemed as though we had to take a hiatus for a week.


    On Friday that week, Darren approached me, saying he successfully withdrew from the school bus scheme and would be able to attend any afternoon lunch meeting. He also mentioned how the teachers were chasing us for more information about the prefects camp, and he agreed to have a mass prefects meeting the next Monday morning. He actually analysed the responses from the online form regarding the prefects camp on behalf of Kok Keong.


    Daniel and Jerome did try apologising to Kok Keong and convincing him that we would be more careful and prevent failed discussions from happening again. He said he needed to take a break and was fine with anyone replacing him for the time being. Ariana, on the other hand, was harder to convince.


    The next Monday was already the start of the third week of the second term. I became even more afraid. Could the projects go according to what we planned?


    While we were waiting for the auditorium to be open for the mass meeting, I asked Xuanyu, ¡°Honestly, do you think we can keep up to date with what¡¯s on the calendar?¡±


    ¡°Argh! I get stressed when I look at it!¡± she growled, pressing her temples before sighing. ¡°I did not look at it since Wednesday. I hope Darren will do a good job later.¡±


    ¡°Wait, he is presenting the whole thing himself? The entire camp briefing?¡± I asked.


    Xuanyu nodded.


    ¡°What? He must be so busy! He has to take over Kok Keong for the time being and communicate with the teachers at the same time! No way he can present all by himself. I must check with him!¡± I replied, then approached Darren.


    ¡°Are you presenting everything by yourself later?¡± I checked with Darren.


    ¡°I guess¡­¡± he replied.


    Daniel who was beside us said, ¡°I think you need a break. You seriously deserve one!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not tired,¡± Darren retorted.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t the three of us present together?¡± Daniel suggested.


    ¡°Erm...I have no idea what to say. Wait, are there slides?¡± I said.


    ¡°The teachers kind of made one and asked me to fill it in. I was quite undecided on whether I should let you guys contribute. The door¡¯s open, let¡¯s settle this inside,¡± Darren replied.


    As Darren was the only one who had seen the slides, he insisted that Daniel and I would only improvise his points and say any relevant information.


    ¡°Good morning teachers, prefects and junior leaders, hope you¡¯ve had a wonderful weekend. Wow! Time flies! It¡¯s already Week Three and we have amazing things coming up! Allow me to talk about the camp first, since I know you¡¯re very excited about it. The confirmed date is from second to fourth June, from 9 am to 5 pm. There is no staying overnight, because of the concerns voiced against that. I want to thank the P6s who are willing to come for the camp to get to know the rest better. It''s quite admirable to see you sacrificing your revision time for the camp. I want to thank our fellow brother Daniel who has been helping us source for external vendors who can help us with the camp. We can¡¯t lead the camp entirely on our own, nor should we bother our seniors in the secondary school and JC. They¡¯re taking a more important national exam than us! It¡¯s not nice to throw a new project into their faces! Moving on, we have narrowed down to these activities - hiking, picnic, sandcastle building, treasure hunt and amazing race, sufficient for the three days. The purpose is to not only have fun, but to also get to know one another better and hopefully develop a sense of belonging to the Prefectorial Board. The consent forms will be given out in the weeks to come, hang on there! Next, we¡¯ll talk more about Project Phoenix. Here¡¯s the analysis of the responses from the box and Google Form. Weekends are out, definitely. The same goes for 3.30 to 5 pm on weekdays. That leaves us with 7 to 8 am and 2 to 3.30 pm. Special recognition to Daniel, Jerome, Jia Jie, Willis and a couple of non-prefects who helped to ask students from all levels for their opinions. Here¡¯s the findings - majority of the upper primary prefer the 7 to 8 am slot while the rest are neutral between the two. Due to constraints, we will work with the teachers and select the students at risk of retaining. We can¡¯t accept too many students for now. Is everyone here fine with the time slots? If there are any objections please voice up! No? Okay, we will give more details about mentor recruitment some time later. Here are a couple of future projects we are currently studying. Feedback about stress and high expectations is commonplace, so we are studying the possibility of a project where we can befriend those who have problems and are willing to open up to us, not professional help though. One of us suggested increasing the number of times we do spring cleaning. We feel we can have a project about maintaining cleanliness in the school. We look forward to hearing your inputs as well, thank you and have an awesome week ahead!¡±


    I was taken aback. How did Darren manage to deliver such a smooth presentation amidst his busyness? Daniel and I literally had nothing to add on at that juncture.


    ¡°Did you prepare for this?¡± I asked Darren.


    ¡°Kind of, I went through a rough script twice,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Good job man!¡± Willis came forward to congratulate Darren. ¡°Did you have a plan behind this?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°Are you kidding me? You did all the online form stuff?¡± Kok Keong came walking to Darren.


    Darren answered with a smirk, ¡°Why can¡¯t I? Didn¡¯t you allow me to cover you for the time being? Are you guilty of taking your leave?¡±


    ¡°Ohh¡­¡± Willis said, laughing.


    ¡°I¡¯m...I¡¯m..¡± Kok Keong tried to explain himself.


    ¡°Yes you¡¯re guilty. We really need you back! We can¡¯t move forward with someone missing!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I¡¯m coming back!¡± Kok Keong retorted.


    ¡°Coming back or not is your decision, we won¡¯t force you,¡± I said.


    I was starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Was Kok Keong actually guilty for backing out? I thought about it. Were we actually planning too much for the school that the project consumed too much of our time? The more I pondered, the more I felt Daniel was right in the sense that building community was as important as academics. There is absolutely no point in pursuing perfect grades when you are apathetic about the community. In this age of busyness, it would be hard to inculcate such a mindset. We needed to find a way to emphasise that.


    Unexpectedly, the teachers were already sending in names of shortlisted students for Project Phoenix for all levels. That sent us into a stronger whirlpool such that Daniel called for a lunch meeting on Thursday. Darren was finally able to attend, as he stopped taking the school bus home.


    ¡°So far, I got five names from P1, eight from P2, four from P3, six from P4, two from P5 and three from P6. I¡¯m trying my best to negotiate with them to delay the starting of the project because we are simply not ready. For the time being, Project Phoenix and I Can Read will be separate. The merger of both will be further studied in Term Three-¡± Darren said and was interrupted.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t decided who will mentor the P5s and 6s!¡± Elise pointed out.


    ¡°And what¡¯s the final time slot for the P3s and 4s?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°Calm down guys, my father is thinking of recruiting volunteers from the public for Phoenix and our camp. He is looking at those aged 16 to 25, probably those on pre-tertiary and tertiary vacation,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Who does your father think he is?¡± I questioned. ¡°I understand he wants to help us but he can¡¯t illegally find members from the public to volunteer!¡±


    Daniel laughed. ¡°That¡¯s part of his job bro! He works in the Ministry of Community and Entertainment. He¡¯s involved in overseeing volunteering events and providing training to volunteers so we have to trust him.¡±


    ¡°His father is quite a nice person. He won¡¯t get the wrong volunteers for sure,¡± Jerome added.


    ¡°Yup. He roams around the nation a lot and is quite experienced in his work,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Anyway, I think we have to decide on how the mentoring should go. How many mentors do we need for each level? When should we do a particular subject and a particular topic?¡± I said.


    ¡°Look at this.¡± Darren showed us the contents on his computer. ¡°I sort of told the teachers to give a short summary of the problems faced by each student, and some of them gave me quite detailed ones. I will share the spreadsheet with Elise and Jordan. Both of you can take a look when you¡¯re free, but expect more names to come in.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good! Do you know when the full list of students will be up?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Mrs Edgeworth is trying to get the teachers to submit all names by Monday, so meanwhile we have to brainstorm on what happens on our side,¡± Darren replied.


    ¡°Maybe we need a schedule for each subject to know what to cover on which days,¡± Nazreen suggested.


    ¡°Definitely. Wait, who¡¯s the Phoenix leader?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°You!¡± Jia Jie replied.


    ¡°Am I?¡± Darren was puzzled.


    ¡°Yes! You contributed so much to it!¡± Willis said.


    ¡°So he should take a break!¡± Daniel said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget he¡¯s covering Kok Keong too!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be the leader then!¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Do we actually need a leader for this? Why can¡¯t we all contribute equally?¡± I said.


    ¡°Jordan has a point. It is good to have roles, but don¡¯t fuss over it. We can start the programme for the P1s and 2s first. Is everyone agreeable on appointing upper primary students as mentors?¡± Daniel asked.


    We all agreed.


    ¡°The next issue is whether the mentoring will be one-to-one, one-to-two and so on. What we can do is get a list of students who are interested and currently not involved in morning duties. Then, we can strike out the younger ones if there are too many mentors,¡± Vivian suggested.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s a good idea? The additional manpower can help throw a party every day! Kidding. The same applies - create a Google Form, include a question on the candidate¡¯s motivation to be a mentor, accept them based on their response to this question. Let¡¯s set it as a one-to-one mentoring first,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Alright sure, I¡¯ll create the form today,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need a break?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine! I still have time to play Xbox every day!¡± Darren explained.


    ¡°You actually play that much? And you don¡¯t need to study?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°I study and play, because I get the extra time from the supplementary classes I don¡¯t attend, and Mother Tongue lessons are free periods for me,¡± Darren replied.


    To our relief, the teachers urged us to suspend meetings until the middle of May, as they were afraid the projects would cause us to neglect our preparation for the mid-year examinations. They told us to focus on the camp right after the examinations and Project Phoenix could commence in the third term.


    The next week, I could finally join my group of friends for lunches again. Graham would not attend the Monday supplementary lessons, as his Mother Tongue was Hindi and had to travel to a language centre for his lessons.


    ¡°Guys! I¡¯m going to have a birthday party! Do you wanna come?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°On your actual birthday?¡± Clarice asked.


    ¡°Yes, third May, it¡¯s a Saturday,¡± Joey replied.


    ¡°Who is coming?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The four of us, Graham. I asked my brother to invite his friends. I hardly talk to you! You¡¯re always with your prefect friends during recess and lunch!¡± Joey said with a calm, then irritated tone.


    ¡°I have things to settle with them!¡± I replied. ¡°Is it just these people going?¡±


    ¡°Do you want more to go? I don¡¯t mind asking some more classmates,¡± Joey replied.


    ¡°Oh I know what you¡¯re trying to ask,¡± Vera told me, trying to hold back her laughter.


    I sighed. ¡°Right. I want to ask. Are you thinking of inviting Daniel Lim?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not even friends with him! If you want you can ask him to come!¡± Joey replied.


    ¡°No! He shouldn¡¯t be at the party!¡± I said.


    ¡°What a chicken,¡± Joey said, rolling her eyes. ¡°You are doing a project with him and you are still scared of him.¡±


    ¡°Nan fan zan yu ga, yan min do him ja,¡± I sang the two lines.


    ¡°That song sounds familiar,¡± Joey remarked.


    ¡°Lol is it some grandfather song?¡± Clarice asked.


    ¡°The 70s is no grandfather era. The two lines mean it¡¯s hard to differentiate real from fake, for faces are deceiving. Don¡¯t you agree?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Let me ask you, is Vera fake?¡± Joey questioned.


    ¡°No,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Am I fake?¡±


    ¡°No¡±


    ¡°Is Clarice fake?¡±


    ¡°No¡±


    ¡°How about the prefect you like to talk to at the aquarium? Clarissa?¡±


    ¡°No¡±


    ¡°The problem is with you!¡±


    ¡°Clarissa and Daniel are two different stories. Anyway, can we invite my cousin, Leo?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh! That guy was from my P2 class. He likes to draw on worksheets. Yup! Invite him for me,¡± Joey replied.


    ¡°We can actually invite Vivian too,¡± Clarice said. ¡°He does talk to us quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°Okay, anyone else?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°Sonia, Li Xuan, Sylvia. We shouldn¡¯t invite Huayi, because we¡¯ll probably argue,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Not so many¡­¡± Vera gasped.


    ¡°Don¡¯t invite Sylvia!¡± Joey said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m okay with Sonia and Li Xuan. I didn¡¯t talk to Li Xuan much but I¡¯m fine with her at my party.¡±


    In a flash, the third of May came. Li Xuan was unable to make it for the party. Sonia was keen to attend because it was held at the condominium of Joey¡¯s relative at Beachfront, which was near where she stayed. Leo, Vivian and Graham were able to attend too. I did invite my siblings too, but Rebecca had her examinations ongoing, and Elijah wanted to keep her company at home. Parents were present at the party too, as they wanted to ensure everyone was safe.


    The party started with us relaxing in the pool. Leo, my friends and I were chatting at one corner whereas Joey¡¯s brother was at the water playground with his friends.


    ¡°Yo Graham! You look kind of sad! Anything wrong?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°Nothing!¡± Graham replied. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about my piano exam at the end of this month.¡±


    ¡°You do music too? What grade?¡± Leo asked.


    ¡°I am retaking my Grade Four exam. I¡¯m stuck in music,¡± Graham grumbled.


    ¡°You were forced to learn music?¡± Leo asked.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not forced, what else can it be? You can ask my parents why they want me to learn music! See! They¡¯re not there! They obviously want to avoid being asked that question!¡± Graham replied.


    ¡°Stupid parents!¡± Joey remarked.


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s rude!¡± I said. ¡°Parents may have their expectations of us, but they are still the most important caregivers.¡±


    Clarice and Vera applauded.


    ¡°They expect me to do well in studies too! Because of Band and piano lessons, I get so tired that I can¡¯t study! And my parents still blame me for not doing well!¡± Graham complained.


    ¡°You¡¯re repeating the same thing!¡± Vera pointed out.


    ¡°Look at this!¡± one of the younger boys came, tugging at Vivian¡¯s swimsuit.


    ¡°Yes? What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°Look at the purple dots!¡± the boy remarked.


    Vivian was actually wearing a light blue rash guard with purple polka dots.


    ¡°What a moron!¡± Joey snapped. ¡°It¡¯s just dots! Guys, bear with him, he¡¯s like that!¡±


    The boy went on to feel Vera¡¯s green bodyskin and related it to the Green Lantern.


    ¡°I wish I can be the Green Lantern for today,¡± Vera laughed, while being oblivious to Joey¡¯s frowns.


    The boy then did the same for Sonia¡¯s and Clarice¡¯s one-piece swimsuits.


    ¡°Oh yeah! You¡¯re tall, dark and muscular!¡± he told Clarice. ¡°You swim a lot?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a lot, really. I kayak and play water polo a lot. Why are you so interested in my swimsuit? I can buy one for you!¡± Clarice said.


    ¡°Yours is too big! I¡¯ll take hers!¡± the boy said, grabbing Sonia''s one-piece. ¡°You do sports too right?¡±


    ¡°Smart, I¡¯m in the Badminton team,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal! If Clarice buys you a swimsuit, you have to buy me a bikini for my next birthday!¡± she told the boy, who gladly agreed.


    When the boy came to Joey, she dunked his head into the pool.


    ¡°I saw what you were doing! Respect us!¡± Joey yelled. ¡°And the rest of you are just standing around? You didn¡¯t realise he was trying to touch you?¡±


    ¡°Hey! No foul play please!¡± Vivian chided and pulled Joey¡¯s hand away.


    ¡°He¡¯s just a kid. He¡¯s just curious. When he¡¯s older it will be harder for him to do what he did,¡± Leo said.


    ¡°I guess so, but he shouldn¡¯t just touch girls like that without permission,¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Reminds me of someone I hate,¡± Graham muttered.


    ¡°Who?¡± Vera asked.


    ¡°Oh! I think I know,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Erm...this is a party so we shouldn¡¯t have any of those Daniel Lim arguments,¡± Vivian pointed out.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I want to argue about him. If I wanted to I would have invited Huayi,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Huayi is saying bad things about you and the Phoenix or whatever you call it,¡± Sonia said.


    ¡°Project Phoenix?¡± Vivian asked. ¡°Why would he say bad things about it?¡±


    ¡°I forgot what he said about Phoenix, but I remember him saying that Jordan is being a spy with plans to attack Daniel,¡± Sonia replied.


    ¡°Ignore him! He¡¯s making up stories about me! I don¡¯t trust him! I¡¯m not being a spy. I took part in the project because I want to contribute to the school, and at the same time prove to myself that Daniel is not bad like what everyone says,¡± I explained.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t bad! Suspecting him all the time won¡¯t help!¡± Joey said.


    I sang the two lines again, ¡°Nan fan zan yu ga, yan min do him ja.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve sung that for the thousandth time,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°Exactly. My point is - in real life, can you tell whether Daniel Lim is real or fake by looking at him? Of course not! I don¡¯t want to argue with anyone¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°What¡¯s that song?¡± Sonia asked.


    ¡°Drifter¡¯s Song by Sam Hui,¡± Leo replied. ¡°It¡¯s in Cantonese and was quite a big hit in the 70s.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes I remember you like 70s songs. In P2 you liked to sing the ra ra ra-¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Ra ra Rasputin, Russia¡¯s greatest love machine,¡± Leo sang. ¡°I don¡¯t listen to it much now. I listen to a lot of songs. I don¡¯t even have a favourite song. I play drums. I love art. I love Rainbow Loom.¡±


    ¡°Rainbow Loom? I play with that sometimes!¡± Clarice remarked.


    ¡°Mine¡¯s just on my table and I haven¡¯t touched it,¡± Sonia added.


    ¡°Why does everyone like music? I don¡¯t get it! There are so many people in performing arts! They haunt me, especially those in my class last year! Because of everything I got 46th in level!¡± Graham grumbled.


    ¡°Hmm...Daniel is in Band, Jia Jie is in CO, Raju and Alicia are in Choir,¡± I said.


    ¡°There are a lot more. I forgot to say the person I hate is a big pervert like that guy. Not because he did stuff to me, but because he forces me to listen to songs,¡± Graham explained.


    ¡°There are such things? Alicia told me 4A was quite united,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes I observed that too,¡± Vivian added.


    ¡°Alicia Tan? Don¡¯t trust her! Another one of those brainless people,¡± Graham said.


    ¡°Can you not?¡± I asked. ¡°Alicia is my trusted friend, and a good girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s honestly quite dumb. Who told you she is a good girlfriend?¡± Graham questioned.


    ¡°Elise Wong,¡± I replied. ¡°She¡¯s my trusted friend too.¡±


    ¡°Her future will be ruined if she continues to date that person,¡± Graham said.


    ¡°Ace?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s the weirdest person I¡¯ve ever met. His behaviour is so weird that I can¡¯t describe him,¡± Graham continued.


    ¡°Okay, what¡¯s so weird about him?¡± Clarice asked.


    ¡°When the teacher reminds us that there¡¯s a test, he overreacts. Sometimes he will scream and bite a blue towel he always brings to school. The best one was during the P3 mid-year exams. He tore up his script for the first paper and crushed the second one. He disappeared the next day and took his exams with extra time in a separate room from then on. During class tests, he has to squeeze a soft toy. I don¡¯t know why. Alicia has to pat him at different parts of the test. Both of them have to sit together all the time, not even the teachers can do anything to separate them,¡± Graham rattled.


    ¡°How can you say he is weird? He has special needs!¡± I voiced up.


    ¡°Instead of insulting him you should be nice to him!¡± Vivian added, then turned to Joey, ¡°Why are you laughing?¡±


    ¡°Jerome is another one!¡± Graham continued. ¡°He defends Ace by telling everyone he is autistic and that it shouldn¡¯t stop him from moving on in life. It¡¯s really dumb to see how Jerome can use such a way to defend Ace.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s really autistic,¡± Sonia said.


    ¡°You can be right. Not all autistic people can be easily identified, especially those who are only slightly autistic. I work with Jerome. I know he won¡¯t tell such a lie to defend someone else,¡± I said.


    ¡°Looks like the best way to get the answer is to ask him directly,¡± Vivian smirked at Graham.


    ¡°Maybe instead of watching out for Daniel we should watch out for you! Because the way you talk is very dangerous!¡± Leo said to Graham.


    The party was enjoyable on the whole. Leo could interact with my classmates quite well and Sonia opened up to Vera and Joey. However, it set me thinking. Graham expressed his frustration about the students from 4A of 2013, with nasty comments about Ace, Alicia and Jerome. I felt I needed to debunk Graham¡¯s words and stop him from being so cynical. The weird thing was that he did not talk bad about Daniel, which I would expect him to. Anyway, life is unpredictable. We can never fully understand a person via our daily experiences with him.

 2014: Smoke On the Water

    With suspension of the meetings, I had plenty of time to revise and managed to attempt the mid-year examinations with great confidence. Ironically, the post-exam period would be even busier than the pre-exam period. Even before the first written paper, I already received an email from Darren, saying we needed to have an important committee meeting in the afternoon after the last paper. I did not know why he was so desperate for a meeting that he had to remind us that early. Eventually, it made sense to me when the other prefects in my class and I received the consent form for the Prefects Camp on the last day of the examinations. We had not planned the details of the camp!


    As there were no supplementary lessons during the exam season, we could afford to have a longer meeting in the afternoon. We were told to gather at the cafeteria as per usual.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan for today?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°Wait for the rest and you will know,¡± Darren replied.


    Within moments, we saw Kok Keong coming over with Daniel.


    ¡°You told us to strike our names out from the school bus list today right? I did it! Are you happy?¡± Kok Keong said to Darren.


    Daniel, Jerome, Jia Jie, Elise, Willis and Vivian cheered and applauded.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. If any of you don¡¯t feel like doing your job, just tell me, and I¡¯ll happily cover you,¡± Darren said, then raised his eyebrow.


    ¡°What was happening all this while?¡± Kok Keong enquired.


    ¡°You¡¯re aware of the break the teachers gave. They wanted me to help them with some admin work regarding the camp and Project Phoenix. I helped to type out the contents of the consent form given out this morning, and made sure there were enough copies for all for indicated interest via the online form. I have the full namelist of those interested. Good news! We made progress for Project Phoenix! The P1 and P2 teachers informed me that Math mentoring can be done on Fridays. For English and Mother Tongue, we have to separate the shortlisted students who are involved in I Can Read from those who are not. English mentoring under Phoenix will be held on Mondays while Mother Tongue on Wednesday. For the other levels, the teachers have yet to confirm. If you cannot remember what I said you can read the proposal which I shared with all of you,¡± Darren explained.


    ¡°You actually did so much work? All this time?¡± Willis asked.


    ¡°If nothing was done I¡¯m sure all of us would be panicking! The teachers told me to confirm the list of mentors after the release of exam results for P3s and above. Elise and Jordan, you can start selecting the mentors for P1 and P2 soon, because they don¡¯t take mid-year exams. Some of our friends submitted quite well-written responses. I read those by Lawrence, Izumi, Sean and Hannah. They¡¯re not bad,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Okay guys, since we don¡¯t have lessons in school later on, do you want to eat out? I know you guys want to use your phones freely,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Jia Jie replied.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring money to school today,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll treat. Don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s not occupy space here!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Wait! Is Ariana still with us?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°Erm...give her more time. She¡¯ll have to show up at the camp anyway,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Nazreen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe we can think of what we feel like eating?¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°I feel like eating pizza!¡± Willis said.


    ¡°Hey! Same!¡± Jia Jie replied.


    ¡°Who else wants pizza?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Same,¡± Stuart added.


    We walked in the direction of Hyacinth Square.


    ¡°Let¡¯s play a game!¡± Jia Jie said while we were walking. ¡°Point to the person you think will be the school captain next year in three, two, one!¡±


    My finger moved in all directions before it finally pointed at Darren. The reality did hurt. Those prefects with the most connections to the teachers-in-charge would have the upperhand of being selected to be the school captain. Stuart was the only one who pointed at me, while most of the others pointed at Daniel.


    ¡°I think the three highest rankers next year are quite obvious - Daniel, Darren, Jerome,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Won¡¯t happen. There is a rule where all three cannot be of the same gender,¡± Daniel pointed out.


    ¡°What? Is it going to be me? I hope they don¡¯t choose me,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Why do you think you will be chosen?¡± Xuanyu asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°Forget it,¡± Jia Jie replied.


    ¡°When we meet, we only talk about our projects. We don¡¯t actually get to bond and understand one another better. I feel we should have done that at the very start if we wanted to maintain our harmonious friendships,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Indeed. We¡¯re going to Pizza Hut right? We better cooperate with Darren and we can play after that!¡± Jerome added.


    ¡°You want to save time? Let¡¯s discuss now!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°I¡¯m amazed by how committed you are,¡± Kok Keong remarked.


    ¡°Even if I¡¯m not committed, the teachers will pester me to hurry up. The dress code! Any ideas?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°How about homeclothes?¡± Xuanyu suggested.


    ¡°Yes please!¡± Elise added.


    ¡°Should we make a new camp T-shirt, or use our current prefects¡¯ T-shirt?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste money on a new shirt! Use the current one!¡± Willis said.


    ¡°How is this? Wear homeclothes for the first two days and the prefects¡¯ shirt on the third,¡± I suggested.


    ¡°Perfectly fine,¡± Jia Jie replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ll key that in the proposal later. Are we catering food?¡± Darren asked his next question.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a picnic?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s only one of the days,¡± Darren replied. ¡°I guess we should let the groups decide where to eat themselves, within our boundaries.¡±


    ¡°We are splitting into groups? How are we going to bond with everyone if we are sticking to the same people?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°I feel you bro. But...if we don¡¯t have proper groupings, it will be chaotic and we¡¯ll probably make headlines for causing a ruckus in the public place! I have to admit - we have to do this responsibly as members of the school and public. If we want to maximise the mixing around of people, we can alternate groups each of the days. Who is cool with this plan?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Please please please don¡¯t. Stick to the same group,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Messy. Just stick to the same group,¡± Xuanyu added.


    ¡°I want to hear your opinion, Jordan,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly fine with anything. Most importantly, we must have fun during the camp!¡± I said.


    ¡°Good point! Let¡¯s vote! Those who prefer fixed groups, put up your hand!¡± Vivian said.


    Stuart, Darren, Elise, Nazreen, Xuanyu and Vivian put up their hands.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need another meeting to settle the final details with them. Someone has to present this time,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you pick the presenter?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll spare you this time. I choose...Elise!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°What? I can¡¯t present alone! I need a partner!¡± Elise complained.


    ¡°Thanks Xuanyu,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Oh no...do I have to write a script?¡± Xuanyu groaned.


    ¡°You can get someone to write it for you!¡± Darren replied.


    Before we knew it, we were already at Pizza Hut. Since there were twelve of us, we had to occupy two adjacent tables. I sat with Elise, Nazreen, Xuanyu, Darren and Stuart. Darren hurriedly took his laptop out and started typing.


    ¡°What¡¯s outstanding - the size of the groups, the schedule, the cheers, the games, the reflection questions, the budget!¡± Darren announced across the two tables.


    ¡°Must we really do cheers?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°Yes we need cheers!¡± Jerome replied. ¡°The camp can¡¯t be graveyard dead!¡±


    ¡°And will you write them for us?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me we are writing them today. I¡¯m bad at writing poems,¡± I said.


    ¡°Get Ace to help us then!¡± Elise suggested.


    ¡°Darren, you totally reminded us that we need cheers. Not only prefect cheers, but school cheers! For the camp we can get each group to write their own cheer. We can come out with one school cheer and one prefects cheer, or should we do it during the camp?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we have a competition? Inform everyone about it now, get them to form groups and write one cheer for the prefects and one cheer for the school,¡± Jerome suggested.


    Darren, who was busy typing, said, ¡°Oh yes I better make an announcement on the website and send out an email to every single P5 prefect. I need to tell Tricia to broadcast to the P6 prefects and find a way to inform the P4s.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your help, but I feel we should split the job instead of you doing all the work,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes, let the IC help out,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Sorry! I didn¡¯t realise just now! What¡¯s next?¡± Darren said.


    ¡°I think we really need to split the work now,¡± Daniel said while meddling with his laptop. ¡°Wow! I salute you man! The revision history of both proposals show that they were entirely done by you! And you even edited them before the exam papers on the way to school?¡±


    ¡°Alright can we split this way? This table will discuss the schedule and reflection questions, while all of you discuss the budget and games. We¡¯ll have to discuss while eating to make it quick!¡± I said.


    The rest agreed. My table mates and I crafted pre and post-camp facilitation questions pertaining to their views about leadership, unity and community. We hardly covered the schedule of the camp while we were eating, only agreeing that the activities before lunch on the first day of the camp should be held at school.


    ¡°How¡¯s everything going?¡± Jerome asked me and my table mates when his table was done with the food.


    ¡°Erm¡­¡± Darren garbled while slowly extending his finger to Xuanyu¡¯s plate.


    Xuanyu, seated opposite me, was the last to finish her food. She was still trying to pull the cheese off the pizza using her teeth while Elise was filming a video of her.


    ¡°Jerome, you guys can go off first. We¡¯ll come up soon. Argh! The cheese keeps getting stuck in my braces!¡± Xuanyu said in a distorted voice.


    ¡°Check Facebook when you go home!¡± Elise told her.


    ¡°What? You¡¯re going to tag me?¡± Xuanyu whined.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want that last bit, I can eat it for you,¡± Darren said, and gobbled the remaining pizza after breaking the segment Xuanyu was holding in half.


    We then proceeded to the roof of the mall where there were study tables. They were in open air so we could afford to be slightly noisier when continuing our discussion. We presented our ideas to the other group when we were done, same for the other group.


    After rattling non-stop about the games, Vivian came to the main point, ¡°We forgot to ask Jordan¡¯s group whether we can have the amazing race on the third day because we can bring in the idea of community. We have to travel to a lot of places in Aquapolis. The goal is to understand the needs of the different communities in Aquapolis better, which can help us with our outside-of-school projects, hopefully. How is that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impressive, really! It¡¯s good to start off with something more slack at the beach, then move on to the treasure hunt and amazing race. For the islandwide amazing race, I think we can do research on the different groups of people who are less privileged in the different districts. We can interview people along the streets but I think we shouldn¡¯t go from house to house,¡± I suggested.


    ¡°What? Amazing race should not be a talking and interview competition!¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Yeah, it can be quite scary!¡± Nazreen added.


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely not a competition!¡± Daniel laughed. ¡°We can¡¯t compete in such a way. Are we going to have cameramen following us with their heavy equipment around the country? Would you like it if I told you the group with the best interview will win a prize? I won¡¯t, of course. The camp is a fun camp, not a competitive camp. Lighthearted and can fulfil our goals at the same time. We can have a cheer writing competition, but that¡¯s secondary to the camp. What we want is a culture of harmony and not a culture of competition.¡±


    Jerome and Jia Jie applauded.


    ¡°So that means someone shouldn¡¯t be competing with the rest to do the most work here!¡± Kok Keong added.


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m sorry! I won¡¯t do it again!¡± Darren snapped back. ¡°The teachers were pestering me and I don¡¯t want to call for emergency meetings during the exam season!¡±


    We came out with a rough timetable for the camp.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Time


    </td>


    <td>


    2 Jun


    </td>


    <td>


    3 Jun


    </td>


    <td>


    4 Jun


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    0845


    </td>


    <td colspan="3">


    Report to school


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    0900


    </td>


    <td>


    Icebreakers


    </td>


    <td>


    CA Reserve Hunt


    </td>


    <td>


    Lakeridge/Nyan Race


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    1200


    </td>


    <td colspan="3">


    Lunch


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    1300


    </td>


    <td rowspan="2">


    Sandcastle building/ picnic


    </td>


    <td>


    Estuary Hunt


    </td>


    <td>


    Greenpeak Race


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    1430


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    Break


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    1500


    </td>


    <td rowspan="2">


    Turquox Karst/Limestone Avenue Hunt


    </td>


    <td rowspan="2">


    Aqueris Ridges Hunt


    </td>


    <td>


    Turquox/City Core Race


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    1600


    </td>


    <td>


    Debrief


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    1700


    </td>


    <td colspan="3">


    Dismissal


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Credits to my father, we managed to get a spot for our debrief - Ministry of Community and Entertainment Building! Don¡¯t worry, he got permission already,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Is your father a VIP?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say so, but he¡¯s a member of the ministry, not a politician though,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Your father is getting volunteers to be facilitators right? Are we going to meet them soon? We need to get to know them and tell them our plans,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh yes! Thanks for the reminder. Jordan has a point here, we have to coordinate with the facilitators. We may be the ones leading and planning, but bear in mind we are still children and still need to be supervised by people older than us. I know two of the facilitators, because they are my sister¡¯s batchmates. My father asked for twenty volunteers, still waiting for the last three to sign up. When are you guys free next week? We can arrange a session.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t Eunice a facilitator?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°She has a CCA event,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m not free!¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°Yeah, I think I can¡¯t go,¡± Xuanyu added.


    ¡°Are you serious about this? Are you trying to make us awkward?¡± Elise asked.


    ¡°Awkward or not, we have to stay with them during the camp,¡± Willis pointed out.


    ¡°I can¡¯t go,¡± Nazreen said.


    ¡°A show of hands, who can go?¡± Jerome asked.


    Jerome himself, Daniel, Darren, Jia Jie, Willis, Vivian and I raised our hands.


    ¡°That¡¯s all? Come on! It¡¯s a very important meeting! What will you guys even do next week? Study all day long?¡± Jerome said in a frustrated tone.


    ¡°Sleep! I need sleep!¡± Stuart replied.


    ¡°So do I!¡± Vivian said. ¡°You don¡¯t need 15 hours of sleep by the way.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of numbers, the meetup session has to go on. Now, who can meet up during the holidays? We can play, eat, chat and have some bonding time!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back to Shanghai to visit relatives the week after the camp and I will be there for two weeks,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be on holiday for one week,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°I can share a calendar and we can indicate the dates we are not free,¡± Willis said.


    I turned to Xuanyu, ¡°Speaking of calendars, how¡¯s ours going?¡±


    She sighed, then said, ¡°Help me, please. My brain can¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°Of course I will. We don¡¯t know a lot of things yet, because Darren still needs to discuss Project Phoenix with the teachers,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I need to leave now,¡± Stuart suddenly said.


    ¡°Oh man we can¡¯t do other things,¡± Jerome said in a disappointed tone. ¡°We discussed the entire time. I guess let¡¯s end here today.¡±


    ¡°Wait! Our discussion is far from over! I¡¯m not saying you can¡¯t leave Stuart, but I have important things to say. Can we meet online tonight? I promise I¡¯ll listen to your opinions!¡± Darren said.


    We all agreed.


    ¡°Thank you! The teachers want us to key in the details of the activities and include the reflection questions in the proposal. All consent forms have to be submitted by next Monday and I will send the namelist to Elise and Jordan for group allocation. Elise and Xuanyu, you can start working on the script for the briefing in week 10. We can make the briefing slides together as well. Yeah. I guess we¡¯ll meet again next week..oh no! The Math Olympiad results! I¡¯m scared!¡± Darren continued.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to get Gold! Why are you scared?¡± Jia Jie said with a chuckle.


    ¡°I messed up quite a few questions, but that¡¯s okay,¡± Daniel added. ¡°For the meeting with the facilitators, I¡¯ll update, and you can start forming groups for the cheer writing competition. Try not to form them from here. Thanks for coming guys!¡±


    The next day, Vivian asked me if we could form a group for the cheer writing competition with our other prefect classmates. Most of them were keen, with the exception of Huayi. He was quite firm about himself not being involved in such prefect activities. He even managed to convince Eng Soon to exclude himself from the competition. I was puzzled. Why did Huayi become so against the committee that year? Did any of us offend him?


    Daniel scheduled the meetup with the camp facilitators the next Tuesday. Vivian and I were told to wait for the 5A prefects able to attend at the front gate. Shortly after we arrived, Daniel, Darren and Jia Jie came.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s just the three of you,¡± I said.


    ¡°Three? Oh, Willis and Jerome are behind,¡± Jia Jie replied.


    ¡°Bad news! Bad news!¡± Jerome caught up with them, panting. ¡°Willis...Willis said he can¡¯t make it...at the last minute!¡±


    ¡°What? How are we telling them?¡± Darren asked with a dramatic facepalm.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. The meeting has to go on. We¡¯ll find our way,¡± Daniel reassured us.


    ¡°Darren! How did you do for the Math Olympiad?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°I got Gold!¡± Darren replied.


    ¡°I somehow got Bronze!¡± Daniel added.


    ¡°And I got nothing!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°I can¡¯t relate,¡± I said. ¡°I have seen some Olympiad questions before, and I don¡¯t even know what they are asking for. This can happen for practice papers too. Anyway, where exactly are we going?¡±


    ¡°Shamrock Community Club. Are you guys fine with it? Inform your parents, it will take quite a while today,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Vivian and Jordan, you guys don¡¯t have phones right? You can use mine to text your parents,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll text my sister instead. My parents know I have this meeting already,¡±  I replied.


    ¡°Will Rebecca be fine if I add her on Whatsapp? I can inform her about your whereabouts in future!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually a good idea,¡± I remarked. ¡°I don¡¯t want them to worry about me.¡±


    ¡°Are we even eating?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°You won¡¯t get to miss a portion of your daily bread,¡± Daniel replied.


    Soon, we arrived at Shamrock Community Club. Daniel led us to a classroom¡­


    ¡°Salutations! Thank you for your kind help!¡± Daniel yelled at the top of his lungs upon pushing the classroom door open, posing with his palms facing the ceiling, which actually gave me a fright.


    He and Jerome then went on shaking hands, hi-fiving and fist-punching the twenty facilitators. I shook hands with them and exchanged our names (and I forgot half of their names). Daniel¡¯s father bought food for all of us and chatted with us. We got to learn more about his job scope. He was actually involved in both the entertainment and community divisions of the ministry. Besides being a volunteer executive, he would also coordinate community performances and sometimes perform. He would also provide free advanced guitar and piano lessons to performers - that was where Daniel¡¯s musical skills came from!


    After some briefing, we had to sort out how the groupings would be done.


    ¡°Twenty facilitators in total. I think each group can take two facilitators. The teachers are supposed to send me the finalised namelist by today. Jordan, I¡¯ll send it to you and Elise tonight. Both of you will need to meet up either online or physically to do the grouping, up to both of you. You better give her a call to ask when she¡¯s free,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call her for you,¡± Jerome said, then whipped up his phone. ¡°Very good! Not available! I¡¯ll drop her some texts and I¡¯ll forward her replies to Rebecca in this case.¡±


    ¡°There are supposedly 13 of us in this committee, now Ariana¡¯s not here. Should we split into groups of six? Each group can have two of us and Ariana will join a random one. So, six is not too many right?¡± I said.


    ¡°Let me check the namelist I just received¡­¡± Darren scrolled through his phone. ¡°Yes, six should be fine.¡±


    ¡°Should we actually pair each of us with those not here? I guess that means we have to do more work, because we have to guide them,¡± Jerome pointed out.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± Jia Jie replied. ¡°Jordan, are you allocating?¡±


    ¡°Sure! I¡¯m afraid there will only be twelve volunteers who can be facilitators. What will the rest do?¡± I said.


    ¡°Fret not! Our camp isn¡¯t as easy as it seems to be and the rest can help with the games and possibly logistics,¡± Daniel replied.


    I glanced at the twenty volunteers and asked, ¡°Who really wants to be part of the six groups? Put up your hand. Just be honest, we won¡¯t blame you.¡±


    Four of them put up their hands and they were younger ones. Daniel¡¯s father suggested having at least one adult facilitator attached to each group rather than two teenage facilitators for safety reasons. We then got them to decide who was fine with playing other roles during the camp. Soon, I allocated two facilitators to each of the committee members present, including myself. The two facilitators were Talib, a 22 year old undergraduate and Genevieve, a 15 year old Greenpeak Girls School student, also the batchmate of Daniel¡¯s sister (you should know why I allocated her to be in my group).


    The meeting ended. I honestly did not really enjoy it. What I did not like was that all the volunteers were mainly socialising with Daniel and Jerome. Daniel seemed to have known them all already, I might be wrong though, because Daniel thanked them for volunteering before the lunch and also introduced himself (unless he was putting up an act). For Jerome, he was quite engaged in interacting with them too. I kept wondering whether Jerome was truly autistic or not, since he seemed to have no problems with social interaction. I felt I should ask about it, probably through my closer friends Elise and Xuanyu.


    Darren, Jia Jie and Vivian did not interact as much with the volunteers although social interaction was not a problem for them based on what I observed in school. I did not like how Daniel was getting all the attention - talk about the rich becoming richer! Anyway, I had agreed to join the committee so I should still give my best despite my suspicions of Daniel. Perhaps the meeting would be better if my closer friends were there.


    ¡°How was today?¡± I asked the other committee members (except Daniel who left with his father).


    ¡°Fun! And I should text Rebecca that you are coming back now,¡± Jerome replied.


    ¡°We are literally dead!¡± Darren squeaked. ¡°I should ask for another meeting next week.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear that most of the volunteers are not free next week? I think we just have to meet earlier on second June. Goodbye sleep,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°I just realised we haven¡¯t settled most of the games and it is in less than two weeks!¡± Vivian complained.


    ¡°We should just meet as a committee a bit more often now, if not we have to bring it online again,¡± I said.


    I bade farewell to the four of them and decided to walk to Genevieve - for obvious reasons. I did have a chat with her earlier so I was fine continuing the chat.


    ¡°Hey! Where are you going?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Home! I stay in Turquox...which is quite far from my school. Urgh¡­¡± Genevieve replied.¡¯


    ¡°I stay in Middletown, so I guess we¡¯re heading in the same direction,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yup! I understand from Eunice¡¯s father that the prefects in FRPS want to improve school spirit. That¡¯s quite amazing especially for kids your age!¡± Genevieve said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point being a prefect if you are doing it for the position. The teachers do all the work and you can¡¯t really help with school matters much. Anyway, did Daniel know all of you already?¡±


    ¡°He only knows me and Hui Xin. We rarely meet. Eunice is quite popular and has many other friends so she seldom invites us to her house.¡±


    ¡°And so is Daniel! That¡¯s why I find him dangerous. He¡¯s just like this senior called Joseph who is very popular and became a prefect! What is worse about this Joseph was that he did a lot of bad things to the students in the school and still managed to be the vice captain!¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately there are people like that. Joseph will realise his mistakes one day. I doubt Daniel will be that bad. His father and sister and morally upright people so Daniel can¡¯t deviate that much. Eunice is insane! She barely scraped into GGS with 262 for PSLE and got a GPA of 3.5 in year one, then improved to 3.9 in year two! She has two CCAs and is a very vocal community advocate as well!¡±


    ¡°Daniel shouldn¡¯t be that smart. Darren is smarter than him for sure. My plan is to observe him to make sure whether he is good or not. We¡¯ll see during the camp. Please help me to observe.¡±


    Elise decided to meet me to do the grouping the next day in the afternoon. I had CCA so I could use the break to meet her.


    ¡°How was yesterday?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Not that fun. Daniel and Jerome were the ones having fun obviously,¡± I replied.


    ¡°They are always having fun. Jerome told me what happened already. Six groups right? How many signed up in total? For P6s we only have 11; for P5s we have 39, woah; for P4s we have 33,¡± Elise said while scrolling through the namelist. ¡°Can you calculate how many should be in one group?¡±


    After pressing buttons on my calculator, I replied, ¡°13.8. So one group will have 14? Wait, I can¡¯t do Math¡­.oh! One group will have 13 and the rest have 14.¡±


    ¡°So each group will have two committee members. Do you want to pair up with me or split up?¡±


    ¡°Split? I guess we shouldn¡¯t pair the main with the assistant IC. I want to pair with...Jerome!¡±


    ¡°Good choice. Pairing with Daniel is out. I pick Xuanyu.¡±


    ¡°Haha, Chinese geniuses. You guys will lead your group in Chinese right?¡±


    ¡°If the rest are fine with it, why not? Do you want to put Ariana with you? How is she by the way?¡±


    ¡°Yes I don¡¯t mind. She¡¯s still angry at Darren, I think. I realised Jerome wasn¡¯t the one who should take most of the blame. Even Kok Keong was angry at Darren more. Don¡¯t put Kok Keong and Darren together. I¡¯ll say put Kok Keong with Vivian.¡±


    ¡°Darren can go with Nazreen. I think Darren is doing this quite well, although he likes to steal roles.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...Jia Jie with Willis and Daniel with Stuart?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. There are 39 P5s, minus the 13 of us there are 26 left. You can pick your groupmates first.¡±


    ¡°Let me calculate...I¡¯ll pick four. Xin Jie, Elina, Elvin and Isabel. Is your older brother coming?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, no. I wanted him to come, but he said he will only come if he is in the same group as me. Darren heard from the teachers that we should try to split siblings up. He¡¯ll be fine. He¡¯s keeping my sister company at home.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s so sweet of him!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll choose...Clarissa-¡±


    ¡°Ooooh! How are things between the both of you?¡±


    ¡°Good! She¡¯s nice and fun to talk to, so she¡¯ll make a good group member. Three more right? Xin Ying, Ian and Izumi.¡±


    ¡°Waow! Izumi is my classmate. I have known her since P1 and she¡¯s quite nice.¡±


    When we were halfway allocating the other groups, Daniel approached us.


    ¡°Hello! How¡¯s everything going?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Good so far,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Ah nice! How¡¯s your preparation for your presentation? Need any help?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to do a nice one right? It¡¯s just details,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°That¡¯s totally up to you! But please bear in mind that we shouldn¡¯t spoil the fun. Dress code, amount of money to bring and other items to bring must be mentioned. And details of the games too!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Wait, you said don¡¯t spoil,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°I was just kidding! Yes, please don¡¯t spoil it. They already know the main activities! What I wanted to ask was whether we can have a committee meeting to finalise everything next week,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes we should have,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure if I can,¡± Elise added.


    ¡°I see, I¡¯ll get back to both of you soon. The rest seem busy,¡± Daniel said.


    There was something I did not understand. Why would one be busier after the examinations that one cannot attend such an important meeting?


    Later that week, a harried Jerome approached me during recess.


    ¡°Bad news! Bad news! We are dead for the camp!¡± he said.


    ¡°Calm down. Tell me what happened,¡± I replied.


    ¡°We can¡¯t even have a meeting now! People can¡¯t make it!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Who can make it? We must meet those!¡±


    ¡°Yes. We need a dry run, if not the camp will be quite badly run.¡±


    We had a final briefing with those involved in the camp the next Monday. Jerome gathered the committee members after the briefing.


    ¡°This is important, guys. We need to have a final meeting session before we meet the volunteers next Monday. Who is free this week?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I am!¡± I replied.


    ¡°Same,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°Who can¡¯t make it for any meeting from tomorrow to Friday?¡± Darren asked.


    Elise, Xuanyu, Kok Keong, Vivian and Stuart put up their hands.


    ¡°I guess let¡¯s meet earlier next Monday to do what we want to do,¡± Kok Keong suggested.


    ¡°Are you sure? Do you want to wake up at five in the morning next Monday? I hope not,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Guys, this camp is our camp. We are blessed to have volunteers who are willing to dedicate their time to help us facilitate and oversee our camp but I feel it isn¡¯t nice to push everything to them. We have willingly organised the camp to build community with the other prefects and junior leaders so we should make the best use of this camp to do so,¡± Daniel explained.


    ¡°But I can¡¯t make it!¡± Kok Keong retorted.


    ¡°Fine! Let¡¯s post announcements online instead! We need to meet earlier next Monday for the final briefing too! Who can¡¯t?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°Can I not go? I already met the volunteers and I need more sleep,¡± Jia Jie groaned.


    ¡°Up to you!¡± I replied. ¡°Don¡¯t panic if something goes wrong.¡±


    ¡°The reporting time is 8.45. Can all of us meet at 8.15?¡± Daniel asked.


    We all agreed to that timing. I walked back to the classroom block with Xuanyu.


    ¡°Are you worried about next week?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°No, because I¡¯m going to let you lead,¡± she replied and started laughing.


    ¡°Seriously are you kidding me?¡±


    ¡°I really think you can lead a lot better than me. Look at how I presented just now. Do you think I can lead a big group?¡±


    ¡°You can. Just try your best.¡±


    I was literally worried. What had happened to the committee over the course of two weeks? Although Ariana had not returned, things did turn out better when Kok Keong returned. I sensed our enthusiasm during our meeting at Hyacinth Square. Why did everyone just lose their zeal after that meeting? There could be a lack of rapport among us, since the majority of the committee was from 5A and there were only four others from other classes - Daniel was possibly right! Wait, why was I siding with Daniel again?


    I was eagerly anticipating the camp. I had no idea why. I was already awake at 5.30 before daylight came, visualising the exuberant faces of my friends and the other campers. Rebecca and Elijah were still asleep while I felt a surge of energy in me. After having some food, I sat at my table, staring at the paper on it - Math. It was the subject which frustrated me the most and I had no idea how people could score close to full marks for it. I stared at the paper for probably an hour and decided to leave my seat, since there was no point making myself frustrated which would ruin my zeal.


    What could I do? I went to the living room, took Rebecca¡¯s phone and switched it on. I opened Whatsapp and asked Jerome: Are you excited for the camp? He replied not long after, mentioning he was indeed excited, but at the same time worried that the committee would not coordinate well with the volunteers. He told me to join him in praying for the running of the camp.


    I left the house and took a leisurely stroll to the nearest train station (not really leisurely because I was used to walking briskly). It was only 7.45 when I reached Hyacinth Station. Having the feeling that no one would be there yet, I loitered around the station until I saw someone from the committee - Elise, whom I could walk to school with.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯m the only early one,¡± I told her with a chuckle.


    ¡°Daniel is already there,¡± she said, showing me the messages in the group chat. ¡°Nazreen is reaching as well.¡±


    ¡°I woke up at 5.30 and tried to do Math but I couldn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°What a hardworking person! What did you get for Math?¡±


    ¡°83, quite bad. I don¡¯t understand how your classmates can get above 90.¡±


    ¡°You topped your class right? Your other subjects must be good!¡±


    ¡°My English is not good! Science and Chinese pulled me up. Anyway, I won¡¯t stop trying until I beat Daniel Lim Jia Jun!¡±


    ¡°Your Chinese is already better than his. He¡¯s ninth in class and level. How far away are you?¡±


    ¡°Seventeenth in level! I didn¡¯t know there¡¯s such a big difference between 5A and 5B! Anyway, the volunteer in my group, Genevieve, is friends with Daniel¡¯s sister. You should know why I put her in my group.¡±


    ¡°I thought you really gave up. Looks like you actually didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I need more proof. Since I have the chance to look for more proof, why not?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°No wonder Huayi is being himself.¡±


    ¡°What about him? Oh, he was saying the cheer writing competition is stupid and told Eng Soon not to take part! Wait, we didn¡¯t look through the entries!¡±


    ¡°Jerome is announcing the winners later. We let him do it because he likes to cheer. You should watch him cheer! He really puts all his emotions into the cheers! Remember the P5 camp? He cried during one of the cheers!¡±


    ¡°Wow, who actually...never mind. Serious question. Does he have autism? My classmate told me Jerome says he has autism to defend Ace.¡±


    ¡°Jerome keeps insisting he has. I don¡¯t know how true it is. Alicia Tan says he has. Other people say he doesn¡¯t. He likes to talk about religion a lot, and he links it to him overcoming the challenges autistic children face.¡±


    ¡°Overcoming challenges. He¡¯s popular and can talk to everyone without any problem at all. I guess he overcame the challenge of interacting with people? That day, he and Daniel got most of the attention from the volunteers while the rest of us were quiet. See? The rich become richer!¡±


    ¡°Both of them hype up a lot when meeting new people. Be prepared. Daniel will have very high energy later, and throughout the camp.¡±


    We arrived at the school hall, where the volunteers, Daniel¡¯s father, the teachers, Daniel, Nazreen and Darren were gathered. The three committee members and volunteers were seated in a circle.


    ¡°Hi!¡± Daniel jumped up from the floor on seeing us. ¡°Congrats for topping the class, Jordan!¡±


    ¡°Err...thank you. Hope you met your expectations,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Thanks for being early guys. To save time, you should meet your volunteer facilitators first. You should be clear on the games, reflections and so on,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Elise whispered to me. ¡°I forgot some of the amazing race locations! I think some of the treasure hunt locations too!¡±


    ¡°Lead for those you know, let Jerome do the rest. Just don¡¯t make him mad,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Not making Darren mad is most important,¡± Elise said. ¡°And I¡¯ll wait for Jerome before talking to my group¡¯s facilitators.¡±


    I went on to talk to Talib and Genevieve. They were very clear about the routes to take during the camp and were willing to let me and Xuanyu lead the group while they monitored us.


    It was 8.15. Kok Keong, Xuanyu, Stuart and Willis had not arrived.


    When Willis came running in panting hard, Darren yelled at him, ¡°What time is it? 8.05? If the rest start entering the hall now, they¡¯re going to hear us! Isn¡¯t that spoiling the fun?¡±


    Xuanyu appeared as well.


    ¡°And you? Still taking your morning walk in the park? Can¡¯t you see everyone is waiting?¡± Darren continued. After Stuart and Kok Keong arrived, Darren decided to give everyone an admonishment. ¡°You guys are prefects! You should be role models to the rest! What kind of role-¡±


    ¡°Bro! Relax! This is a fun camp! Discipline is important, but please relax. Guys, I appreciate your efforts in waking up a little earlier today. I understand it wasn¡¯t easy, but good job! Thanks Jordan for helping us to allocate the facilitators.¡± Daniel then looked towards the side doors. ¡°I think I saw someone coming in. Can one of you go out to check?¡±


    ¡°I can!¡± I said and darted to the doors at the side of the hall. I looked around. ¡°Yes? Is anyone there?¡± Thanks to my eyesight, I managed to see a portion of someone¡¯s head behind a nearby parapet. I scurried towards where the person was and all I saw was a blue figure vanishing into another corridor. Weird. Who could it be lurking in the school grounds in the morning of a holiday?


    I walked back into the hall. ¡°You probably won¡¯t believe what I just saw. There was someone outside, but he disappeared and went that way. Let¡¯s just continue.¡±


    ¡°Wow wow wow! Time to tell ghost stories!¡± Willis said.


    ¡°Erm...I¡¯ve heard a lot of ghost stories about our school, same for the secondary school and JC. Urban legends,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Forget about that. I think it¡¯s just some naughty kid,¡± I said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope whoever that kid is isn¡¯t eavesdropping on us now,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Oh yes! He installed invisible recording devices in the hall right?¡± Jerome questioned Darren.


    The teachers then briefed us on our expected behaviour as leaders of the camp. As they doubted we would do a good job, the instructions they gave were mainly directed at the facilitators and other volunteers. The teachers did have a point. What kind of eleven year olds could lead a group of fourteen in activities which require roaming around Aquapolis? Well, we just needed to try our best and land on our safety nets which are the facilitators (they can¡¯t guarantee perfect safety though).


    Before we knew it, the campers were already streaming in and we had to gather in the locations our groups were supposed to gather.


    ¡°This is scary...you can do it!¡± Xuanyu said to me.


    Was she actually serious about pushing the responsibility to me? I hoped it was a lame joke. All of a sudden, I felt a small figure push me from behind.


    ¡°Heyo!¡± It was Clarissa.


    ¡°Good morning! Are you excited for the camp?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Yes! And we¡¯re in the same group!¡± she exclaimed.


    ¡°And I am your group leader so I¡¯ll make sure you behave yourself!¡± I said sternly. ¡°Don¡¯t take it too hard, just relax and have fun.¡±


    Clarissa then jabbed Xuanyu¡¯s waist from both sides, which made her scream.


    ¡°Oh my goodness! I shouldn¡¯t have let Jordan put you in my group!¡± Xuanyu said, while slapping Clarissa¡¯s back repeatedly.


    ¡°You two know each other?¡± I asked them.


    ¡°Yes she¡¯s my CCA friend,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    Talib asked me, ¡°What¡¯s the dress code for this camp?¡±


    ¡°Homeclothes on the first and second day, and the Prefects¡¯ shirt on the third,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s allowed?¡± Talib asked, pointing at Xuanyu¡¯s outfit. She was wearing a spaghetti crop top with a pair of short shorts. He then approached her. ¡°Are you sure you are allowed to wear a crop top for the camp?¡±


    ¡°The teachers didn¡¯t say anything. Look at the volunteer over there. That¡¯s a crop top. Mine is not. I just grew taller and it became too short for me,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°You better be careful if you wear that. Furthermore, you¡¯re only a kid. You hurt more because your friend poked your skin just now,¡± Talib added.


    ¡°I wore this and other similar clothes before. Nothing happened,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°So now I know what you wear when you¡¯re not wearing your uniform,¡± I laughed.


    ¡°Yeah, so now you know how many more moles I actually have,¡± Xuanyu replied with a chuckle, referring to the moles on her upper chest, back and thighs.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen her wear something like that sometime before the junior leader selection last year. She really has a lot of moles, I counted eight just on her right arm. She must be so daring to show them off! I just hide mine. Xin Ying¡¯s here!¡± Clarissa said to me.


    ¡°Oh hello!¡± I greeted my group member, Lim Xin Ying, who was Clarissa¡¯s classmate.


    ¡°Hi! Are you Jordan?¡± Xin Ying asked.


    ¡°Yes! Nice to meet you! Hope you¡¯re excited for the camp!¡± I replied, while Xuanyu was talking to two P6 group members.


    ¡°Yes I am! Daniel said it will be fun. He also told me you contributed a lot of good ideas to your team,¡± Xin Ying said.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s always him!¡± I replied. ¡°Anyway, how did both of you know each other?¡±


    ¡°I forgot, I think it was in P2,¡± Xin Ying replied.


    ¡°See? All you have to do is talk about Daniel!¡± Clarissa said to Xin Ying while laughing.


    ¡°Do you still gossip about me with your classmates?¡± I asked Clarissa.


    ¡°If I have news for them, yes,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Let me tell you. I give up. I don¡¯t want to warn people about Daniel anymore. Please tolerate me if I ask you for information. I¡¯m just gathering information about him now. I want to prove myself that he is not dangerous like what he appears to be,¡± I explained.


    Clarissa and Xin Ying exchanged glances, then burst out laughing. I frowned and looked at Xuanyu, who frowned back at me. What was so funny?


    Another group member from our batch, Izumi Tanaka, arrived.


    ¡°You must be Izumi!¡± I said to her. ¡°Are you excited for the camp?¡±


    ¡°Yup! I¡¯m really curious to see what you guys have for us. I¡¯m quite excited for Project Phoenix! I signed up!¡± Izumi replied.


    ¡°You do recess duties right? I think I saw your response. Elise and I will confirm your sign up after the camp. We have been quite busy with this camp,¡± I said.


    All the other group members arrived and we were supposed to have our first round of icebreakers, where we introduced our name, class, interesting personal facts as well as what leadership meant to us. I let Xuanyu take the lead, but she refused and insisted that I do it. All the best to me then.


    ¡°I am Jordan from 5A. An interesting fact about myself is that I am a wayback person. I like listening to songs released decades ago. I can listen to a lot of genres but the ones I prefer are progressive rock, art rock, glam rock, psychedelic rock and new wave. Do you listen to any of these bands and singers? Genesis, T. Rex, Electric Light Orchestra, The Who, Pink Floyd, Yes, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Styx, The Doors and many more.¡±


    ¡°Another Brick in the Wall?¡± Xin Ying asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s a really cool one! It¡¯s one of my favourites! Listen to the whole song instead of just Part 2,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Can I call you Wayback Jordan from today?¡± Xin Ying asked, making everyone laugh.


    ¡°Sure! That¡¯s an honour!¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, leadership to me is something puzzling. Who gets to be a leader and who gets to take higher positions is puzzling. It¡¯s pretty interesting too. I believe you don¡¯t have to be a leader to show leadership because it can be done in our daily lives. I look forward to hearing your opinions on this. Xuanyu, you¡¯ll go next.¡±


    ¡°Erm...hi, my name is Xuanyu. I¡¯m from 5A. An interesting fact is that my cousins in China like to bully me by taking me to those tall glass bridges to see me cry and freak out. I think leadership is about being a good person and making others follow you in doing the good things.¡±


    It was Clarissa¡¯s turn after a few group members. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Clarissa from 5C! Okay, no teachers near us. At the beginning of the year, I threw my bread into the fish pond without the gardener¡¯s permission. The fish were too small so they didn¡¯t eat the bread! It was funny when the prefect on duty tried to use a fallen branch to drag the floating bread out of the water. He then let me try and I fell into the pond! Luckily it was only my leg and not my whole body!¡±


    ¡°And that prefect is Daniel Lim?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Clarissa said, trying to contain her laughter. ¡°And...and...leadership is making sure everything is in order and being a role model.¡±


    The self-introduction continued. Quite a few of my group members had difficulty explaining what leadership meant to them, so I decided to simplify the question to what qualities a leader should possess. I heard the common answers - kind, loving, well-behaved, and so on. Leadership felt like a greater conundrum with my group members being unable to explain what it meant to them. Anyway, I should not let my thoughts distract me.


    The next activity was a game of Whacko - a classic icebreaker game to test if one remembered everyone¡¯s names. Xuanyu and I encouraged Talib and Genevieve to join us but they told us to go ahead without them. Why would they reject having fun with us? I saw that the facilitators of other groups did participate in the games as well. I sincerely hoped it was not because of Talib¡¯s disapproval of Xuanyu¡¯s attire.


    For the next game, Xuanyu let me lead again. She seemed serious about letting me lead the entire group throughout the camp.


    ¡°Alright, can everyone stand up. Stay in the circle,¡± I said, then told Xuanyu to take a few steps back. ¡°For this game, can you hold the hand of the person next to you on both sides?¡±


    ¡°Ew!¡± a boy remarked and everyone began to hesitate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be shy. It¡¯s just a game,¡± I said. After some persuading, everyone in the circle was holding hands except me and Xuanyu. ¡°Close the circle. Both of us are going to demonstrate,¡± I said and reached for Xuanyu¡¯s hand.


    She took a few steps away. ¡°No, no. Choose someone else.¡± She then joined the circle in between two female group members. Everyone began giggling.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need a volunteer...you please.¡± I chose Clarissa.


    ¡°Me?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°Yes, you,¡± I replied.


    Clarissa stood up and shuffled over to hold my hand.


    ¡°Alright, so we¡¯ll walk around the circle. Let¡¯s do this demo in slow motion. You and your partner will walk around and decide where you want to break the chain. Clarissa, where do you want the chain to break?¡± I said.


    ¡°Between Solomia and Tan Xiao,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Alright, Solomia will grab Ian and leave the chain. Tan Xiao will grab Abner and leave the chain. I¡¯m going to join back the chain with Xin Ying and Clarissa, don¡¯t close the gap. The two pairs of you, run in opposite directions and switch partners when you meet. Whichever pair is faster will close the chain between Clarissa and Ashton. Whichever pair left outside will do what I did with Clarissa, repeat until time is up and the pair left will do a forfeit,¡± I said.


    Thankfully, the group understood my instructions and the game ended well with Clarissa and a P4 boy needing to do forfeits.


    ¡°Any suggestions?¡± I asked Xuanyu, who just shook her head. ¡°Let me think...Clarissa! Can you convince me why I should listen to modern music and not classic music?¡±


    ¡°Uh...because modern music is nicer and you can dance to them?¡± Clarissa said with a chuckle.


    I stroked my chin. ¡°Really? That¡¯s completely false. Your mission failed! Do you want to try again?¡±


    ¡°Maybe because you can find modern music on YouTube and buy them easily?¡±


    I did a dramatic facepalm in front of the entire group. ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll let you off this time! Let¡¯s continue this at the beach! You need to be educated! Alright, Jansen! I want you to convince Xuanyu why she should go on a date with you!¡±


    ¡°What? Oh my¡­¡± Xuanyu blurted.


    ¡°You should go on a date with me because I can help you overcome your fear of tall bridges!¡± Jansen said.


    ¡°No! No! No!¡± Xuanyu protested.


    ¡°Hello everyone!¡± Jerome spoke on the microphone. ¡°Hope the games are fun so far! Before we move on to the next part, we¡¯re going to announce the winning cheers! The winner of the school cheer goes to...four of our friends from 4A and 4B...Abner! Adam! Kai Xian! Kelly! Can one of you come up to collect our prize?¡±


    I turned to Xuanyu and said, ¡°Jerome is going to announce himself as the winner after this.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t even participate. We know a group with Daniel will win so our class decided not to participate,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    How true was that? I felt the reason was a lot more complicated.


    ¡°Next up, the winner for the prefects cheer! Are you ready...congratulations to...our 5B friends!¡± Jerome continued.


    Was he referring to me and my classmates who wrote the cheer together?


    ¡°Vivian! Jordan! Rayana! Li Xuan! Sylvia! Can one of you come up?¡± Jerome said.


    Vivian signalled at me to go up the stage. I pointed at Li Xuan to go up but she pointed back at me.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t all of you come up together? Let¡¯s be quick so we can leave for lunch early!¡± Jerome said.


    After receiving the packet of sweets, I suggested that we should share the sweets with everyone else in the hall.


    When I offered a sweet to Huayi, he said, ¡°See? I don¡¯t need to participate in this to get a sweet.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you have against us, but please understand our purpose for doing so,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yes! That Darren did explain to us. Don¡¯t wait for me to expose all of you!¡± he said.


    How exactly had the committee offended Huayi? I had to check with Xuanyu whether she knew anything about it, but she did not. I had three issues on my mind already - leadership in general, Daniel and Huayi. I needed to put them down and focus on leading my group in the next activity - identity making. As expected, Xuanyu pushed the facilitation to me again, while Talib and Genevieve just stood around.


    Basically, our group had to think of a group name and design our group flag. We were free to leave the school for lunch anytime, since the part of the beach we would be heading to was quite some distance away. I needed to check with my group members where they would like to eat.


    ¡°Alright, we won¡¯t be catering food for the camp, which means we have the freedom to eat whatever we want! But we can¡¯t spend too much! Any ideas?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Beachfront! Hopefully it¡¯s near the place!¡± Clarissa replied.


    ¡°Wow you seem so excited about Beachfront, do you live there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Long time ago. I like to go there to take pictures because the buildings look nice! I stay in Westvale now. Can we eat at Chiang Village?¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°Oh yes! I¡¯m texting Hui Wen about that now!¡± Xin Ying said.


    ¡°Do any of you not want to eat at Chiang Village? Don¡¯t be shy,¡± I said.


    ¡°Chiang Village is good!¡± a group member responded.


    ¡°So, let¡¯s think of our group name fast and draw the flag quick. We can think of what to eat there along the way. Remember, we can¡¯t spend too much money and time,¡± I said.


    ¡°How about the food court?¡± one member suggested. ¡°It is cheaper than restaurants, there¡¯s more space and the food gets ready faster.¡±


    ¡°I like food courts. I brought more money today. Can I actually buy some cupcakes for the picnic later? I didn¡¯t bring any food,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Yes of course! Let¡¯s get this done!¡± I replied.


    We decided to call our group Kiln, which symbolised our aim to remain steadfast in times of trouble. Our flag was done as well, making us one of the first groups to be done with our task and ready to leave. While we were getting ready to leave, Elise came over, whispering something into Xuanyu¡¯s ear. Elise then showed Xuanyu something on her phone and both of them glanced at me before they burst out laughing.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Something!¡± Elise replied with a smirk, while Xuanyu was still laughing with her hand covering her mouth.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked again, with a louder voice.


    ¡°Fun things!¡± Elise replied. ¡°Where are you guys going now? Kiln? That¡¯s a cool name!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to eat at Chiang Village at Beachfront. How about you?¡± I said.


    ¡°We¡¯re still deciding. Maybe somewhere near school? I think Jia Jie¡¯s group wants to eat at Beachfront too, most likely at One Tseng. Our group is called Kryptonite!¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s Ariana?¡±


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t really said anything since the introduction. Hope things get better.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, have fun!¡± Elise said, raising her eyebrow at Xuanyu, who continued laughing.


    The journey to Chiang Village and lunch there was quite enjoyable. I had the opportunity to talk to each of my group members, regardless of the length of our conversations. It was a good start, although our group was not bonded to the extent where everyone could talk to one another. As for Xuanyu, she entrusted the befriending to me and was mostly talking to Clarissa and Izumi, and sometimes Xin Ying. The rest would occasionally talk to her as well. We managed to arrive at the beach early.


    ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± Darren hollered at Jia Jie¡¯s group, which was the last to arrive. ¡°Anyone has an idea for a forfeit?¡± he announced to the rest of us.


    ¡°Do the school cheer!¡± I suggested.


    ¡°Sing the school song while holding hands and running in a circle!¡± a P6 suggested.


    ¡°Sure! Sure! Someone film it!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°I can!¡± Clarissa bounced up. ¡°Add me on Facebook if you want to watch the video!¡±


    ¡°Are you serious? You are so daring to tell everyone to add you on Facebook! You really like taking pictures and videos!¡± I remarked.


    ¡°Yeah! I need to create my Instagram account soon! What¡¯s your Facebook name?¡± she asked.


    ¡°First, I don¡¯t have Facebook. Second, I don¡¯t have Instagram. Third, I don¡¯t have a phone!¡± I made it clear to my group.


    ¡°I have Facebook and I just got an old ZTE phone,¡± Xuanyu said, while holding on to our flag in the sand.


    ¡°Nicholas! Stop staring!¡± Talib chided a P4 group member, who appeared to be staring at Xuanyu, whom I told to sit.


    Genevieve took out a portable speaker from her bag. ¡°Okay guys, I can play some music. Feel free to suggest songs!¡±


    ¡°Smoke on the Water is a must to listen. The guitar riff is just - great,¡± I said.


    ¡°Is it the one you sang at the meeting? Guys! This dude actually sang a song during the P5 prefects meeting!¡± Clarissa announced.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you the name of that song already? It¡¯s called We¡¯re An American Band. We can go one round and play it after everyone¡¯s suggestion gets played,¡± I said.


    We had a good time eating and building the sandcastles. I dropped some reflection questions I crafted with the committee along the way. From their answers, I understood their motivations to be leaders in school as well as their level of concern for the community. The next and final activity for the day was a treasure hunt at the nearby Turquox Karst and Limestone Avenue. I had qualms about that. We were supposed to have at least two outings as a committee to explore the places we would be visiting for the treasure hunts and amazing races. It ended up with Daniel and Jerome churning up ideas at the last minute. Xuanyu made me lead...again.


    Thanks to my familiarity with the two national parks, navigating around was not a problem, which made my group find our assigned ¡®treasure¡¯ - a certain heritage tree and a limestone cave. We ended up taking lots of group pictures at various locations from various angles (something I loathed when done excessively) - thanks to Clarissa. I noticed in particular the actions of Abner Teo, who was great at ensuring the group stayed on task and constantly kept track of time. Was it time to recruit P4s into the committee? Only time would tell.


    We were dismissed from wherever we ended. For group members whose parents would be coming to pick them up, facilitators and group leaders had the responsibility to ensure they were safely picked up.


    ¡°Are we meeting the rest?¡± I asked Xuanyu as we were standing around a carpark with Clarissa.


    ¡°Just go home, I don¡¯t know where they are. Are you going back with us, Clarissa?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll follow you guys to the train station. I need to meet my mum at Nyan,¡± Clarissa replied.


    ¡°Ah sure! I hope you remember my song recommendations!¡± I said.


    ¡°Fine! There¡¯s Smoke on the Water, Games People Play, Light My Fire...I forgot!¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°I think there was Don¡¯t Bring Me Down?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°Oh yes! I don¡¯t really listen to rock,¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°I listen to a lot of pop too!¡± I said. ¡°You can check out ABBA, Bee Gees and Carpenters. Anyway, I think today was good, even though someone kept pushing the work to me.¡±


    Xuanyu laughed and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t even need to help.¡±


    ¡°You were good!¡± Clarissa told me. ¡°All of you are good! How did you manage to plan such a fun camp?¡±


    ¡°Good? The committee is falling apart!¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°What?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°We were supposed to explore the locations together, but people say they are busy so it got messed up,¡± I replied, glaring at Xuanyu.


    ¡°I was busy!¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°We need a new member!¡± I said to Clarissa. ¡°And I think you will do a good job. This committee started out well, and now people are getting sick of it and want to leave! Too bad! Jerome and Daniel were already going to explore. They said I could join them, but there¡¯s no way I would want to go out with Daniel in a small group of three. So, I helped with the online research and Google Streetview.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a small group. There were more who joined them,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°You must be joking right? I don¡¯t remember hearing anyone else agreeing to join them,¡± I said.


    ¡°They¡¯re not prefects. You know some of them like Xin Yi, Hannah, Ethan Tay, Alex. Some of the Indians went too. So it¡¯s more like a friends outing,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°Those are his close friends?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know? He has a lot of friends,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not argue about him, but the issue here is the committee. We have so many projects ahead, even Project Phoenix is in the works, teachers are sending in names and mentors are signing up. You should sign up too!¡± I told Clarissa.


    ¡°I really really can¡¯t teach! I just can¡¯t! Maybe I can help with the cleaning project,¡± she replied.


    ¡°It is not really teaching. It¡¯s just helping them with their homework or any assessment book and you can choose the subjects you want to mentor. How about...if you don¡¯t want to be part of our project, you can be a committee member!¡± I said.


    ¡°I can¡¯t come to school on time and I need to go home after school, but I¡¯ll still give you my full support!¡± Clarissa said.


    Although the first day of the camp was enjoyable, I was still worried. The committee had put in so much effort in planning the projects. Were we just going to leave them hanging there?


    The next day, there was no need for us to meet earlier, so we just needed to report together with the rest at 8.45 am. Being enthusiastic, I reached at around 8.25, to see that Ian, Abner and Ashton from my group were already there.


    ¡°Good morning! Thanks for coming early!¡± I said.


    ¡°I wanted to say thank you for yesterday, it was really fun!¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Thank me? I have to tell you, this camp was very badly planned, with a lot of last minute ideas, a lot of which aren¡¯t mine,¡± I said.


    ¡°I know there¡¯s a lot of walking and my legs aren¡¯t ready for the hike later,¡± Ashton said with a chuckle. ¡°But it was really fun because there are no trainers screaming at us all the time.¡±


    ¡°I should thank all of you for being such nice group mates instead. It is all of you who make the camp fun!¡± I said.


    ¡°Facts,¡± Ian added.


    ¡°I should thank all of you for Project Phoenix too! My brother is lazy and I can¡¯t help him at all, maybe this can help,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know whether it will happen. Things aren¡¯t looking good,¡± I sighed.


    ¡°We will always support you!¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Thank you, I think I should check with Xuanyu if we should have a feedback session after the camp for our group. I can tell the other committee members to do it for their groups too,¡± I said.


    ¡°I was told that you and Xuanyu are going to lead us in Chinese today?¡± Ian asked.


    ¡°It must be Elise,¡± I muttered to myself, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! There are non-Chinese here so we must make it fair. Anyway, I don¡¯t think I can conduct the treasure hunts in Chinese. I need time to prepare.¡±


    ¡°I heard you and Xuanyu are the best in level at Higher Chinese. I¡¯m only partially Chinese, my parents know Chinese and I want to exempt myself already,¡± Ian said.


    ¡°What¡¯s your race?¡± Ashton asked.


    ¡°Greek-Chinese. My father is also Greek-Chinese and my mother is completely Chinese, so I look very Asian,¡± Ian replied.


    Soon, Clarissa arrived and Kok Keong approached me at the same time.


    ¡°Jordan! Are you interested in Xuanyu?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Why are you asking me this question?¡± I asked back. ¡°You don¡¯t even have evidence.¡±


    ¡°I have, so that¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you! I notice you always sit with her during Chinese lessons, you must sit with her during our meetings and you have to put her in your group.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean anything. Are you interested in her so that¡¯s why you are checking if others are?¡±


    ¡°No, I just feel that you are.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that because you are interested in someone...like Elise?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just lame! You don¡¯t even know how to tell if someone likes someone!¡±


    Clarissa began laughing at me. ¡°Wow! Go and get your dream girl! Is she staying in Aquapolis for you or will you be going to China with her?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him! Just don¡¯t,¡± I said.


    Xuanyu arrived and I told her about what happened.


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s interested in someone,¡± she said. ¡°And that someone is Jia Jie.¡±


    ¡°Is that the short-haired girl over there?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°Yes, both of them are in CO. But, Jia Jie likes Daniel,¡± Xuanyu explained.


    ¡°Ha ha ha ha! How many of them actually mean it?¡± I said.


    ¡°Right now those who like him the most are her and Xin Yi,¡± Xuanyu said. (Kwek Xin Yi was a very noisy girl from 5A) ¡°But I think Daniel is gay.¡±


    ¡°Is he? Why?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°The way he takes photos on Facebook,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°What about them? I want to see them,¡± I said.


    ¡°My data¡¯s dead, but I can demonstrate,¡± Clarissa said, then put one hand on her waist and stretched her other hand at me, showing a peace sign.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± I turned to Xuanyu. ¡°That doesn¡¯t show he is gay, but we can explore that of course.¡±


    I did not understand. Which part of Daniel spelt that he was likable? I honestly hoped those girls would not be deceived by him. Anyway, the day was so exhausting that it would be very exhausting for me to describe what went on too. In short, Xuanyu let me lead (again¡­) but the heartwarming thing was that Clarissa would assist me when she saw I needed aid. Abner did a very good job encouraging us to persist. We had a total of three tiring treasure hunts that day, such that plans for a committee dinner got cancelled.


    We were dismissed at Aqueris Ridges. Xuanyu wanted to sit down to rest before we made our way home. I decided to keep her company. Clarissa would keep us company for a while before meeting her family at Forge Harbour.


    ¡°Do you even need to rest for so long? My legs are short and I can still walk more than you!¡± Clarissa said to Xuanyu.


    ¡°I can¡¯t talk,¡± Xuanyu whispered, while panting.


    ¡°How often do you actually exercise?¡± I asked Clarissa.


    ¡°On weekends? I bet you guys don¡¯t even exercise!¡± she laughed.


    ¡°We just did! You¡¯re not wrong that I don¡¯t exercise in my daily life. I actually spend the time I could have used for exercise on music,¡± I replied.


    Xuanyu, able to catch more breath, said, ¡°I prefer to relax at home.¡±


    After resting for a few minutes, Xuanyu and I bade farewell to Clarissa and headed to the train station. I really felt like chiding her for pushing all the leading to me, but I realised I should observe for just another day.


    ¡°Has Kok Keong ever asked you whether you are interested in me?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Nope. Are you interested in anyone?¡±


    ¡°No, how about you?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly.¡±


    ¡°Not exactly means there is probably someone? Who is it?¡±


    Xuanyu just smiled and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m quite sure Kok Keong is interested in Jia Jie. My classmates talk about it.¡±


    ¡°One day I¡¯ll find out who your crush is. Are there a lot of such relationships happening in your class?¡±


    ¡°Alicia Tan and Ace are dating. Darren and Jia Jie tried to date in P3.¡±


    ¡°Seriously? I can¡¯t imagine both of them together. Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Darren changed a lot after becoming a prefect this year.¡±


    ¡°I need to ask you something. What do you think of Ace as a person?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s quite good! I guess you heard a lot of things about him?¡±


    ¡°I heard a lot of complaints from Graham. Some of my classmates joke about him too. From what Graham described to me, Ace seems to have special needs. I heard he has to bite a towel and squeeze a soft toy. I think I was told that Alicia has to sit beside him all the time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. Alicia once told me Ace has anxiety problems, but she didn¡¯t really say anything afterwards. I think she doesn¡¯t want to talk about it to others. Ace is helpful. When I sat near him, he would help me with English very patiently. Our class may be quite fun, but sometimes people will bully Ace.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just bad! Ace didn¡¯t even do anything to offend them! Anyway, is it true that Jerome has autism? Graham said Jerome will defend Ace by saying he himself has autism?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Jerome has autism, look at how he leads - so much better than me! It¡¯s true that he tells others he has autism. I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°If he doesn¡¯t have autism, would he be willing to lie to defend his friend? I should check with him next time if I can. Also, Elise said he talks about religion a lot.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he was trying to convince me that God is real during the sleepover.¡±


    ¡°Sleepover?¡±


    ¡°For my class. You should have heard stories of this Alex guy. He got punished for pressing a girl¡¯s stomach. He does that in class, to girls who are okay with it. He just grabs them by the stomach. He slapped my backside before!¡±


    ¡°Oh him! How was the sleepover?¡±


    ¡°It was quite funny at night! Everyone was arguing where to sleep, because Darren kept saying that boys and girls must sleep in separate rooms, then the rest said everyone can sleep together. Everyone woke up halfway because Alex was touching people!¡±


    ¡°Wow that¡¯s creepy if you sleep in the same room as him. Anyway, my siblings and I do talk about boys and girls sleeping together ever since my sister¡¯s P3 camp a long time ago. Interesting topic to discuss.¡±


    The next day was the true critical one, as it would concern our future projects held outside of school. I did the research for the various places each group will go, without visiting them in person (no doubt that I visited most of them before). Each group needed to cover all locations assigned to them, where they would either interview people or answer questions set by the committee. Do you think it was easy to lead a group of fourteen to do those? I sincerely hoped that Xuanyu would do her part as a group leader. I hated to think that she was turning back on her decision to be a part of the committee.


    All groups had to complete two tasks in Lakeridge town before completing one in Nyan town before lunch. For my group, our Lakeridge tasks were to locate a curved rental block of flats as well as interview a park ranger at Emerald Lake Park. What annoyed me was Xuanyu again insisting that I take the lead even though I let her lead a relatively simple task - lead the group to the rental block based on the members¡¯ instincts (committee members were already given directions). After completing that task, a wrecking ball knocked me awake¡­


    How did I not realise earlier that I was the only one leading my group the entire time? I only knew how to complain that Xuanyu pushed her responsibility to me and not consider the fact that I should give other group members the chance to lead. I gave Xin Ying the chance to do so for the interview with the park ranger. The questions were not provided so we had to generate them as a group.


    ¡°Okay guys, how many questions should we ask?¡± Xin Ying said.


    ¡°Ten?¡± Ashton suggested.


    ¡°Sorry to interrupt,¡± Talib said. ¡°Do bear in mind that the park ranger is busy and we will be disrupting his job, so try not to have too many questions.¡±


    ¡°Yes, remember our purpose of the amazing race - to have a better understanding of the wider community. Our group is assigned here, so what do you want to know about this park or the ranger better that we can help them?¡± I said.


    ¡°How tiring the job is!¡± Clarissa suggested.


    ¡°What he hates about the job!¡± Tan Xiao said.


    ¡°Maybe something related to pollution and cleanliness of the park?¡± one of the P6 members said.


    ¡°How we can help improve the park and make the job of the ranger easier,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Those four are good! Are they enough?¡± Xin Ying asked Talib.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think two of the questions can overlap?¡± Talib asked.


    ¡°I get it! Instead of how tiring the job is, we can ask the ranger to say his wishes for the park!¡± Xin Ying said.


    I was satisfied. Giving others the chance to lead did work out. Our next task required us to travel to Nyan to interview someone at a sports complex. Solomia was given the honour of being our leader for that. Honestly, I did not have anything in mind when I chose the sports complex other than it being a place I went bowling with my siblings, Vera, Nicole and Kai Le the previous year. As such, my group members were debating on what the interview would likely be about, that Solomia was quite lost too. We were still clueless on what to do, until we felt we were running out of time and decided to interview a random basketballer. The questions asked were mainly pertaining to the atmosphere at the sports centre as well as life in the Lantana District of Nyan.


    We finished earlier than expected, so Genevieve brought us to her favourite lunch location in Greenpeak town. Over lunch, we managed to discuss our Greenpeak task, which was to find two buildings along a supposed heritage trail. We completed the task early and were ready to head to Turquox town.


    I realised - not only did Xuanyu refuse to lead, she also hardly contributed to the ideas that day. What could have happened to her? She did not seem particularly moody that day, but behaved the same way as she always did.


    ¡°Are you alright? Is there anything on your mind?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Uh...yeah. Today is very fun,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Yes it¡¯s fun, but are you sure you are fine?¡±


    ¡°I am. Are you trying to make me lead again?¡±


    She sounded annoyed. Something was amiss. I looked at her again - all she did was grin at me with her mouth closed. Anyway, after our snack, we were supposed to conduct an interview with an owner of a shop at a shophouse of our choice. That task was relatively easier, since we could relate our questions to the living conditions of the poorer parts of Turquox.


    Up next was our final task before reporting to the Ministry of Community and Entertainment (MCE) auditorium for our debrief. It was hilarious how the non-interview locations were mainly buildings, because buildings would come to my mind first when thinking of places. Before we knew it, it was time for the final segment of the camp. My group members were sad that all the activities had to come to a halt. Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves and the friendships we forged.


    We were pleasantly surprised with a short performance by Daniel¡¯s father before he delivered his word of thanks to the volunteers. What came after was a sharing by one of the MCE members regarding leadership and community service before the groups had our respective reflection sessions. I was glad that my group members had a greater sense of belonging to the prefectorial board and many were willing to take part in our upcoming projects, including Project Phoenix...but what about Xuanyu?


    The committee members agreed to have a dinner and debrief session after dismissal from the MCE Building.


    While walking out, Daniel said to some of us, ¡°My group members thought of a name for our series of projects - FRansformed!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Oh it is basically a play on the word ¡®transformed¡¯ where the t and r and changed to capital F and R,¡± Daniel clarified.


    ¡°Sounds lame but why not?¡± Willis said with a chuckle.


    Upon exiting the building, we saw Jerome sitting on the steps and leaning against the wall with a forlorn expression. Elise was standing beside him, shaking her head at us.


    ¡°Jerome! Is there anything wrong?¡± Daniel asked him.


    Jerome grunted.


    ¡°If there¡¯s something wrong you can tell us,¡± I said.


    Jerome flicked his hand at me.


    ¡°Give him some time,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Guys, do you still want to have your dinner?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°But does Jerome want?¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°He¡¯ll still come, let¡¯s wait for him,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Do you know what happened?¡± Jia Jie asked Elise.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move back a bit. Give him some space,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°He was okay all the time and after it ended he started to look sad and I found him here,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Was there anything that happened during reflections?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember,¡± Elise replied.


    Jerome moved a bit and said, ¡°Ariana didn¡¯t come up on stage when Uncle Jerome asked us to. The group photo too.¡±


    ¡°You are depressed because of that?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that!¡± I said. ¡°Every committee member is precious. Losing one member can really make a lot of difference.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Jordan. Every member counts. This FRansformed committee means a lot to him and to us. Together, we have come so far. We are done with the first event we planned on the bright side! And together, we can take on whatever is ahead,¡± Daniel said.


    Jerome began to stand up. ¡°Thanks, Ariana isn¡¯t the main reason, I¡¯ve accepted that Ariana quit. I was just talking to Xin Jie and I said ¡®thank God¡¯. Xin Jie asked me which God and I just told him that it¡¯s our God. Mr Sinnathamby heard it and I got told off.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡± Stuart pointed out.


    ¡°I have to agree, but what exactly did Mr Sinnathamby say that was so offensive?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°He accused me of forcing religion on others!¡± Jerome replied.


    ¡°If you know you didn¡¯t force religion on Xin Jie, you shouldn¡¯t be sad. Cheer up! Where are we going now?¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Miekel Metro Centre is good,¡± I suggested.


    ¡°How about The Capital?¡± Vivian said.


    We all agreed on having our dinner at The Capital, an old mall with a new modernised wing.


    I turned to Stuart. ¡°Can I find out from you how Daniel was during the camp?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I knew you put me with him for a reason. He¡¯s just his usual self - high energy, good at speaking, good at leading,¡± Stuart replied.


    ¡°Did he do anything bad?¡±


    ¡°Our group is good, no problems given. I will be leading the discussion later and I was writing the questions on a crumpled piece of paper just now.¡±


    Was that true? What Stuart said sounded believable. I was eager to hear what feedback Daniel would have during the discussion. Due to the noisy nature of The Capital, we decided to sit at the roof garden of the new wing and pack our food to consume there. Nazreen and Jerome volunteered to look after our bags while the rest of us went to buy our food.


    Stuart began to speak when everyone was back, ¡°One representative from each group can answer each question. Rate your group from one to ten and explain what¡¯s good and bad about it. We can go according to group number. The first is Kiln if I remember correctly.¡±


    I looked at Xuanyu, who was sitting beside me. She pointed at me to indicate that I speak.


    ¡°I would give Kiln an eight out of ten. We may not be the best, but I feel we were better than expected. Some of our tasks were completed ahead of time, thanks to awesome group members and I¡¯ll mention some of them. Clarissa! It¡¯s quite fun to have her in our group. She¡¯s nice, friendly and will help the leaders if they need help. I like arguing with her about why she should listen to classic music. There¡¯s this P4 called Abner who is really good at leading. He seems very concerned about our projects as well and is someone I would recommend for exco. Anyway, I don¡¯t want to take up too much time and I just want to say that my group members are quite supportive of our projects and many are looking forward to helping us out with them,¡± I spoke.


    ¡°Aww...Clarissa is so sweet!¡± Elise remarked.


    It was Jerome¡¯s turn to speak. ¡°I¡¯m giving Kryptonite a one upon ten.¡±


    ¡°Come on! I¡¯m sure that¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking!¡± Elise said.


    ¡°I honestly feel it was that bad. I can¡¯t blame her but Ariana didn¡¯t seem to enjoy herself. She still gives me the feeling that she has a grudge against me! Do you think a group with grudges between members deserves a rating above one?¡± Jerome ranted.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Jerome, I know you are truly concerned about Ariana and you don¡¯t want to lose your friendship with her. I was thinking that we could make something for her together, but Josephine said I shouldn¡¯t be rash, because we won¡¯t know why she¡¯s giving us the cold shoulder unless she is willing to open up to us again. So Jerome, just relax, and you may continue,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been praying for all of us, including her. I want to thank Xin Jie, Ryan, Lee Oon and Vanisha for not complaining at all. As for the rest, they kept complaining they were tired or hungry and we only had a fifteen minute break today. Yeah, Ariana is not the only reason why I gave the group a one,¡± Jerome continued.


    ¡°You¡¯re just lucky Jordan!¡± Kok Keong said. ¡°Vivian and I are giving Awakening a four out of ten. Everyone said the treasure hunt and amazing race are too hard. We only managed to complete one interview because the others failed!¡±


    ¡°Oh. Any feedback on group members?¡± Stuart asked.


    Vivian said, ¡°Khairul from 5A is not bad at trying to lead the group, but the others don¡¯t listen to his suggestions. I¡¯m not sure what he¡¯s like in class, those in 5A you should know. There are some very cooperative group members like Nicholai, Charlene and Somchai as well.¡±


    ¡°Across the River is getting a three upon ten!¡± Darren said. ¡°Everyone was restless and it was hard to get them to focus. We have a problematic member. His name is Chew Huayi. He already said the camp was poorly planned on the first day and that the cheers were useless. He talked about us next, saying the teachers are making use of us so they can avoid being involved in the prefectorial board. His reason was that we are the teachers¡¯ pets. That¡¯s weird but we can look into him at a later date.¡±


    ¡°For Sunlight Rays, we are giving a six upon ten. Jia Jie and I didn¡¯t have a good feeling about the camp at first. Our group members weren¡¯t very interested even though the activities were what they suggested through the online form, but later on, it became better and I like my group a lot! We managed to complete all tasks even though many were quite rushed and tiring. Special mentions - Elliot, Kelly, Kayden and Elvin,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°Rocket to Starlight! We¡¯re giving it...eight out of ten!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Another one,¡± Kok Keong remarked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not being too strict or overly lenient, but Stuart and I are more or less satisfied with how our group performed. There might be disputes but in general we got along. Is there anyone taking these down?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I am! I¡¯m trying my best to type on my phone without errors!¡± Darren replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure all of us have more feedback so I guess we can all key them online when we are home so we can take our time to read them. Stuart, do you have anything else for us?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°The feedback for the group members can be keyed on online, so now I would like everyone to share how you could have done better as a committee member. Anyone can start,¡± Stuart said.


    I decided to start. ¡°I feel bad for leading most of the camp and not giving Xuanyu, the facilitators and other group members the chance to try leading until today.¡± What was I saying? Did I not give Xuanyu the chance to lead?


    ¡°We make mistakes bro! By right, the facilitators shouldn¡¯t be the ones leading but the ones to ensure discipline and the ones to help us in case of emergency. Yeah, no one said you can¡¯t call on them if you need help with leading, by all means. I believe Talib and Genevieve felt you did a pretty good job leading, so that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t lead. They¡¯re well aware of their roles!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yup! I saw you were quite good!¡± Elise added.


    Looking at Xuanyu, she gave me a sheepish smile.


    ¡°Yes! I totally didn¡¯t give you the chance to lead!¡± I whispered to her.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t need to,¡± she replied.


    ¡°For me, I was a bit lazy to do my job last week, so I only thought of three forfeits. I was already in a holiday mood last week and didn¡¯t feel like helping out with the camp. I was lazy during the camp as well and only felt like chatting with others. So maybe if we have similar activities again I can try to focus on what I need to do,¡± Jia Jie said.


    Vivian spoke, ¡°I was supposed to help Jordan with research on the amazing race stations but I didn¡¯t make an effort to remember that I needed to help, so the work was already done when I remembered. I¡¯ll make sure I¡¯ll have proper time management from now on, because I am still trying to balance between studies, play, CCA and FRansformed.¡±


    ¡°I have one sentence to summarise ourselves - Stinkier than a pile of garbage!¡± Darren said. ¡°Admit it! Look at what garbage we¡¯ve produced these three days! We lack the effort and persistence as a team! We need to reconsider our objective and reflect on this!¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? You are saying this as if we didn¡¯t even try!¡± Kok Keong remarked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying all of us didn¡¯t try. To those who did, thank you! To those who didn¡¯t, you know who you are!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Enough!¡± Jerome boomed while jumping up. ¡°What¡¯s the point of having a committee if we can¡¯t even get along? I think we all forgot the purpose of FRansformed.¡±


    ¡°Calm down guys, this can be done nicely. Perhaps we can ask ourselves why we started FRansformed in the first place,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°So there will be more harmony among students!¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why are we arguing and comparing who tried more? It¡¯s everyone¡¯s job and everyone¡¯s burdens. Should there be any storms, we¡¯ll brave them together. This is only the start. No matter how satisfied you are with your performance for this camp, you must be prepared for whatever projects ahead of us,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes boss!¡± Jerome said.


    After some casual chatting about what interesting things went on during the camp, Jerome felt we needed to meet up more often during the holidays to not only discuss our future projects but also to bond.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be on holiday!¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Me too!¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°I have a church camp!¡± Jia Jie said.


    I could tell Jerome was disappointed. ¡°Is that all?¡± he asked with a sigh.


    ¡°Erm...I¡¯m not sure whether I am free,¡± Nazreen said.


    ¡°I am free!¡± I said to give Jerome some assurance.


    We were literally in a dilemma then. The teachers were already expecting us to give updates regarding Project Phoenix. If we were to delay any meeting, we would not be able to execute the project in time for our juniors to benefit. If we were to meet often during the holidays, those not at the meeting would lose out on bonding and discussions. The future of FRansformed was hazy. What was the right course of action?


    Unfortunately, we could only have online meetings that holiday. Even with that plan, it was difficult for us to coordinate the meeting times due to some of us not having Whatsapp. Our goal for the holidays was just to finalise Project Phoenix and subsequent projects would be studied when school reopened. The good thing was Elise allowing me to contact her on Whatsapp using Rebecca¡¯s phone so I could discuss the manpower allocations with her more easily. However, I was sad that I could not meet up with the other committee members besides the camp and upcoming leadership programme. I had begun to appreciate this group of friends more despite my suspicions of Daniel.


    What could I do? Life still had to go on, although smoke was covering my vision of what could happen the next term. On a sidenote, Rebecca told me that Jerome was not only sending her updates about our committee meetings and my whereabouts, but also random pictures of the camp and small talk. What was he trying to do?


    By the end of the holidays, it was already confirmed that only the morning slot was appropriate for the mentoring sessions, as the teachers felt it was highly pivotal for the at-risk students to attend remedials and supplementary lessons rather than informal mentoring programmes in the afternoon. That was slightly disappointing, since I had duties in the morning and would not be able to witness the execution of the project. Darren and Willis were the main project coordinators, as they had no issue reporting early every day and had no morning duties.


    An astounding number of mentors came from 5A (including Izumi) such that during the manpower selection, I suggested to Elise to have a quota on the number of mentors from each class. She said that was not fair. I guessed she knew I wanted to help Vera secure a slot as a mentor...and she eventually did without the quota being implemented. For the older students, Daniel¡¯s father managed to recruit parent volunteers, thanks to him being in the parent volunteer exco.


    That afternoon before Chinese supplementary, we had our first committee meeting of the third term.


    ¡°Willis, are you okay?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Yes. I have a feeling I slept for only two hours last night. I shouldn¡¯t have procrastinated,¡± Willis replied, trying to eat with his head resting on the table.


    ¡°Oh and are you alright?¡± I asked Xuanyu.


    ¡°Yes! Are you alright?¡± she asked back.


    ¡°I am asking you a serious question. I am afraid something happened to you!¡± I said.


    ¡°Nothing happened to me!¡± Xuanyu replied with a chuckle.


    ¡°Wow! Why are you so concerned about her life?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you will understand. You weren¡¯t there,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Where? Hmm¡­¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°What is it that you are concerned about?¡± Jia Jie asked. ¡°If it¡¯s not too personal do you mind sharing with us?¡±


    ¡°Yup! We¡¯re a team and we have one another¡¯s back!¡± Daniel added.


    Xuanyu just smiled at me and shrugged.


    ¡°Forget it!¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, how was Phoenix this morning?¡±


    ¡°Really messy. Really really messy. We spent a long time trying to find a seat for everyone. There were some children who didn¡¯t show up so we had to send the mentors and even parent volunteers back!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Bro! You sent the parent volunteers back? They have to sacrifice their mornings to help our friends here! We need to look into that further,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°My bad! I realised we could have gotten them to oversee the rooms, because Willis and I have to keep walking up and down. Or we should just create a whole new exco for Project Phoenix. Kok Keong! You are doing recess duties so you can help us in the morning! You still take the morning school bus right?¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Why is it me? I need that time in the morning to take a nap!¡± Kok Keong protested.


    ¡°I think Varunya might be interested,¡± Jerome said. ¡°She was giving ideas for a Math programme Phoenix could have when we met last week, so including non-prefects will be good.¡±


    ¡°Was there an outing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just a mini class outing unrelated to the prefects or our committee, just to clarify,¡± Daniel replied. ¡°You can come for the 5A outings next time if you are keen.¡±


    ¡°Good to include Khairul as well,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°You know what? I¡¯ll create a Google form to ask which prefects can be the exco for Phoenix,¡± Kok Keong said.


    We had hardly any time left so Daniel decided to propose something.


    ¡°Before we end, let¡¯s think whether we can organise a Teachers¡¯ Day programme for the end of term,¡± he said.


    ¡°Choir has a performance!¡± Stuart pointed out.


    ¡°And so does Band!¡± Vivian added. ¡°And every performing art.¡±


    I sensed a large boulder growing on my back. No doubt that the teachers¡¯ burden was reduced, but the burden on us was increased - to the point where we had to juggle other commitments. Would FRansformed really lighten the load of the teachers? Or would it make them worry about us more? We needed to discuss this further the next day.


    ¡°Today was much better than yesterday!¡± Willis said during the next day¡¯s meeting. ¡°But I¡¯m stressed about Teachers¡¯ Day and the next projects.¡±


    ¡°You are not even in performing arts! Why worry about Teachers¡¯ Day?¡± Vivian chuckled.


    ¡°Scouts is tiring too! How much energy do we need to plan for Teachers¡¯ Day? Who plans it every year?¡± Willis said.


    ¡°I heard they are going to stop Teachers¡¯ Day celebrations next year. We must make sure they continue no matter what. In the secondary school the prefects plan Teachers¡¯ Day,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°The problem is - which teachers usually plan it in our school? If we¡¯re taking over the planning for Teachers¡¯ Day, we are probably going to delay the dismissal time with other programmes added in,¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true! What other programmes are we planning? If the programmes require teacher or parent volunteer supervision, I doubt you can consider them cool,¡± Daniel pointed out.


    ¡°Obvious prefect supervision,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°I¡¯m quite lost. Are we having any other project besides this? The one on love for the school?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°Argh! I¡¯m even more lost!¡± Xuanyu grumbled.


    ¡°I¡¯m still helping you with the timetable. Don¡¯t worry,¡± I told her.


    ¡°We need to be quick! The teachers are hurrying us! They want updates on the time and stress management projects soon,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°We¡¯re not even settled with Phoenix and we¡¯re jumping into a new project! I haven¡¯t created the form for the Phoenix exco!¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°Phoenix should be settled! Just start on a new one! We can¡¯t waste time anymore!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Why are you so desperate?¡± Elise asked. ¡°Which teacher is rushing you? I don¡¯t think our prefect teachers like to rush students.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that time they even made us take a break before our mid-years!¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Relax! It can be done! Can we have a new project name first?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Project Pegasus?¡± Willis suggested.


    ¡°Sure! Who¡¯s up for a meeting to do a proposal tonight?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°Count me in!¡± I replied.


    ¡°Another one? I can¡¯t,¡± Nazreen said.


    ¡°Same,¡± Xuanyu added.


    ¡°I¡¯m very tired,¡± Stuart said.


    That night, besides me, only Daniel, Darren, Jerome and Vivian showed up for the online meeting. We hardly added anything to the proposal, since Darren and Jerome were arguing in the chat most of the time. Darren was insisting that we should forge ahead regardless of the number of members at the meeting, whereas Jerome wanted the entire committee to plan together. In the end, we decided to cease the meeting when Vivian disappeared without warning. I was afraid. I sincerely wished that Vivian would not be the next Ariana. I needed to talk to people about this besides my siblings.


    Seriously. Why was everyone losing passion in FRansformed?

 2014: Dont Know Why

    I went to school with my heart in my throat the next day. The mundane architectural design of the school seemed foreboding for the first time. I could imagine all the prefects turning against me upon entering the school. Rebecca assured me that there would still be prefects who want FRansformed to be executed successfully. She was right. I was thinking too much. I decided to speak to Li Xuan before we left for our duties.


    ¡°Can you do me a favour after I leave?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Why do you always go for your duty so early?¡± she asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°So the students can go into class early! It¡¯s about Vivian. Do you want to go outside to talk?¡±


    Li Xuan agreed and we went out of class to continue our conversation.


    ¡°So, we decided to call the string of projects FRansformed. Capital F and R for Flowing River. I¡¯ll just jump straight to what happened yesterday. We were having an online meeting on Google Docs to make a proposal for our new project called Pegasus. Two of the committee members kept arguing then Vivian suddenly left. I don¡¯t know why I am scared. Someone quit the committee after some online argument last term,¡± I said.


    ¡°Wow! You guys are starting on a new project when Project Phoenix only started?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Yes. That Daniel Lim Jia Jun wanted everyone to plan for a Teachers¡¯ Day programme too! I don¡¯t blame him, but I feel not everyone has the time to plan for it and Project Pegasus as well.¡±


    ¡°You want me to tell Vivian something?¡±


    ¡°No, watch him and see if he is different from usual.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t come that early, so maybe you can ask someone else?¡±


    Li Xuan had a point. I wanted to ask Vera but she had to go for mentoring so Sonia was the next best alternative at that time. Fortunately, she agreed.


    I bumped into Elise on my way to my duty venue.


    ¡°This is not looking good. Jerome and Darren were arguing last night and Vivian just left. I am afraid we will lose another member like the previous time. Are both of them in school yet? Did they say anything?¡± I said to her.


    ¡°Darren was talking about Phoenix and just left for it. Jerome seems quite depressed. Daniel¡¯s the same,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Tell me how they are during recess. Where will Izumi be during recess?¡±


    ¡°Staircase 1. Wow you are finding someone new? Won¡¯t someone feel betrayed?¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I have no idea what you are talking about. Just watch them.¡±


    Why was I so worried? I was not even answerable to anyone for FRansformed, not even the teachers. I wondered if I really had love for the school. I wondered if I really had the pride to be an FRLite. Frankly speaking, I did not enjoy my experience in FRPS and wanted to graduate fast. My life there was simply monotone having been put in lifeless classes. What was the point of enjoying primary school life when I was merely a droplet of water in an ocean of students, unable to make a difference? Every day was just the same cycle. Only interacting with CCA and prefect friends outside of class would be fun but time for those was obviously limited.


    After assembly, I went back to class and Sonia told me that she did not notice anything different with Vivian. I thanked her and decided to observe for myself - no difference. I took the chance to ask him before I left for my Chinese class next door.


    ¡°Are you alright? I saw you leaving the meeting early last night,¡± I said.


    ¡°Sorry about that. I went for an early sleep because I was quite tired,¡± Vivian replied.


    ¡°Are you sure you are fine? I was quite scared you will be the next Ariana,¡± I said.


    Vivian chuckled. ¡°I won¡¯t. I have made it a point that I will learn to manage my time. I¡¯m still trying but didn¡¯t succeed yesterday, sadly. I feel we should not start a time management project when the committee members have trouble managing their own time.¡±


    That was a very good point raised by Vivian. We should not expect one who had difficulty managing one¡¯s time to impart time management advice to others. The issue was with Darren¡¯s insistence on commencing the planning of Project Pegasus. What was so difficult about explaining to the teachers that we were not able to execute a new project? The teachers should be understanding enough to know we were young and inexperienced in life and as such unable to help others with time and stress management. I needed opinions, urgently.


    When I entered 5A for Chinese, I noticed that Jerome was the last non-Higher Chinese student to leave, as he was still packing his bag. He looked dejected.


    ¡°Hello! Is everything fine?¡± I asked him.


    He gave the same response - signaling me to go away. I looked up and saw Daniel signalling me to wait. Daniel had a point - not everyone would be willing to talk if he was depressed. I ended up going to my usual seat beside Xuanyu.


    ¡°Did anyone tell you about what happened last night?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Darren only told me that we are very slow and need to hurry up,¡± she replied.


    Willis added, ¡°Because the teachers are waiting and we have two more projects upcoming.¡±


    ¡°What? Two?¡± Xuanyu began shrieking and jumping on the spot. ¡°I didn¡¯t even touch the calendar!¡±


    ¡°Two new projects? Teachers¡¯ Day and?¡± I said.


    ¡°The cleaning project, I think,¡± Willis replied.


    ¡°We have a cleaning project?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we doing Pegasus first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Exactly! We are supposed to do that first! I don¡¯t know why Darren was talking about starting the cleaning project! Talk later!¡± Willis said as our Chinese teacher walked into the class.


    After the lesson, I briefly told Xuanyu and Willis about the meeting and asked if Jerome was alright. Willis explained that Jerome was quite sensitive and easily triggered so we should avoid bombarding him with questions when he looked upset. Both of them seemed uninterested in Project Pegasus, with Xuanyu not having the mood to continue updating the Google Calendar.


    During recess, I felt I needed to rant to my group of friends.


    ¡°Things are not looking good in FRansformed, really. Everyone is losing interest in planning for the projects. When we meet online, people will start arguing and the meeting ends without us doing much,¡± I said.


    ¡°So? You expect me to care?¡± Joey said, rolling her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s the future of our school! We need to work with everyone to improve our school!¡± I said.


    ¡°Can you people even do it? I heard about how your project is failing!¡± Graham said.


    ¡°It won¡¯t fail!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Why do I feel you¡¯re on Daniel¡¯s side now?¡± Clarice asked.


    ¡°Am I?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You said people say both of you think alike!¡± Vera said with a chuckle.


    ¡°I am not on his side. We just have the same hopes for the school somehow,¡± I clarified.


    ¡°So both of you can make great friends!¡± Clarice said.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Vera added.


    ¡°Daniel is not even the issue now, it is the FRansformed committee. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s falling apart. If you think about it, we spent so much time discussing, planning, advertising and presenting. If this committee were to really fall apart, time and resources would have been wasted. Yes, spending our 1.30 lunches discussing may not be a lot of time but we did spend our nights discussing online,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Yeah! Good that you know that! Do you know that almost every recess and lunch you have to abandon us and meet your prefect friends?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°And you have to drag Vera with you!¡± Clarice added.


    ¡°No! I am not abandoning you! I need to talk to them about important things. You won¡¯t understand because you chose not to be interested in the Prefectorial Board. I am sorry because I have to do it more now.¡± I turned to Vera and said, ¡°Do you want to join me later with Elise and Kok Weng like we usually do?¡±


    Vera shook her head, ¡°Uh...another time.¡±


    ¡°See? No one cares!¡± Graham said.


    ¡°I have to do this. In fact I will be going to a new location tomorrow, which is Staircase 1. All of you can come with me if you want to,¡± I said.


    I had no idea why I had no sense of guilt for prioritising the prefects over my group of friends. With the exception of Vera, I did not find myself having a connection with the other three. All my time in 5B, I just felt like grabbing Vera and running out of the school. I did not do that, because I did not want to leave my other friends.


    ¡°Emergency,¡± I said as I approached Elise and Kok Weng.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Kok Weng asked.


    I glared at Elise, then said, ¡°You know the answer and I believe you can explain to him.¡±


    ¡°Jerome was a bit better after Chinese lesson, but still quite sad. Daniel and Darren were just talking about other things just now. How is Vivian?¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Vivian? He¡¯s good! I¡¯m so relieved. He¡¯s still trying to learn to manage his time but he will make sure he helps us. Now, we need to know what Daniel and Darren are up to. Do you mean they don¡¯t care about FRansformed at all?¡± I said.


    ¡°They care a lot. Nazreen doesn¡¯t like it when Darren keeps hurrying us, so she told him not to talk about FRansformed too much. Actually, Darren doesn¡¯t talk about it that much in class, it is only with the prefects when he starts to rush us,¡± Elise explained.


    ¡°Stuart doesn¡¯t even talk about it in class,¡± Kok Weng said.


    ¡°Alright, the problem here is that people are less interested in the project now, and the teachers are hurrying us with our next projects. Willis was saying Darren said we needed to rush the cleaning project too. Hello? Since when did we all agree to start planning that?¡± I said.


    ¡°Wait, what are you guys supposed to do now?¡± Kok Weng asked.


    ¡°Darren and Willis are the ICs for Project Phoenix. The rest don¡¯t do anything yet because we are not involved in the mentoring. Daniel then dropped the idea of a Teachers¡¯ Day programme, which we are supposed to plan. Then Darren told us to start the proposal for Project Pegasus, because the teachers need it urgently. In case you don¡¯t know Pegasus is supposed to be a stress and time-management project,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Teachers¡¯ Day and Project Pegasus? You guys should just do one at a time, unless you can get the whole school to plan for you,¡± Kok Weng said.


    ¡°Exactly! I don¡¯t like how we have to plan three projects at one go! The camp planning was tough and quite messed up!¡± Elise said.


    ¡°True. I need to talk to Izumi about this tomorrow. I need opinions,¡± I said.


    Elise began to smirk. ¡°Wow what an unfaithful person!¡±


    ¡°Unfaithful? Who am I unfaithful to?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Your girlfriend!¡± Kok Weng replied with a chuckle.


    Elise laughed. ¡°Yeah! Don¡¯t break her heart!¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? It must be Kok Keong telling you that I am interested in Xuanyu when I am actually not! Recess is over...I need to talk to Izumi tomorrow. See you!¡± I said.


    How naive of Elise to believe that I was actually interested in Xuanyu! I did not understand why people would start teasing when one seemed to be close to a friend of the opposite gender. I favoured Xuanyu as a good friend - someone whom I enjoy hanging out with and someone who would be willing to help me (out of the multitude of students) improve my Chinese standard, not someone whom I would pursue a romantic relationship with. The same went for Vera, whom many thought I was dating. My siblings would get teased the same way too. Well, let those people think the way they wanted to.


    I hurriedly gobbled up my food during recess the next day so I could have more time to talk to Izumi. Again, Joey was not happy. She even said that Vera stopped following me when I met the prefects because she was angry at me for doing so. Such nonsense! I did not fully trust Joey even though she was in my group of close friends in class. I made a beeline for Staircase 1, which was near the side gate.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I said as I approached Izumi.


    ¡°Hi! Project Phoenix is quite fun! But the kids are always distracted!¡± Izumi said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Yes I saw,¡± the other prefect on duty said. ¡°I am not a mentor but I was just there yesterday and today. Willis told me to go so I just went, of course I had my teacher¡¯s permission.¡±


    ¡°Oh you are from 5A as well. You are Muhammad Khairul?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, nice to meet you Jordan!¡± he replied.


    ¡°What brings you here today? I know you usually hang out with Elise at Staircase 5,¡± Izumi said.


    ¡°Firstly, do both of you know what¡¯s going on with the other prefects in your class?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, but those not in the committee were told not to openly discuss the problems. Since you¡¯re part of it, I¡¯ll tell you what I know. There was this online meeting without Daniel in March and everyone started disagreeing. The most heated part was when Darren sent a long list of agendas and Jerome was saying that it was too much and needed more time. So, Jerome vented his anger in the chat and then ended the meeting. Something you probably didn¡¯t hear about - the argument got carried to our class chat, not the committee chat. A lot of random classmates got involved and made things very complicated, so that was why Ariana did not want to stay in the committee,¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°Do you know anything about Darren?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s quite enthusiastic about the projects and likes to say things like ¡®We need to finish fast, or else the teachers will be mad at us!¡¯¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°Yeah, he tells us a lot of his ideas too,¡± Izumi added.


    ¡°How about the other committee members? Xuanyu?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She will complain that she is tired quite often nowadays. She and some of the other committee members don¡¯t really talk about the projects much, so I can¡¯t really tell you more,¡± Izumi said.


    ¡°I see. I guess I have to stop asking about your classmates because all I get is the same responses. The main point now. Do you agree with Darren that we should do so many projects at one go?¡± I said.


    ¡°Of course not! I already warned him that everyone will die if we are doing three projects this term. The Pegasus project is simply too difficult and we should just focus on Teachers Day this term,¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°I wonder what Daniel thinks about this,¡± I said.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to argue with Darren and he is quite positive that we can do a good job if everyone cooperates. Oh and he has food poisoning so he won¡¯t be in school until tomorrow,¡± Izumi said.


    ¡°Awesome,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°You are so happy that he is sick?¡± Khairul asked.


    ¡°No, it means I can finally talk to Elina, the other prefect on duty at the garden. I need to talk to her about this,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Is it the one who does morning and recess duties? There are quite a few having two duties,¡± Izumi said.


    Recess ended before I knew it. Khairul was right - there was no way we could cope with three projects in a term. A couple more opinions would suffice - preferably students from the performing arts, since Teachers¡¯ Day performances involved them greatly. Elina was a suitable choice, as she was in Drama.


    The next day, Vera decided to come with me to talk to Elina.


    ¡°Hello! How¡¯s your duty?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Great! It¡¯s quite fun with the P2s around. Daniel is not around today so they are sad they can¡¯t hear his stories,¡± Elina replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we came today to ask you about something. We decided to call our list of projects FRansformed, with capital F and R. Daniel¡¯s suggestion for Teachers¡¯ Day is that the prefects can plan an event. As someone in the performing arts who¡¯s performing, what do you think about doing more for the teachers other than the performing arts performances?¡± I said.


    ¡°Doing more? What is the plan so far?¡± Elina asked.


    ¡°No plan yet, but what do you think about doing more for the teachers? Will it be too much?¡± I said.


    ¡°Depends on what we¡¯re doing,¡± Elina replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can have a carnival like Children¡¯s Day, but maybe we can make gifts for the teachers.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I am thinking. Now, the committee is a greater problem than Teachers¡¯ Day. Most of the members are less interested in planning for the projects and we have a lot to do. If this carries on, our committee is dead. We have done our presentations and we cannot just leave our ideas floating in the air,¡± I said.


    ¡°The teachers shouldn¡¯t be expecting so much from all of you. All of you are busy and don¡¯t have so much time to plan for your projects,¡± Elina said.


    I turned to Vera. ¡°Darren is not making sense! Everyone agrees that it is impossible to plan three projects in just one term. People need time to prepare for exams next term.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to tell them? You haven¡¯t had your afternoon meetings,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°Communication is so poor now that we can¡¯t even hold afternoon meetings. Forget it! I¡¯ll see if there¡¯s anything next week. I don¡¯t want to make anyone stressed over this FRansformed we put our hearts into,¡± I said.


    Meanwhile, what could I do? Forge ahead with my own plan for Teachers¡¯ Day? I would not have enough intelligence to plan and execute an event completely on my own (in fact, no eleven year old can do that). All I had to do was to explain to Darren the downsides of having three concurrent projects, but I did not want to get into an argument with him. As prefects, I believe we should get along in harmony and not have turbulent relationships. Anyway, should leadership not include peacemaking?


    I just returned to school the next week without adding anything on the prefects website or documents. I was waiting for an opportunity to speak to some of the committee members.


    Before Chinese lesson started, Xuanyu whispered to me, ¡°Next Wednesday is Daniel¡¯s birthday. I will pass you a paper one of these days for you to write something for him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not against Daniel, but why do I have to do this?¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you know why,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Why are you asking me to write something for Daniel for his birthday? Nobody has ever asked me to do such a thing. Why is it only Daniel that I have to write for? Why don¡¯t you ask me to write a birthday note for yourself? For Jerome? For Jia Jie? For Elise?¡± I said.


    ¡°When¡¯s your birthday? I can write a card for you,¡± Xuanyu said with a giggle.


    ¡°That¡¯s not important at all!¡± I protested. I turned to Leo. ¡°Don¡¯t say,¡± I whispered to him.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t your birthday important?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°What I mean is the focus shouldn¡¯t be on the person, but instead the person¡¯s mother. I hope you get what I mean. Daniel gets all the attention on his birthday while there are others who don¡¯t have any attention. Is this fair?¡± I said.


    ¡°Just tell me your birthday. If you tell me yours, I will tell you mine. I promise I will get you something for your next birthday,¡± Xuanyu said.


    Willis spoke, ¡°Xuanyu¡¯s birthday is the 25th of Fe-¡±


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t say until Jordan says his,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Vera, when is Jordan¡¯s birthday?¡± Willis asked Vera.


    ¡°I forgot...or I don¡¯t know,¡± Vera replied.


    ¡°Wow you don¡¯t even know your best friend¡¯s birthday!¡± Willis chuckled.


    ¡°That¡¯s not important! What¡¯s important is that we¡¯re still best friends no matter what!¡± I rebutted with a smirk, then looked at Xuanyu. ¡°25th of February. Hey hey hey it¡¯s a beautiful day.¡±


    That was something I had trouble understanding. Popular people would always get all the attention on their birthdays. That was why I kept my birthday a secret. Suppose you were to tell your friends your birthday and no one would celebrate it or give you their wishes, what would the point be? Life could still go on even without anyone telling anyone their birthdays.


    Xuanyu and I continued our conversation before Chinese supplementary that afternoon.


    ¡°If you really need me to write a note for Daniel, what am I expected to write?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Anything you like, like the Christian stuff. He¡¯s fine with nonsense on the paper too,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°Do I have to? Is the whole school writing for him?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Jerome is getting all the prefects to write for him. You still don¡¯t like him?¡±


    ¡°I never disliked him. I just felt danger when I am around him. It¡¯s getting better now. I¡¯m starting to see he isn¡¯t as bad as I thought. He really does a good job in our committee, I have to admit.¡±


    ¡°I know you are scared he is like the Joseph who bullied your sister, but we are sure he doesn¡¯t bully people.¡±


    I had no idea how to describe my feelings towards Daniel. He might be the outspoken and charismatic popular kid who gave off the Joseph Adams aura, but I saw the passion he had for serving the school and his friends, which was truly inspirational.


    I decided to rant to Clarissa during recess the next day.


    ¡°This world can be so funny!¡± I said to her.


    ¡°Yeah! You haven¡¯t come here for quite a while,¡± she said.


    ¡°I had other things to settle. Yesterday, Xuanyu told me to write a birthday note for Daniel.¡±


    Clarissa began to laugh hysterically.


    ¡°Thanks for agreeing that it is funny, but that¡¯s not the main point. Why did Xuanyu only ask me to write for Daniel? Why didn¡¯t she ask me to write for the other prefects? I know you will say that the other prefects¡¯ birthdays are later, but it¡¯s already July so it¡¯s impossible for Daniel to have the earliest birthday. People like Daniel will get remembered on their birthdays while others don¡¯t. This is how unfair the world is, honestly.¡±


    ¡°No! You don¡¯t even get what I mean! I am laughing because you had to tell me you were asked to write a birthday note for Daniel!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking bad about Daniel. I just don¡¯t like how we have to do something for his birthday but nothing for the others!¡±


    ¡°When¡¯s your birthday?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you!¡±


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s just your birthday!¡±


    ¡°I already explained just now. It is pointless telling you.¡±


    ¡°Ahaha, I see! You¡¯re so cute!¡±


    ¡°Excuse me? Please don¡¯t say that. You¡¯re the cute one, not me.¡±


    ¡°Uh...anyway my birthday is 10 December. How is Project Phoenix going?¡±


    ¡°Willis and Darren say it is a bit tough for them to watch over all students and they have to keep moving between the rooms. They got Khairul to help them and they want more prefects to help out. Can you help?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be teaching right? I really can¡¯t teach. My father leaves the house at the same time every day so I always reach school at around 7.10.¡±


    ¡°We have enough mentors so you don¡¯t need to teach. Is there anything wrong? You told me before that you can¡¯t teach.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I trust you with this. I know you won¡¯t spread it. I¡¯m a kid with special needs. I have dyslexia. I have problems with reading and writing so I can¡¯t teach others the wrong things. It¡¯s so annoying when people ask me to learn music and Japanese because I seriously can¡¯t! Argh!¡±


    ¡°I understand. You did nothing wrong. Don¡¯t feel bad for having dyslexia. Do your classmates know?¡±


    ¡°I only told a few. The rest don¡¯t even care why I have extra time for my exams.¡±


    ¡°Ah that should help. What do you want to do in future?¡±


    ¡°I want to study Medicine.¡±


    ¡°Wow! I¡¯m sure you can do it!¡±


    We actually did not have sufficient time to discuss the latest developments in the FRansformed committee. Our conversation seemed aimless, but I felt honoured that Clarissa trusted me with her secret.


    Again, there was no meeting that afternoon. That was the scary thing, as I did not know what was going on with the prefects in 5A. Would they have made plans in a smaller group? As I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed. I highly doubted Daniel would do that. I had no idea why I thought that way, but I felt I understood him better. There was no evidence that he had bad intentions, which meant I was thinking too much. Yet, there was still something which prevented me from accepting him completely as a friend. There was something I needed to do. There was no way we could stall in uncertainty.


    During recess the next day, I was gobbling up my food again.


    ¡°You¡¯re eating so quickly again! Who are you meeting today?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t disturb me for the next few minutes, please. I need to think of who to meet,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m thankful I¡¯m not a prefect. I don¡¯t have to be stressed about the school besides my studies and piano exams,¡± Graham said.


    ¡°Nobody is forcing you to be in the FRansformed committee even if you are a prefect. You can even tell the teacher not to choose you for exco next year,¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you going to be in the exco next year?¡± Clarice asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t decide for the teachers whether I will be or not. I hope I can. Elijah didn¡¯t even care about it last year,¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you know how much time you will be wasting if you are in the exco?¡± Graham said.


    ¡°He was busy the whole of last semester and still got first in class,¡± Vera pointed out.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean he will still be the first,¡± Joey said, then turned to me. ¡°What a loser! You don¡¯t know how to enjoy life! You are just trying to be a principal when you are only a student.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°You are saying that because you don¡¯t know how good it feels to have a voice in the school,¡± I said.


    I found it hard to take Joey seriously. I did not really like how she would slot in expletives frequently in her sentences (which are obviously left out in this book), yet I was still able to get along with her most of the time. I decided to have a chat with Xuanyu after finishing my food. I walked to the table she was sitting at and put my hand on her shoulder, meanwhile greeting Alicia seated near her.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Xuanyu said in a shocked state. ¡°Do you want to sit?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Anyway you¡¯re almost done eating,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Oh you need to tell me something? Wait a while.¡±


    After Xuanyu finished her food, I told her to come with me and we ended up loitering around the fitness corner.


    ¡°Is it about Daniel¡¯s birthday?¡± she asked me.


    ¡°No, but we can talk about that if there¡¯s time,¡± I replied. ¡°We need to talk about FRansformed. I am honestly concerned because I heard nothing about it these few days.¡±


    Xuanyu furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms. ¡°All you care is that. Elise is supposed to tell you that we are taking a short break, but you didn¡¯t go to Staircase 5 today, so I¡¯m telling you.¡±


    ¡°Whose idea was it?¡±


    ¡°All of us. Darren wanted to continue but the rest of us told him we need a break.¡±


    ¡°What did Daniel say? I am just curious about his opinion on this.¡±


    ¡°He hopes we can continue as well but he understands all of us are busy and can¡¯t only do projects all the time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Good that he understands that. I want to tell the committee that I have spoken to some others and they agree we should only do the Teachers¡¯ Day Project this term. That, plus Pegasus and the cleaning project is simply too much. I forgot to ask, can you tell me why you pushed all the leading to me during the camp? I¡¯m not angry at you, but I¡¯m concerned about whether you have your difficulties.¡±


    ¡°I just knew I would be tired if I led anything, and I was quite scared too. I saw how you can do presentations and lead so easily so I thought you could do a good job alone.¡±


    ¡°But you are making me feel guilty for not letting you lead! Sorry, let¡¯s move on. When will you be giving me the paper to write the note for Daniel?¡±


    ¡°I think during recess tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I want to say...I realised Daniel actually isn¡¯t bad. He really is a good committee member and leader, but I don¡¯t like how he enjoys all the attention from everyone in school. This is Planet Earth. You¡¯re looking at Planet Earth. This world is just imperfect and we should just accept it the way it is, just be nice to others.¡±


    I was still contemplating whether I should contribute to the birthday notes for Daniel. The more I thought about it, the more inclined I was to write. No doubt I might have a prejudice against him, but I still should treat others the way I wanted to be treated. There was no harm in giving someone else my blessing at all.


    ¡°Yeah. I am not someone who has a lot of friends, but I do like being with my classmates.¡±


    ¡°Wow! Classmates! I wish I like being with my classmates. Like what I told you before, I can¡¯t get along with a lot of people in my class besides Vera, this girl sitting beside me and some of the prefects. You may see me with Graham and two other girls but I don¡¯t find myself getting along with them very well. I don¡¯t know why but Huayi has been nasty to me ever since this year. I used to complain to him about Daniel but I don¡¯t anymore. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening. I just want to get out of this school fast.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Isn¡¯t Li Xuan in your class? She¡¯s from my CCA as well and she¡¯s quite nice.¡±


    I was relieved. Xuanyu was not actually uninterested in our projects, but was only tired and unconfident. I understood how she felt. It was particularly nerve-wrecking for one to come up with desirable plans for the school whilst juggling other commitments. As for her lack of confidence, I linked it to the time I was presenting with Li Xuan. Could there be a way to help Xuanyu gain confidence too? Weirdly, the word ¡®unity¡¯ came to mind. Indeed, we needed unity to help one another in a team - Daniel was stating the fact.


    That week, the selection results for assembly leaders were being released. Assembly leaders were basically prefects who had to lead the school every morning in the singing of the national anthem, reciting of the national pledge as well as the delivering of announcements. Our batch of prefects had to take over the P6s in assembly leading starting the next week, as the P6s would spend more time preparing for their examinations. How were such leaders chosen? What was generally believed to be the choosing criteria was good oral skills and early arrival in school daily.


    I was glad that I was being selected, as public speaking would give me the opportunity to build confidence. As expected, Daniel, Jerome, Jia Jie, Khairul, Vivian and Sylvia were among those selected. Darren was the puzzling one. He was quite outspoken during discussions and had amazing presentation skills. Why was he not selected? I thought about him needing to oversee Project Phoenix in the morning, but the contradiction was Khairul being selected even though he oversaw Phoenix too. Something was amiss.


    On a sidenote, Choir members also had the opportunity to lead the school in the singing of the school song every Monday....and I would be the first P5 to do so. All the best to me.


    Things were dull as usual, until the next Monday when we finally had another lunch meeting.


    ¡°Hey Jordan! Good job for this morning! Were you trying to sound like David Bowie?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Was I? My voice hasn¡¯t broken yet so I have no idea who I sounded like, but it¡¯s true that I was trying to sing in low notes,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yeah you sang really well! I didn¡¯t get to see you but your voice was awesome even through the speakers!¡± Jia Jie complimented. ¡°You must really have a lot of love and passion for the school!¡±


    What exactly was Jia Jie trying to imply? I was only trying my best to sing and me having love and passion for the school was a complete myth! I did want to contribute to the future of FRPS, but not because of my love for the school.


    ¡°You are an assembly leader too, right?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Yes, I cannot remember the full list though,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Is Ariana on the list?¡± Nazreen asked. ¡°I think I heard her saying it will be her turn next week.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? Who was she talking to?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°It is true,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Cynthia told me that Ariana is taking over Xin Jie, who is unwilling to take up the role.¡±


    What was I hearing? How did Ariana make it on the list as a replacement? From what I observed when she was still in the committee, she was a rather soft-spoken person and not the type who would daringly announce her views. Elise was definitely more outspoken and confident than her. Anyway, I should be happy for her. I should not judge based on my incomplete understanding of how Ariana behaved in class.


    ¡°What? Ariana accepted the offer?¡± Darren hopped out from his seat. ¡°I wanted to tell Mr Sinnathamby that I was willing to be a replacement!¡±


    ¡°You already have your Phoenix to look after, why do you need to be an assembly leader?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with being an assembly leader? Khairul is also overseeing Phoenix in the morning and he gets to be one!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°You need to calm down, bro,¡± Daniel said with a chuckle. ¡°You are already doing a lot for the school, being the awesome middleman between teachers and students.¡±


    ¡°I guess we must start now. We have spoken to every one of you and our conclusion is that we will only plan Teachers¡¯ Day this year. I have spoken to Mrs Edgeworth and she said all is good. She doesn¡¯t want us to have too many things on our hands,¡± Jerome said, raising his eyebrow at Darren.


    ¡°The performing arts students will be busy on the day so the things we plan cannot be too hard,¡± Stuart pointed out.


    ¡°Wow, most of us are in performing arts!¡± Jia Jie remarked. ¡°There¡¯s me, Kok Keong, Daniel, Jordan, Stuart, Vivian. That¡¯s it? Around half of us.¡±


    ¡°The question is how many prefects in performing arts are there in total?¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°A lot,¡± Elise replied.


    Daniel muttered, ¡°Let me think...Isabel and Joash are also in Band. Khairul and Hui Wen are in Dance...never mind for now. Does anyone have suggestions?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I have to say this. The teachers are older than us and probably won¡¯t like it if we sing and play modern songs,¡± I spoke, and the others began laughing.


    ¡°It¡¯s not funny,¡± I continued. ¡°I like how the Choir has a ¡®tradition¡¯ of singing Stand By Me every Teachers¡¯ Day. Good song choice, but it is not nice to repeat the same song every year. So, we can have songs played through the PA system in the morning, requested by the teachers.¡±


    Xuanyu said with a chuckle, ¡°I haven¡¯t even listened to two of the many songs you wrote on my textbook during Chinese! Now you want to do it to the teachers!¡±


    ¡°Woah! What have you guys been up to?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°Educating her on what good music is!¡± I said with a smirk.


    ¡°Jordan, I don¡¯t see the meaning in your suggestion,¡± Willis said.


    ¡°I think what he means is letting the teachers have their jamming session with songs they like, a way to let loose from the pesky little children. Did I catch it correctly, Jordan?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes you did. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s possible but we can try to play the songs in the staff room if everyone really doesn¡¯t want them played throughout the school. What¡¯s wrong with classic hits?¡± I said.


    ¡°Nothing wrong! Don¡¯t take the criticisms of your taste in music too hard,¡± Daniel reassured me. ¡°Okay, looks like we have to go for our classes soon, any other quick suggestions?¡±


    ¡°Each class can write a card and make a goodie bag for each teacher,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Cliche, but good idea,¡± Jerome said.


    I was elated after that meeting. There was finally progress! I had no idea why I came out with such a corny idea. We did have a good laugh, but I felt better when Daniel told me not to take the criticisms of my music taste too hard. Why was that so? There was no way I could find myself having chemistry with him yet. The Wednesday that week was his birthday and I happened to have CCA in the afternoon. During lunch time, there was a rather large celebration for him, consisting of a whole lot of random people. Stuart was willing to accompany me out of school for lunch before CCA.


    Over that week, more ideas came out. Daniel mentioned that the teachers would have an annual ballroom dinner after every Teachers¡¯ Day celebration so it would be good if the prefects could help out there. As there would still be lessons on the day of the celebrations, Darren and Elise suggested reducing the number or cancelling all lessons so it would be easier for alumni to find the teachers. That was a splendid suggestion in my opinion. I had not heard of any school with lessons on Teachers¡¯ Day other than mine. The teachers deserved a good break on that day.


    Within a flash, it was already the fourth week of the third term. On Monday, we had a discussion to decide on which course of action to take.


    Darren said, ¡°The teachers asked me what our plans are so far, so I told them about the card writing as a class, the playing of music, the cancelling of all lessons and us helping out at their dinner. Guess what? They said the playing of music is a bad idea!¡±


    ¡°Kind of,¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what I was thinking when I suggested that, but never mind.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. The teachers don¡¯t really like the idea of cancelling lessons, but I¡¯ll try to persuade them. Writing cards and making gifts for the teachers is perfectly fine, same for helping out at the dinner,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°They still want to teach? Are you sure?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°I mean, it involves changes to the timetable and lesson plans so it may not be easy to implement. If you looked at the responses from the students, there are complaints that school life is too dull, so that¡¯s why we need more events like these,¡± Darren explained.


    ¡°Yes, Darren. Any idea what we can do for the dinner?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t go!¡± Nazreen said.


    ¡°Wow you made plans that early! If you can¡¯t make it, don¡¯t force yourself. There¡¯ll be a way out!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Maybe we can do a performance for them,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Good idea, but what song?¡± I said.


    ¡°Sing your dinosaur songs yourself please. Don¡¯t make me sing it with you,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°How about...you play the erhu in the background while I sing?¡± I said.


    ¡°Nah! I don¡¯t feel like performing!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Jordan, just perform! Sing something!¡± Jerome urged me.


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t mind. Do I need a band to play with me?¡± I said.


    ¡°Up to you,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Get your girlfriend to sing with you!¡± Xuanyu said, and Elise laughed so hard that she nearly fell off the bench.


    ¡°Can you repeat what you said?¡± I asked Xuanyu.


    Xuanyu, trying to hold back her giggles, said, ¡°Get your girl-friend to sing with you!¡±


    ¡°Is it very funny?¡± I asked.


    What was happening? Who was Xuanyu referring to? Looking at the way she was saying it, she was unlikely referring to herself. What were the chances of her referring to the same person Elise and Kok Weng were referring to at Staircase 5? The only person I could think they were referring to was Vera, since the teasing had been ongoing since P2. Even some of my friends had teased us at least once before, including Kristy, Alicia, Sylvia and Willis. I was quite certain Vera would not be willing to sing on stage with me, due to her severe stage fright. I recalled her escaping backstage halfway during our speech and drama performance in P2.


    Planning went rather smoothly that week. It was confirmed that I would be singing during the dinner. I chose Don¡¯t Give Up On Us, as it would encourage the teachers to not lose hope on their students. The committee encouraged me to sing a Chinese song, so I chose Childhood, a catchy Mandarin classic. Usually, parent volunteers would host the dinner but we agreed to have two prefects as emcees that year. Elise and I were asked to appoint and allocate manpower. The cancellation of lessons was still unconfirmed, but our brainstorming for the goodie bag distribution made progress, with a list of goodies already being made.


    The next Monday, before my siblings and I left for school, Rebecca received a message from Elise. I was supposed to meet Elise to talk about something important before going for our duties. I hesitated leaving home, but it was too late - Rebecca already agreed on my behalf.


    ¡°What has happened?¡± I asked Elise on seeing her.


    ¡°Yesterday, Kok Keong called Daniel ten times but Daniel did not pick up because he was in church,¡± Elise said, panting.


    ¡°Calm down, what is wrong?¡±


    ¡°Argh! I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m saying! The story starts with an anxious Darren. Yes, Darren. He called Kok Keong in the morning and the ringtone woke him up. Darren was telling Kok Keong that the teachers are curious about what plans we have for the dinner, so he asked Kok Keong to create an online form for the teachers by yesterday evening. He just went back to sleep because he was too tired.¡±


    ¡°Is it even that urgent? What time was that? Kok Keong could have just texted Darren first.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! It was around 6.30 when it happened. Darren likes to wake up early on weekends but Kok Keong doesn¡¯t. Kok Keong wasn¡¯t even free to do up a form that day so he wanted Daniel to help him, but Daniel was at church, so he called Jerome, and Jerome wasn¡¯t free! So Kok Keong started spamming the group chat.¡±


    ¡°Darren could have just done it himself, since he can contact the teachers directly. I understand he wants to split the work but what he did was just wrong.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Willis told him to do it himself after Kok Keong was spamming the chat. Darren then said he was busy and wanted others to help him. Willis was free but he had no idea how to create the form, so he refused to help. I think Kok Keong is going to quit again. Jerome came and started to scold Kok Keong for spamming and for making a fuss over this, because Darren was being unreasonable. Darren then explained himself by saying we need to contact the hotel fast so the staff will know whether the ballroom will have seats for us, and how the planning process is more complicated than we think so we must accomplish as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually curious about how Daniel reacted.¡±


    ¡°He wanted to discuss everything nicely today, but Kok Keong said he is very tired dealing with all these, so Daniel said we did a lot last week and deserve a break this week.¡±


    Like Darren, I was genuinely worried that we would not be able to finish our planning. We were trapped in a vicious cycle of enthusiasm and breakdown. I knew I had to talk to the committee members during my breaks that week, but whom?


    ¡°I kind of don¡¯t like the school rule which only allows eating here,¡± I said to my group of friends while rushing my meal during recess.


    ¡°Are you going to do anything about it?¡± Graham asked.


    ¡°Prefects don¡¯t have that much power, and I see why having the rule will help the school greatly,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Who are you going to meet again this week?¡± Joey asked with a frown.


    ¡°Prefects. You seem very concerned about who I meet,¡± I said.


    ¡°Good that you know!¡± Joey snapped. ¡°All you care about are the prefects from 5A. You¡¯re going to be the top in class. Just transfer to 6A next year and have all the fun you want!¡±


    ¡°The prefects have serious stuff to settle, and I don¡¯t think he will want to leave us and see Daniel Lim all the time,¡± Vera pointed out.


    I was tempted to drag Joey into the projects so she would understand our pain. That recess, I dragged both Jia Jie and Xuanyu for a chat.


    ¡°Are both of you aware of what happened yesterday?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, Darren¡¯s too desperate. He changed a lot after becoming a prefect this year, but I see he truly cares that we don¡¯t get into trouble with the teachers,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Thank Daniel! We have another week of rest! I don¡¯t have to worry about this project,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t feel worried that we cannot finish in time?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nope,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°I find that you are very anxious. If Daniel says we can rest it means our progress is good,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°I may conclude that Daniel isn¡¯t a bad person, but who is he such that you must trust everything he says? He might be saying that because he gave up and doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s better to say! I must talk to him tomorrow. Do any of you want to follow me?¡± I said.


    ¡°I can,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    The next day during recess, Xuanyu and I went to the garden to talk to Daniel.


    ¡°Sup!¡± Daniel greeted both of us.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m here to talk about something serious. Is pausing our discussions the best way to solve the arguments going on?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Okay, you see, if there is no harmony, can we continue?¡± Daniel said.


    Xuanyu shook her head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this guys. I understand Kok Keong¡¯s troubles. I¡¯m already very happy that he is willing to be part of our committee,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°What happened to him?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It will be best if you don¡¯t know for now. Just be grateful and enjoy your lives...good to care for others too!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I am concerned about our pacing,¡± I said.


    ¡°In week eight, Vivian and Jia Jie will be having a meeting with all chairmen and vice-chairmen to brief them about the goodie bag distribution, so don¡¯t worry. The ballroom dinner is quite free and easy,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Ah...see you another time then! We¡¯ll find Elise!¡± I said.


    ¡°What? So fast? I thought we will be here until the end of recess,¡± Xuanyu whispered to me.


    ¡°We have other people to talk to,¡± I said.


    ¡°Who? Oh...your girlfriend!¡± Xuanyu said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Who is that girlfriend you are talking about?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s at the aquarium. You don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°Tell me!¡±


    ¡°Clarissa!¡±


    ¡°Honestly, are you kidding me? Out of all my female friends you have to say it¡¯s her? Are you alright? Anyway, we can talk to her first before finding Elise!¡±


    ¡°Heyo!¡± Clarissa greeted us while Xuanyu lifted her from the ground playfully for a moment.


    ¡°How is Kok Keong in class?¡± I asked Clarissa. ¡°I heard from Daniel he has troubles.¡±


    Clarissa¡¯s expression changed as usual. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t really talk to him about those stuff. Did something happen in the committee?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and Jordan wants you to sing with him for Teachers¡¯ Day dinner!¡± Xuanyu said with a chuckle.


    ¡°What? What songs again?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her, I didn¡¯t ask you to sing with me. I¡¯ll be singing Don¡¯t Give Up on Us and Tong Nian,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Not the Cantonese song you like to sing?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know all the lyrics! I¡¯m not fluent in Cantonese, but I can learn the song and sing it when the teachers are not around on that day,¡± I said.


    After some small talk, Xuanyu and I proceeded to Staircase 5.


    ¡°We went to look for her,¡± Xuanyu said to Elise.


    ¡°Oooh! Is she singing with you?¡± Elise asked me.


    ¡°No, really, what¡¯s the issue with both of you? I am not dating Clarissa!¡± I said.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you interested in her?¡± Elise said with a chuckle.


    ¡°I am not! What makes you say that?¡± I said.


    ¡°Because we saw with our eyes!¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°I can send your sister the picture of both of you holding hands!¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Did we hold hands before? Oh! My sister is not stupid enough to think the picture shows we are dating! She knows we played that game during the camp!¡± I explained.


    Indeed, the world could be so funny. Elise and Xuanyu could simply start a prank out of the blue, expecting me to fall for it. Anyway, I was surprised that I wanted to talk to Daniel that day. The conversation put me more at ease, as I knew we were not lagging, but what happened to Kok Keong?


    During our free time at home that week, Elise and I would frequently text via Rebecca¡¯s number to discuss the manpower matters. We decided to appoint two emcees for the dinner first. Elise wanted to appoint Daniel, but I strongly objected because it would deprive others of the chance to hone their public-speaking skills. After countless persuasions, I managed to urge Elise to be one of the emcees, since she was not an assembly leader. We agreed to appoint Stuart to be the other emcee, but he refused.


    It was Week Six. Daniel randomly approached me in the morning to find out how the manpower progress was, so I told him. He offered to help ask around for a second emcee and also mentioned that his classmates were quite busy so meetings had to be suspended for another week. Well, what could I do? I could tell that Daniel was somewhat stressed about it too, just that he was trying to stay jovial.


    It was an ordinary Tuesday, the Tuesday of Week Seven to be precise. I went to the toilet during recess and was surprised to see a familiar face waiting for me outside. It was Hannah Tham - my classmate from P1 to P4 who went to 5A. She was one of the few whom I interacted with more frequently and was also one of those who teased me and Vera.


    ¡°Jordan! It¡¯s been a long time!¡± Hannah said.


    ¡°Hi! We actually do see each other a lot!¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yeah, so a bunch of us have agreed to help your committee because we know you guys can¡¯t handle everything by yourselves. Jerome has asked me to tell you and Vivian.¡±


    ¡°Who are ¡®a bunch of us¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Me, Zoey, Xin Yi, Alex, Ethan Tay and Lawrence. The prefects not in the committee are in too. More might join.¡±


    ¡°How about Ariana?¡±


    ¡°Erm...not confirmed...she seems happy as per usual when we don¡¯t talk about prefect stuff.¡±


    ¡°I see. How do all of you plan to help?¡±


    ¡°We are helping to buy the materials for the cards and goodie bags on Friday after school. Do you want to join us? We can go for dinner as well.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good! I¡¯ll check with my parents first. The whole committee is coming right?¡±


    ¡°I know Daniel has to go to church every Friday evening so he can only join for a while. Alex has tuition. We can ask the rest. Why not?¡±


    ¡°That means I can ask Vera too! She has been wanting to help the prefects!¡±


    ¡°Aw, that¡¯s nice! I see her at Phoenix too!¡±


    I was elated! I could not believe it! Such good Samaritans existed in school! Hannah and her group of non-prefects might not be student leaders, but they exhibited great leadership in how they took initiative to help us. I checked with Vera and Leo whether they were willing to help, but they were not keen, with Vera mentioning she loathed parties and big dinners.


    We would end school at 3 pm every Friday, since it was a CCA day. I encouraged Stuart, Alicia and Raju to join the shopping. Raju was not interested, while Stuart and Alicia were not free. Jia Jie met me outside the Chinese Orchestra room. She told me that Kok Keong and Megan were unable to join that day, but Megan was willing to help out with the dinner itself. Both of us proceeded to the foyer to meet the rest.


    ¡°So where are we going to buy the items?¡± I asked Hannah.


    ¡°Erm...anyone has ideas?¡± she said.


    ¡°What? Nobody has a mall in mind?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°Maybe somewhere that¡¯s near your church, Daniel?¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to accommodate me, but if the city area has suitable shops we can head there,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we welcome the newcomers today?¡± Ethan blurted. ¡°Hey guys! Let¡¯s welcome¡­¡±


    ¡°Newcomers? They were always with us! Jordan and Vivian. They¡¯re from 5B but they are really good in our committee!¡± Elise said.


    Did Elise really think that highly of the both of us? We were just doing our job. Anyway, I really enjoyed myself that day during the shopping. The 5A students were really fun to hang out with. Most of them were friendly and nice to me and Vivian, that Vivian agreed that he would rather be in 5A. I further understood Elise¡¯s description of Ethan. He was extremely loud (same for Xin Yi) with an obnoxious laughter but was indeed friendly. Zoey Hamilton was another of my old classmates whom I got to connect with again. Lawrence Lian was another new friend I made.


    The next week, Elise and I were supposed to continue with our manpower allocation for the dinner. It was confirmed that the dinner would be buffet-style. Usually, parent volunteers would be the ones serving the food, but that year, the students would do it (with some supervision of course). Zoey pointed out that FRansformed could help lighten the load of parent volunteers too, since many of them were working and would be tired to help out at a ballroom dinner in the evening. Elise suggested that the taller students would help better with the serving, so we did not appoint students such as Clarissa, Lawrence and Megan to be food-servers.


    Unfortunately, not many prefects volunteered to help out at the dinner. Special mentions: Clarissa, Megan, Li Xuan, Rayana and Viktoriya. The best was Eng Soon. Despite Huayi¡¯s attempts to brainwash him into shunning our initiatives, he still made an effort to volunteer. I just did not understand Huayi. If he found himself so ¡®great¡¯, why did he not start a rebellion himself?


    The day of the Teachers¡¯ Day celebration had arrived. Unfortunately, I was caught up with the Choir performance so I had no idea how the distribution of gifts went, but I was excited after Alicia told me she could help out that evening. There were three other 5A students who spontaneously volunteered - Roshita, Varunya and Abishek. We had a short meeting after school that day regarding the dinner.


    ¡°Before anyone forgets...what¡¯s the meeting time?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°5.30!¡± Alex replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Where¡¯s the meeting location?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Hotel JEN?¡± Stuart said.


    We burst into laughter.


    ¡°The dinner is at Hotel JEN, but we are meeting at Attenborough Station first, then walk to the hotel together,¡± I clarified.


    ¡°Oh right, I forgot,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°Xuanyu, can you wear shorts later?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m wearing a dress. I don¡¯t always wear shorts,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    I was excited. I was finally going to sing on stage solo! I had to recall the lyrics to Drifter¡¯s Song at the eleventh hour, thanks to Clarissa who reminded me, and myself for telling her that I would sing that for the prefects after the dinner. The number of parent volunteers that day were half the usual number, according to Daniel. The prefects and 5A volunteers were in charge of registration, ushering and food serving...not fun for most of us but at least we were willing to try.


    That evening, all of us met at Attenborough except for Darren. He actually went straight to Hotel JEN and ¡®welcomed¡¯ us when we arrived.


    ¡°Guys! Is Elise the only emcee for today?¡± Darren asked.


    I turned to Elise. ¡°Did we forget to get a second emcee?¡±


    ¡°Gosh! I totally forgot to ask! What do we do now?¡± Elise whispered to me.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just do it with you,¡± I said.


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t even practise! And you are singing¡­¡±


    ¡°Elise! Who is the other emcee?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°I...I...forgot to ask,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Do you have a script?¡± Zoey asked.


    ¡°Yes, one of the parents gave it to me but I only looked at it once,¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°What? Only once? What have you been doing all this while?¡± a frustrated Darren said.


    ¡°Since you guys don¡¯t let the short people serve food, I¡¯ll be the second emcee!¡± Lawrence voiced up.


    ¡°Bruh, you haven¡¯t seen the script,¡± Hannah said with a chuckle.


    The truth was - Elise was uncontactable most of the time when I wanted to discuss the manpower with her over text. I had no idea why. We did not even allocate manpower for registration and ushering. All of us and the parents volunteers just stood at the entrance of the ballroom, in a state of confusion.


    ¡°Elise! Do your job!¡± Alex Peh hollered.


    Yes, that was the same Alex Xuanyu liked to talk about. He was one of the noisy students in class and like what Xuanyu told me, he enjoyed pranking others and was touchy with others.


    ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡± Li Xuan asked me before Alicia asked the exact same question.


    ¡°Am I helping with the buffet?¡± Varunya asked.


    ¡°Jordan! Get four people to do registration!¡± Daniel called from the other end of the crowd.


    My mind was in a bedlam. Who should I answer first? Subconsciously, I indirectly responded to Daniel by announcing aimlessly that four volunteers were needed. Rayana tapped my shoulder and told me she could look for three more to help. She called Li Xuan and Xuanyu but I already allocated them to serve food. Fortunately, Eng Soon, Megan and Roshita agreed to help.


    ¡°Dude!¡± Darren emerged in front of my face. ¡°Four is not enough! Don¡¯t forget dinner is not provided for us and we have to rush our dinner before the teachers eat. Get another four for another shift!¡±. He then turned to Khairul who was meddling with his phone. ¡°Hurry up!¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait! What¡¯s KFC¡¯s phone number? I can¡¯t remember!¡± Khairul said frantically. Darren growled and snatched the phone Khairul was holding to dial the number before returning it to him.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Darren glared at me. ¡°Get four more!¡±


    Just then, Clarissa nudged me. ¡°What¡¯s my job?¡± she asked in her usual high-pitched voice.


    ¡°Do the registration for the second shift,¡± I replied.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t know how! Can you teach me?¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I need to ask for more volunteers. You can ask the four of them,¡± I replied.


    I turned around and noticed Rayana trying to explain to the other three what to do. That was impressive. After spinning right round like a record in the crowd, I managed to get Vivian, Viktoriya and Izumi to help Clarissa with the second shift. Not long after, I heard weird noises coming from inside the ballroom¡­


    I went in and saw Elise and Lawrence pacing around, trying to master their lines. The weird noises were actually Ethan and Xin Yi fooling around when testing the microphones.


    ¡°Khairul ordered burgers for all of us, remember to eat them before the teachers come in,¡± I told them.


    ¡°Do you want to practise singing? I can give you the mic now,¡± Ethan said.


    I wanted to say yes but Clarissa came in and nudged me. ¡°I¡¯m bored,¡± she groaned.


    I was constantly bombarded by questions and orders, thanks to Willis who told everyone Elise and I were in charge. Willis himself was not even helping out but chatting with his classmates.


    ¡°How about, when the KFC delivery truck comes, get those not doing anything to give the burgers out. You can stand there with Khairul and Darren to look out for the truck,¡± I said to Clarissa.


    ¡°Can I stay with you? Darren is scary,¡± she said.


    ¡°Sure! Yeah, all Darren does is tell us to hurry up and that the teachers are waiting. A pity. He might have topped the mid-years but not personality,¡± I said.


    Within a few seconds, I heard Ethan shouting. ¡°Guys! While waiting let¡¯s do a cheer!¡±


    ¡°Class cheer?¡± Alicia asked.


    ¡°There are students from other classes! The school cheer of course!¡± Jerome said.


    It was weird cheering in a hotel for no apparent reason. Before the cheer started, some parent volunteers already silenced Ethan before a ruckus could occur.


    ¡°The burgers are here! Those who are not doing anything can help bring them up!¡± Darren announced.


    Clarissa and I were standing in front of the staircase and a few students ran towards us, nearly sending me rolling down. There were two huge bags of burgers. Alex grabbed one of them while Willis grabbed another.


    ¡°Let me help you!¡± Abishek said to Alex.


    ¡°Go back up! Your hands are just adding weight to the bag!¡± Alex growled.


    ¡°Alex, you are just holding the bag wrongly, that¡¯s why Abishek is adding weight,¡± Daniel said with a smirk.


    In the end, the number of us who went down to collect the burgers went down for nothing...but Darren was enjoying the air-conditioner while chatting with those in charge of registration. Since there were no teachers yet, I told the four at the registration table to eat first. I was happily chatting with the four of them, Xuanyu, Clarissa and Viktoriya, totally oblivious to the arrival of the first teachers¡­


    ¡°What are you doing? You let them eat while doing registration? That¡¯s really bad manners!¡± Darren chided me, while he was ironically eating himself. ¡°Those who are not eating please help with ushering!¡¯


    Every single student was eating, even the emcees, so parent volunteers had to temporarily do the ushering. I was so stressed that I could not even eat quickly. The buffet was about to commence and we students were just a bunch of confused folk. The second shift of registration volunteers did not even have a chance to do anything. Elise and Lawrence were trying to do a good job with hosting the dinner, but they seemed unconfident and distracted. I was glad we did the allocation for food serving beforehand, as I could take a breather.


    There was a performance not long after, with Daniel¡¯s father on guitar and lead vocals, other parents on other instruments and Daniel on the drums. I asked Jerome to record a video of Daniel to be sent to Rebecca so I could compare his drumming skills with Leo¡¯s. The performance was enjoyable, because the songs performed were Knowing Me, Knowing You and Ain¡¯t Nobody. For Daniel...I was speechless. He could play the drums like a professional having only picked them up around a year ago?


    ¡°Good luck Jordan!¡± Hannah said moments before my turn to go on stage


    Alex hugged Hannah from behind and said to me, ¡°Why do you like old songs?¡±


    ¡°Because they make you feel good,¡± I replied.


    Daniel said, ¡°Okay Jordan, it¡¯s normal for Alex to do that. Don¡¯t get the wrong idea.¡±


    That reminded me of Rebecca. She liked to hug her male friends she was close to. I had no idea how close Alex and Hannah were.


    Within a flash, I had finished my performance. It was really fun! Not many of the students were in the ballroom, as some of them were loitering outside because they simply had nothing to do. Clarissa wanted me to accompany her for a walk around the hotel¡¯s garden.


    ¡°Are you singing the Cantonese song later?¡± she asked.


    ¡°If I have the chance to. I couldn¡¯t learn the full song in time,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Are you okay? You must be very tired.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m better now. I think it¡¯s really a bad idea to have kids manage this dinner. Look at everyone! I understand we want to lighten the load of our elders, but if we mess up, we make them worry.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s really nice of you to think that way. I want to tell you something.¡±


    ¡°Same. Thank you for being an encouragement when everyone else is so discouraging. I appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°You are special because of how you see Daniel differently and how much you love the school!¡±


    ¡°Let me make this clear. I don¡¯t dislike Daniel. I don¡¯t find anything wrong with him. I don¡¯t like how he gets all the attention. I don¡¯t love the school. I do the projects because I love helping people!¡±


    ¡°I have a crush on you!¡±


    ¡°Who has a crush on me?¡±


    ¡°I repeat. I have a crush on you!¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha. I¡¯m not falling for your prank! Am I a joke to you? Do you think it¡¯s very fun to team up with Xuanyu and Elise to prank me?¡±


    We walked back indoors and Clarissa grabbed my wrist.


    ¡°Do you want to meet up next week?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not at the age where I can go out with friends whenever I like! I¡¯m sorry for being rude, but I have to say we¡¯re too young and shouldn¡¯t have romantic relationships,¡± I said, patting Clarissa¡¯s head.


    My eyes popped. Xuanyu appeared holding a phone, with Izumi following behind.


    ¡°Waow! How loving!¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°I need my phone back,¡± Izumi said to Xuanyu. Had Izumi known too?


    ¡°Really, this prank has to stop!¡± I told Xuanyu firmly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a prank, even Li Xuan knows,¡± she replied.


    After the dinner ended, Darren told us to stay behind for area cleaning. Clarissa told me to go up on stage to provide background music while the rest cleaned up, so I went to sing Drifter¡¯s Song, but got criticised by Alex. Since I could not remember the lyrics to the full song, I got off stage in less than a minute.


    ¡°Why are you standing around? Look for dirty spots!¡± Darren yelled at Stuart.


    ¡°Bro, it¡¯s okay,¡± Daniel said. ¡°If there isn¡¯t, there isn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the teachers were really nice today. They cleaned up their own mess,¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Darren, if Kok Keong came today, both of you will argue a lot!¡± Jia Jie pointed out.


    All of us were so exhausted that we did not have a debrief session. Anyway, I was glad that the 5A students volunteered to help us with our projects. I felt there should be a way to get the remaining prefects involved, but who would know the optimal way? As for Clarissa, I had no idea what to say. Had Elise and Xuanyu known about it beforehand? I did not want to probe further, as I wanted to maintain my friendship with Clarissa.


    To ¡®reward¡¯ us, the prefect teachers told us to take a break for the next term, until our examinations ended. Why was Darren in such a rush?

 2014: Revolution

    The first seven weeks of the fourth term was just continuous studying, uncertain whether I could maintain my top position in class. Rebecca pointed out that with my studying method, I would only perform well in secondary school. She was not wrong, as I often proceeded to read up on Astronomy and advanced Geography while doing my homework. After the examinations, prefect duties resumed, but it was also the period of suspense...selection of prefect exco.


    Why was I so worried about the exco selection? Did I really need an exco position? Rebecca already warned me that the exco position would mean nothing in my portfolio because no one would look at my primary education details in future. Elijah mentioned my batch would be a tough one to select exco members from due to the large number of enthusiastic prefects, but he felt I stood a chance.


    Two days after the last paper, the P5 prefects were called for a morning meeting. As I anticipated, it was indeed the exco selection.


    I turned to Li Xuan, ¡°Why am I so scared?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even want to be in exco, too stressful,¡± she replied.


    The teacher began to read out the names. ¡°Ariana. Daniel. Xuanyu. Khairul. Nazreen. Jia Jie. Vivian¡­...Jordan.¡±


    I was so relieved! I was shortlisted!


    ¡°Rayana. Elliot. Kok Keong. Hui Wen. Xin Jie. Stuart. Priscilla.¡±


    What did I just hear? Were those really the shortlisted exco members? Without a doubt, Daniel and Vivian were naturally exco candidates. Why were Jerome¡¯s and Darren¡¯s names not read out? The teacher allowed those whose names were not read to attend the interview if they were keen.


    Darren was whispering to those around him, ¡°How is this possible? Am I that bad of a prefect? Jerome! Go for the interview with me!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I don¡¯t need to be in exco. Me not being chosen means I¡¯m not suitable,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°But Ariana! How did she get selected? She didn¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°Your bottle is going to leak if you don¡¯t pick it up!¡± Elise said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not leaking. Khairul? He got nominated this year and got selected?¡± Darren continued.


    ¡°Priscilla too! You just need to calm down. FRansformed is not going anywhere,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Just admit defeat,¡± Huayi told Darren, then turned to Eng Soon. ¡°What a sore loser.¡±


    We then took turns to go up to indicate our preferred interview timeslot.


    Huayi said to Eng Soon, ¡°See? I was right. Most of them are up there.¡±


    ¡°But not all, so you are wrong,¡± Eng Soon replied.


    ¡°I think I know what you have been trying to do all the time,¡± I said. ¡°You want to get into exco so you want to stop people from helping out with FRansformed?¡±


    Huayi could not answer me. Had I guessed correctly?


    ¡°Good job! I knew you¡¯d be selected!¡± Clarissa complimented.


    ¡°Thanks! Go for the interview! I believe you¡¯re good in exco!¡± I said.


    ¡°No...but I¡¯ll still help with the projects.¡±


    Anyway, I chose the interview slot the coming Monday, as I wanted to be done with it. My siblings were glad to help with my interview preparation, but I was distracted by who the other candidates were. Ariana left the FRansformed committee and strayed herself from many of the prefects, but why was she selected? Jerome was a really good leader in my opinion, why was he not selected despite his passion and effort? As for Elise and Willis, I felt they had potential too. Kok Keong? Apparently his issues were not resolved and he still got selected. I liked Clarissa¡¯s enthusiasm to help others, but it was a pity she was not selected.


    How about Darren? He was arguably the most dedicated to FRansformed with close contact with the teachers. It seemed he was the natural candidate for the next school captain. However, he was not even nominated. I could guess why - he was trying to do most of the work by himself and would hurry everyone even if they were busy. A school captain should not do that.


    On Monday afternoon, I went pretty much unprepared for the interview. Daniel, Ariana, Jia Jie and Xuanyu were there too. It had been a long time since I talked to Ariana and I had no idea what I should say to her, but I was truly concerned.


    I approached her. ¡°Hi.¡±


    ¡°Hi,¡± she replied.


    ¡°How were the exams?¡±


    ¡°Fine...wow I¡¯m scared.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not even prepared!¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Do you think it will be a group interview?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s individual, verified by the P6s. They said it is not that bad and everyone will be accepted, but our responses will affect the position we get,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Our responses affect our positions?¡± Jia Jie said.


    A 5C prefect called Yap Xin Jie spoke, ¡°The captain is Daniel! Everyone in my class says Daniel will be the captain. He¡¯s a teacher¡¯s pet, that''s why.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too quick to conclude!¡± Daniel said. ¡°Things may not be what you guys think. I know you guys are nervous. Some tips! It¡¯s good to talk about your experiences as a prefect so far, the good and bad times, what you have done well and how you plan to make it better. Talk about things like stress and time management, and how you can contribute to the school with limited time because of PSLE. Most importantly, relax and be natural!¡±


    Ariana was the first to be interviewed, followed by Daniel. They were not allowed to leave the room to prevent discussion of answers with those not interviewed yet.


    Before her turn, Xuanyu said, ¡°What position do you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure, maybe the class buddy section leader? I¡¯m happy with vice,¡± I said.


    ¡°Same. Okay, watch me die in three...two...one,¡± she said and disappeared into the room.


    Why did Daniel tell us to relax and be natural? I found it so hard to do so! Anyway, I got to talk about how I enjoyed interacting with juniors during my morning duties, how I built rapport with the FRansformed committee and how much fun it was being in the committee despite the difficulties coordinating with everyone and managing time. I also mentioned how I hoped the other prefects and the committee would be more united and enthusiastic in improving the school - totally repeating the points raised during the numerous presentations and possibly repeating what Daniel would say, boring the teachers to death. I did not really care what the outcome was, as what Daniel said about all getting positions was supported by the number of nominees.


    Darren was planning to have a committee meeting on Friday that week after CCA but majority of us had other plans. We literally had two weeks left in school and it would be hard to meet up during the holidays. I had a chat with Hannah that Wednesday.


    ¡°I heard you got selected to be in the prefect exco, how was your interview?¡± Hannah asked.


    ¡°No comment. P5 is ending next week, wow time flies,¡± I said.


    ¡°We have thought of having an outing for the Project Phoenix helpers. Do you want to plan with us?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Who else is planning?¡±


    ¡°Daniel brought it up yesterday. Quite a lot of my friends are helping to plan. I can add you to our Whatsapp group if you want.¡±


    ¡°Wow Daniel, and I don¡¯t have a phone.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Daniel is super. He will be the next school Captain for sure. He¡¯s just the one for it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not the first person saying that. Now, let me ask a tough question. Who will be the two vice captains?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really tough! Maybe Khairul? Jia Jie looks like one too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always thought Darren has a very high chance because he is always communicating with the teachers so they should know him very well.¡±


    ¡°Uh...that¡¯s not true. Isn¡¯t it quite obvious why he wasn¡¯t selected? Ariana has information. I can get her to tell you if you want.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure she wants to talk to me?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not angry at you! She told me.¡±


    What exactly did Ariana know about Darren? How serious was it? I just had to wait.


    Week Nine was just a usual boring week. On the Monday of Week Ten, the exco candidates were called for a meeting in the morning. Darren was the only non-nominee there because he was dying to try for a position. The teacher first made the atmosphere less tense by talking about lighthearted topics. Pindrop silence was the outcome after a set of slides were flashed...thankfully it was only the introductory slide. I could hardly breathe. I had qualms that I would somehow get rejected. I just had to face the truth...


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    CAPTAIN


    </td>


    <td>


    DANIEL LIM JIA JUN


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VICE CAPTAIN 1


    </td>


    <td>


    LEE SHENG EN JORDAN


    </td>


    <td>


    5B


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VICE CAPTAIN 2


    </td>


    <td>


    ARIANA KHINE MINH THANT


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SECRETARY


    </td>


    <td>


    STUART LOW KAY POH


    </td>


    <td>


    5D


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL ASSEMBLY


    </td>


    <td>


    WONG HUI WEN


    </td>


    <td>


    5C


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL ASSEMBLY


    </td>


    <td>


    SIM JIA JIE


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL CLASSES (BATCH 1)


    </td>


    <td>


    GOH CHIN ENG ELLIOT


    </td>


    <td>


    5C


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL CLASSES (BATCH 1)


    </td>


    <td>


    LI XUANYU


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL CLASSES (BATCH 2)


    </td>


    <td>


    NAZREEN NANDITA PRANAV MAHENDRA


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL CLASSES (BATCH 2)


    </td>


    <td>


    PRISCILLA THIRLYNN COLLINS


    </td>


    <td>


    5E


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL STAIRCASES


    </td>


    <td>


    MUHAMMAD KHAIRUL B AHMAD ISMAIL


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL STAIRCASES


    </td>


    <td>


    POON KOK KEONG


    </td>


    <td>


    5C


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL FACILITIES


    </td>


    <td>


    RAYANA ALIYEVA


    </td>


    <td>


    5B


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL FACILITIES


    </td>


    <td>


    HO WEI REN VIVIAN


    </td>


    <td>


    5B


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    My eyes literally popped. Vice Captain? What had I done to deserve that? I looked at Darren. His face was red.


    ¡°Alright you win, Daniel! All the best!¡± he said, trying to sound nice.


    ¡°No no! This is no competition bro! You won¡¯t be missing out on anything, really. FRansformed isn¡¯t going anywhere!¡± Daniel said.


    Xin Jie put up his hand. ¡°What is my position? I don¡¯t see my name up there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we have enough positions,¡± the teacher said. ¡°Your friends are very nice! They have a lot of projects coming up and I¡¯m sure they will ask you to help!¡±


    Xin Jie slumped on his chair with his hand covering his face.


    I said to him out loud, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Not being in exco doesn¡¯t make you less important. You are still a part of us and we¡¯ll definitely ask you for help.¡±


    Daniel stood up suddenly. ¡°May I ask for permission to do something funny, teachers? I believe someone else has the potential to take on the role of School Captain.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jia Jie asked. ¡°You¡¯re the one for it!¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Khairul added.


    ¡°I have accepted the role as President of Band, don¡¯t you think I am depriving others of a chance to be the School Captain if I accept this role? Ariana. Jordan. One of you are welcome to swap our places,¡± Daniel said.


    I was shocked. That was unexpected of Daniel.


    ¡°No please! I can¡¯t!¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°Okay. Jordan! You have great potential! I believe you¡¯ll do a good job!¡± Daniel said to me.


    Should I be the captain? I knew it would be tough. Even being a Manpower IC was tough. I had already accepted Daniel. I knew he had no intention to be nasty. However, the feeling of overpowering the most popular kid in school was good, so I agreed to be the School Captain. I was not too comfortable with telling my friends that I would be the next School Captain, so I told everyone in the room to keep the swapping of positions a secret from the rest of the school. There was no harm, since everyone believed Daniel would be the next Captain. Ha!


    But, the problem was - how should I go on from there? What new responsibilities would I get? Fortunately, the teachers would run through with us later that week.


    During recess, I ate with my group of friends.


    ¡°Jordan, you seem very happy today!¡± Clarice remarked.


    ¡°Oh! You got into exco?¡± Vera asked.


    ¡°Yes I did! I¡¯m really shocked! I thought my answers during the interview were bad!¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you the class buddy section leader?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°No...I am the School Cap- Vice Captain!¡± I replied. That was a close one.


    ¡°Woah!¡± Joey and Vera said in unison.


    ¡°Are you sure you can do it?¡± Graham said with a snort. ¡°You can get ready to lose your first position next year.¡±


    ¡°Stop, really,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°Graham can be right!¡± Joey said. ¡°You¡¯re going to spend every single recess talking to the prefects, but you¡¯re the Vice Captain so you may even talk to them after school and have no time to do your homework.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me, you are saying that I won¡¯t have time to do my homework even if it¡¯s just two hours?¡± I said.


    ¡°You¡¯re smart so you say that!¡± Clarice said.


    Meanwhile, Hannah came over and told me, ¡°Ariana can talk to you later.¡±


    I began to increase my eating speed.


    ¡°You¡¯re meeting someone again?¡± Joey raised her voice.


    ¡°Why not? I have important stuff to settle!¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you!¡±


    ¡°Urgh! Always busy. Do you guys want to go out during the holidays?¡±


    ¡°Lazy,¡± Graham said. ¡°They had to choose me to be Vice President of Band so I¡¯m going to die.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t answer you now, because I may have plans with the prefects. Daniel wants to have some outings and I need to plan with him,¡± I said.


    ¡°Wow, both of you are working together now!¡± Clarice said.


    ¡°You were totally hating on him at the start and now you are planning outings with him? Who have you been hanging out with? Why is it that you got closer to Daniel and not us?¡± Joey said, her eyes becoming red.


    ¡°See what you have done? You¡¯re making Joey cry!¡± Graham said.


    ¡°Jordan has a crush on one of the prefects!¡± Clarice said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t!¡± I replied.


    Indeed, being the School Captain would incur losses, but I saw the gains outweighing the losses. I had no idea why I would rather have fun with the prefects than my classmates. Anyway, having fun with the prefects was essential, as I needed to build rapport with them as their head.


    ¡°Where do you want to talk?¡± Hannah asked me.


    ¡°The fitness corner,¡± I replied.


    Hannah signalled at Ariana and we made our way to the fitness corner.


    ¡°I heard you are very interested to know the story behind Darren Gore?¡± Ariana asked.


    ¡°Yes please. He really puzzles me. I always thought he would be the Captain because he has the most communication with the teachers. That¡¯s the sad truth of how leaders are selected,¡± I said.


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. The teachers made the right choice this time. I¡¯m happy his name wasn¡¯t even called. The whole time, he was making use of the FRansformed committee to convince the teachers to give him the School Captain position. He was only nominated at the beginning of this year, so he wasn¡¯t a junior leader last year. He was very happy that he got nominated, and gave a lot of ideas when Daniel was thinking of the projects. He volunteered to be the one to update the teachers about our ideas and update us about their feedback. You know this is his role, but he did more and told the P6 exco as well. He made his own timeline and planned his own projects. He even showed them to the teachers and P6 excos, telling them that was what all of us would be doing, but it wasn¡¯t true. That¡¯s why he spams a lot during online meetings and hurries us all the time. He wants us to follow his secret plan. Even worse, he is very nosy and always wants to help the P6 exco and teachers with their personal things.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what Daniel does?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Urm, Daniel is very helpful, but Darren is crossing the line. He doesn¡¯t know most of the P6 exco well and wants to help them with a lot of things,¡± Ariana replied.


    ¡°Definitely too much of him! Thanks for sharing. How did you know all these?¡±


    ¡°My Soccer teammate is in the P6 exco. She asked the teachers.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone else know?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you who else knows. Please keep it a secret. Daniel knows, but don¡¯t talk to him about it.¡±


    ¡°One more thing. I know it¡¯s hard, but...will you come back to FRansformed?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been struggling with that. Thank you for asking. I know it¡¯s not worth it to leave because of some people.¡±


    ¡°I understand. We¡¯re not angry at you.¡±


    ¡°During the camp, I was very quiet because I didn¡¯t know how to say how touched I was by all of your efforts to make life fun for the prefects. All of you had to wake up earlier to meet and discuss stuff. Even though Darren was shouting at latecomers, I could see all of you were trying.¡±


    ¡°Wait! That was you? I remember someone watching us that day! When I went to check, the person ran away!¡±


    ¡°Yes! Sorry for that! I didn¡¯t know what to say to you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, but you will have to explain to Willis, because he has made that a ghost story.¡±


    ¡°He had too many of those Scout camps. I was talking to Daniel just now. He says we will rethink the FRansformed committee. We still need to plan our outing.¡±


    Darren was actually so manipulative! I was triggered, not because of Darren¡¯s deeds, but the fact that Joseph Adams who was obviously more manipulative got to be Vice Captain. Talk about fairness! Daniel was a literal role model - he could totally be nice to someone doing all the wrong things in the committee. I understood how his forgiving and easygoing nature was an important contributing factor to his charisma.


    I hardly had a chance to chip in the planning of the Project Phoenix outing. The 5A students were so enthusiastic that they already confirmed we would be exploring Turquox Canopy Walk the next Monday. Xuanyu and Zoey designed the flyers together and distributed them on Tuesday. Xuanyu handed me four of the flyers for myself and my classmates. Besides Vivian, I had to give the flyer to Vera and one of Vivian¡¯s close friends who was a volunteer for Project Phoenix. I had a hard time convincing Vera to go for the outing.


    The prefectorial board had a handover. Choir had a handover too, on Wednesday afternoon.


    ¡°Heard you¡¯re becoming Vice Captain? Good job!¡± Alicia congratulated me.


    ¡°Thanks, but I hope they don¡¯t make me President of Choir,¡± I said.


    ¡°Same, I was quite shocked when I saw I am the Secretary. This will be tough. Oh, Daniel asked me if we can have lunch together on Thursday after school. The four of us, including Ariana,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°Oh yes, why not? Are we meeting the rest of the exco too?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He said we can have an outing next week. The lunch on Thursday was mostly Ariana¡¯s idea. She wants the four of us to discuss the more important things first,¡± Stuart replied.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I will get any position, unless it¡¯s a case of Daniel being both School Captain and President of Band,¡± I said.


    ¡°Off topic, both of you,¡± Raju said. ¡°So, who will be the next president of Choir?¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Alicia replied.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s you and I am serious,¡± I said to Alicia.


    ¡°What? Why me? I think it¡¯s you!¡± Alicia retorted. ¡°Speaking about Daniel, he¡¯s obsessed with dancing recently.¡±


    ¡°I think Vernice or Natsuko might,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°Vernice? No way! She can¡¯t lead!¡± Raju remarked.


    The moment had come. The teacher started with announcing the president and vice president - Chloe and Vernice. I felt happy for them, and meanwhile disappointed for Alicia. Raju was selected to be the secretary and Natsuko the student conductor. Alicia was assigned Soprano section leader. What was I assigned? Assistant Tenor section leader! Stuart was my main leader.


    ¡°Meh,¡± Alicia said. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I like not being a president.¡±


    ¡°Being a president is good, but I can¡¯t have two presidencies in school!¡± I said.


    ¡°Should we have a CCA outing someday?¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I replied.


    ¡°The whole CCA? How is that going to work? Ask Daniel to help?¡± Raju said.


    ¡°Hmm...just our batch. I¡¯ll talk to the other girls. Jordan, Stuart, check your email as often as possible,¡± Alicia said.


    If we were to have a Choir outing, I would have a total of four outings with schoolmates that holiday, including the Project Phoenix, prefect exco and P5 prefects outings. That would be an eventful holiday! There were also potential outings with my siblings, their friends and Vera. Vera was looking forward to the outings with my siblings and others such as Nicole and Kai Le, but was reluctant to go for the Phoenix outing. She felt she would not be comfortable with many of the people. I tried to convince her that many of the 5A students were nice and would befriend her, and finally succeeded after I told her we would go to the arcade if she went for the outing.


    The next day was the last day of school. In the morning, the prefect teachers met me, Daniel and Ariana to brief us on what to expect the next year. They commended us for taking initiative to start projects even at P5, and told us not to get too burnt out. I would be the Captain of the school the next year, that was going to be fun!


    Later in class, there was the annual nomination of Character Award recipients. Vivian nominated me, also thanking me for nominating him the previous year. Wow, my promotion came with an award too!


    After school, I met Daniel, Ariana and Stuart at the main entrance.


    ¡°Jordan! First in class? Congrats!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Thank you! How did you do?¡± I said.


    ¡°Not bad! I got ninth. Managed to maintain my top ten in level. I think you can join the top ten soon! You have great potential!¡±


    ¡°I hope so...my sister said that with my studying method I will only do well in secondary school.¡±


    ¡°Oh wow...that¡¯s relatable, because I like the secondary school syllabus more!¡±


    ¡°Why are you looking at it now?¡± Stuart asked. ¡°We have PSLE first.¡±


    ¡°It just interests me. Oh! We should decide on a place to eat! It¡¯s the last day of school. I don¡¯t mind travelling far. Over here we have Hyacinth Plaza, Hyacinth Square, Gentian Point, One Shamrock, Lakeridge Point. If you want to go further we can go to Westvale Mall, Chiang Village, Nova Place¡­¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Erm, can we just eat nearby? I want to go home early,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°How about ramen at Hyacinth Plaza?¡± Ariana asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind!¡± I said.


    Stuart turned to Ariana, ¡°I forgot what we are meeting for.¡±


    ¡°Just to plan things for next year? And chat!¡± Ariana replied.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Daniel said. ¡°It¡¯s to build some rapport and chemistry among us too! It may be a small group of four of us today but it¡¯s a good opportunity to think of ways to connect with the rest too!¡±


    Daniel then went on rattling about his upcoming holiday trip to Japan and how excited he was to meet his Japanese friends and dance with them (seriously, he had friends in Japan too?). He also talked about the outings and activities he would have with his bandmates. I asked him whether Graham would attend them, and found out that Graham refused to attend at least half of them.


    Ariana said, ¡°Wow you have been talking a lot! Don¡¯t you need a break?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not tired as long as I¡¯m with people!¡± Daniel said.


    We soon arrived at the restaurant.


    ¡°I¡¯m so tired!¡± Stuart said as he sat down. ¡°Why am I the secretary when I cannot even do things properly?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t even know why I¡¯m the Vice Captain!¡± Ariana added.


    ¡°We may not know the reasons behind them. You guys are given the role, so why not make the best use of it?¡± Daniel said.


    After ordering our food, Ariana took out her laptop and handed it to Stuart.


    ¡°Oh right, I am supposed to type out everything we are going to discuss. I think my sorting and tidying work in the committee was fine, so that¡¯s why the teachers chose me, even though there are better choices,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°Who?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The whole of 5A and 5B,¡± Stuart replied.


    ¡°Stuart, you can create a new Drive folder for the exco only,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Who else is in exco again? I know Jia Jie is. Nazreen is in too. Willis too..¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°Willis is not,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°I can do the sharing for you,¡± Daniel said.


    After chatting about random topics for a short while, I spoke, ¡°Alright. We should set some goals for today. Anyone?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve recently talked to some seniors who were prefects in FRPS before. We can address some of their thoughts later. Next, our outings. The exco outing takes place next Wednesday and the P5 prefects outing next Friday. FRansformed has to be re-studied too. We must also think of ways to engage our batch of prefects, engage our soon-to-be P5s and empower them. If possible we can rethink the entire Prefectorial Board,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°The entire board? No way!¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°Not impossible. You probably planned today¡¯s meeting already,¡± I said to Daniel while our food arrived.


    ¡°Not wrong!¡± Daniel laughed. ¡°You can suggest other stuff to discuss if we have time. Oh guys! You know what? My friend almost got stung by a Portuguese man o¡¯ war yesterday! She said the tentacles were right beside her when she was lying down on the beach! We can start with our seniors¡¯ thoughts. Do any of you guys remember Eliezer?¡±


    ¡°Eliezer? I might have heard that name before,¡± I said.


    ¡°Eliezer Koh. He¡¯s Sec 1 this year and was Section Leader for Assembly last year. He, like the rest, agrees that the exco is quite useless. All he had to do was help with the scheduling for assembly leaders and he would just go back to his latecomer duty. His vice, Jayden, apparently didn¡¯t do anything. Guys, any thoughts?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I cannot multitask. I¡¯ll just type. If I have thoughts I will type in after my nap later,¡± Stuart said, while trying to eat.


    ¡°I think we can create new assembly duties,¡± I said.


    ¡°How? Do we have that many prefects?¡± Ariana asked.


    ¡°It can be done. This brings us to Zi Shan¡¯s comments. She was a former assembly leader. She talked about how the Captain and Vice Captains just stand around in the PA room every morning, so we can probably do more work next year, since we are no longer class buddies,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°How is this fair? I still have to be a class buddy,¡± Stuart groaned.


    Daniel went on talking about the comments by other seniors, hardly touching his food.


    ¡°Are you going to eat? I asked him. ¡°I have finished half of my food and you barely started.¡±


    ¡°Same,¡± Stuart added.


    ¡°Oh! Thanks for reminding!¡± Daniel chuckled. ¡°Wait, let¡¯s take a selfie for Tricia!¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you let me type so you can eat?¡± I said to Stuart.


    ¡°I can! I am the fastest here so I¡¯ll help!¡± Ariana said.


    In general, the comments Daniel raised were mainly about prefects being useless and are just positions to show off to friends. We decided that each day, one of us would oversee the assembly while the other two of us would be elsewhere, such as Project Phoenix. Daniel told us to keep our ideas on hold until we have consulted the other prefects.


    ¡°I¡¯ve asked Darren to send out Google Forms. Those in exco will receive a second form for our Wednesday outing. Yes I know Darren isn¡¯t in exco but our aim is to let every single prefect use his or her potential to the fullest. We¡¯re starting with Darren. Stuart, you can collate the survey responses and attendance. Feel free to drop a comment if you need our help,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Wow that¡¯s a short form!¡± Ariana said while scrolling through the form on her phone. ¡°Climb Ender¡¯s Peak, woah! I¡¯ll choose that!¡±


    ¡°Yes I¡¯ll choose that too. It¡¯s been a long time since I went there!¡± I said.


    ¡°What? Climb Ender¡¯s Peak? Someone will have to drag me up next week,¡± Stuart said.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°We should let Xin Jie do something too,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, I promised him I will give him something to do this holiday. We can think of it along the way,¡± Daniel said.


    Next, we talked about revamping the FRansformed system.


    ¡°There is something really not right about our current FRansformed committee. I began to have that sense after you left, Ariana. What do you think?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°You and Jerome were right the whole time. When we meet, all we do during our meetings is discuss the projects. Zoey said the make-up of the committee is weird, because almost everyone is from 5A,¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t feel like going for the meetings most of the time! I¡¯ll tell you the truth - I wasn¡¯t busy most of those days!¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°We don¡¯t blame you,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s the end of the year. You should be happy you¡¯re in the actual exco now. Now, we just have to do something about the FRansformed committee.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s analyse this. I remember we gave an open invitation to join the committee during one of our level meetings. This committee is very likely to be a way the teachers can determine who can be in exco or not, because we actually do more work, so that¡¯s why Huayi dislikes our committee. It actually seems unfair. We really need to talk to our other prefects about this and get their opinions. Oh wait! We need to arrange more outings this holiday! Those next week should be for bonding only. Jordan, remember not to talk about our missions too much, focus on friendships first,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind more outings, but I need to study too,¡± I said.


    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t need to study?¡± Daniel chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about PSLE. Did I tell you? My friend didn¡¯t study for half of last year and was even playing right before the papers. She ended up with 269. Those outings are to get to know our prefects better and to chat about FRansformed and other plans for next year. Wow! We have a lot on our FRansformed plate! Project Pegasus, the one for cleanliness and the one to love the school.¡±


    ¡°Can I say something? I don¡¯t love the school. I repeat, I don¡¯t love the school. I love helping people, not the school,¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we need the project! Our long-term goal is to make everyone love the school. Yes it¡¯s hard, given the plain lack of unity now, but it¡¯s not impossible,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°For the extra outings, can we split into small groups if we are discussing our plans?¡± Ariana asked.


    ¡°Yes! We can also meet them one-to-one next year so we can know each of their hopes for themselves and the schools more clearly,¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you sure one-to-one is a good idea? It¡¯s more fun and pumped-up if it¡¯s a bigger group!¡± Daniel pointed out.


    I was quite amazed by Daniel¡¯s ability to lead the discussion. I felt guilty that I could not match up to his ability, but I knew I would do better. Although we did not delve into any details, we confirmed that consultation was key in ensuring our ideas were feasible. We seemed ambitious in wanting to revolutionise the Prefectorial Board, but was it that simple to do so as long as we had unity?


    The assembly area the next Monday was relatively near my home, at the western part of Middletown. I arrived early and met Jerome and Darren.


    ¡°Hey! So how¡¯s exco?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t really done anything yet,¡± I said. ¡°I had a meeting with Daniel, Ariana and Stuart last Thursday. Not many plans, but we believe that we need to build relationships with all of you first.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s nice. Daniel said every single prefect will have a chance to be empowered next year. I¡¯m really looking forward to your initiatives,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Your? No, all of us!¡± I said.


    ¡°Ah yes that¡¯s good! The teachers were telling me about how good our batch is. We¡¯ll create a better Prefectorial Board together!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°I hope...anyway, can I see the attendance list for today?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Give me a moment,¡± Darren said while taking his phone out. ¡°The turnout was worse than expected. Most of those able to make it are from 5A as expected. Your class has you and Vivian obviously, Gladys and your sidekick Vera. 5C has three. 5D has one besides Stuart. There are only four P4s. Totally not surprising at all. I don¡¯t know everyone. Xin Yi is marking attendance.¡±


    ¡°Is Abner one of the P4s? He is quite interested in our projects,¡± I said.


    Jerome said, ¡°Yes that guy¡¯s good!¡±


    Moments later, Xuanyu appeared in front of us, showing off her new phone.


    ¡°Nice phone! When are you going back to China?¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there from second December to after Christmas,¡± Xuanyu replied, then turned to me. ¡°Why did you choose Ender¡¯s Peak? I will die if I climb it and all of you need to carry me up!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in this together, so don¡¯t worry!¡± I assured her.


    ¡°Do any of you know what happened to Kok Keong?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ask Jia Jie. She must be the one Kok Keong talks the most to,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    Jerome chuckled. ¡°Oh yes oh yes. I heard something happened at home, so he will not come today, but he will come on Wednesday and Friday.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I think it¡¯s because Jia Jie rejected him!¡± Darren said. ¡°When I checked the form for Wednesday responses this morning I saw that one person hadn''t submitted. I think it¡¯s Priscilla.¡±


    Others arrived. Daniel and Jerome were doing their usual socialising. Vera and Vivian then arrived together.


    ¡°I really came!¡± Vera said to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. You will enjoy meeting these awesome people,¡± I said.


    ¡°No, because you forced me to come today when I want to wake up late and play my games!¡± Vera said.


    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t bully Vera,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°You can stay with Gladys today. She¡¯s your classmate right?¡± Darren said.


    Vera whispered in my ear, ¡°I don¡¯t talk to Gladys at all. What do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°Just wait,¡± I whispered back. ¡°Today I guess you can talk to Izumi, Khairul, Hannah, Zoey, Lawrence and Varunya.¡±


    Vera gave me a startled and disgusted expression. Anyway, we began our journey soon.


    ¡°Jordan! You¡¯re the best at directions here! You will be a good guide!¡± Willis said.


    ¡°What? He can help me! But Darren made me the tour guide!¡± Ethan said.


    ¡°I can lead with you! I did my job already!¡± Xin Yi added.


    While we made our way to the entrance of Turquox Canopy Walk, I was talking to Vera about my upcoming prefect outings and how excited I was for them. On the other hand, she talked about how she could not wait to go home to play The Battle Cats, which she recently downloaded. She also told me that I would be missing out on the outing she would have with Joey and Clarice that Wednesday.


    Khairul said to me, ¡°Why are both of you always together in school?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Yeah! Dating right?¡± Ethan said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Always together does not equal to dating!¡± Vivian said, then turned to me. ¡°You can talk to the rest, I¡¯ll accompany her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! He likes someone else!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Show me the proof!¡± I said. ¡°You better not join the Elise and Xuanyu prank.¡±


    ¡°Haha! You just said your crush¡¯s name!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Stop it!¡± Xuanyu, who was walking with Abner, gave Jia Jie a slap on her neck.


    Vivian told me he would take care of Vera, so I caught up with Xuanyu and Abner. Soon after, Hannah approached Vera and they somehow began talking about Minecraft. That was nice of her.


    ¡°How do you feel being the Vice Captain?¡± Abner asked me.


    ¡°Great! I can¡¯t wait!¡± I replied.


    ¡°Oh wow! What¡¯s Daniel doing?¡± Abner asked, pointing at Daniel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but he has been dancing a lot,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Daniel! Why are you dancing?¡± Abner asked.


    ¡°Dancing is a really good form of exercise. I¡¯m not sporty myself so I picked up dancing to keep fit. I¡¯m trying out Para Para and J-pop dances. You should too!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°He¡¯s really good,¡± Abner said to Xuanyu.


    Hey! When are the two of you going on your first date?¡± Alex asked me and Xuanyu, before making an accurate jab into Xuanyu¡¯s navel (she was wearing a crop top again).


    ¡°Ow! Stop!¡± she snapped at Alex.


    Abner held Xuanyu¡¯s wrist. ¡°What are you doing? Don¡¯t hurt her!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me!¡± Xuanyu shrieked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so angry, unless you want to steal her!¡± Alex said with a chuckle, then bounced a few steps before hugging Xin Yi from the back.


    ¡°What¡¯s his name again?¡± Abner asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard things about him before.¡±


    Xuanyu replied, ¡°Alex. It¡¯s normal for him to do those. He got punished before. There was even once when he went into the female toilet to talk to his friend! You don¡¯t like me right?¡±


    ¡°Erm...not that kind of like of course!¡± Abner said.


    I turned to Xuanyu. ¡°Are you free next week?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Why?¡± she asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re going on a date with her?¡± Abner asked.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t be another one. We have things to settle. You will probably meet the other prefects in your batch a lot during the holidays next year,¡± I replied, then turned back to Xuanyu. ¡°I feel we can¡¯t settle everything on Wednesday, so we need more days to meet.¡±


    ¡°I see these things are very important to you,¡± Xuanyu said.


    The outing was quite aimless. We were merely following the trail without a goal in mind. I spoke to Nazreen and Vivian. Both were fine with having additional outings. We were still walking at noon, so I decided to clarify with Hannah.


    ¡°Where do we end the walk? Are we having lunch nearby?¡± I asked.


    Hannah just glanced at Daniel.


    ¡°The outing may be my idea, but we have let you guys do the planning. If you can¡¯t think of places to eat, I don¡¯t mind suggesting,¡± Daniel said and began dancing.


    ¡°You have a lot of energy,¡± I commented.


    A P4 spoke, ¡°What? We are having lunch together? Nobody said so! My mother wants me to go home for lunch!¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Those who need to leave can go now. Those who want to have lunch with us can stay,¡± Zoey said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t chase them off like that!¡± Jerome said and raised his voice. ¡°Guys! We really appreciate the time together today! We hope you had fun and we look forward to another outing again! May I have a show of hands, who is keen on lunch?¡±


    Most of the hands raised came from 5A students, as expected.


    ¡°We do encourage all of you to join us if you can. It¡¯s a good opportunity for us to get together as a project team,¡± Daniel said.


    There was an awkward silence for a moment (except Ethan talking to Abishek and Lawrence).


    Vera said to me, ¡°I can¡¯t come for lunch. Joey hopes you will come on Wednesday. Tell your mother to tell her mother if you¡¯re coming.¡±


    I tried persuading her, then I realised I should not do so, as I was unwilling to go for Joey¡¯s outing. Besides the 5A students, Vivian, Abner and I joined the lunch.


    While walking to the lunch venue, Darren said to Hannah, ¡°What were you doing? When you plan an outing you must factor in meals!¡±


    Daniel tried to calm him down and commended Hannah for her good effort in organising the outing.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Alex asked Abner.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t everyone encouraged to eat together?¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Why are you still clinging on to the Vice Captain¡¯s girl?¡± Alex asked.


    ¡°Alex, if you keep teasing Jordan about a girl, it means you¡¯re desperate!¡± Izumi said.


    I let Abner continue talking to Xuanyu while I went to talk to the rest. During lunch, I sat at the same table with Xuanyu, Abner, Ariana, Xin Yi and Jerome.


    Xuanyu instantly rested her head on the table on sitting down.


    ¡°Xuanyu! Are you okay?¡± Jerome asked.


    Abner tapped her repeatedly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me,¡± she groaned.


    Xin Yi pulled her head up, telling her to order her food.


    ¡°So, how was today?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Fun!¡± Abner replied.


    ¡°Nice! Thanks for taking this big step to join us for lunch. I know it¡¯s not easy when you¡¯re the only P4 here,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Those of you at Phoenix are quite nice and I really enjoy talking to all of you. I¡¯m also quite interested in your new projects. I heard one called Pegasus? I¡¯m excited about the new changes coming up!¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Daniel!¡± Xin Yi shouted, pointing at Abner. ¡°Next School Captain!¡±


    ¡°Are you actually interested in being the School Captain?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Maybe? I¡¯ll see next year,¡± he replied.


    ¡°So anyway, we will have small group meetings with the prefects and junior leaders to have a clearer picture of what all of you want for the school and Prefectorial Board. It¡¯s still under planning,¡± I said.


    After that outing, I realised I completely messed myself up. I subconsciously brought the upcoming meetings up. I failed to ensure Vera was comfortable too. Throughout the outing, she seemed moody, which I believed was due to her reluctance to participate. At the same time, I felt bad for not using my role as School Captain to the fullest, since I only talked to my current friends.


    Wednesday was the day I could finally meet the rest of the exco. Rebecca wanted to climb Ender¡¯s Peak too, so she, Elijah, Leo, Nicole, Kai Le and Jing Xuan would be there too, just that they were going later. Somehow, I was the first to reach the assembly point. Daniel, Rayana and Jia Jie came together next.


    ¡°How¡¯s the attendance? I forgot to check this morning,¡± I said.


    ¡°Full strength!¡± Daniel jumped and exclaimed.


    ¡°So, how are your holidays so far?¡± I asked them.


    ¡°So far? It just started, and I haven¡¯t done my homework,¡± Rayana chuckled.


    ¡°Same!¡± Jia Jie added.


    ¡°I only did Chinese and English. I¡¯m leaving Math for the last,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finished mine,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°As usual,¡± Jia Jie said. ¡°Doing Math Olympiads?¡±


    ¡°Yes, playing music too,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°Kok Keong is coming, right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes. But please give him some space. He hasn¡¯t been good lately,¡± Jia Jie replied.


    A boy with hearing aids joined us.


    ¡°Hi Elliot. Guys, this is Elliot Goh, our Class Buddy SL,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Hello, nice to meet you,¡± I said. ¡°Your vice is Xuanyu?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± Elliot replied.


    When everyone arrived, Daniel said, ¡°It¡¯s our first day out as the Prefect Exco Class of 2015. Are you guys excited?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± we all replied in unison, before Ariana told us to lower our volumes because we were in a train station.


    I suggested continuing our talk outside of the station.


    ¡°The exco is not just for serious things, but for clowning around too!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Are we going to build a circus in school?¡± Khairul asked.


    Everyone laughed.


    ¡°Are you willing to fork out your savings to contribute to its construction cost?¡± Daniel asked. ¡°Kidding! I mean, we must also have fun together!¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I added. ¡°Unity is important for us to work towards our goals.¡±


    ¡°For unity to happen, we need peace and harmony! Now, let¡¯s all shake hands with one another!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Jia Jie asked. ¡°This is like church, wishing people peace.¡±


    We did as Daniel said, and I interacted with Wong Hui Wen for the first time. I decided to spend the next few minutes getting to know her as we walked to the foot of Ender¡¯s Peak.


    She spoke before I could say something, ¡°You and Daniel are so funny! Why must both of you swap positions?¡±


    ¡°Funny! Wait, you¡¯re from 5C. That means Clarissa is your classmate. All of you like to laugh at me when I talk about Daniel?¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh yeah! Because Viktoriya says you like to complain about him. Now what¡¯s even funnier is that both of you are playing around with positions. I didn¡¯t tell anyone about it. I promise.¡±


    ¡°He wants to give me a chance, so why not? I don¡¯t complain about him anymore. I know he¡¯s not a bad person even though he is ¡®up there¡¯ in school.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a really fun person! One day in P2, I got bullied by some classmates. I didn¡¯t really have friends in class so I ate alone during recess because I was sad. Daniel came and gave me sweets. He also told me stories. That¡¯s how we became friends. He¡¯s friends with my classmates too.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, are you kidding me? Stuart told me a similar story? Is he the eye in the sky looking at us and able to read our minds?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? He is quite interested in dancing now, so I challenge him.¡±


    Hui Wen was actually fun to talk to! At the foot of Ender¡¯s Peak, we were deciding on which route we should take. Xuanyu suggested that we ride the tram. Vivian suggested the sloped route whereas Khairul suggested the difficult forest trail. We ended up using the forest trail. I approached Nazreen next. She was more reserved and I did not really have a chance to talk to her much despite the numerous meetings.


    ¡°How have your holidays been?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Bad, a lot of homework. You?¡± she said.


    ¡°I managed to finish my English and Chinese homework so far. I¡¯m quite excited for the outings! Wait, you have a lot of homework? How did Daniel finish everything?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s smart. He finishes his homework five times faster than me. He, Roshita, Varunya, Darren Gore and some others from my class are going to meet random people to do Math Olympiads next week.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t relate. What homework do you have?¡±


    Ariana popped in. ¡°Some girls¡¯ school¡¯s Math paper, two Science papers, some human body worksheet, three English comprehensions and I don¡¯t take Mother Tongue.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll probably take more than a week to do those,¡± I said.


    ¡°What some people do is finish the whole stack once they get it,¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°I do ahead of the assigned homework sometimes,¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m curious about how your teacher selects prefects.¡±


    Nazreen said, ¡°I think she said before. She chooses both quiet and noisy people. Those selected must be able to lead, do all their homework and don¡¯t be late for class.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m one of the quiet ones,¡± Ariana chuckled.


    ¡°Why did Ethan Tay get selected?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s quite brave and dares to lead. He does his homework all the time and is quite nice to the teachers and students. I remember our teacher didn¡¯t want to choose him at first, because he cannot control his mouth. They let him be a junior leader first, but if he behaves badly they will suspend him,¡± Nazreen explained.


    ¡°But he became even crazier and didn¡¯t do his duties well, so they expelled him,¡± Ariana added.


    It was good to have a mix of quiet and noisy prefects - some form of equilibrium. This seemed true for the exco too, but the issue was that society would favour the loud and vocal.


    Ender¡¯s Peak is 213 metres tall. Although we had taken countless breaks, many of us were already exhausted before the half mark, with Xuanyu being the most exhausted.


    ¡°Jordan! Carry her up!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you do it?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Do it!¡±


    ¡°Need help?¡± I asked Xuanyu, offering her my hand.


    ¡°No,¡± she replied.


    ¡°I should have filmed this!¡± Jia Jie chuckled.


    After a decade or so, we arrived at the eating house at the peak. We decided to pack our food and sit in a circle on an empty concrete patch to maximise interaction.


    ¡°How was it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Good!¡± Hui Wen replied.


    ¡°Yeah it was fun!¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°I hope we¡¯re not doing this again on Friday¡­¡± Xuanyu groaned.


    ¡°We¡¯re not,¡± Daniel said. ¡°Based on the responses it seems like we¡¯re going to Turquox Karst.¡±


    ¡°Again?¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°It¡¯s an awesome place. Shall we have another outing next week?¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine if it¡¯s something relaxing,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going overseas next week,¡± Priscilla said.


    ¡°Same!¡± Khairul added.


    ¡°I think I have a camp. Ariana, don¡¯t you need to go back to your country?¡± Hui Wen said.


    ¡°I am an Aquapolian! I have never been to Myanmar!¡± Ariana replied.


    ¡°Thanks for today guys, but I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t join anymore for this holiday,¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? If you¡¯re comfortable sharing,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Do all of you know I have five siblings?¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Elliot replied.


    Kok Keong continued, ¡°Jerome still has more than me. If you have read the news, you would know that two siblings were kidnapped and killed. They are my older siblings. Let me finish. My parents borrowed money in July but were unable to repay. So, the people kidnapped my older siblings to take revenge. They promised to release them if my parents paid back. My parents called the police but the kidnappers were not found. In October, they were found hiding on some island, and my siblings were dead. What really happened was that after kidnapping my siblings, the kidnappers drugged them so they couldn¡¯t escape. They then illegally rowed a boat to the island and killed them. Thanks for listening. I appreciate whatever help you can give me but please don¡¯t. I need to take care of my three younger siblings, and I always had financial aid, in case you don¡¯t know.¡±


    That was shocking! I was quite touched by how the other exco members offered to help him. I sensed the unity building up.


    Anyway, Daniel decided to make macarons for all of us that Friday so he asked for volunteers to carry the bags of them from his home. The turnout was better than expected, with only five unable to join. I bumped into Ariana at the lift lobby of Daniel¡¯s block and discovered we were the first to reach.


    ¡°You two are early!¡± Daniel said. ¡°The macarons are just ready. Come in and relax!¡±


    Daniel was living in an executive flat with two floors. He showed us the upper floor, where there was a hall with a lot of musical instruments and recording devices.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be performing a Chinese song with my father at an elderly hub next week. I believe you know it. Gan Lan Shu,¡± Daniel said to me.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s a nice song!¡± I remarked.


    Daniel turned on his keyboard and began to play the harmony.


    ¡°What instruments have you been learning?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Keyboards, guitar, flute, saxophone, xylophone, drums and starting on the bass. There it is. Play something! I¡¯ll help you to plug it in,¡± Daniel said.


    I played a few tabs, then let Daniel try. He could play a couple of tabs quite well.


    ¡°Before I forget, I¡¯m thinking of having a jamming session here next week. I think I told Leo about it before and he¡¯s keen,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Playing instruments and music? Sure! By the way, Leo knows a lot of songs, a lot more than you and me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Daniel really knows a lot of songs,¡± Ariana said. ¡°Who¡¯s not coming today?¡±


    ¡°Huayi, Irfan, Joash, Felicia and Rei. It¡¯s already quite good,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Huayi. For how long is he going to be like this?¡± I said, while the doorbell rang. It was Hui Wen.


    ¡°You¡¯re early too!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I live in Forge Harbour too!¡± Hui Wen replied. ¡°Your house is nice! What¡¯s this music room? Did you watch the video I sent you?¡±


    ¡°Girls Generation? I¡¯ll learn the dance tonight,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Will there be any groupings for later? I think we didn¡¯t plan that,¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°Good point. Cliques. Cliques. Cliques...there must be more mixing around!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Groupings may not work. Let¡¯s see later,¡± I said.


    Rayana and Jia Jie came to help too. We then made our way to our assembly point near Nyan Trail. There was a hoard of us there so I had no idea who to talk to first.


    Daniel said to me, ¡°I didn¡¯t bring my loudspeaker, so you, Ariana and I will split the briefing. Just tell them the purpose of the outing and get them to shake hands. Brief those over there.¡±


    I had no idea what Daniel had in mind when he said ¡®over there¡¯, but he was pointing to a bunch of 5C prefects. I walked over to them.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I greeted them and ruffled Clarissa¡¯s hair.


    Xin Jie ruffled my hair in response and said, ¡°How would you feel if I did it to you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll feel fine,¡± I replied, then turned away and called out, ¡°Hello? Those over here please gather!¡±


    Stuart, Megan and an unfamiliar boy came to me. Most of the others around me went to Daniel (as expected). Jia Jie had also taken initiative to brief a few.


    ¡°Thank you for coming today. Let me ask a question - what is the purpose of today¡¯s outing?¡± I said.


    ¡°To do forfeits for Wayback Jordan!¡± Xin Ying said.


    ¡°Anyone else?¡± I asked.


    Sylvia and Eng Soon popped in and I repeated the question to them.


    ¡°Daniel said it¡¯s for bonding and having fun,¡± Sylvia replied.


    ¡°And do you think that¡¯s the true purpose?¡± I asked her, while Viktoriya, Clarissa, Xin Ying and Hui Wen began giggling.


    ¡°I was just kidding! Daniel is correct!¡± I said while Xin Ying continued laughing hysterically.


    ¡°Let him continue!¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°Thank you. Yes, we need to bond. This helps to build friendships and unity, which is very important for us to achieve our goals. First, we need to make peace,¡± I said.


    Xin Jie spoke, ¡°Daniel wants me to help with a survey for the exco because he promised me he will give me something to do.¡±


    ¡°Are you Xin Jie?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xin Jie replied.


    ¡°Oh! I always thought you¡¯re a girl,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the first one! My brothers have the same problem too. They¡¯re Xin Yu, Xin Li and Xin Hui. My parents should have done it on purpose. Remember ¡®xin¡¯ for trust,¡± Xin Jie explained.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Vivian experienced that more than you!¡± Sylvia said.


    Daniel had asked Xin Jie to go around asking prefects to rate their experience as a prefect on a scale of one to ten, to get a sense of how much improvement was necessary. I gave a six, as making new prefect friends made my year better, but planning the projects was tiring too.


    We began shaking hands afterwards. Eng Soon was hesitant. After some encouragement from me and Sylvia, he was willing to break the ice with others. I noticed the unfamiliar boy who was with us looked lost, so I approached him.


    ¡°Hello! What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Novan,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Do you want to get to know the other prefects?¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s Jia Jie...Jerome...Xuanyu...what class are you from? Are your classmates here?¡±


    ¡°5G. Farah is there. She¡¯s my classmate. I know Darren.¡±


    We had begun walking, and Jia Jie came to talk to Novan. I wanted to approach other prefects but Clarissa came over to me after she talked to Jerome.


    ¡°Did you know Jerome previously?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes! I knew him since P1 from the special needs programme!¡± Clarissa replied.


    ¡°Wait a minute! Special needs programme? I heard Jerome has autism, is it true?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t know much about autism. He told me about how his amazing God cured him or something. I had a crush on him last year.¡±


    ¡°Did you tell him?¡±


    ¡°No. When I wanted to, I had a new crush on my classmate! Jerome is quite good! He always helps people and fights for the right things. He invited me to his birthday party last year. He lives in a big house so he invited a lot of people. His parents banned him from having a party this year because there was a fight last year.¡±


    The rumours about Jerome were actually true! I admired his confidence in leading despite having special needs. A pity he was not in the exco.


    ¡°Do you want to go somewhere next week?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I explain to you before? And I don¡¯t want to drag my family into this,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell anyone else I liked them. I only told you. I liked you for four months and I only liked the others for two.¡±


    ¡°Others. I can predict you will have a new crush by February! It¡¯s not wrong to have crushes but seriously don¡¯t date at this age!¡±


    Jia Jie, Jerome and Darren caught up with us.


    ¡°Why are you talking about dating?¡± Darren asked.


    ¡°Uh...never mind,¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°Where did Novan go?¡± I asked Jia Jie.


    ¡°Izumi is talking to him. The Chinese Paper Two is so hard! How did you manage to finish it?¡± she said.


    ¡°I forced myself to finish it, and I haven¡¯t started on Math,¡± I said.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how did Daniel finish his Chinese homework that fast?¡± Jerome said. ¡°His Chinese is worse than yours, Jia Jie.¡±


    ¡°I heard he is going to do Math Olympiads next week?¡± I said.


    ¡°A few of us are meeting his friends to do it and I¡¯m quite sure he¡¯s the worst at Math among us,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°He¡¯s quite hardcore. He already finished the stack of Stellar worksheets after he got it so he reads books when our teachers let us do it in class. He¡¯s already going to learn secondary school Science! Secondary school Science! And his notes are from Greenpeak Girls School!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Yeah, I think he¡¯s actually smarter than Darren, but more playful,¡± Jia Jie added.


    ¡°No way Daniel is smarter than me!¡± Darren protested. ¡°I play more than him and he can¡¯t beat me!¡±


    ¡°Wait until the debate competition!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°There is a debate?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°Only four students from 5A are going for it. Darren and Daniel are two of them. He told me some of his points. They¡¯re really good! Daniel works hard and plays hard. He¡¯s very smart and reads like mad,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°What does Daniel want to be?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s okay with a lot of jobs. I want Medicine!¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Me too!¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°You should apply for Tesla Institute. You¡¯ll have a high chance of getting into Medicine. I¡¯m going the Math route,¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Hey! We should split! Talk to more people!¡± Jia Jie said.


    Xin Jie came over and handed me the clipboard with the survey responses, telling me to take over him because he did not know most of the people. I tried explaining to him that it was a good chance to get to know others, but he was not confident. I passed the clipboard to Megan, who agreed to help.


    Vivian came to me. ¡°I¡¯m totally lost because I have no idea who to talk to now. We¡¯re really in a mess now. I was with some of the 5A and 5C prefects and I don¡¯t know who to join now.¡±


    ¡°Yes this is messy. Should we just talk to our classmates?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, and Daniel doesn¡¯t like it when we are in cliques. During Band, he likes to tell us to mix around. Just telling you,¡± Vivian replied and we approached our classmates.


    ¡°Hello! How¡¯s the outing so far?¡± I asked them.


    ¡°Fun!¡± Sylvia replied.


    ¡°Any idea why Huayi is not here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s not happy with the exco,¡± Eng Soon replied.


    ¡°Why? I think the people in exco are quite good,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I talked to him about it. I even told him we¡¯ll give him a chance. He¡¯s still not happy,¡± Vivian said.


    Jerome then came, asking us for our phone numbers to create a Whatsapp group. I was against the idea of it, as it would exclude me and those without Whatsapp. Jerome assured me the rest of us would still receive announcements via email and the Google Site, and the chat group would not be for spamming.


    Moments later, Megan came back to me, saying she gave up on the survey too. Fortunately, Jerome decided to cover her. I was quite amazed by how he could handle the collection of phone numbers and survey responses simultaneously while having seemingly interesting conversations with the rest.


    The outing was disappointing overall. I did not have a chance to talk to everyone like Daniel. Although the position switch was still a secret to the non-exco, I felt terrible for not being up to standard like Daniel. He had the upperhand, since he knew virtually all the prefects before the outing. Me establishing relationships with everyone would take a long time, and I had less than a year to do so with that being the only outing as an entire batch of prefects that holiday. Daniel was quite encouraging. He told me not to worry and the prefectorial board would be revolutionised in a matter of time.


    That night, Rebecca received a call, and she passed her phone to me. It was actually Alicia who had gotten Rebecca¡¯s phone number from Jerome. She said that the outing with the other P5 Choir members would be held the next Tuesday. She then told me the meeting location and time without saying where we would be heading to. Strange, but I was eager for it.


    We were told to meet at Treviston, the industrial heart of Aquapolis. Only Alicia, Stuart, Raju, Vernice, Chloe and Natsuko turned up.


    ¡°So what are we even doing? All you did was tell us to meet here!¡± Raju said to Alicia.


    ¡°Wait, wait! I was thinking we can eat here!¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Is there even anything to eat? It¡¯s all factories!¡± Natsuko pointed out.


    ¡°There is a huge eco mall linked to this station. We can check it out,¡± I said.


    We ended up eating in a cafe.


    ¡°Why are we meeting today?¡± Stuart asked.


    ¡°Nothing much, just to hang out,¡± Alicia replied. ¡°What have you guys been doing?¡±


    ¡°Sleeping,¡± Stuart replied.


    ¡°Work, music. The same things. How much homework have you done?¡± I said.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Vernice replied. ¡°Tuition, tuition and more tuition. I will still fail PSLE even if I have more tuition.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t fail! What can we do? We can only study and play at this age,¡± Chloe said.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t started on my homework ahaha!¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Chloe, do you have anything for us?¡± I said.


    ¡°Me? No? Wait, is this the exco? Are we supposed to have some exco meeting?¡± Chloe asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay with one,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the exco in Choir even? The teachers do everything! They don¡¯t even need a president!¡± Raju said.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Chloe remarked. ¡°They didn¡¯t even tell me what I need to do!¡±


    ¡°How about...we decide what to do together,¡± I suggested.


    ¡°No please! I don¡¯t want extra work. I heard you, Daniel and Ariana have a lot of work to do,¡± Raju said.


    ¡°Yeah! Ariana said you guys have a lot of projects and interviews,¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of interviews,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°I think she meant the small group meetings,¡± I said.


    ¡°I brought Uno. Who wants to play?¡± Alicia asked.


    ¡°You ruined the mood, Jordan!¡± Natsuko said.


    What did I do? Alicia organised an outing and it was the perfect time for us to think about how to improve unity in Choir. I was sure she wanted at least our batch to be more united. After eating, we headed over to Crystique-Aqueris Nature for a walk.


    ¡°I feel Choir is already very united, so we don¡¯t need to do anything,¡± Chloe said.


    ¡°We must. It¡¯s not good enough,¡± I said.


    ¡°Has Daniel possessed you? I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s a bad thing,¡± Raju chuckled.


    ¡°Choir is united only during CCA, but we don¡¯t go out like this,¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Did you go out with your boyfriend?¡± Vernice asked.


    ¡°Yes. We don¡¯t want our parents to find out so we go out with other friends, but I usually meet him half an hour earlier. I go to his house sometimes,¡± Alicia replied.


    I whispered to Alicia, ¡°I heard from Xuanyu that Ace has anxiety problems.¡±


    ¡°Yes, don¡¯t tell anyone. It¡¯s not fair how he gets bullied and hated because of that. I¡¯m very protective of him so if someone hates him, I¡¯ll hate him too. I love him a lot. I don¡¯t want to see him bullied,¡± Alicia whispered back.


    ¡°It¡¯s puppy love. Anyway, go ahead,¡± I said.


    I might not be supportive of underage dating, but I felt bad for Ace and Alicia. Having to go through bullying and ridicule was tough, especially if he had special needs. I wanted to help him, but I did not know how.


    ¡°Are we doing the exco planning nonsense?¡± Natsuko asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Stuart replied.


    ¡°I think during those break times we can play some games?¡± Chloe said.


    ¡°What kind of games?¡± Alicia asked. ¡°We can¡¯t bring card games to school or use our phones!¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t the rest of our batch come today?¡± I asked Alicia.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I asked them. They said no. Chloe, any idea why Marlene didn¡¯t want to come?¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t tell me. She¡¯s always with her friends,¡± Chloe replied.


    ¡°What? Isn¡¯t your class united? Clarissa said being in class is fun,¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that united and I only talk to Marlene during CCA. There¡¯s this annoying girl called Mavis,¡± Chloe said.


    It was tough managing the Prefectorial Board and Choir simultaneously. The challenge was Choir. Throughout the outing, Chloe seemed reluctant to do any planning and Vernice seemed to be in another world. The Prefectorial Board had hope to be revolutionised, how about Choir? In my opinion, a leader is not someone who just ensures others behave. There is more to that.


    That Friday, I went to Daniel¡¯s house for his music-playing session. Familiar and unfamiliar faces were present. Leo, Vivian, Jerome and Jia Jie were there too.


    ¡°Who are all these people? Have we seen them before?¡± I said to Leo.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know a lot of them. I think there are more in his music room upstairs,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Music room? It¡¯s the hall that leads to his and his sister¡¯s rooms.¡±


    ¡°Did he tell you why he¡¯s inviting so many people today? Those people over there say he wants members for his rock band.¡±


    ¡°Sounds cool. I want to see how good he actually is.¡±


    ¡°Very good! Really! Remember the video Jerome took for me? He was good.¡±


    ¡°He is starting on the bass. He won¡¯t be better than me. He plays multiple instruments while I only play one.¡±


    Daniel allowed us to roam around the living room, the music room as well as his bedroom. Daniel, Jia Jie and some others were having fun with karaoke in the living room. Leo and I decided to go up to the music room, as the songs did not interest us. We saw Vivian trying out the xylophone.


    ¡°The Vice Captain is here,¡± Vivian said to a girl beside him.


    ¡°Oh, hi!¡± the girl greeted me and Leo.


    She was Isabel Liew, a prefect from Band too.


    ¡°Do you play the xylophone in Band?¡± Leo asked them.


    ¡°I play the French horn and she plays the trumpet. Why didn¡¯t you join Band? You¡¯ll be good in the percussion section,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°I like art a lot. I want to be a designer. I play drums for fun,¡± Leo replied.


    ¡°No one¡¯s playing the drums, why don¡¯t you try?¡± Isabel said.


    Leo passed me his phone, asking me to choose a song for him.


    ¡°Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Too hard! Pass me the phone,¡± Leo said and began scrolling. ¡°Sunday Bloody Sunday.¡±


    ¡°What kind of song is that?¡± Isabel queried.


    ¡°It¡¯s about a shooting which took place on a Sunday,¡± Leo clarified.


    ¡°You seem to know a lot about songs, like Daniel,¡± Isabel said.


    ¡°I¡¯m quite sure he knows a lot more than Daniel, and you should listen to U2,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes I know more than him. I listen to English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, German and some Hokkien,¡± Leo added.


    ¡°Both of you should have a challenge later!¡± Isabel said.


    ¡°What kind of challenge? I can¡¯t sing!¡± Leo said.


    ¡°Guess the song!¡± Isabel replied.


    ¡°He wants to play. Let him play!¡± Vivian said.


    After playing, Isabel cheered loudly, attracting attention from others in the room.


    A boy turned over to Leo. ¡°It¡¯s quite noisy here but good job!¡±


    ¡°I just learnt this song!¡± Leo said.


    ¡°For how long have you been playing the drums?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°I forgot, but I was very young,¡± Leo replied.


    ¡°I want to learn the violin...there it is!¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Since when did Daniel play the violin?¡± I said to Leo.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t. His sister does. She played it for us before,¡± Isabel said.


    A while later, Daniel came up.


    ¡°There are fruits downstairs. You can have them if you want!¡± he announced to all in the music room.


    ¡°Show us your guitar ability!¡± a girl said.


    Daniel immediately picked up his electric guitar while most of the people cheered. He then played a riff I have never heard before - probably made up or from a modern song. After that, he played the melody of a patriotic song. Rebecca played the guitar too, but she was slower in playing tabs than Daniel. Daniel was an absolute rockstar!


    The room was just filled with deafening screams and I felt I was in a dream.


    ¡°Sing a song!¡± someone shouted.


    ¡°Pass him the microphone stand!¡± someone else added.


    ¡°Song requests! Anyone?¡± Daniel announced.


    There were many voices shouting song titles at once, such that Daniel appeared confused. He turned to us.


    ¡°Leo! You said you know a lot of songs! Suggest one for me!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Play anything by Dreamtheater,¡± Leo replied.


    ¡°I heard of that band but I don¡¯t listen to them. Another one?¡±


    ¡°FireHouse? When I Look Into Your Eyes?¡±


    ¡°Perfect! Adina, you take the keyboards?¡±


    Daniel began belting out the power ballad. I was taken aback. Daniel was no average kid! He would make a perfect heavy metal frontman! He then proceeded to perform a ballad by Coldplay on the synthesisers. This guy could literally compete with Elijah! A prodigy indeed!


    Afterwards, Daniel let others be in the spotlight. Leo and I decided to head down to the living room for some fruits.


    ¡°Do we have time later? I want to challenge Daniel. I want to see for myself how good he can drum,¡± Leo said.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just see? You can tell how good he is already. We can ask him, but let¡¯s first choose a song,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay. Do you think he knows Sunday Bloody Sunday?¡±


    ¡°No. Maybe a fast hard rock song?¡±


    ¡°Livin¡¯ on a Prayer. Everyone knows that. Tom Sawyer! Daniel won¡¯t know it!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, he won¡¯t. Even I haven¡¯t listened to it. I want to see his reaction when you tell him to play the drums for that.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just choose a song he will know, so I can see how good he really is. Survivor! He likes that band too! We¡¯ll choose I Can¡¯t Hold Back?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Guys! They¡¯re playing ¡®guess the song¡¯!¡± Isabel called us from the stairway.


    Leo and I hurriedly made our way up.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know these songs,¡± I whispered to Isabel.


    ¡°Both of you like old songs? Some prefects were talking about it last week,¡± she said.


    ¡°Yes, we can test you,¡± Leo said.


    After a while, Jia Jie asked me to sing songs for the people to guess. My chance had come! I sang a few lines of I Am the Walrus. Daniel and another boy guessed it. I sang My Oh My. No one knew it.


    ¡°Can you sing something more modern? Uh wait...do you even know modern songs?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°Yes! Lemon Tree!¡± I said, while Jia Jie did a dramatic facepalm.


    ¡°You call that modern?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it? I know Michael Learns to Rock!¡±


    Many of the people were laughing at me. I did not bother. The nineties were modern to me. I let others play, until Daniel decided to have some mass singing. When it was Leo¡¯s turn to select the song to sing, he chose I¡¯d Love You to Want Me - Daniel surprisingly knew how to sing the entire song!


    I felt I was stuck in a dream. Was Daniel that knowledgeable about music?


    My turn came. ¡°I Can¡¯t Tell You Why, I Don¡¯t Like Mondays, Voulez Vous, Baker Street, Play That Funky Music.¡±


    I tried to be lenient by suggesting those more popular songs.


    ¡°Play that Funky Music!¡± Daniel said and went to pick up his bass, playing the bass riff of the song.


    Was I hallucinating? Daniel was literally a beginner. How did he learn the riff so quickly? Did he foresee I would suggest it? We began singing while others watched.


    ¡°I said, I must go back there (I got to go back)


    And check to see if things still the same


    Yeah they were dancin'' and singin'' and movin'' to the groovin''...¡±


    I froze. I forget the next line!


    Daniel went on. ¡°And just when it hit me somebody turned around and shouted play that funky music¡­¡±


    I could not continue. I had this uncanny feeling in me. I made a beeline for the toilet. I felt defeated. I thought I was going to be good coworkers with someone but it seemed to be going down.


    Jerome appeared in front of me when I came out of the toilet.


    ¡°Are you okay? You don¡¯t seem good,¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thanks,¡± I muttered, and Jerome stopped me from moving.


    ¡°You¡¯re not. Is it related to Daniel?¡±


    ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°Your tone says it. I know Daniel is a phenomenon, but come on, you¡¯re working with him, you¡¯re friends with him. Just accept him.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t I been accepting him? What kind of person can predict what song I am going to suggest? He tricked me that he is new to the bass and he can play a riff better than me?¡±


    ¡°Am I being fake?¡±


    ¡°No. He thinks he can have all the power he wants? Let¡¯s wait until someone exposes how fake he is.¡±


    ¡°Lately you have been working with him more than me! I can be fake too, but how do you know that I¡¯m not? Walk by faith and not by sight!¡±


    I went back up to the music room.


    ¡°I just played I Can¡¯t Hold Back with Daniel. My classmate said I played better,¡± Leo said.


    ¡°Good! Make sure you become even better and can play any song better than him! I suggest you learn a second instrument,¡± I said.


    Daniel randomly asked me, ¡°If I were to audition for a singing competition, what song will you recommend?¡±


    ¡°Light My Fire, best if you shout the lyrics!¡± I replied.


    What a bad ending to 2014! I thought the year would become better, but it did not seem so. I could foresee 2015 being more challenging, as I needed to stop that Daniel from overpowering me. He surpassed me in popularity, grades, leadership skills, music ability and now his bass-playing ability! He had to watch out.


    On a sidenote, Joseph Adams got suspended from school in September! Ha!

 2015: Room at the Top

    I was told to prepare a script for my beginning of year speech on the first day of school. I would be the assembly leader and the one leading the school song, since I was in Choir, which means I would be the only student speaking that morning.


    Before assembly commenced on the first day, Daniel, Ariana and I hung around in the PA room beside the announcement balcony. Daniel was talking to the Media Club students on audio duty (as usual), while Ariana and I talked about prefect duties.


    ¡°Doing the new duty roster will be tough. I¡¯m not even prepared for the meeting later. Did you prepare?¡± Ariana asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just say whatever I can. Did Daniel prepare anything?¡± I said.


    ¡°No, can you just say everything?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes! You take the one next Monday. We should make a roster for presenting too. Give Daniel as few chances as possible. He needs to stop getting all the attention!¡±


    ¡°Shhh...he can hear you. The roster is a good idea, but we can¡¯t stay in this room every single morning assembly. We must think of something.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree that one person stays here while the other two go somewhere else? Next Monday should be Daniel¡¯s turn to lead the assembly, yours is on Tuesday, then Hui Wen, then Jia Jie. Let¡¯s use this order.¡±


    ¡°How about Friday?¡±


    ¡°Random pick - Isabel.¡±


    Our teacher-in-charge came and handed us our new badges. The shiny red badge I received screamed ¡®SCHOOL CAPTAIN¡¯.


    I whispered to Ariana, ¡°I¡¯m in charge, not him.¡±


    It was about time for me to proceed to the balcony to make the first announcement that morning assembly was about to begin. I took out my script for the speech and had a good look at it.


    ¡°Confident?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Of course!¡± I replied.


    ¡°Actually, making a speech in front of the entire school shouldn¡¯t be a big problem for you. I suggest that you try not to refer to your script later. Think about it as having a conversation with your friends. You are telling the school about our good news! If you cannot, it¡¯s fine, but I highly recommend not to look at your script and look at the students instead,¡± Daniel said.


    Daniel actually had a point. Making a speech without the script would make it more personal. I decided to give it a shot. I went forward to give the reminder that morning assembly was about to begin. Was the school surprised they did not hear Daniel¡¯s voice? Time would tell. When it was time, I called the school to attention to sing the national anthem. After the national pledge, school song, school pledge and principal¡¯s address, it was my turn to make the speech - while trying not to refer to my script.


    ¡°Good morning principals, teachers and FRLites. Time flies indeed. We¡¯re already in the middle of the 2010s, how has school life been so far? Good? Terrible? Do not worry, for we have a plan. Yes, a plan. A plan. A plan for all of you!¡±


    That was not working out, so I had to improvise¡­


    ¡°This plan is called FRansformed. Capital F, capital R, small a-n-s-f-o-r-m-e-d.¡±


    Alright, that was clearly worse.


    ¡°Why? Because we want to ¡®fransform¡¯ the school.¡±


    That was totally unintentional! It was ¡®transform¡¯ on my script!


    ¡°We want to make the school better. We want everyone to love and care for the school, even if you don¡¯t right now. We are working on new projects, which will be open to all of you to join. If you remember, we have a box for you to drop your ideas, the online form too. Those are still available and you can always give us your new ideas. Yes, if you have new ideas, do drop them in the box or the online form.¡±


    I was clearly repeating myself.


    ¡°School is a place to learn and make friends, but are you succeeding in those? If yes, good for you. We want to give everyone a chance to do something for the school and the community, so don¡¯t hesitate and get involved! What kind of Flowing River Primary do you hope to see in the years to come? A dull one with a cold atmosphere, or a lively one with school spirit? Thank you and enjoy the new term.¡±


    ¡°A round of applause for Jordan!¡± a loud voice yelled, seemingly from 6A.


    It sounded like Ethan, because he did something similar before. It was during the previous year, after Alicia¡¯s first time leading the school song. He got told off for yelling Alicia¡¯s name and getting others to cheer with him.


    ¡°Quiet!¡± another voice yelled, which sounded like Huayi.


    After giving the announcements and asking the teachers to take over, I took out my script and almost fainted. I jumbled up a couple of sentences and omitted some points.


    ¡°Good job! Keep it up!¡± Daniel said to me.


    I glared at him. How sarcastic could he get? I knew he was laughing at me at the back of his mind.


    ¡°You call that good? The whole school is going to remember me for this bad speech! And you told me not to refer to my script? Now look at what happened!¡± I said with a slightly raised voice.


    ¡°Bro, calm down...I didn¡¯t say it was compulsory to not refer to your script. I like that big step you took! Keep it up!¡± Daniel said.


    Good job Daniel Lim! Because of you I fumbled during my speech!


    We proceeded to the auditorium for the first mass meeting of the year. The teachers had given us the green light to lead subsequent meetings too. Ariana had asked Willis to help with the presentation-slide clicking. Daniel had asked Stuart and Hui Wen to do the slides together (which I have not seen). It simply showed the pictures of the exco and some statistics, according to Willis. I told the P6s to sit in front while the P5s at the back and the exco would occupy the first row.


    I made a grab for the microphone. ¡°Hi, thanks for coming to our first meeting of the year. Please settle down.¡±


    ¡°Settle down! Are all of you deaf? Listen to the speaker!¡± Darren stood up and boomed at all the prefects behind him.


    Willis whispered to me, ¡°This is what happens when you¡¯re not the School Captain and still want to be one.¡±


    Unfortunately so, but I decided to thank Darren out loud. I began shortly.


    ¡°Once again, thank you to all of you for coming. Hope you enjoyed your holidays. First, let¡¯s start with our exco!¡±


    Willis clicked. I turned and saw a slide with header ¡®FACILITIES¡¯, as well as ¡®SL¡¯ and ¡®VSL¡¯ at the bottom.


    ¡°For facilities, we have Rayana as our section leader and Vivian as our vice!¡±


    Daniel signalled for both of them to stand up while Willis clicked. The prefects seated burst into laughter. What I saw was a jumpshot of Vivian with his mouth open and his hands touching his head and a picture of Rayana slurping noodles.


    ¡°Erm...alright. Next up, for staircases, Khairul and Kok Keong!¡±


    The pictures were Khairul only wearing swimming trunks floating on his back in a swimming pool and a tired Kok Keong sitting on a bench.


    ¡°Class buddies! For the first batch of classes, Elliot and Xuanyu!¡±


    Elliot was grimacing in his picture and Xuanyu¡¯s was her doing a cute pose in a skimpy outfit. I knew who contributed the pictures!


    ¡°Can I ask who contributed these pictures?¡± I asked.


    Xuanyu raised her hand partially and gave me an awkward smile.


    ¡°You? Not surprising. I¡¯ll come after you later!¡±


    The prefects roared with laughter and Jia Jie was totally hysterical, slapping her thighs repeatedly.


    ¡°Silence! Can you let the speaker continue?¡± Darren yelled.


    ¡°Thanks again, Darren. For the second batch of class buddies, Nazreen and Priscilla!¡±


    The pictures were Nazreen sleeping on a sofa and Priscilla staring at her phone.


    ¡°Assembly! We have Hui Wen and Jia Jie!¡±


    The pictures were Hui Wen with a shocked expression and a grimacing Jia Jie holding the Chinese textbook.


    ¡°Are you ready for the secretary...Stuart!¡±


    It was a picture of him yawning.


    ¡°Who are our vice-captains? Introducing...Daniel and Ariana!¡±


    Daniel was in an awkward dance position in his picture while Ariana was eating a burger in hers. The prefects were chatting among themselves. They were probably confused about why Daniel was not the Captain.


    ¡°Hello! Continue the conversations later. I am Jordan, your school captain. Can I have silence please? You can always continue your conversations after this.¡±


    The picture was a sweaty me, taken during the exco outing. I did the ¡®I am watching you¡¯ gesture to Xuanyu.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to get serious, really. I want to congratulate all of you for making it as prefects. Ask yourself. Why do you want to be a prefect? Why didn¡¯t you say ¡®no¡¯ when your teacher chose you? You shouldn¡¯t be a prefect because you want to show off. If you¡¯re staying here for prestige, the door is there, you are welcome to leave. Really. You don¡¯t get a testimonial for completing primary school so nobody will care much about your leadership positions in primary school. If you¡¯re staying here, you must have the heart to serve the school. I don¡¯t care about how much you love the school, just do your part.¡±


    The next part was the analysis of survey responses collected during the outing. Ariana suddenly felt confident of presenting and asked if she could take over. I let her, but reminded her not to let Daniel say a word. The results showed that the majority of P6 prefects gave a neutral rating for how much they enjoyed their experience thus far. Jerome and Xin Jie would conduct the survey for the P5s on that day and the next Monday. Ariana announced that we would have separate morning meetings to address the survey the next Monday and Tuesday for the P6s and P5s respectively. After she ended, I called for the exco to stay behind.


    Huayi approached me. ¡°Dude! How on earth did you become School Captain? This is a mistake! You guys think you are so great and can fransform the school?¡±


    ¡°If you think you can do a better job, give us your ideas! I don¡¯t care how many you give but I will look at them. If you are not interested at all, just quit. Don¡¯t forget to write me your letter of resignation!¡± I answered.


    Huayi glared at me and walked out. I gathered the rest of the exco while our teacher spoke to Xuanyu.


    ¡°How can the both of you use those pictures? I know you want to crack jokes but this is not the right time for it! And you didn¡¯t do anything when the photographer¡¯s picture of herself was the odd one out! Next time, use the pictures taken for installation last year or more proper ones!¡± I chided Stuart and Hui Wen.


    ¡°Yeah! I knew it was her because I saw the pictures on Facebook and hers wasn¡¯t an unglam! I was dying!¡± Jia Jie chuckled.


    ¡°Did you two go on dates?¡± Kok Keong asked with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°Can all of you honestly stop this Xuanyu prank? I don¡¯t find it funny. We didn¡¯t have time to do the duty reshuffling, but we must by next Tuesday. When are all of you free to meet up for an important meeting?¡± I said.


    ¡°Anytime! I don¡¯t have Friday fellowship this month. Who is free this afternoon? There¡¯s no CCA so maybe we can go out!¡±  Daniel said.


    ¡°Not me,¡± Kok Keong said. ¡°I don¡¯t know when I can join again. I really need to take care of my siblings today.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, family is important. Let us know if you need help and send my regards to them. Ask them if I can come again. The rest? Are all of you free?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°Are you going to sleep again?¡± Hui Wen asked.


    ¡°No, my parents want me to go home. Just email me what I need to do,¡± Stuart said.


    The rest were able to make it. They just had to inform their parents. We needed to settle the main duties of the exco and probably some plans for FRansformed.


    ¡°Willis is quite shocked that you are the Captain!¡± Ariana told me while we left the auditorium.


    ¡°Everyone was!¡± Rayana added. ¡°Huayi kept saying it was impossible!¡±


    ¡°I already told him that if he¡¯s not interested, he can just leave. We must get our other prefect classmates to deal with him,¡± I said.


    ¡°Even Li Xuan and Sylvia were shocked! Let¡¯s see what they say when we are back in class,¡± Vivian said.


    I entered my class, walked by Vera, Clarice and Joey back to my seat beside Sonia. Had anyone seen my red badge? I doubt any of them knew that the Captain wore a red badge. Not even my teacher (the same one) bothered to ask. Sonia was the first to ask me, right before we were dismissed for recess.


    ¡°Your badge is now red...what? School Captain? I thought Daniel is the Captain?¡± Sonia said.


    ¡°Who told you? They¡¯re wrong! Surprise!¡± I replied.


    ¡°Woah! Good job! How does it feel to be the Captain?¡±


    ¡°Amazing! I can finally overpower that Daniel Lim Jia Jun. I messed up my speech because of him! He told me not to refer to my script! He only started learning the bass last year and he¡¯s already better than me. He knows a lot more songs than me as well. He is friends with all the P6 prefects, so I must befriend all of them too. I can¡¯t let him get all the attention to himself!¡±


    ¡°Good luck with the friend-making man. I¡¯m a quiet girl. I can¡¯t make friends.¡±


    ¡°You did a good job befriending me! You aren¡¯t that bad!¡±


    I was about to exit the class when I found out that Vera, Joey, Clarice and Graham had left without me. That was the first time Vera did not wait for me. Besides the issue about going out with Joey, I did not have any problem with Vera. She was her usual self during the outings with my siblings and other friends. Things seemed suspicious.


    I caught up with Li Xuan.


    ¡°We¡¯re still sitting at the same seats, do you like that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course not. Why were those pictures used?¡± Li Xuan asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°Hui Wen¡¯s idea. She downloaded them from Xuanyu¡¯s Facebook page. Forget that. Were you surprised that I¡¯m the Captain?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Everyone was! People were already saying that Daniel is the Captain but now it¡¯s you!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that good? I can finally stop Daniel from having all the power to himself! I didn¡¯t take the position from him, he gave it to me.¡±


    ¡°That must be very nice of him!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what his motive is, but I¡¯ll see.¡±


    At that point, Vera appeared beside me.


    ¡°I drank too much water, so I went to the toilet,¡± she said.


    I was relieved. She did not leave without me! I signalled to Li Xuan to stay silent, as I wanted to see if Vera noticed my red badge.


    ¡°I¡¯m going out with the exco today!¡± I told her.


    ¡°Ooh! Have fun! Is there Project Phoenix next week?¡±


    ¡°No, I need to discuss with the exco.¡±


    We went to sit with our friends in the cafeteria.


    ¡°What? You¡¯re the School Captain? No wonder you made the speech in the morning!¡± Clarice said. She was really sharp.


    ¡°I thought you said you are the Vice?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°Ha! Surprise!¡± I said.


    ¡°Yay!¡± Vera clapped her hand gently.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the horrible speech I made, because Daniel Lim told me not to refer to my script while making it. Look at how nasty one can be! So, we¡¯ve kept a secret from the school to be revealed today. Daniel was really selected by the teachers to be the Captain, but on the last day of school last year, he told me I had potential and wanted to switch with me. I don¡¯t know why he thinks so highly of me but I agreed, so I can finally overpower him. He needs to stop getting all the attention in school,¡± I rattled.


    ¡°You made a mistake,¡± Graham said. ¡°You¡¯re going to do badly this year.¡±


    ¡°How do you know? I studied twice as hard in December. I finished reading the Science and Chinese textbooks. My siblings helped me. Since our teachers don¡¯t care, I started doing the English stellar worksheets. My goal this year is to beat Daniel Lim¡¯s PSLE score. I want to learn a new instrument. I told Leo to start learning one too,¡± I said.


    ¡°You want to learn a new instrument? You¡¯re making things worse. Isn¡¯t Leo doing quite badly? You¡¯re making him do worse!¡± Graham said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll prove to you that music does not affect your grades!¡± I said.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you come out with us?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I had an outing with the prefects? I¡¯m going out with my exco again later, because we need to settle some duty stuff,¡± I replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re always busy with the prefects! Why can¡¯t you spend time with friends?¡± Joey said.


    ¡°How am I not spending time with friends? I need to make friends with all the prefects before Daniel overpowers me!¡± I said.


    ¡°Can you stop? Don¡¯t make her cry again!¡± Graham said.


    ¡°Yeah! What happened to working in peace with him?¡± Clarice said.


    Vera asked me, ¡°There is no recess duty today? I see a lot of 6A prefects over there.¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t until sometime next week, and I¡¯m going to accidentally walk over there after I finish my food,¡± I said.


    Joey did not seem happy. I did not feel guilty at all for not spending more time with my group of friends, but craved for more time spent with the prefects. When I walked over to where the 6A students were seated, Willis called out to me.


    ¡°I forgot to say, congratulations!¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Why did you and Daniel keep your position switch a secret? You guys are funny! Izumi said.¡±


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s not even April Fools!¡± Hannah added.


    ¡°Will we have a FRansformed meeting?¡± Elise asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind having a committee or project outing again, but I need to discuss this with the exco. Do you still want your morning and recess duties?¡± I said.


    ¡°I still want them. Will you change?¡± Elise said.


    ¡°We will try not to change, but we have to make sure everyone does enough,¡± I said.


    Being the School Captain was exciting yet daunting. The first day was not that bad. Many of those I talked to were not opposing my appointment as Captain. Was anyone against me? That was unlikely, since I did not do nasty things to others. Anyone who opposed me because of Daniel would be truly naive. I needed to prove to the school that Daniel should not get all the attention. How about Huayi? Rayana had agreed to join me in convincing Huayi that the exco truly wanted to help the school.


    After school, the exco, except Stuart and Kok Keong, gathered after school. Jerome and Xin Jie wanted to join us too. Daniel let them join because he wanted them to have an experience of an exco meeting and to facilitate communication too. We proceeded to Lakeridge Point for lunch then to Emerald Lake Park for our meeting.


    ¡°Hope everyone is comfortable sitting down here. May I know who will be doing the typing today? Stuart is not here,¡± I said.


    ¡°What do we need to type?¡± Rayana asked. ¡°I know a lot of you have experience in this because of FRansformed.¡±


    ¡°I can let you type. It¡¯s not hard. You can just type whatever we say. Stuart is the one who will help to make it neater,¡± I said.


    ¡°I can help too!¡± Khairul said.


    Rayana and Khairul took charge of typing in the discussion points that day. Ariana and Jia Jie volunteered to guide them.


    ¡°Firstly, thank you Jerome and Xin Jie for joining us today. Do you have anything to say?¡± I said.


    ¡°I should be thanking all of you instead! Xin Jie and I wanted to join the meeting today because we feel it will be easier to discuss the survey results. We were afraid we would disrupt your exco¡¯s work, but thanks for letting us come,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Come on! Don¡¯t feel bad! We¡¯re very happy to have you here! We welcome anyone! We¡¯re an open door exco!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Open door? You mean we let anyone in?¡± Elliot asked.


    ¡°Do you think that can happen?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°Alright, back to Jerome and Xin Jie. How was the work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Bad! You people just give me a namelist and expect me to know who they are? I gave up during the outing after I found out I asked Ian twice. It¡¯s quite hard for me to look for the P5s too,¡± Xin Jie said.


    ¡°I asked a few just now. Abner and Adam helped me to ask all the prefects in 5A. Abner asked some from other classes too and some random P5s texted me,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Abner! What is he trying to do? You must stop him!¡± Jia Jie said to me.


    For a second, I thought she meant I should stop Abner from overpowering me. It seemed unlikely, because Abner was not well known in school as far as I knew. I realised what she meant when Xuanyu spoke.


    She said, ¡°Abner messaged me a lot during the holidays. I think Alex is right that he likes me.¡±


    ¡°What? Abner likes you?¡± Hui Wen, who overheard, asked Xuanyu.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t!¡± I said.


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Priscilla asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°I heard from someone, I think it¡¯s Lawrence or someone else in 6A that Abner likes Xuanyu because of what she wears,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Did Sean say something similar?¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Who likes someone because of what she wears? That is stupid! I know people like people because of looks, but does she look good enough for Abner? And is her skin nice enough?¡± Khairul said with a chuckle.


    ¡°She may not now, but I believe she will grow to be pretty,¡± I said, and everyone started making noises.


    Why did I even say that?


    Back to the topic, Jerome and Xin Jie said that many of the prefects enjoyed the activities such as the camp we organised, but they found their duties quite challenging at times. We decided that consultation was the best way to find out how the prefectorial experience could be improved. We had done consultation on a larger scale for FRansformed, but we realised we also needed to do so on a smaller scale in the prefectorial board.


    ¡°Next is the duties. For next week, can we go in this order for assembly leaders? Daniel, Ariana, Hui Wen, Jia Jie? I will ask Isabel to lead on Friday. We had feedback that previous exco members don¡¯t really have anything to do. So, on Monday, we¡¯ll give you time to break out into your duty groups and get to know them and get feedback and so on. Your badges have different colours from the rest, so make sure it¡¯s for a real reason. We are also exploring new duties, so does anyone have suggestions?¡± I said.


    ¡°Not sure if it¡¯s allowed but can we have prefects rostered for mental health?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Project Pegasus?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°No, these prefects should be ready anytime to deal with issues,¡± Jerome clarified.


    ¡°Do you want to take charge of it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind helping out but I¡¯m not sure if I can be the leader because I need to lead the Boys Brigade,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Good suggestion. We can actually combine that with Pegasus. Maybe we can think about whether we need more morning duties? More recess duties? Which areas in school need more prefects?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°More morning duties,¡± Nazreen said. ¡°A lot of kids make noise and run around.¡±


    ¡°The latecoming duty prefects handle them! But I can tell them to go earlier because we usually go around 7.15,¡± Hui Wen said.


    For the next few moments, Daniel read out the feedback he got from seniors and what could be done to address them. Then, we talked about the smaller-group meetings.


    ¡°We plan to have smaller group meetings to understand our prefects better. Ariana, Daniel and I will take two to three each. They can take place in the morning or during recesses and lunches. We don¡¯t need a lot of time. Shall we let some non-excos do the schedule?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Nominations?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°From my class, I¡¯d nominate Irfan!¡± Hui Wen said.


    ¡°Irfan? Does he even care? He didn¡¯t even want to go for the outing!¡± Xin Jie said.


    ¡°Get him involved then!¡± Daniel said. ¡°That¡¯s the point of decentralising!¡±


    ¡°6C? How about Clarissa?¡± Jerome asked.


    Xuanyu whispered to me, ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. I need to ask her again,¡± I replied.


    ¡°How about Huayi from 6B?¡± Rayana asked.


    ¡°Huayi! Are you sure? We need to gang up with the other prefects in our class first!¡± I said.


    ¡°Wow what¡¯s going on?¡± Priscilla asked.


    ¡°Just getting someone involved!¡± I replied.


    ¡°I just texted Clarissa. She can help out,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Oh nice! I¡¯ll look for her next Monday,¡± I said.


    And you told someone you will go after her!¡± Jia Jie said.


    Many prefects had to leave early so we ended the meeting before we could talk about FRansformed. What a long day! I already felt the pressure! Abner Teo felt like someone worth observing, but he showed no signs of danger so far. The competition with Daniel was still on.


    The next Monday, prefect duties had not resumed, so I stayed in class before assembly. I gathered Li Xuan and Sylvia to talk about persuading Huayi to take up the role as scheduler for the small group meetings. Vivian came later and agreed to join us.


    ¡°Can I ask you for a favour?¡± I said to Huayi.


    ¡°What is it again?¡± he asked in an annoyed tone.


    ¡°We¡¯re giving you the chance to help the exco. Do you want to help?¡± Vivian asked.


    ¡°What are all of you trying to do? Tell me what it is!¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°The School Vice Captains, Ariana and Daniel, and I are having small group meetings with all of you to know more about you-¡± I said.


    ¡°The three of you don¡¯t need to know anything about me! You¡¯re just power hungry. Just mind your own business!¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°They care about you, that¡¯s why!¡± Rayana popped in.


    ¡°Wh- why am I surrounded by all of you?¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°Because we want to show you¡¯re doing a good thing if you help!¡± Sylvia said.


    ¡°Indeed!¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re giving you a chance to help to create the schedule for these meetings.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Huayi said firmly.


    ¡°Just do it!¡± Sylvia said.


    ¡°No! You being Captain is a mistake!¡± Huayi raised his voice.


    ¡°No it¡¯s not! It¡¯s your mistake for not helping!¡± a voice from outside the class shouted - it was Ethan.


    ¡°You again! Why do you always have to care about what¡¯s happening here? You got kicked out because you didn¡¯t do a good job!¡± Huayi yelled at him.


    ¡°Right! I willingly quit because people have a stereotype about prefects! If you¡¯re shouting at me like that, people can report you so that you¡¯ll be fired! I¡¯m not a prefect but I still helped with FRansformed and the Teachers¡¯ Day dinner and Daniel says I¡¯m good! Did you help? No!¡± Ethan yelled back.


    ¡°Hey hey hey! What¡¯s the issue?¡± Jerome came and told Ethan to go back.


    Jerome walked in and tried explaining to Huayi, but he refused to help. Sylvia volunteered instead. Jerome then apologised to us and left.


    Ethan raised a valid point! People often believe that prefects must behave in a certain manner. Was that true?


    After assembly, we had the P6 prefects meeting. I got Xin Jie to host the first part of it. Stuart took charge of keying in the ideas.


    ¡°Our target is for the average rating of our prefect experience to increase to eight by the end of this year. Can you give some suggestions on how we can improve?¡± Xin Jie said.


    ¡°What can we do? We need to study for our PSLE!¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°Yeah, I want to get into Express!¡± Isabel added.


    ¡°Relax man!¡± Daniel said. ¡°It¡¯s an exam but it¡¯s not that big a deal! You still have bigger exams coming up!¡±


    Darren spoke, ¡°We want to be inclusive! So we must give the weaker prefects tuition!¡±


    ¡°Sure! Any other suggestions? Anything about the selection of prefects?¡± I asked.


    I wanted to see if anyone had opinions on that.


    ¡°Do voting!¡± a girl said.


    ¡°Wow! Voting of leaders! Don¡¯t bring democracy into the school!¡± Daniel said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Demo- what?¡± Xin Jie said.


    ¡°Anyone else? Don¡¯t be shy, we can put up a Google Form if you¡¯re not comfortable sharing here. I think there will be a lot of problems if we do voting for prefects. Thanks for bringing that up,¡± I said.


    No one else said anything until Daniel tried prompting. I had no idea what kind of sorcery Daniel had to do that. Anyway, Willis, Clarissa and Izumi wanted more activities.


    Next, Stuart showed the duty roster for assembly leaders for the next two weeks. I then facilitated the updating of duties, and got Izumi to replace my previous morning duty. When it was time to have the chit-chat sessions in duty groups, Daniel told me, Ariana and Stuart to sit into any group we wanted to know more about. I joined the Assembly group.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I said as I sat beside Hui Wen.


    ¡°Hi!¡± Hui Wen and Megan replied.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really have a duty area to lead so I join you today. Should we have a chat with the other assembly leaders too?¡± I said.


    ¡°If there¡¯s time, yes! They¡¯re all over the place! What do you guys want to talk about?¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°I have never seen all of you doing your duties before, so I¡¯m curious about what you actually do and how you find it. Can we start with you? What¡¯s your name?¡± I said to a girl, whom I later found out was Kamon Chanthahom.


    ¡°Kamon. I do my duty at the back gate. I catch latecomers. I think my job is quite hard because there are students who don¡¯t listen to us,¡± she said.


    ¡°That was why I wanted to switch with Vivian!¡± Isabel said. ¡°Now I have to come back because he is the Section Leader for some recess duties! Oh and my name is Isabel for those who don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel about coming back?¡± Hui Wen asked.


    ¡°No feeling, I just hope it will be better,¡± Isabel replied.


    ¡°Yeah I hope those hooligans won¡¯t give us trouble!¡± Megan added.


    ¡°You mean people like Channing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t come late for school,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t ask my brother. He¡¯s now my brother¡¯s classmate and I heard a lot of bad things about him. So, morning duties should resume by Wednesday after the exco meets the P5s. Hui Wen will be leading the assembly so I¡¯ll take over her on Wednesday. Daniel and Ariana will sometimes check out what you¡¯re up to as well, because we¡¯re studying new morning duties,¡± I said.


    ¡°What kind of duties?¡± Isabel asked.


    ¡°Patrolling,¡± Jia Jie replied. ¡°Because kids make too much noise in the morning.¡±


    The teachers gave the green light for recess duties to be resumed that day. Prefects on duty during recess were given permission to be late ten minutes into the next lesson, as they needed time to consume their food. I was allowed to do so when I was overseeing those on recess duty. I went back to class and told Vera that I would not join her and the rest for recess that day and probably another day that week. She told me to have fun.


    That recess, I ended up eating bread in the cafeteria because I decided to brief Sylvia about her task first. I then headed over to the aquarium to look for Clarissa. I patted her head.


    ¡°Er...I don¡¯t think I really have any feelings for you now,¡± she said.


    ¡°Oh, great. Who do you like now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No one, and you¡¯re here quite early today!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m now allowed to have the extra ten minutes! But I¡¯ve eaten because I was briefing Sylvia in the cafeteria.¡±


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the Captain! How does it feel to be the Captain?¡±


    ¡°Awesome! I can finally overpower Daniel! He needs to stop getting all the attention, really. I need to brief you about the small group meetings.¡±


    ¡°Jerome already did.¡±


    ¡°Then tell me what you remember.¡±


    ¡°The meetings are in groups of two or three? Everyone will meet you or the two Vice Captains? I¡¯m supposed to create a Google Form with Sylvia and send it to everyone? Then make a schedule?¡±


    ¡°How will you decide which prefect to allocate to me, Ariana or Daniel?¡±


    ¡°Ask them?¡±


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t do that. Just make sure the three of us get around the same number of prefects. Try to allocate based on their preferred time.¡±


    Even though I had eaten, I still stayed behind to interact with the other prefects for the additional ten minutes. Ariana and Daniel were there too, but I chatted with Elise and Clarissa mostly.


    The next morning, we had the same meeting with the P5s, hosted by Jerome. They were more proactive, with many suggestions coming in. One boy identified the areas which needed prefects to patrol in the morning, such as the first floor corridors and cafeteria. Another suggested having after-school duties, which was strongly objected to by the rest. Some were quite enthusiastic about Project Phoenix and wanted to help out as overseers. Jerome announced if the P5s would be keen on a pilot Project Pegasus, a few were.


    That batch seemed to have potential. Daniel suggested to me that we could have the P5s to indicate if they were interested in being an exco member and what position they would prefer. That was actually a good idea.


    The next morning, I looked for Jia Jie upon reaching school. Together, we looked for Megan, Kamon and Isabel. Isabel had not arrived yet, so I told her classmates to tell her to meet us at the ground floor upon arriving. We then looked for the P5s in charge of catching latecomers and proceeded to the ground floor. One of the P5s was Adam Rabiul, who was one of the more enthusiastic responders the day before.


    ¡°We confirmed the new duty roster yesterday. We should get some to patrol the school in the morning,¡± Adam said while we were walking along the first floor classrooms.


    ¡°The problem is that a lot won¡¯t want to wake up earlier and patrol the school when they are still tired. Looks like we¡¯re the ones doing it,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°Yes, we have to. If you can, be here by seven and I think you can walk around until 7.15, then standby at both gates,¡± I said.


    I managed to get a better idea of what these prefects on latecomer duty usually did. The next day, I decided to oversee the recess duties, first attaching myself to Viktoriya at the field.


    ¡°Hello! How are you?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Bad! I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re already P6! I¡¯m feeling the stress!¡± she groaned.


    ¡°You¡¯ll do fine.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re like Daniel! Yesterday during recess he said that primary school is easy and we shouldn¡¯t study the whole time!¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Unfortunately I have to agree with him. The syllabus is so little that I get bored of studying the same thing over again. I look forward to secondary school.¡±


    ¡°I wish I¡¯m as hardworking as you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Anyway, do you have any problems with your duty so far?¡±


    ¡°People just don¡¯t listen to me, what can we do?¡±


    ¡°Their problem. Anyway, did Huayi tell you anything this year?¡±


    ¡°I think so? He talked about a crazy kid from 6A and¡­¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to hear? It¡¯s about you.¡±


    ¡°I know he doesn¡¯t want me to be the Captain, but too bad! He has to deal with it. He doesn¡¯t like how a lot of us in the exco are from the FRansformed committee. A lot of kids from 6A are crazy.¡±


    ¡°How do I join that committee? I kind of want to help watch the morning tutoring.¡±


    ¡°We did ask everyone to join last year. Even Huayi was there when we announced. I need to ask the teachers when Project Phoenix will resume. Last year, Darren, Willis and Khairul were the ones watching. I can let them know you want to help. You can get some others to help too. We¡¯re letting non-prefects have chances to take charge. For the survey, we put Jerome and Xin Jie in charge and for the scheduling for our small group meetings Clarissa and Sylvia volunteered to help.¡±


    ¡°Jerome is not in the exco? He behaves like one of you! Oh wait, his picture wasn¡¯t up there.¡±


    I was glad that Viktoriya was willing to help, as Darren would be replacing Daniel as a class buddy in the morning. I went to look for Eng Soon in the library next.


    ¡°How¡¯s your duty so far?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Good! Nothing much to do,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Do you want more things? You can take over Khairul for being one of the ICs for Project Phoenix in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Must I come to school earlier?¡±


    ¡°Mentors reach at seven. You can come a bit later, but not too late please. Before I forget, what has Huayi been telling you?¡±


    ¡°Rubbish. I don¡¯t listen to him. He keeps saying the exco is bad and Daniel will be a better Captain. I don¡¯t mind either of you as the Captain.¡±


    ¡°We must show him that Daniel won¡¯t be a better Captain. Even now, he¡¯s trying to overpower me.¡±


    ¡°What does he do?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t show it obviously, but you can tell during meetings. I¡¯m serious. Just ignore Huayi and help us more. I need to tell Li Xuan to do more work too. Huayi will feel left out and guilty one day!¡±


    That was great! I got Eng Soon to help out with Phoenix. The teachers gave us the go ahead to resume the project the next week, which was a good thing.


    That weekend, I was watching the second episode of The Voice Kids Aquapolis with my siblings. We were getting bored until we caught a glimpse of a familiar face¡­ It was still the blind auditions and Daniel was in the waiting room entertaining the other contestants with You Give Love A Bad Name. I thought I was hallucinating at first, but it was clear that Daniel would love going for such competitions.


    He was actually interviewed. He said, ¡°I love music! It¡¯s a fun way to inspire and make others happy!¡±


    Say that into Graham¡¯s face! It was expected that Daniel would entertain others during such times. I wondered how many friends he aimed to make by participating in The Voice Kids. Would he clear the audition?


    When it was time for him to face the audience, a familiar riff began playing - Light My Fire. Did he actually take me seriously when I told him to sing that?


    ¡°Hello everyone? How are you doing? This is Light My Fire! Rock on!¡± he said.


    He was the only contestant who said such things so far, and Rebecca said he was really bold to do so (more like attention-seeking). Daniel started the song off quite well in our opinion, until the end of the second chorus. He did a split, bent down and screamed ¡°Fire!¡± into the microphone. The camera switched to show the expressions of the shocked judges. Daniel did the same thing another time and for the last line of the song, he screamed it and ended up in a prostrate position. He then shouted ¡°Thank you!¡± before getting up.


    I was actually laughing at him. He was foolish enough to take my suggestion for the audition song. In fact, I had no idea he was going to participate in a competition. Early into the song, the judges seemed to be contemplating hard on whether to press the button. In the end, they agreed he had passion but should organise his personal concert rather than participate in a competition. Ha!


    English mentoring for Project Phoenix resumed the next Monday. I decided to attach myself there, as I had not seen how it was actually run. Vera and I walked to the venue together and we bumped into Jia Jie on our way.


    ¡°Did you watch The Voice Kids?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Yes! I was about to ask you! Daniel¡¯s so going to be famous!¡± she said.


    ¡°What? What happened?¡± Vera asked.


    ¡°When you go home today, watch the replay of Saturday¡¯s episode. Skip to Daniel¡¯s performance,¡± Jia Jie replied.


    ¡°He was foolish enough to take my suggestion! I told him to sing Light My Fire and shout the lyrics! See! He got disqualified!¡± I chuckled.


    ¡°You¡¯re so bad!¡± Jia Jie slapped my shoulder. ¡°You could have gotten him into trouble! I told him to sing Payphone but he said other contestants will sing it and it¡¯s better for him to sing something more unique!¡±


    Vera and I proceeded to the venue where we saw Xin Yi.


    ¡°Did you guys see Daniel¡¯s audition? I didn¡¯t even know he took part! I should have gone there to support him!¡± she said.


    ¡°But too bad! I told him to sing Light My Fire like that and he listened to me! Wow!¡± I added.


    ¡°Yeah, the judges though!¡± Hannah said.


    ¡°The judges were telling the truth,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re here today!¡± Abner came and said to me.


    ¡°Yes I¡¯ll be having a look here today,¡± I replied.


    ¡°When¡¯s Project Pegasus starting?¡± Abner asked.


    ¡°I need to discuss with the rest first and we¡¯ll get back to you,¡± I said.


    ¡°We should start something!¡± Hannah said to Xin Yi.


    ¡°Thanks, but don¡¯t do too much. I need to give the non-exco prefects things to do,¡± I said.


    ¡°Hey, Aloe Vera is getting ignored,¡± Xin Yi whispered to me.


    ¡°Vera!¡± Hannah shouted to Vera who was blanking out. ¡°Join us!¡±


    I walked to Vera. ¡°Yes! Come and make friends!¡±


    ¡°Hi Aloe Vera!¡± Xin Yi said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be mean!¡± Hannah chided her.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. My buddy for this English mentoring likes to call me that,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°Your name is Vera?¡± Abner asked Vera, who nodded gently. ¡°My name is Abner.¡±


    ¡°I just thought of something. Project Daniellimjiajun!¡± Xin Yi said.


    ¡°Really? Project Daniellimjiajun? What can we do about it?¡± I said.


    ¡°Watch Daniel sing and dance!¡± Xin Yi said.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to be so tired! Get some others to join him!¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Tired? Have you seen a tired Daniel before?¡± Hannah asked Xin Yi.


    ¡°No? He can sing and dance nonstop!¡± Xin Yi said.


    ¡°Wow! Maybe this project can be about entertainment?¡± Abner said.


    Did I hear wrongly? Daniel would never go tired? I believed the two of them were merely exaggerating. He could have the stamina of an athlete realistically speaking.


    Anyway, the session began soon and I told Willis and Khairul that I found new prefects to oversee the project. Khairul went up to fetch Eng Soon and Viktoriya down, then with Willis, briefed them on what to do. I occasionally talked to some student mentors and was glad to discover they enjoyed the project.


    During recess, Daniel called me and Ariana for a short chat regarding the small group meetings. He printed out the allocations for us and got us to think of questions to ask them. We came to a consensus that questions to ask should pertain to prefectorial expectations and goals. I would have my first meeting with Xuanyu and her classmate Cynthia the next recess, and another with Li Xuan, Vivian and Sylvia during lunch the next day.


    I totally did not prepare any questions. I met Xuanyu and Cynthia with a blank mind.


    ¡°Do you know the purpose of this interview?¡± I asked.


    Why did I say ¡®interview¡¯?


    ¡°To get to know each other and talk about some prefect things,¡± Cynthia said.


    ¡°Yes. I want to find out how your life as a prefect has been so far and what you want to achieve. We can start with you,¡± I said.


    ¡°Erm...I was quite surprised when I got selected at the start of P5. I was quite excited too. It¡¯s nice to be a class buddy and it feels good when the students of the class call me when they see me. What do I want to achieve? I don¡¯t know. Xuanyu can start,¡± Cynthia said.


    ¡°Kill me already! My job is so hard!¡± Xuanyu groaned.


    ¡°It¡¯s just the start. You will learn. What problems do you have so far?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don''t know what to do! Elliot, Nazreen and Priscilla don''t know too! We just walk around and go back to our classes,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Hmm..we''ll talk about that during our next exco meeting. What do you want to achieve?¡±


    ¡°Just enjoy my work and learn to lead. Now I feel bad for letting you do everything last year!¡±


    Indeed, we had settled the problem of the idle Captains and Vice Captains, but not the somewhat idle Class buddies Section Leaders. They should not only walk along corridors in the morning. I had to get opinions.


    During lunch before supplementary, I had the meeting with Li Xuan, Sylvia and Vivian.


    ¡°So, I¡¯d like to know how you found your prefect experience so far,¡± I said.


    ¡°Tiring, but worth it,¡± Vivian said. ¡°I think I can manage my time better now. It¡¯s quite fun to plan activities and lead others.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good! What do you hope to achieve as a prefect this year?¡±


    ¡°Become a better person. I want to learn to be more patient and be able to manage more duties. I also want to be closer to all of you guys and have fun during our meetings and outings. I want to be a good senior to the P5s and new P4s coming in soon and help them improve themselves.¡±


    ¡°I can see you¡¯re doing a good job. Sylvia! How about you?¡± I said.


    ¡°Quite fun! You and your exco are really awesome! I didn¡¯t expect you guys to let me do some work! All of you are really nice too! What I want to achieve is new friends and more support,¡± Sylvia said.


    ¡°For me, the experience is also tiring, especially when I need to present. I thank the exco for giving me a chance to take charge of things. I hope I can improve my speaking skills, because I am quite scared of presenting,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I shall share what I hope to achieve too. Leadership is a mysterious concept. I want to discover the truth behind it,¡± I said.


    ¡°What do you mean? I remember you talking about this when you talk about Daniel. It¡¯s about selection of prefects?¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Yes! If only I could help the teachers with the choosing of junior leaders next month! I want to end all this unfairness!¡± I said.


    ¡°Try asking the teachers! I don¡¯t think you can help them with that. What can you do? Appoint more non-exco members to be spies for the candidates?¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about that. Another question. What do you think about your class buddy SLs and VSLs only walking around and doing nothing else? Xuanyu raised this,¡± I said.


    ¡°What can they do?¡± Li Xuan chuckled.


    ¡°From what I understand that day, the exco are trying to get to know us and how we are doing as class buddies?¡± Sylvia said.


    ¡°Yes, that''s what the exco is trying to do for each group of prefects. Priscilla told me that she¡¯s not sure what to do for the class buddy prefects in the morning. I told her to wait for instructions. I think we can discuss. No rush,¡± Vivian said.


    Being the Captain was certainly not easy. More and more problems were dropping in. Besides these meetings, I also had the refining of the exco members duties and the pilot Project Pegasus on my plate.


    I had more small group meetings that week, until Friday, when we had our second exco meeting, which included Clarissa and Sylvia. It was shocking to discover that many did not have goals for themselves. That included some of those I spoke to, like Novan and Felicia. On the bright side, there were some who set very clear goals. As such, we concluded that we should introduce more bonding activities as well as possible life skills workshops. But, who would lead those workshops?


    We then talked about the refined duties of the exco members. Daniel pointed out that the Section Leaders and their vices need not do additional work in the morning or during recess, but rather engage the other prefects and possibly act as mediators should any issues arise. That made more sense, admittedly.


    Jia Jie then began talking about the pilot Project Pegasus. She said Hannah, Zoey, Xin Yi and Lawrence had already begun planning for it. So far, they suggested the best time for the project to be executed would be before morning assembly, meaning it would run concurrently with Project Phoenix. I felt bad as a Captain. Non-prefects were so much more proactive than me. I had to start asking for opinions the next week.


    The next Monday morning, I decided to oversee Project Phoenix. Meanwhile, I asked Willis, Viktoriya and Eng Soon for their opinions regarding the plans for Project Pegasus. Viktoriya and Eng Soon were fine with having it concurrent with Phoenix, whereas Willis raised concerns about students involved in Phoenix being unable to attend as well as lack of manpower. I looked forward to hearing more opinions during recess.


    While walking to the cafeteria during recess, Joey asked me, ¡°Will you be eating with us today?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I have urgent things,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Again? Can''t you take a break?¡±


    ¡°I want to, but I need to stop Daniel from overpowering me. He always gives better suggestions than me! I¡¯m already very sick of this. He¡¯s only a student and he¡¯s treated like an idol! This girl called Xin Yi who wants to start a Project Daniellimjiajun! I can''t let it be called that! What is he? A rockstar, a person who attracts loads of girls, loads of attention, a ''perfect'' leader, a genius. Really, I need to stop him.¡±


    ¡°What a loser. You shouldn''t have become the Captain because it made you worse! You said things between you and him were okay last year.¡±


    ¡°I hoped so, but I changed my mind after the gathering at his house. Can you believe it? He''s going to win Leo in his knowledge of songs.¡±


    Vera asked, ¡°What does Leo listen to again?¡±


    ¡°Insanely more than me! He listens to a lot of prog, a lot of stuff like New Order and Kraftwerk, Steppenwolf, boy bands like Boyzone and Backstreet Boys, a lot of disco like Boney M, a lot others like Beyond, Grasshopper, Steven Liu and a lot of Japanese songs I don''t know. He has a whole checklist of albums on his computer,¡± I said.


    ¡°Together both of you can learn more songs than Daniel! You can do it!¡± Vera said.


    ¡°Thanks, I really needed that,¡± I said, raising an eyebrow at Joey.


    I made my way to the garden to talk to Elina. I waved at her, but she instantly turned away (or did I see wrongly?).


    ¡°Hello!¡± I greeted her.


    ¡°Hello,¡± she replied, trying not to maintain eye contact with me.


    ¡°Is everything fine? How¡¯s your duty?¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t bother me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something important and I need your help. We¡¯re starting a trial Project Pegasus and we want to know what''s the best time for it.¡±


    ¡°Why do you keep bothering people? You shouldn¡¯t have swapped with Daniel!¡±


    ¡°Honestly, are you kidding me? I am doing my job and what makes you think that Daniel will be a better Captain than me?¡±


    ¡°He just is, don¡¯t bother me.¡±


    I was taken aback. I sincerely hoped that Elina was in a bad mood and did not mean what she said. She had been quite friendly to me but she seemed to become hostile. I looked for Elise and confided in her. She had no clue about how Elina had been but she supported the proposed timeslot for Project Pegasus and said I did a good job as a Captain. The same went for Clarissa. I then went back to the cafeteria to have a chat with Rayana.


    ¡°What do you actually think about Pegasus being at the same time as Phoenix?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°It¡¯s good, but we need more prefects to help with it,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Yes, non-prefects are good too. Do you think Daniel will be a better Captain than me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know. Why?¡±


    ¡°Elina said that. She¡¯s quite cold too.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to say this but a lot don''t like you being the Captain."


    "We''ll prove them wrong then! Daniel can''t get all the power!"


    It was only the beginning of 2015 and people were already opposing me? I ranted to Vera about it. She said she saw Daniel greeting many students he came across every morning and he had been doing that for a long time. What a popularity chaser! I wanted to try doing the same.


    The next morning, I thought it was a good time to try out greeting the students, so I stationed myself with Hui Wen who was patrolling the vehicle drop off point. She clarified that Daniel did not station himself somewhere to greet students, but rather did so throughout the day. She was right, because I saw him doing that. I told her to join me in greeting students, and she agreed. After five minutes of greeting students, we decided to stop. The way they responded to us was starkly different as compared with Daniel. Seriously, why would that person be so revered?


    That recess, I was not in the mood to talk to prefects, so I asked Vera to eat with me solo. I ranted about what happened in the morning and how I felt about Daniel to her. As usual, she could not do much, but would provide a listening ear as always. Suddenly, Hannah approached us.


    ¡°Hi! Want some good news?¡± she said.


    I sighed. ¡°I hope it¡¯s about Pegasus.¡±


    ¡°Uh...not really. During your exco meeting you guys talked about a life skills workshop?¡±


    ¡°Yes. What about it?¡±


    ¡°Ethan Tay is starting the first session on Thursday morning.¡±


    I slammed the table and stood up. ¡°What? Has he gotten permission from the teachers? How did he learn how to conduct the workshop?¡±


    ¡°Just come on Friday! It will be held at the tables beside the field. I think Sean is helping Ethan.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t look good,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to describe my mind now,¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I know it¡¯s not easy to be a Captain. I can make a list of things you need to do with you. If you need any help you can ask me or any of my friends. You can do it!¡± Hannah said.


    That should be the attitude! The teachers were really blind to not nominate Hannah to be a prefect. She had a better attitude than most of the current prefects. I really felt the pressure. We had not done anything about the FRansformed committee. Elijah told me to write my plans down in a notebook, so I wrote some ideas I had if I had power to do enforcements, such as interfering in the junior leader and prefect nomination process. I had to get approval for those, someday.


    On Thursday morning, Hannah told me to watch the first life skills workshop. I met Ethan, Alex and their classmate, Sean Plantier at the area beside the field where some other students were gathered.


    ¡°Hey bro! What do you think of these workshops?¡± Ethan asked.


    ¡°Good, but think twice. You¡¯ll need to make sure these kids get back by 7.20, or else...you know what. I¡¯ll speak to the three of you plus Hannah during recess,¡± I replied.


    There were about ten juniors who turned up.


    ¡°What is this workshop about?¡± one of them asked.


    ¡°Good question! We¡¯re going to teach you something fun!¡± Ethan replied.


    ¡°Yes! You can use it in your daily lives!¡± Alex added.


    ¡°Sean is giving out some papers. Follow his instructions! He¡¯ll tell you what to do with it!¡± Ethan said.


    To my horror, the boys were actually giving a lesson on how to scare others by folding a paper and flipping it! I stopped the lesson and told everyone to return to their classes.


    ¡°What are you doing? It¡¯s not even 7.20!¡± Sean complained.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I want to speak to the four of you during recess. Whoever reaches first, reserve a table for the five of us,¡± I said.


    I honestly hoped no one got into trouble for conducting an informal ¡®life skills workshop¡¯. Serious action needed to be taken by the exco. I had to call for an urgent meeting with the exco the next day, but would it happen?


    During recess, I ate with the four.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to scold anyone, but I want to ask one thing. Who gave you the permission to conduct that workshop?¡± I said.


    ¡°Ariana!¡± Alex replied.


    ¡°Do you know you need permission from the teachers?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we do our own workshop? It does not have to be officially registered under FRansformed right?¡± Ethan said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the purpose of that paper-folding prank?¡± I said.


    ¡°For fun! What¡¯s wrong with pranking? Poking fun is a life skill! Why are you so serious? Try this prank on Xuanyu and see!¡± Alex chuckled.


    ¡°No! It¡¯s Aloe Vera!¡± Ethan corrected him.


    ¡°Guys, just stop. It¡¯s good to help the prefects but we must cooperate with them and not do things our own way!¡± Hannah said.


    ¡°Thank you! It was a mistake that you weren¡¯t nominated!¡± I said to her. ¡°To make it clear, the life skills workshops are for the prefects and won¡¯t be open to non-prefects yet.¡±


    I went back to find my group of friends.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Vera asked.


    ¡°No. I need to call for an urgent exco meeting, because some people decided to conduct a ¡®life skills¡¯ workshop without permission,¡± I said.


    ¡°Who?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°Some Sean guy, Alex Peh and Ethan Tay,¡± I replied. ¡°They were teaching others how to fold paper and make it pop.¡±


    ¡°Ethan Tay En Hao? He comes to our class for Chinese and likes to prank our Chinese teacher with that! Whenever he does it I want to punch him!¡± Clarice said.


    ¡°And he likes to put his leg on the table,¡± Joey added.


    ¡°Hard to imagine he was a junior leader,¡± I commented.


    I bumped into Hui Wen on my way back to class.


    She said, ¡°When you need a non-exco prefect, get Irfan.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Thank him for me! Can you also help to tell the other exco members that we need to have an urgent meeting tomorrow?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try, and I can make it!¡±


    As expected, many could not make it, so I ended up only meeting the Vice Captains, Hui Wen, Jia Jie and Khairul. We agreed to have a vocational director to oversee such life skills workshops. Hui Wen again insisted that Irfan (whom I have not talked to) should be the one for it. Daniel suggested putting Project Pegasus on hold as well as to merge the entertainment project suggested by Xin Yi and Abner with it. In the meantime, we had to recruit manpower for both the project and the life skills workshops, which called for the need for a potential human resource team. Look who was giving the valuable suggestions again.


    The next Monday, Hui Wen told me to speak to Irfan during recess. I agreed and followed her to look for him.


    ¡°Hi, you are Irfan right? I am your Captain, Jordan,¡± I said to Irfan.


    ¡°Yeah! As if I don¡¯t know! You think I¡¯m stupid?¡± he snapped back.


    ¡°Alright, I know you¡¯re not stupid. I believe you have what it takes to take up a role as our Vocational or Human Resource Director.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You are the one who asked Hui Wen to keep annoying me about a role right?¡±


    ¡°More like the other way round. Come on! Take it up! It¡¯s a chance to improve yourself!¡±


    ¡°What kind of Captain are you? Always forcing people to do things!¡±


    Rayana¡¯s words seemed to be much more true. I wondered what kind of power Daniel had to make himself so revered. Fortunately, I had friends who supported me being the Captain. It was not too bad after all.


    I then proceeded to Staircase 5 to talk to Elise, where a harried Jerome approached me with Nazreen.


    ¡°Emergency! Discipline case!¡± he told me.


    ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Alicia! You won¡¯t believe what she did! She slashed Alex!¡± Jerome said, panting.


    ¡°Calm down and tell me the whole story.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so traumatised! She¡¯s my close friend since P1 and I¡¯ve never seen her like this before! She even scolded vulgarities at me!¡±


    Elise said, ¡°Alicia used a pair of scissors to slash Alex¡¯s elbow area. She was crying for one whole hour! I think she just got sent to the discipline master.¡±


    ¡°Why did she slash Alex?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because Alex was using the paper bomb to scare Ace,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Paper bomb? You mean the folding of the paper and then swiping it?¡± I said.


    Nazreen nodded.


    ¡°Alicia was angry at Alex for bullying Ace. She¡¯s really protective of her boyfriend,¡± Elise said.


    ¡°Yes. Ace can get panic attacks by such things so we need to pay extra attention to him. This world is unfair! People with special needs are bullied! We must stand up for them!¡± Jerome raised his voice, about to cry, attracting attention from others.


    ¡°Agreed! We must help them,¡± I said.


    ¡°This is an unfair world! We, people with special needs are not treated as equal with the rest! We should help them! Is that right?¡± Jerome announced out loud.


    Did Jerome just include himself as one of the people with special needs? I had to find an opportunity to ask him, but I was more concerned about Ace, so I asked Jerome to bring me to him for the rest of recess.


    ¡°She¡¯s still sobbing,¡± Jerome said with a sigh as we approached the counselling room.


    Jerome knocked on the door, opened it and had a few words with the counsellor before asking me to enter.


    ¡°Hi Ace, I¡¯m Jordan, your school Captain. May I know how you are feeling now?¡± I spoke to Ace Soon, who was shivering helplessly.


    ¡°Go away...you merciless humans¡­¡± Ace said with a quivering voice.


    Alicia cursed at me and told me to stay out of the matter. I felt really bad for Ace. Action needed to be taken urgently. Jerome said action had already been taken against Alex and we needed a mental health project.


    Indeed, such unforeseen events inevitably increased my workload. I decided to prioritise the Ace issue, as I felt it was most pressing.


    The next day, I felt like sharing the issue with my group of friends.


    ¡°People in this world can be really mean. Why does Ace Soon keep getting bullied?¡± I said.


    Graham interrupted, ¡°Because he deserves it! Who asked him to be such a retard?¡±


    I fumed. ¡°Hey! Can you pay attention to what you¡¯re saying? Do you think he chose to be like that? You need to learn to accept people!¡±


    ¡°I just feel like flushing him down the toilet bowl! I can¡¯t stand him!¡± Graham added.


    ¡°Are you even human? If you grow up to be like this, everyone will hate you!¡± I snapped.


    ¡°You¡¯re the mean one here! You¡¯re being nasty to Graham!¡± Joey chided.


    ¡°Defending someone who is clearly in the wrong? Next time, if you see him beating up people on the streets, you will support him? Same logic! Don¡¯t tell me you agree with his views about Ace?¡± I raised my voice.


    ¡°No I mean you¡¯re being too mean!¡± Joey protested.


    ¡°I am standing up for the right thing! You shouldn¡¯t stop me from doing so!¡±


    ¡°But...but¡­¡± Joey began to sob.


    ¡°Can you just stop?¡± Graham said.


    ¡°I won¡¯t stop unless you change. If I find out that you were one of those bullying him, I¡¯ll make sure you write an apology letter to him. To be fair, I ask the others who bully him to write too. Don¡¯t stop me, I¡¯m the Captain!¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you really going to do that?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°I said don¡¯t stop me! Do you want to write an apology letter as well?¡± I threatened.


    Joey continued sobbing while Graham gave her tissue papers to dry her eyes.


    I did not understand how people could view people with disabilities in such a ruthless way. I had to meet Jerome for a chat during lunch that afternoon.


    ¡°Do you mind if I can have a private chat with you?¡± I asked him after I finished my lunch.


    ¡°Sure! It¡¯s about Ace right?¡± Jerome said.


    We walked around the garden and aquarium.


    ¡°Thanks so much for your help!¡± Jerome said. ¡°A few of us are trying to help the couple. They are much better now. Alex was punished already.¡±


    ¡°Can I have the names of those who bully him?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Alex, Sean, Gani, Reginald and Audrey. Please don¡¯t report Ethan Tay and Xin Yi. They like to do the paper bomb prank but they don¡¯t ever bully Ace! They are his good friends too and always take care of him!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If I have no evidence that they bully him I won¡¯t report them. Can I know whether Graham had ever bullied him?¡±


    ¡°He did. I remember him saying a lot of nasty things.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. If you think of more names, do let me know. I¡¯m making them write apology letters to Ace.¡±


    ¡°Good idea! I¡¯ll email you the full list by tonight. Daniel said we can merge our mental health project Pegasus, but I feel the mental health project should stand alone, because it¡¯s a really serious thing and we can¡¯t let anyone else get bullied.¡±


    ¡°I want to ask you something. Is it true that you defend Ace by telling others you have autism?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that I¡¯m autistic. I couldn¡¯t talk for the first two and a half years of my life! But thank God, I¡¯m much more confident and vocal now. I still have my problems. I struggle with criticism a lot. I can get very emotional when I see others being bullied, especially if they have special needs.¡±


    ¡°I see. How is it that you can make so many friends in school?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an extrovert. I need to interact with a lot of people.¡±


    ¡°What is an extrovert?¡±


    ¡°Someone who gains energy from social interaction. We were doing personality tests during a sleepover and I found out I am eighty plus percent extroverted. Daniel¡¯s ninety plus.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...what¡¯s my percentage? Anyway, I¡¯m really happy that you overcame your challenges! Thanks for sharing! We need a meeting on Friday to discuss the mental health project, if you see the other exco members, do help to inform them.¡±


    I had to call for that emergency meeting. What about the Vocational and Human Resource directors? We had to forgo them for now. The more impending bullying situation had to be stopped first. As for Jerome, I was amazed.


    That night, Alicia sent Rebecca a complete list of students who ever bullied Ace. Alicia also mentioned that Jerome and Izumi would be assisting me in scouting for the students to write the apology letters, but I felt it was good to educate them about mental health first.


    The next morning, I took Alicia out of her class for a chat. She clarified that majority of 6A were quite nice to Ace and would try their best to treat him well. She sincerely hoped that the forfeit of letter writing would be effective to stop the bullying, but she was insecure. I was glad that she wanted to be an active contributor to our new mental health project.


    On Friday, I was told that Willis elected himself to be the Human Resource Director and Hannah insisted to be the Vocational director despite being a non-prefect. She was even insistent on joining our meeting.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± I asked her when we were about to set off to our meeting location.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I come? I¡¯m your Vocational Director!¡± Hannah explained.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say this, but for now we only allow prefects to be that. Of course, you can work closely with the actual director. Nothing wrong with that.¡±


    ¡°Just let her come, bro!¡± Daniel chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t set too many boundaries! We¡¯ll talk more about the two new positions later!¡±


    Jerome and Willis joined us too. Surprisingly, Kok Keong was able to make it. To kickstart the meeting, Jerome presented his idea about the mental health project and almost went hysterical when explaining the different groups of people we needed to reach out too. He said the school¡¯s special needs programme was insufficient, as it only engaged the students with special needs without educating the rest on learning to accept them.


    ¡°What will be the name of the project?¡± Kok Keong asked.


    ¡°Project Leo? I don¡¯t know why but I¡¯m visualising a lion¡¯s face,¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t name it after my cousin. Maybe a name that¡¯s related to love and acceptance?¡± I said.


    ¡°Project Agape! Agape means unconditional love! We must love everyone regardless of what disability they have!¡± Daniel pointed out.


    ¡°Ooh..nice!¡± Jia Jie commented.


    I had to agree that was a good name. Indeed, we should love everyone unconditionally, even if it is hard to do so. What else would Daniel suggest?


    Elliot spoke, ¡°Beside mental disorders, can the project include people like me? I was born deaf, so I wear hearing aids. In kindergarten, my classmates called me a robot. In lower primary, my classmates liked to avoid me and said I carry radiation. I think Vivian should remember. I was teased for being short too. Thankfully I¡¯m not the shortest in class now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be mean to Clarissa!¡± Hui Wen said with a chuckle.


    ¡°In that case include people like me too! People who lost family members!¡± Kok Keong suggested.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotten over it? You seem a lot happier today!¡± Willis remarked.


    ¡°Much better. I want to thank those who helped me, especially President Daniel,¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°Even you are calling me that. Please don¡¯t,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Who started it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember, but I believe it¡¯s someone in Band,¡± Vivian replied.


    I did not feel good. As the School Captain, I failed to ensure my prefects were taken care of. I let Daniel overpower me once again. We then talked more about the two new roles.


    I said, ¡°We can¡¯t let non-prefects take positions! Remember our goal? We¡¯re supposed to let all prefects realise their full potential.¡±


    ¡°But no prefect is willing to take up right?¡± Hannah asked.


    ¡°Actually, have you asked every single prefect whether he or she is willing to take up the role?¡± Khairul asked me.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s why we need a Human Resource Director to help!¡± I said.


    ¡°I thought Ariana said we shouldn¡¯t ask people from our class?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°Yeah, we must ask more from 6D to 6G,¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°Guys, we are all part of the school, prefect or not. Not wearing this green uniform doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t have a voice,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Hello! Are you going back on your word? It was your amazing idea to let every prefect realise his full potential and now your whole class wants to get all the positions?¡± I said.


    ¡°You misunderstood, friend. I did try to get some prefects to help-¡±


    ¡°You tried? Everyone just rejects me! They think you are so great and listen to you?¡±


    ¡°Hear me out, bro! Novan, Lloyd, Felicia and a few others said no. It¡¯s not nice to force them!¡±


    I did agree with Daniel, but I wanted to test how he would respond to me. How amazing that he could still smile and not shoot back at me!


    I said to Hannah, ¡°Here¡¯s the truth! You¡¯re just good! Too good! The teachers were blind to not choose you! We need more people like you!¡±


    I was not satisfied. I was losing to Daniel again. I managed to redeem myself by suggesting a team which sheltered students from nearby sheltered areas to school on rainy days. Daniel supported me on that. What I had to do was help with the recruitment of manpower the next week.


    Somehow, I prioritised getting a proper prefect to be in charge of Human Resource. One recess, I approached Megan.


    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s happening among the prefects recently?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Project Pegasus? I heard you guys want new exco positions too,¡± Megan replied.


    ¡°Yes! Can you be our Human Resource Director? You will help with asking for volunteers and playing around with others¡¯ positions.¡±


    ¡°Nice, but I¡¯m a bit tired and I can¡¯t really ask around. You can try asking Lloyd and Kok Weng. They are there.¡±


    I walked up to Lloyd Karimov.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m your Captain, Jordan. Are you willing to take up a new role in the Prefectorial Board?¡± I said.


    ¡°Why am I asked this a second time? Daniel already asked me and I¡¯m not willing,¡± Lloyd replied.


    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know that!¡± I chuckled, when Daniel actually said during the meeting that he did ask Lloyd.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? You can¡¯t even do your job well! All you want is to overpower Daniel and be the king of the school!¡± Lloyd said.


    How did he know I wanted to overpower Daniel? Seemed like I told too many people.


    ¡°Yes! He was trying to overpower me first! He needs to stop getting all the fame in the school!¡± I said.


    ¡°He is nice unlike you!¡± Lloyd raised his voice.


    ¡°Give the Captain some respect,¡± Leo popped in. ¡°He¡¯s not that bad.¡±


    I thanked Leo and turned to Kok Weng.


    ¡°So, do you want to try?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°I can volunteer for your project but I don¡¯t think I can take the stress from being a leader,¡± he replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s what being a prefect is for! You are fortunate to be part of our batch because the exco welcomes more helpers. Do you know why you were selected in the first place?¡±


    ¡°No? Maybe because I¡¯m well-behaved?¡±


    Alright, this did not sound right. Choosing a prefect for his good behaviour was definitely amiss. If that was the case, why was Vera not selected? I had to take action. I needed to propose my ideas to the teachers-in-charge.


    During lunch, I met Xuanyu to tell her my ideas. I explained how the junior leader selection process was rigged and how we needed reliable student spies to aid the teachers. Xuanyu agreed to assist me. She was someone of integrity whom I could trust, teasings from others aside. We then went to the staff room to look for our teacher-in-charge, who bombarded us with a series of queries questioning the feasibility of my idea. We got outright rejected. There went my chance to prove I could give better ideas than Daniel. When would there ever be fairness in junior leader selection?


    Funnily enough, our teacher wanted us to stop all the FRansformed-related work by early April so we could focus on our examinations. I felt they were quite done with all our pestering for their approval. I told Xuanyu that we must not stop and should find a way to continue work. She was slightly reluctant, but did agree that FRansformed activities should not stop.


    I went back to class and spoke to Li Xuan, ¡°I need your opinion. Mrs Edgeworth just told me to stop all FRansformed-related work by April. We can¡¯t do that right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It has been quite tiring to help with Phoenix, especially when the kids always ask me questions, but I think I can talk to them better now,¡± Li Xuan replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s good! Anyway, we can¡¯t stop! We must hand over the P5s if we want to stop!¡±


    ¡°You guys are seriously not stopping?¡± Huayi barged in. ¡°You still want to force others to do this work during exam season?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! All of you are going to flunk the papers if you don¡¯t stop now!¡± Graham added.


    ¡°Really? I still got my first position last year and I¡¯m now working very hard to beat someone in PSLE! If you don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on in the prefectorial board, it¡¯s best that you don¡¯t comment,¡± I said.


    ¡°Can you just stop?¡± Joey said.


    I sighed and turned to Li Xuan. ¡°This is depressing. People are doubting us, even the teachers. Mrs Edgeworth did not like my idea of student spies, so we can get ready to see the wrong people being selected as junior leaders this month.¡±


    Clarice then told me that Joey had a crush on Graham, which was why she became more protective of him. That reminded me to order Graham to write the apology letter to Ace.


    I went up to Graham. ¡°You have a task. Do you remember what it is?¡±


    ¡°How about..no!¡± he replied.


    ¡°You need to write an apology letter to Ace. I want you to apologise for every single thing you did to him. See me tomorrow morning. Oh, and Joey¡¯s taste though.¡±


    ¡°I am not interested in her.¡±


    After supplementary class ended, I looked for Alicia and told her to gather her classmates whom she reported so I could brief them about the letter writing. She agreed.


    The next morning, I met Graham and the students from 6A whom Alicia reported. Izumi and Jerome would help with the other students during recess.


    ¡°All of you should know the reason why you¡¯re here! Every human on Earth is worth the same! It doesn¡¯t mean that someone with disabilities is less valuable and should be treated like rubbish! You know who you are addressing the letter to! You need to write the letter sincerely from your heart and apologise for every single thing you did wrongly to him. Get it done by tomorrow and submit them to me. If I¡¯m not happy, I¡¯ll make you rewrite until I¡¯m satisfied. Is that clear?¡± I said.


    There was no response.


    ¡°Is that clear?¡± I raised my voice.


    ¡°Yes!¡± the students shouted.


    That recess, Elliot volunteered to help Izumi and Jerome in scouting for the remaining students who needed to write letters. Jerome had an enormous social circle so he had no problem identifying the students. I decided to tag along. We found the students very quickly and I began to deliver the same briefing. Halfway, one of the boys darted away holding something.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I hear anything? My hearing aids!¡± Elliot gasped.


    ¡°Hey! Someone grab him!¡± Izumi yelled and brisk-walked to the boy who snatched Elliot¡¯s hearing aids.


    Another boy tackled him and Izumi made a grab for the hearing aids.


    ¡°You¡¯re so in trouble!¡± she said.


    We went back and I continued briefing.


    ¡°Who are you to force us to write apology letters? The prefects are so messed up!¡± the same boy remarked.


    ¡°Why are you rude? We¡¯re doing this for your own good!¡± Jerome replied.


    Indeed, opposition, opposition and more opposition. Even the teachers were not happy with us starting on Project Pegasus and Agape so soon. What could we do?


    The weeks leading to the installation ceremony were pretty boring - basically studying and preparing for the speech I would be making. I felt like touching on how mysterious the concept of leadership was without sounding controversial. Thus, I decided to begin by saying how the selection of prefects always puzzled me, thereafter mentioning its complexity which I realised while being a prefect myself. I then talked about what I felt a leader actually is and how everyone could be a leader.


    I was expecting open jeering during my speech, but there was not. Perhaps it was because parents and teachers were present. After the ceremony, Huayi approached me as expected.


    ¡°What kind of speech was that? Forcing everyone to listen to your views!¡± he criticised.


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t interested you shouldn¡¯t have listened! Your choice!¡± I replied.


    ¡°I had to, because I was curious to know what more trash you have for us!¡±


    Elise said, ¡°Hey! There¡¯s no need to keep attacking him! He has done his best.¡±


    ¡°I have not!¡± I said. ¡°My goal has not been reached yet¡­¡±


    Later during recess, Ariana approached me.


    ¡°This is not good! Follow me to Staircase 3!¡± she said.


    Ariana took me to Staircase 3, where Darren, Jerome, Xuanyu, Lawrence, Abishek, Varunya and Sean were gathered.


    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re here!¡± Jerome said to me. ¡°We are still waiting for Darren Tan and Xin Yi.¡±


    ¡°Forget about them! I don¡¯t know where they are!¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the issue here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Explain yourself,¡± Jerome said to Darren.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I am just getting help?¡± Darren retorted.


    ¡°You are messing things up!¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°We¡¯re just helping! What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Sean said.


    ¡°I appreciate your kind intentions, but please be more aware of what you are doing,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it. Darren, I know you want to help, but you are repeating the same mistake of doing all the work. Stop hiding it. If you truly wanted to help, you wouldn¡¯t have secretly gotten them to help you. Right, Lawrence?¡±


    ¡°I know we shouldn¡¯t have continued without asking the exco. I felt bad for not helping Darren Gore so I helped him,¡± Lawrence said.


    ¡°I just realised you wear the same shirt every day!¡± I said to Lawrence. ¡°Anyway, what exactly happened?¡±


    Varunya explained, ¡°We were doing the proposal for Project Pegasus and the lifeskills workshops.¡±


    ¡°You know what? Someone upload them. Thanks Darren,¡± I said.


    I was surprised that I said that. The exco members were unhappy that Darren again took charge of the planning without informing the rest, even getting other classmates to side him. On the other hand, I decided to appreciate his efforts, even though he was doing it for himself. I believed the rest of us were too busy to even do additional planning so Darren was of great help.


    Later that term, we submitted our proposals to the teachers and had an exco meeting regarding the handover of FRansformed to the P5s. Daniel asked all of us to give names of P5s whom we thought would be favourable successors. I gave Abner, Adam and Lanxiang (my Choir junior). Similarly, most of the others nominated Abner and Adam too, together with a Kelly. The exco and the previous FRansformed committee members would be doing a recruitment drive for new committee members one morning, closer to April.


    In late March, I was feeling pressured. Homework was piling up and I still had to settle the FRansformed handover. I was eating with my group of friends during recess one day.


    ¡°If any of you know any P5s who can manage big projects do tell me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Not again,¡± Joey muttered.


    ¡°You really made a mistake. If you aren¡¯t the Captain, you won¡¯t be so stressed,¡± Graham pointed out.


    ¡°I have to be the Captain. I¡¯m not letting Daniel decide everything. It¡¯s quite sickening to see him get attention from everyone day after day,¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you know how many people hate you for making them write apology letters?¡±


    ¡°Those people are blind! They don¡¯t know how to be human!¡±


    ¡°And you had to make the guy who took the midget¡¯s hearing aid write a second letter?¡±


    Vera said, ¡°Elliot? He¡¯s from my CCA. Quite a nice guy.¡±


    ¡°Yes. That guy needed to learn a second lesson,¡± I said.


    Was what Graham said true? I long sensed that I was being hated, but I felt unjustified. People were hating me for absolutely wrong reasons. After finishing my food, I decided to leave the table for a walk. Vera followed me. We bumped into Hui Wen at the garden.


    ¡°Are you feeling the pressure?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m so failing the exams! I haven¡¯t asked any P5 about the FRansformed exco yet, because I don¡¯t know who to ask!¡± Hui Wen said while bouncing.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood to ask, because I don¡¯t understand this school again. Why am I hated for no reason?¡±


    ¡°Ignore the haters! You have a lot of support from us!¡±


    ¡°Thanks, but I don¡¯t get it. Let¡¯s try talking to Elina. Hope she actually responds properly.¡±


    I stepped forward to Elina.


    ¡°Hello! How are you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she mumbled.


    Hui Wen joined in. ¡°Wow! The weather is so cool today! I want to go home to take a nap!¡±


    ¡°Same here!¡± Elina responded. ¡°I¡¯m so tired from all the homework.¡±


    ¡°I have to settle the handover too!¡± I added.


    ¡°Please do not let our juniors suffer,¡± Elina said.


    ¡°I won¡¯t. The P5s are so much more enthusiastic than our batch. I¡¯m confident they will lead the school well,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Things are not good now. If only Daniel was the Captain.¡±


    ¡°Not again. Why does everyone think he¡¯s so worthy to be the Captain? I agreed to switch with him so the Joseph Adams case won¡¯t happen again! Look at what that Joseph is doing in secondary school! If we don¡¯t stop Daniel, he¡¯s going to get so much power and we can¡¯t imagine what happens next!¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure both of them are very different,¡± Hui Wen said.


    ¡°Yeah! Unlike you, Daniel is sincere and cares a lot about others. If you don¡¯t believe me you can ask the whole school,¡± Elina said.


    ¡°Exactly! He¡¯s the nicest guy ever! He helped me when I was bullied!¡± Hui Wen added.


    ¡°I believe you, but it¡¯s not good for him to get all the attention in the school! Others need the chance to get attention too!¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s why people don¡¯t like you. All you care is your own power. I heard you don¡¯t love the school. So why did you become the Captain? To get attention and power, not because you truly want to help others. You need to stop being arrogant. Reflect about it,¡± Elina said.


    I wanted to protest. Unfortunately, recess had ended. How could Elina say that I did not want to help others? If that was true, I would not have gotten apology letters written for Ace. In fact, Ace was very grateful for my initiative, so were some others in 6A. I might not love the school, but I did care for the welfare of students. Anyway, I had to put that aside and focus on my studies and the handover of FRansformed.


    One lunch, I decided to meet up with a few of the P5s interested in succeeding the FRansformed committee.


    Abner approached me. ¡°I¡¯m so excited man! We¡¯re at that table!¡±


    ¡°Wait, only 5A prefects? What about the other classes?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Maybe another day? They¡¯re quite eager too!¡± Abner replied.


    I joined him and his friends, which included Adam, two girls called Kelly Chun and Grace Laycock as well as Yang Kai Xian.


    ¡°Hello! Thanks for volunteering to take over FRansformed!¡± I said to them.


    ¡°Start the briefing already!¡± Adam said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a briefing. I don¡¯t even know whether I can handover now because the teachers haven¡¯t even said anything about our latest plans. Today is just to get to know you. I have spoken to Adam and Abner before,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kelly, and I want your position! Just kidding!¡± Kelly said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll gladly give it to you but you must clear the interview first!¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, I am really grateful to all of you for helping us out. I wish my batch did the same. A lot of them are unwilling or just complaining that I¡¯m the Captain.¡±


    Grace said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard those comments. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re as bad as they say.¡±


    ¡°Thank you! I¡¯m just tired of hearing Daniel here and Daniel there. Anyway, Daniel aside. The teachers said the mental health project most likely won¡¯t work out, so I want all of you to push for it to work. Same for the sheltering of students during rainy days,¡± I rattled.


    I clearly said I wanted to get to know the P5s but I was clearly rattling about the projects. What happened to building relationships?


    ¡°Jerome told me already, so I roughly know what you guys planned. I read through your plans for the lifeskills workshop and Project Pegasus so don¡¯t worry and focus on your PSLE,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯m really interested in how your batch will run FRansformed,¡± I said.


    ¡°What¡¯s your number? We can add you to a group chat,¡± Kelly said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a phone so I¡¯ll miss out on your fun stuff...sad. Email me or I can give you my brother¡¯s number,¡± I said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not disturb him, we¡¯ll email you. Some of the prefects from 5B want to help too. I think they are Sameer, Alyssa and Charlene,¡± Kelly said.


    ¡°Only 5B? What about the other classes?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A handful,¡± Kai Xian replied.


    ¡°We must stop the same mistake from happening to your batch. For mine, most of those who participate are from the first three classes and the rest just criticise and complain. So, make sure the prefects of every class contribute. I think Darren suggested tutoring the weaker prefects but our batch obviously failed! Start now, really,¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a really good idea to help us bond!¡± Grace said. ¡°This Darren is good!¡±


    ¡°He is, but I know he does a lot of additional work to impress the teachers,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°How do you even know so much about us? Let me test you. What do you know about Chew Huayi?¡± I said.


    ¡°A lot. I have to warn you. Pay more attention to him if not something bad will happen in October. But don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll help you behind the scenes. Do you know Huayi has been telling Xuanyu a lot of his plans? Don¡¯t tell her I told you,¡± Abner spoke.


    ¡°Woah, who¡¯s winning?¡± Kelly chuckled.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say we both don¡¯t like her?¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Yeah I thought our Captain likes Hannah?¡± Adam said.


    ¡°Enough of those pranks. Tell me more about Huayi,¡± I said to Abner.


    ¡°Huayi talked to Vivian, Nazreen and Elise about his plans too and I know what they are. Again, I won¡¯t tell you,¡± Abner replied.


    Was Huayi really planning something against me? I did not really trust what Abner said because I doubted he actually went to ask my friends, though it seemed possible that he asked Xuanyu, whom he regularly texted. If he did ask all of them, he would probably be the next Darren and would not stand a chance in getting an exco position. That would happen if he was manipulative enough to make sufficient connections with my batchmates to get a position.


    Anyway, I met the three from 5B whom Kelly mentioned the next lunch. They were willing to work with the 5A prefects to succeed my batch and to encourage students from the other classes too. I was still somewhat worried, but the enthusiasm of the P5s allayed my worries to an extent. I was too tired to think about what Huayi would do to me, as I was more determined to do better than Daniel in the examinations.


    What happened in the coming months? Things were pretty much on a standstill, with only Project Phoenix running. Kelly contacted me regularly to update how she and the rest were doing. I decided to pay more attention to Abner if I had the chance to, occasionally asking Xuanyu about him too. Xuanyu verified that he was indeed communicating with a lot of P6 prefects. She said Abner was quite nice and fun to talk to. Well, that was true¡­


    I actually had more time to reflect on how I performed as the Captain. The more I thought about it, the more I realised the flaws in my leadership. Elina was right that I was arrogant and wanted power mostly. Thinking about the times I abused my power to command others made me regret utterly. Why was Daniel so well-liked? He had power, but was truly altruistic (but still, I was determined to compete with him).


    With the suspension of prefect meetings, I had more time with my group of friends in class. We began understanding one another more and I grew closer to Joey, Clarice and Graham. I decided to write apology letters for Graham and Joey, as I was quite harsh to them previously. I realised they were actually quite forgiving and Graham did show improvement in acceptance of others. Only time would tell¡­

 2015: Everybody鈥檚 Got to Learn Sometime

    The final examinations were over and I kept my fingers crossed - would I succeed in beating Daniel? That aside, I was eager to resume the planning for FRansformed full force. Even before the papers ended, I already started arranging an outing with the eight P5s I talked to in April. Secretly, I invited Ariana and Xuanyu, such that Daniel would not be aware. We decided to meet after the Childrens¡¯ Day celebration.


    At the start of the day, I looked for Xuanyu and told her to watch where Daniel headed to after school and thereafter tell me before meeting up with the rest. She agreed. After the celebration, I managed to see that Daniel appeared as though he wanted to stay behind to socialise, so I quickly left with Xuanyu and Ariana.


    ¡°Can I go to the toilet to change first? I want this dress off so it¡¯s easier to sit,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not spend any more time in this building! Did the P5s tell any of you where to meet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Abner says Block 303,¡± Xuanyu replied.


    ¡°Where are we even going?¡± Ariana asked.


    ¡°Let the P5s decide. They¡¯re the star of today¡¯s outing,¡± I said.


    We proceeded to the meeting point. Alyssa, Sameer and Charlene were already waiting there.


    ¡°Hi! Sorry for the wait. Did you see the rest?¡± I asked the three.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those them?¡± Charlene pointed to a group of five walking towards the block.


    ¡°Who are the two people with you?¡± Sameer asked me.


    ¡°They are my exco mates. Vice Captain Ariana and Class Buddy SL Xuanyu. They will be joining us today,¡± I replied.


    ¡°What about Daniel?¡± Alyssa asked.


    I tried to calm down before speaking. ¡°Busy as usual.¡±


    ¡°Heyo guys! How was PSLE?¡± Abner appeared and asked.


    ¡°Nasty,¡± Ariana replied.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± I replied, while Xuanyu shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s over! Just have fun now! You¡¯ll do great!¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Are we going to change or not?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°Yeah, Xuanyu, why did you ask us to bring clothes to change?¡± Kelly asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s easier to sit with shorts?¡± Xuanyu smirked.


    ¡°I brought a skirt to change though,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°Since when did you tell us to bring clothes? I didn¡¯t bring anything,¡± I said.


    ¡°She told Abner who told us,¡± Adam replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t bring too. I¡¯m lazy to change.¡±


    ¡°Yeah someone wants to show off her figure!¡± Abner said, raising an eyebrow.


    They changed at a nearby mall and we then made our way to Chiang Village because Abner liked it a lot.


    ¡°Alright, back to the serious stuff. What do you want Project Agape to cover?¡± Abner asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s to support the current special needs programme because we feel it¡¯s not enough,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yes Jerome did tell me and I agree. I¡¯m a special needs kid too! I have ADHD, but I don¡¯t attend the school¡¯s programme,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°What? You have? You¡¯re one of the smartest kids in level!¡± Alyssa asked.


    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s not easy to identify an ADHD kid. If I get you guys correctly, our project is supposed to raise awareness and help people bullied right? I¡¯m very open about my ADHD so I don¡¯t mind us having an assembly session to talk about it,¡± Abner spoke.


    Alright, that was a great revelation about Abner. I felt I was wrong to criticise his behaviour. Indeed, he was very fidgety and liked to haphazardly talk to people. I did observe him doing it to the P6 prefects. I had an urge to ask Xuanyu more, but Abner did not want her to know I knew about the Huayi issue.


    ¡°Dude! We are taking our exams soon and you want to do an assembly programme? And it¡¯s your fault too, Jordan! Just kidding!¡± Kelly chuckled.


    ¡°Did someone once mention having a Project Daniellimjiajun?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°No please, not that,¡± I remarked.


    ¡°It was Xin Yi!¡± Abner said. ¡°She wanted a project where Daniel performs for everyone!¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he just post an Ed Sheeran medley on Facebook?¡± Sameer said.


    ¡°Oh I think I watched it. He remembers all the lyrics and his piano skills are mad,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°Yeah he knows so many songs!¡± Charlene commented.


    ¡°But not as many as my cousin who has listened to more than a thousand albums from the 50s to the 90s!¡± I said.


    Adam spoke, ¡°Insane. Daniel told me he wants to start a band.¡±


    ¡°He can just play all the instruments himself!¡± Alyssa said.


    ¡°I get Xin Yi¡¯s intention, but we should expand the project to let more people perform. You guys wanted some cleanliness project too right? I would suggest you involve the whole school and conduct it after our exams next month,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Jordan! How are things with Hannah?¡± Grace asked me.


    ¡°I know what that question means now. Why are you asking that?¡± I said.


    ¡°There¡¯s a rumour that you¡¯re interested in Hannah!¡± Kelly said.


    ¡°Honestly, are you kidding me? Another one of those pranks? Who started it?¡± I said.


    ¡°It must be Zoey!¡± Ariana said. ¡°She says you keep praising Hannah!¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Xuanyu remarked.


    ¡°I mean, she has good character and deserves to be a prefect,¡± I said.


    ¡°I think Lawrence told me the rumour,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Lawrence? Is it that guy?¡± Kai Xian asked, chuckling.


    ¡°Yes! The one who wears the orange shirt and green pants every day!¡± Kelly said. ¡°That¡¯s pathetic!¡±


    ¡°Yo Xuanyu, will you wear the same outfit every day in secondary school? I remember seeing you wear that before!¡± Abner said.


    Ariana whispered to me, ¡°That¡¯s why people think he¡¯s attracted to her because of her outfits.¡±


    ¡°Since when do I wear the same thing every day?¡± Xuanyu raised her voice. ¡°I don¡¯t go out a lot so I don¡¯t have a lot of clothes. My clothes are mostly of the same style, but different colour. Maybe I should buy some v-neck tops and mini skirts and post on Instagram more.¡±


    ¡°Woah! My parents don¡¯t even allow me to wear what you wear!¡± Kelly said.


    I had a lot of fun with that bunch. We discussed productively about the projects, meanwhile sidetracking for jokes. But there was a problem. The eight of them would seem to have an edge in succeeding my exco. I had to find a way to make it fair for the others.


    The school organised some post-examination activities for us. We were supposed to plan booths to raise funds for our SL trip to Isla Saga and also attend some workshops (not those suggested by us). Throughout the months of prefectorial inactivity, Daniel picked up hip hop dancing, which made him suggest that the prefects do a hip hop dance performance during the trip and prom. Somehow, I was keen.


    For the fundraising event, I teamed up with my group of friends. Except Clarice who already directly applied to a sports-based school, Graham, Joey, Vera and I decided to continue our education at FRSS together. The question was my prefect friends. I knew some like Stuart, Vivian, Rayana and Li Xuan were planning to go to FRSS as well. How about the rest?


    Coincidentally, there was a hip hop workshop and I signed up for it. Daniel signed up for it without a doubt. Vera and Joey signed up for some graphics design workshop together. The first day of the workshops was also the day of a proposed exco meeting.


    ¡°Hey bro! How¡¯s your weekend? You went out some of our P5s?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes it was quite fun! I heard something about a prefects dance performance,¡± I said.


    ¡°Khairul, Hui Wen and I are thinking about having that. We¡¯re planning to ask everyone. The three of us are currently agreeable of using hip hop but we¡¯ll take other suggestions too,¡± Daniel replied.


    ¡°I heard that so I decided to join this workshop even though I¡¯m not a fan of hip hop,¡± I said.


    Li Xuan was also at the workshop so I approached her.


    ¡°Hi, you like hip hop dance too?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not really...I joined because of Agnes,¡± she replied.


    Daniel said, ¡°We¡¯re planning to invite the P6 prefects to do a dance performance for our Saga trip and prom. Do you think hip hop is a good genre?¡±


    ¡°Yes I quite like watching hip hop dances. I have not performed before so it¡¯s a good chance for me to try?¡± Li Xuan said. ¡°And which secondary school will you go to?¡±


    ¡°Flowing River!¡± Daniel replied.


    Alright, I heard it with my own ears. The rumours about Daniel wanting to remain in FR were actually true.


    ¡°Huh? Why? You¡¯re so smart! You¡¯ll get 270 and go to Greenpeak!¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to sound offensive but I prefer co-ed school culture. I have friends from GI and they say I won¡¯t like the culture. Plus, I feel attached to this school and want to join Dance,¡± Daniel explained.


    ¡°I see why you prefer co-ed schools...Anyway, who else I know plans to go to FR?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Quite a lot of your classmates do. For my class, so far I know Izumi, Xin Yi, Lawrence, Hannah, Ileana and Yeremy want to. Many others want to wait for their results before deciding? You?¡±


    ¡°Most likely FR because my siblings and friends are there,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll go there too. Don¡¯t really know what other schools to aim for,¡± Li Xuan added.


    After that first workshop session, Daniel asked me to ask around for opinions about the dance performance. I pushed the responsibility totally to him because I admitted defeat. Things would not work out if I was the one asking around.


    That afternoon, we finally had an exco meeting with full strength. It turned out to be a more lighthearted one.


    ¡°So, how have post-exams been?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Very good!¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°I can finally sleep,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°More dancing!¡± Hui Wen said.


    ¡°Oh yes! The dance! How¡¯s the response?¡± I asked Daniel.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have the chance to talk to everyone. Quite a few are not even interested,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we create a Google Form? I¡¯ll do it tonight!¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°Yes, good idea! Does anyone here object to hip hop?¡± Khairul asked.


    There was no response.


    ¡°Okay, how does a pair dance sound? That means a boy and girl pairs up,¡± Hui Wen said.


    Xuanyu began shaking her head.


    ¡°You mean we have to hold hands and all that?¡± Rayana asked.


    ¡°Yup! You need to overcome your awkwardness with the opposite gender!¡± Daniel chuckled.


    ¡°Erm...okay,¡± Rayana said.


    ¡°Can I dance on my own?¡± Xuanyu asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t spoil it bruh,¡± Khairul said. ¡°You have such an amazing companion called Jordan who is waiting for you to hold his hand!¡±


    ¡°Since when? Please don¡¯t start another prank. Why don¡¯t we have some in pairs and some solo?¡± I said.


    ¡°Wow. Let¡¯s see the numbers first,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Daniel, who will you pair up with?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    ¡°Woah woah woah! Who will be that one lucky girl?¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°Jia Jie!¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°She has to decide between Daniel, Darren and Kok Keong!¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say anything,¡± Kok Keong said.


    ¡°Ariana, do you want to do the allocations?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Ariana replied.


    ¡°I can help too!¡± Priscilla added.


    ¡°I kind of want to pair up with Irfan to see how he dances,¡± Hui Wen said.


    ¡°Who is in that hip hop workshop? We need choreographers,¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°Me, Jordan, Li Xuan and Farah. They are keen on performing but I¡¯m not sure about choreographing,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°We can ask them in the Google Form right?¡± Priscilla said.


    ¡°That works,¡± Kok Keong replied.


    Next, we talked about the FRansformed projects. Since Project Pegasus severely lacked manpower and did not have the go ahead from the teachers, we decided to discuss the feasibility of the cleanliness project, which we agreed on naming it Project Aquarius. Due to the limited time and manpower, we felt the project should not be mandatory, but rather on a voluntary basis. We decided to have a recruitment drive later that week.


    ¡°So, which secondary school are you aiming for?¡± I asked to sidetrack a little.


    ¡°FRSS!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°You¡¯re still so set on going there? Wait until you see your results!¡± Khairul chuckled.


    ¡°Yeah! You had the time to go to the arcade ten days in a row!¡± Jia Jie added.


    ¡°Is that true?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It is,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m quite sure Darren Gore and Roshita will do better than me, but I guess I¡¯ll be fine with whatever score I get,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Darren got into Tesla long ago! I really hope I can get into Chengyi. Not getting into Tesla has already lowered my chances of studying Medicine,¡± Jia Jie said.


    ¡°You want to do surgery right?¡± Daniel asked.


    ¡°Yes! Have you made up your mind?¡±


    ¡°Same thing - I¡¯m not striking Medicine out. The problem with me is that I have many interests so I will take more time to narrow down to a specific occupation. I can easily read those medical textbooks Eunice likes to read.¡±


    ¡°I think I will stay in FR too,¡± Hui Wen said. ¡°My friends are staying and I¡¯m too used to this place.¡±


    ¡°Same,¡± Elliot said.


    ¡°I want to go to GI, if not Starlight,¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°Starlight? I want to go to Lunar Girls IP! I heard their Soccer team is mad!¡± Ariana said.


    I turned to Xuanyu. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Er...don¡¯t know,¡± she said.


    ¡°Go to Chengyi with me or follow wherever Jordan goes!¡± Jia Jie said.


    I had already become numb to those teasing. We then talked about exco selection.


    ¡°Okay guys, we previously talked about some P5s who will make good exco members. I know Jordan is very particular about how they are chosen-¡± Daniel spoke.


    ¡°Yes I am! The sad thing is that those who do more work will more likely be selected, so we must think of a fair way to choose them!¡± I said.


    Vivian said, ¡°Maybe we can interview every one of them, and get them to do some group activities.¡±


    ¡°Wow that¡¯s a good idea! But unfortunately, their exams have not started yet! Do you think we can come up with something in the last two weeks?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Of course not! What we should do is make a Google Form and ask them if they want to be in exco and what position they prefer most!¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not bad!¡± Khairul said.


    ¡°Yes Jordan, so the teachers can customise the questions more. We¡¯ll let them know!¡± Daniel said.


    The next day, the form for the dance performance was sent out and we spoke to Li Xuan and Farah regarding the dance choreographing. They were not confident of their abilities to do so, but decided to help because they had nothing better to do. While resting after some dancing, Daniel suddenly remembered we needed to do recruitment for Project Aquarius, so he announced it to everyone in the workshop. Xin Yi was also there so she joined Daniel and I in encouraging the rest to join. I ended up appointing her to be the non-prefect in charge of broadcasting during the next morning assembly, then urged Li Xuan to join her. However, Li Xuan strongly objected to it.


    During recess, we decided to look for a second person to help with broadcasting. Ethan was very eager to join his ¡®public nuisance accomplice¡¯ in doing so but was stopped by Jerome to prevent a prank speech. We later settled on Izumi, who never had a chance to make an announcement to the whole school.


    During assembly the next morning, Izumi and Xin Yi delivered an announcement regarding Project Aquarius. Like what we discussed, they said the project would most likely be held externally to clean places outside of school. It was also announced that a recce trip would most likely be held that Friday.


    When I returned to class, I was approached by Huayi.


    ¡°What did I just hear? An announcement for a new project? It was only announced today and you guys are telling me there¡¯s a recce trip in two days time?¡± he said in a sarcastic tone.


    ¡°If you¡¯re not interested, we won¡¯t force you to participate,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yes you have said that many times already. I¡¯m quite sure those who sign up are going to be the same old people. And the same old P5s who sign up will be the next exco,¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°We are already trying to change the way the new exco is chosen.¡±


    ¡°You all think you have so much power?¡±


    ¡°We are just telling the teachers. It may not even happen,¡± Li Xuan barged in.


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± I said. ¡°We have a purpose for doing all these! We want to create a prefectorial board that meets the needs of all students and teachers.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re failing horribly, because the wrong Captain was chosen!¡± Huayi smirked.


    Li Xuan protested, ¡°No, the right Captain was chosen!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Heard that? If you continue behaving like this, I¡¯ll make sure I won¡¯t go to the same secondary school as you and won¡¯t associate with you from next year onwards!¡± Vivian came and chided Huayi.


    Huayi maintained his smirk. He did not seem convinced. Abner was probably right about him plotting something against me, but I just had to wait and see.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re doing quite a good job already. I¡¯m quite tired of hearing his comments. He¡¯s just jealous,¡± Vivian said.


    I was in a state of shock. I had never seen Li Xuan standing up for me (or anyone at least). What made her do so then? As for Vivian, I agreed with him that Huayi was jealous of the exco prefects and those active in FRansformed. It was honestly foolish of him to continue being jealous while not putting in the least bit of effort to contribute. I seriously did not understand him. Admittedly, I was jealous of Daniel, but I bothered to do something rather than complaining and criticising. I was trying to guess what Huayi would do to me, but I doubted he could do anything given that he was a powerless prefect and others could easily stop him.


    The next day was the last day of the workshops. As the next week had four days of script marking, Daniel, Li Xuan, Farah and I agreed to set the next Thursday as our first dance practise session.


    I was randomly resting after some dancing and suddenly felt a slap on my back.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Daniel said and his hands ruffled my back.


    I heard the sound of tape and other students began crowding around him.


    ¡°Guys, guys, there¡¯s nothing to look at. Just sit back and relax,¡± Daniel said while crushing the paper which was taped to my back.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°I¡¯d suggest you don¡¯t look at it,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Let me see it!¡± I reached out and tried to grab the paper, while Li Xuan curiously inched towards me.


    I was totally appalled. People in this world could be so small minded. The paper showed a distorted picture of me with the word ¡®SCANDAL¡¯ under it. There were smaller words explaining how I would get close to some girls to manipulate them. Alright, Elijah had been teased by being called a playboy before and I could finally (or rather again) relate to him in that aspect. That was not all. The paper went on elaborating how I dated one prefect and dumped her to date another for power. It also stated how I tried to impress the teachers so I could be the Captain and how I liked to exploit non-prefects to run my projects. Absolute nonsense!


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who pasted this on my back?¡± I raised my voice at the boy whom others were pointing at.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault! Someone asked me to paste it!¡± he protested.


    ¡°Bro, if someone asked you to do it, must you really comply? Did you spend time thinking whether it¡¯s the right thing?¡± Daniel asked.


    The dance instructor tried to intervene. Daniel thanked her for her concern and gave short explanations regarding some of the drama in the prefectorial board.


    The boy said, ¡°I know it¡¯s not right, but I was forced to do it!¡±


    ¡°Which class are you from?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°6C. I don¡¯t even know the guy who made me do this!¡±


    ¡°I know who it is. It¡¯s Chew Huayi!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who he or she is!¡±


    ¡°He is a prefect from 6B!¡±


    ¡°No! The guy is not even a prefect and I don¡¯t know which class he¡¯s from!¡±


    Daniel, who was trying to calm the other students down, turned to the boy. ¡°Can you describe him? I can try to identify him.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± I said to Daniel. ¡°Stop thinking you know everyone in school!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to argue with you regarding that, but we need to stop this defamation because you truly don¡¯t deserve it!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°I¡¯m bad at describing people but I¡¯m honest that I don¡¯t know the guy!¡± the boy said.


    That did not seem good. I sincerely hoped that was not the only poster lurking around the school. Daniel decided to give the boy a chance before reporting him, but was determined to ask others in 6C to help crack the case. Li Xuan and I agreed that things were not that simple and that Huayi was certainly the one asking the boy to paste the poster.


    During recess, Vera and Joey immediately rushed to me with harried looks.


    ¡°You¡¯re doomed!¡± Joey said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe this! It must be a lie!¡± Vera added, while removing a piece of folded paper from the pocket on her shorts.


    ¡°That poster? Someone pasted it on my back just now!¡± I said.


    ¡°Report him!¡± Joey said.


    ¡°I wanted to, but that Daniel Lim Jia Jun wanted to give him one chance!¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yes? Did you call me?¡± Daniel appeared. ¡°Can I have that poster?¡±


    Vera handed the poster to Daniel, who said there were additional words on it. It turned out that the poster was similarly pasted on Vera¡¯s back, but had more words explaining how she was my ¡®slave¡¯ and how I cheated on her in P5 so I could get more power among the prefects. Joey told Daniel the person who pasted the poster was immediately held back by the teacher at the workshop for further action. Vera gave Daniel the student¡¯s name too. Was Huayi that capable?


    Abishek then approached us with the same poster, but complained about how a boy scratched Xuanyu¡¯s back before pasting the poster at the toy car workshop. That poster stated how Xuanyu was my main victim of exploitation for power. Not long after, Hui Wen came with the poster which targeted Clarissa. Another poster targeted at Elise came as well. Daniel, Hui Wen, Jerome and Ariana tried to disperse the mob which formed around us.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry bro, you¡¯ve got our backs. Nothing bad will happen to you!¡± Daniel said to me firmly before he and Hui Wen left to find our prefect teachers and disciplinary staff.


    Vera told me to follow them. I hesitated, because I felt I had succumbed to Daniel¡¯s overpowering and he would settle the issue by himself so it was pointless for me to be present. After Vera said she would accompany me, I agreed to follow them.


    Before meeting the teachers, I said to Daniel, ¡°Let me do the explanations. You just need to stand there.¡±


    I took the posters from Daniel¡¯s hands and began telling the teachers what I knew about the issue. I raised the point that the prime suspect was Huayi due to what Abner had hinted. Hui Wen added that Huayi kept asking her things about me and she found it suspicious. The discipline master instructed Daniel to fetch Huayi from his duty area.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen those posters before! I wasn¡¯t the one who made them!¡± Huayi protested.


    ¡°Who is it then?¡± Hui Wen asked.


    ¡°Why are you asking me? Didn¡¯t I say it¡¯s not me?¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°Please tell the truth!¡± the discipline master shouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s really not me. I¡¯m a prefect. I¡¯m aware of the double punishment we will face. Why will I do this to my Captain? It¡¯s not being a good influence to the rest,¡± Huayi explained.


    I spoke up, ¡°You are saying the opposite of what you mean! I have plenty of evidence to prove that!¡±


    I gave the teachers names of prefects who could prove that Huayi was certainly lying. They made him and the other students who pasted the posters on me and my friends stay back after school. I was glad. People ought to face the consequences for their wrongdoings.


    I was bothered by the defamation, but I tried to brush it aside by thinking of the recce trip I would have with the Aquarius committee the next day. As expected, the same people signed up for it. The best part was Vera being willing to sacrifice her gaming time to join us. We wanted to encourage Joey to join too, but she was not keen. The other people who indicated interest in joining the committee were the same 6A students and the Abner gang. Alicia and Ace joined too.


    The next morning, I went to the 5A classroom and called Abner out.


    ¡°I need your help now,¡± I said to him. ¡°I need you to tell me exactly what Huayi said to you.¡±


    ¡°Is it because of the incident yesterday? Huayi never told me anything about sticking posters. I did tell Mr Sinnathamby that Huayi has the highest level of suspicion, but he said no!¡± Abner said.


    ¡°Was that all you told him?¡±


    ¡°No. Mr Sinnathamby and the other teachers told me they trust Huayi did not do anything wrong! Even those offenders said it was not Huayi!¡±


    ¡°What? How can they not know who made them do it?¡±


    ¡°I was told the offenders don¡¯t know the person¡¯s name and the person has a very common look! So I told the teachers to investigate Irfan!¡±


    ¡°What do you know about him? And why does Hui Wen keep making him do things?¡±


    ¡°Not much I know of, but he complains about you a lot so he¡¯s a possible suspect.¡±


    I was quite sure Irfan was not the only one against me. In that case, should I report Lloyd and Elina? Abner was really daring to report Irfan without evidence. Fortunately, the commotion had not escalated to the extent where Daniel and I were asked to swap places.


    After school, those going for the recce trip met at the foyer. Everyone in the exco turned up except for Kok Keong and Elliot, and Daniel needed to leave for church earlier. Most of the 6A prefects turned up and Xin Jie joined us too.


    ¡°Where are we going today?¡± Alyssa asked me.


    ¡°We¡¯re deciding soon, don¡¯t worry,¡± I replied.


    Abner popped in. ¡°Guys, we have a new friend joining us today. Meet Rachel. She wants to join the exco.¡±


    ¡°Why are you here? You need to study for your exams!¡± Xin Yi said to the P5s.


    ¡°Study for exams? Since when are you so nerdy that you have to tell them to study?¡± Ethan said.


    ¡°Relax man!¡± Abner said. ¡°President Daniel tells us not to worry about exams because they are just small parts of life and we¡¯ll take even harder exams next time. Right, Daniel?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely! You¡¯re doing well enough anyway!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell I was kidding?¡± Xin Yi screamed into Abner¡¯s face.


    ¡°Gosh, she¡¯s crazy,¡± Vera whispered to me.


    Darren suddenly spoke, ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! Thanks for volunteering to lead Project Aquarius! Today, we¡¯ll be surveying Emerald Lake Park!¡±


    Since when did we agree on going there? Did Darren make the decision himself again?


    ¡°What? I thought we¡¯re deciding where to go now?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°Yeah, the form said that!¡± Kelly added.


    ¡°Can I say something?¡± I said. ¡°Kelly is right that the form didn¡¯t state we¡¯re going to Emerald Lake Park.¡±


    ¡°If you think about it, it¡¯s the only place we can go because we will only create jams if we pick up litter in other places,¡± Sean said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not. There¡¯s Shamrock Park too, and we can always split up,¡± Xin Jie said.


    ¡°You know what? You¡¯re right! We should split!¡± Darren said.


    It was already the end of P6. What else could Darren do? Darren and a few others headed straight to Emerald Lake Park while the rest of us headed for Shamrock Park.


    I was walking with Vera when Zoey came and said, ¡°Hannah is waiting for you to talk to her! I can take care of Aloe Vera!¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell her to come over so we can walk together!¡± I said.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re calling me over? We haven¡¯t talked for some time man! How do you think you¡¯ll do for PSLE?¡± Hannah said.


    ¡°Yes we haven¡¯t talked. The papers were not bad. Hope I¡¯ll get three A*s. You?¡± I said.


    ¡°Same. I want to go to FRSS like you but if I do too well my parents will force me into another school!¡± Hannah said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to think about exams,¡± Vera chuckled.


    ¡°Before I forget, we have to choose a project leader for our upcoming cleanup. We can have a debrief afterwards and see who¡¯s suitable,¡± I said to Hannah.


    ¡°Sean wants to be the leader,¡± Hannah said. ¡°I¡¯m thinking whether he will do a good job.¡±


    When we arrived at Shamrock Park, I got them to form small groups to survey the park. I formed a group with Vera, Alicia, Xuanyu and Xin Jie.


    Alicia asked me, ¡°Do you want to come to my birthday party?¡±


    ¡°Is-¡± I tried to speak but got interrupted by her.


    ¡°Is Daniel going? No, he¡¯s not. He¡¯s going out with his church friends. I know you will ask so I¡¯m asking you when he¡¯s not around. I¡¯ve asked our Choir friends too! You know who won¡¯t go right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the same people. I¡¯m interested! What will we do?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Play at the adventure park at the beach!¡± Alicia replied.


    ¡°Oh nice!¡± I turned to Xuanyu. ¡°Are you going?¡±


    ¡°No...the prefects¡¯ one at Aqueris was bad enough! I¡¯m going for her Wednesday party. Daniel¡¯s going too,¡± she replied.


    A while later, Jerome, Xin Yi, Nazreen, Varunya and Lawrence were seen with their hands full of rubbish.


    ¡°Ew! Why would you pick up rubbish with your hands? You should have gotten some tongs!¡± Kelly complained.


    ¡°My bad, I was too excited,¡± Jerome chuckled.


    After they returned from a nearby toilet to wash their hands, we decided to set off to join the rest at Emerald Lake Park. We saw Alex, Jia Jie and Sean holding trash bags.


    ¡°All of you came here to pick up litter without us?¡± Ariana asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s such a good place for cleaning up! We should just confirm our location here!¡± Sean said.


    ¡°Yes, and I have a new idea. We can talk to members of the public about the environment and how they keep the parks and green spaces clean,¡± Darren added.


    ¡°Yes! Environment Club is so good! Wow!¡± Ethan remarked.


    ¡°Uniformed groups we¡¯re in are better!¡± Willis said. ¡°I think we don¡¯t need a recce trip. It¡¯s quite clear where we can go.¡±


    ¡°Yes I agree! Why did we even waste time coming here?¡± Grace said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that! It¡¯s good to come out and bond!¡± Daniel pointed out.


    Abner randomly said to me, ¡°Irfan confessed and he¡¯s going to be punished!¡±


    ¡°So he was the one behind it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I know he admitted himself and told the teachers who the guy who made those people paste the posters was. I don¡¯t think they managed to catch the main offender.¡±


    ¡°Can you even trust our school¡¯s teachers to catch him? I bet they can¡¯t! The teachers are so bad that I don¡¯t bother paying attention in class. I hope I can escape to some secondary school where the teachers are better!¡± Alex said.


    I was curious about how Abner got all the information. It was a relief to know Irfan confessed, but something was still hanging in the air. Could Abner be the mastermind instead? He might have an ulterior motive, looking at how many connections he was trying to make with the P6 prefects. Wait, I should factor in his mental condition before jumping into conclusions.


    We decided to appoint Grace as the P5 prefect in charge of the first session and Abishek be the P6 in charge. We agreed on having two groups, one of which is smaller than the other. The bigger group would be stationed at Emerald Lake Park while the smaller group would be at Shamrock Park before joining the rest. The date was confirmed and the teachers were informed to craft the consent forms.


    The next Tuesday, I had more chances to catch up with my friends at Alicia¡¯s birthday outing, since it was not a serious FRansformed meeting. Alicia did say previously that I could invite my close friends like Vera as well, but as expected, she did not want to mix around with others. Most of the people present were from 6A. As for our CCA friends, only Stuart, Raju, Chloe, Vernice and Natsuko were keen.


    I was supposed to meet up with some of my CCA friends, but Jia Jie saw me and decided to join.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°You¡¯re waiting for Stuart and the rest?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes, how did you know our meeting point?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Jerome told me, and I want to meet your Choir people too. I forgot to ask you if you¡¯re okay. That poster incident must have been hard on you!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m better now. In fact, I have been trying to endure the nonsense of these immature prefects who oppose me since January. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple.¡±


    Chloe came and chatted with Jia Jie for a while before we continued the conversation.


    ¡°As I was saying, the issue is more than the posters. There¡¯s a mastermind who planned everything!¡± I said.


    ¡°Who?¡± Chloe asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not clear who the main one is, but Irfan admitted he was the one who made the people paste the posters,¡± I said.


    ¡°What? He¡¯s quite nice in class, but likes to say bad things about you,¡± Chloe said.


    ¡°Yes, that''s why prefect selection in our school is a mistake!¡± I said.


    ¡°Have the teachers gotten back to you about the new exco selection?¡± Jia Jie asked.


    Vernice and Natsuko arrived.


    ¡°Are you guys talking about the poster incident? Those people were really bad!¡± Natsuko remarked.


    ¡°Yeah! The person who did it is actually a prefect from my class!¡± Chloe added.


    Jia Jie broke the ice with the girls for a short while before Stuart came. He claimed he overslept and almost forgot about the outing because he wanted to sleep. That made me recall Stuart¡¯s attitude throughout the past two years. He did not turn up for every single meeting and often complained he was tired and wanted to sleep. Completing his assigned tasks was not a problem, but he seldom contributed ideas. I should not blame him, because there was always someone giving the ¡®better¡¯ ideas.


    We proceeded to the nature park near Ripple Plateau, where the rest were. Some mothers of 6A students were there too. Ethan immediately came to give us light handshakes, asking for the names of my friends. Jerome followed too.


    ¡°Seems like quite a lot from your class are here!¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s less than half the class! Alicia doesn¡¯t want to invite some people. I think you know why,¡± Jerome replied.


    We went over to talk to Alicia while we walked towards the adventure course.


    ¡°Wow! You¡¯re really fortunate to have so many classmates celebrating your birthday with you!¡± I said to Alicia.


    ¡°Exactly! My class is fun, but we don¡¯t celebrate birthdays as a class and we don¡¯t know everyone¡¯s birthdays,¡± Chloe said.


    ¡°Mine is worse and makes me want to graduate fast!¡± I said.


    ¡°How have you celebrated so far?¡± Natsuko asked Alicia.


    ¡°On Sunday I went out with Ace, Jerome and Ethan Tay. Yesterday, the four of us and Xin Yi went to the KTV, then to Aquarius Water Park where Ileana and Elise joined us. I need you guys to help teach Ace how to sing. It was so funny yesterday! And Jerome¡¯s singing is not bad!¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Yes, he sings well. I think I asked him to lead the school song before,¡± Stuart said.


    ¡°He¡¯s not from Choir so he can¡¯t lead,¡± Vernice pointed out.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Stuart said.


    I looked around. Most of the FRansformed contributors were there. Alex and Sean, who liked to create fun, were weirdly not present.


    ¡°Why are some people from your class not here?¡± I asked Alicia.


    ¡°I really want to enjoy this week so I didn¡¯t invite people who will spoil the fun. You know who they are,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t Lawrence here?¡± I asked.


    Zoey said, ¡°It¡¯s so obvious!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s so stingy that he doesn¡¯t even want to come out!¡± Izumi added.


    ¡°More like his attire¡¯s not suitable for today¡¯s activities and he doesn¡¯t want us to see him wearing something else!¡± Zoey chuckled. ¡°And Hannah wants to talk to you!¡±


    The adventure course had three levels of high elements, a rock wall and a zipline. Ethan, Xin Yi, Zoey and some others wanted to do rock climbing first. My Choir friends and I decided to go for the high elements.


    ¡°Which level should I go? The third one looks scary,¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°Let your boy decide for you!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Hmm...I want to see you high as a kite on the third level. Since it¡¯s your last birthday as a child, you should have the spotlight and be the first in the queue,¡± Ace said.


    ¡°If I¡¯m on the third level, where will you be? The high elements is no joke!¡± Alicia said.


    ¡°With you, I¡¯m not scared!¡±


    ¡°Please be in front of me so I know you¡¯re okay!¡±


    Jerome said to me, ¡°They¡¯re so cute!¡±


    I proceeded to the third level with them, Elise, Chloe and Vernice. Stuart and Natsuko initially wanted to go to the second level, but later went down to the first. Ace was the first to start, followed by Alicia. Ace seemed pretty confident. Jerome explained to the rest of us that Ace¡¯s anxiety attacks would more likely act up during stressful situations such as assessments and bullying. Ace enjoyed reading, writing and acting, which would help him forget about his troubles. We also found out that Alicia had made the effort to take care of him throughout primary school.


    After we were done with high elements, we went for rock climbing. Ace was not keen, so Elise volunteered to rest with him. Alicia and Ariana went first, so Jerome began to talk to the rest of us about mental health.


    ¡°Something I don¡¯t understand is the discrimination of people with mental issues,¡± he said. ¡°Look at Ace. He has so much potential. I don¡¯t know why people in this fallen world have to treat him as if he¡¯s worth less than a cent.¡±


    I said, ¡°Same. Nobody deserves to be insulted because he has a mental issue. What happened to our Project Agape?¡±


    ¡°Gone down the drain! Chloe, Vernice, will both of you be going to FRSS?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± they replied.


    ¡°Nice! I¡¯m most likely heading there too. I¡¯d appreciate if you guys help if we have Agape in FRSS. I¡¯m not really suffering under the autism spectrum, but I feel the urgent need for others to be helped,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you affected by it?¡± Chloe asked.


    ¡°Because he¡¯s awesome!¡± Elise replied.


    ¡°Please bear with my long explanation. When I was two, I couldn¡¯t speak. My family knew something was wrong so they sent me to the psychiatrist and I got diagnosed. I was affected by it, Chloe. I messed up many friendships and got very depressed. I was a little too direct and invasive. But thank God, it turned out for the better in primary school. Alicia and Ace have been my classmates since P1. Alicia was very nice to me.¡±


    ¡°Yes she¡¯s quite nice!¡± Chloe commented.


    ¡°Ace was kind and helpful too, but always bullied. Daniel was from another class and managed to find out so he would come and talk to him. I think we were only P2. I soon became good friends with Daniel and started to observe how he talked to others, so my social skills improved. I could go up to someone and ask ¡®How¡¯s your day?¡¯ without any problem!¡±


    ¡°No problem?¡± Vernice asked. ¡°You must be very brave!¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s because I¡¯m an extrovert. I need to talk to people. You should try the personality test. I¡¯m 85 or 88 percent extroverted. Daniel¡¯s is 95 percent; Ethan¡¯s is 83; Jia Jie¡¯s is 78; Alicia¡¯s is 64 I think. For introverts we have Darren Gore - 67; Sean¡¯s is 58; Xuanyu¡¯s is 77 and Nazreen¡¯s is 86.¡±


    ¡°Why do you remember these?¡± Chloe asked. ¡°And I didn¡¯t know that Darren guy is an introvert!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I remember!¡± Jerome chuckled.


    We went to play at the beach afterwards. Ethan suggested having a sand art competition.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to draw your face!¡± Xin Yi said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll draw the entire you, fatso! And I¡¯ll call Alex to play with your belly fats!¡± Ethan said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll now draw a slenderman who is you!¡±


    Elise said, ¡°That¡¯s how they like to joke with each other, even though Ethan isn¡¯t that thin and Xin Yi isn¡¯t that fat.¡±


    I walked up to Alicia.


    ¡°Just curious, which secondary school are you aiming for?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I want to stay in FR. I¡¯m convincing Ace too! He wants to go to DPHS!¡± she replied.


    Jerome spoke to Ace, ¡°Hey bro, join us in FR. Your princess-¡±


    Alicia stepped on Jerome''s foot. ¡°Shush! They can hear us!¡± She was referring to their mothers.


    ¡°Yeah, your girl-¡± Ethan said.


    Alicia kicked Ethan. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you pay if it gets leaked out!¡±


    ¡°I think I want to go to FR. I forgot DPHS is a boys school,¡± Ace said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll most likely be there too! Hopefully we¡¯ll be in the same class!¡± I said.


    Alicia then had her second birthday cake. We played for a while and left. For the next two days, I did not do much, but looked forward to the first dance practise session. Daniel¡¯s father had helped to book a dance studio at Forge Harbour Central Community Club for us. Daniel asked me, Li Xuan, Hui Wen, Khairul and Farah to come at eight in the morning to start on the choreography. Daniel had the courtesy to let us contribute, but we were too clueless about dance so we let him, Khairul and Hui Wen choreograph.


    The rest came, so Ariana and Priscilla announced the pairings. Somehow, there was an equal gender ratio.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Ariana


    </td>


    <td>


    Khairul


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Priscilla


    </td>


    <td>


    Darren


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Jia Jie


    </td>


    <td>


    Vivian


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Nazreen


    </td>


    <td>


    Ian


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Xuanyu


    </td>


    <td>


    Jordan


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Rayana


    </td>


    <td>


    Xin Jie


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Hui Wen


    </td>


    <td>


    Willis


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Izumi


    </td>


    <td>


    Elvin


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cynthia


    </td>


    <td>


    Kok Keong


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Elise


    </td>


    <td>


    Novan


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Li Xuan


    </td>


    <td>


    Jerome


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Sylvia


    </td>


    <td>


    Daniel


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Xin Ying


    </td>


    <td>


    Eng Soon


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Clarissa


    </td>


    <td>


    Elliot


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Viktoriya


    </td>


    <td>


    Joash


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Isabel


    </td>


    <td>


    Stuart


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Farah


    </td>


    <td>


    Kok Weng


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Almost all the boys were keen on the dance, except for the two expected ones. Hui Wen wanted to dance with Irfan, but she said he had been banned from the prefectorial board after the incident. Ha!


    ¡°Sylvia is the lucky girl!¡± Khairul announced.


    ¡°You need to control yourself,¡± I told him.


    ¡°Hey Clarissa,¡± Elise said. ¡°You are not paired with Jordan.¡±


    Clarissa turned to me. ¡°You can practise with me sometimes. It will be hard for you to practise if your partner is Xuanyu. At first I was afraid my partner would be too tall but Elliot is a really good choice!¡±


    ¡°Whereas Xuanyu is taller than me. I don¡¯t even know if height matters because I was blindly watching when Daniel and the dancers were trying out the moves,¡± I said.


    All of a sudden, Ethan and Xin Yi popped in.


    ¡°What are you intruders doing here? Get out!¡± Jerome said to them jokingly.


    ¡°Who sent you here?¡± Willis asked. ¡°Hannah? Is she going to invite the whole school to the dance too?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not coming! Heh, good idea to have a hip hop dance for prom!¡± Xin Yi said.


    ¡°Yes it always is, but the level won¡¯t be willing to learn a dance just for that. You¡¯re here because you have nothing to do before meeting Alicia and the rest?¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Right! And where¡¯s that loser prefect from 6B? The one who thinks he¡¯s so great! I need to harass him!¡± Ethan announced.


    ¡°Chew Huayi? He¡¯s not here, as usual,¡± I replied.


    ¡°What¡¯s his number? I seriously need to give him a call!¡± Ethan said.


    ¡°We don¡¯t encourage such behaviour here, bro,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yeah! If you have nothing better to do, just get out and don¡¯t disturb us!¡± Xin Jie said.


    ¡°I wonder if Abner and friends are coming without notice,¡± I said.


    Xuanyu took out her phone. ¡°He kept asking me if he can come just now.¡±


    ¡°I like how you didn¡¯t add his contact,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ask the expert!¡± Daniel suddenly shouted and a certified dance instructor came to aid us.


    The instructor really saved our time! If not for him, we would not have progressed so quickly. We would be split into two groups, one of each would dance a scene before a combined one. Daniel, Khairul and Farah would be leading the first scene while Hui Wen, Li Xuan and I would lead the second.


    The instructor was mostly helping my group, because Daniel seemed very competent to lead the other group. I had no idea how he could get so good at choreography (better than Khairul) having only picked up dancing a year earlier. Xuanyu was doing fine at the start. I could see she had interest in dancing. When it was time to test out a move which involved me holding her hands and giving her a quick spin, she hesitated.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a dance. Hold me hands only during the dance and we can continue our lives without holding hands after that,¡± I said to Xuanyu.


    Willis whispered to me, ¡°You rejected her like that, wow. She doesn¡¯t like guys to touch her. Nothing much we can do.¡±


    ¡°Come on...we¡¯re just holding hands like everyone else. I won¡¯t harm you. I promise,¡± I said.


    Clarissa said, ¡°I can practise with you first! Hui Wen! Teach Xuanyu how to spin for now!¡±


    For the rest of that session, I practised all moves which required contact with Clarissa, and sometimes Hui Wen. I was worried. We were the only pair which could not coordinate. The others were nice to help encourage Xuanyu, but would we end up coordinating eventually?


    The next day, I was called to the discipline master¡¯s office regarding the defamation case. Irfan was there, no longer wearing his prefect uniform. After apologising to me, he revealed that the mastermind was a P5 boy from Floorball. I instantly knew Huayi was the main mastermind, as he could make use of his connections to execute the defamation. Too bad, he was foolish enough to use his CCA junior. I asked the discipline master to call Huayi too, because I highly suspected him.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t my idea. It was his!¡± Huayi accused his junior.


    ¡°Why would it be me? It wasn¡¯t even him who told me to do it!¡± his junior protested.


    Those two lines were incredibly flawed. Huayi¡¯s junior should have accused Huayi if he did not want to take the responsibility. I took the chance to expose what Huayi had been saying about me and the exco. As morning assembly was about to begin, the discipline master decided to hold him back and continue the investigation later.


    My time had come. I could call on people to back me up. I recalled Abner saying that Huayi spoke to Vivian and Elise besides Xuanyu. Thus, I called Vivian, Xuanyu and Elise to go to the discipline master¡¯s office with me during admin period. Ethan volunteered to go too. I was contemplating whether to get Abner as well, as I had some suspicions, but Xuanyu said it would be great to have him there too.


    Huayi said, ¡°There is no use if you bring so many people because I didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡±


    ¡°You did! All the arrows are pointing at you!¡± Abner said.


    ¡°If I could bring one more person, I¡¯ll definitely bring Rayana. She told me that you want revenge on Jordan,¡± Vivian said.


    ¡°Why would I want revenge?¡± Huayi protested. ¡°Jordan didn¡¯t do anything bad to me.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I tried my best to treat all of you well. Ask yourself,¡± I said.


    ¡°Guys! Stop!¡± Ethan shouted. ¡°Dude! Are we blind? No! Are we deaf? No! Stop treating us as if we¡¯re senile and own up!¡±


    ¡°Who are you to shout at me? There¡¯s no evidence that I did it!¡± Huayi said.


    ¡°Since February you have been telling me that you¡¯ll make sure Jordan will have a tough life,¡± Xuanyu said.


    ¡°You told me too!¡± Elise added.


    ¡°Yes! The culprit is him! Can I turn on my phone to show my Whatsapp chat with him?¡± Huayi¡¯s junior suddenly said.


    Huayi tried to deny, but could not redeem himself when asked to open his Whatsapp chat with his junior.


    ¡°I get that you¡¯re jealous, but you did nothing but complain! You could have just told me how you felt and we¡¯ll give you more work to do in FRansformed. Fine with me! I hope you don¡¯t carry this attitude with you to secondary school. It won¡¯t help you at all!¡± I chided Huayi.


    Like Irfan, Huayi was banned from the prefectorial board. The two black sheep were out.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t be the first to be kicked out!¡± Elise said to Ethan.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather be kicked out than remain with those loser prefects! I think the secondary school has even more of them!¡± Ethan said.


    Alright, that was a strong statement, corroborated by what Elijah and Rebecca had been telling me. I would see in a few months.


    The next Tuesday, we had our second dance practice after school. We began by recapping the first half of our assigned scenes. Again, I had to trouble Clarissa to practise the spinning part and Hui Wen had to do it with Xuanyu.


    After a few moves for our second part, Hui Wen announced to our group, ¡°Get ready for this! For the next move, girls, you have to put your hands on your guys¡¯ shoulders when he squats, look at each other, smile, hi-five, grab his hand and pull away. Let me show you. Willis! Squat!¡±


    The prefects began murmuring, even those from the other group.


    ¡°It will get more fun later. Right? Daniel?¡± Hui Wen chuckled.


    I said to Xuanyu, ¡°You are the one touching me, not me touching you!¡±


    Xuanyu just giggled, while Clarissa came to me. We were the only pair with such an issue and I admired how Xuanyu did not seem embarrassed. Later, Xin Ying complained about the way we were being taught the dance. She would rather the entire dance sequence be crafted instead of deciding together after each step. Many agreed.


    The other group was ahead of us. Elise said Daniel and Khairul had been trying out many different moves during their free time in class.


    ¡°Sorry guys!¡± Daniel spoke. ¡°We have failed to take note of what''s best for us. We now understand that you want the choreographers to decide the move sequence first. Last call - any more volunteers? We¡¯re graduating from here so soon! We must enjoy our final moments as a prefectorial board!¡±


    Clarissa, Jerome, Jia Jie and Darren volunteered.


    ¡°I guess we can finish up the choreography now?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°What do the rest do then? Nothing?¡± Xin Jie asked.


    ¡°Of course not!¡± Daniel chuckled. ¡°You can bond with others! If you want, you can practise the steps we learnt!¡±


    Daniel and Khairul decided to help my group do the choreography while Izumi tried to engage the rest in a game. We ended the session with a run through of the dance for the first half of each of our scenes.


    The next day, the choreographers had a session to choreograph the final scene, which involved all prefects. Daniel encouraged the non-dancers to try leading the dance the next session.


    We had our third practice session the next day. I decided to lead my group, with Clarissa as my demonstration partner, while Hui Wen went to help Xuanyu. A while later, Hui Wen called Li Xuan and Jerome out to lead instead, so Clarissa and I could go back to practise with our partners. Li Xuan was a little shy to lead, but Jerome was very encouraging to her.


    ¡°Boys, stand behind your partner and put your right arm in front of her shoulders. Girls, grab his elbow.¡± Li Xuan said.


    I put my right arm horizontally in front of Xuanyu and she backed out.


    ¡°Not too close,¡± she said.


    Hui Wen took the trouble to practise with both of us. I wondered what made Xuanyu like that, although she knew I would not harm her.


    ¡°Turn around to face him. Right hand on his shoulder and push him,¡± Li Xuan continued.


    ¡°Go Xuanyu!¡± Jerome shouted.


    After the session, Jerome told Xuanyu and I that we might need a contingency plan, should Xuanyu continue to avoid the moves which required contact. Xuanyu had no comment, so Jerome suggested we change our moves completely. Of course, I did not want that.


    Our next session was held the next week, the only session before our overseas trip. We were getting closer and closer to graduation. Would Xuanyu and I really need to change our moves? We did the same old thing of switching partners, such that I could tell Clarissa was very sick of it, yet Xuanyu would still casually giggle at it.


    At the end of the session, Daniel asked Xuanyu and I to stay back for a short while to run through some new moves with us. We would still appear in the second scene, but would have our individual solo moves. We were supposed to meet in the centre of the stage where we would do similar moves which mirrored each other. Xuanyu gave up halfway. What could we do now?


    On a sidenote, the teachers finally gave in to my request for the aspiring exco prefects to indicate interest in the specific positions. I was eager to see the names coming in, but I had to wait until after their examinations.


    During the overseas trip, a bunch of 6A students actually performed a dance. I heard it was initiated by Hannah and choreographed by Daniel. That should be the spirit, unlike my uninterested classmates. I hoped that Hannah would be in my secondary school class and Daniel would change his choice of secondary school. That would be a great combination.


    The examinations for our juniors ended around that time. I held a briefing for the P5 prefects to give them an overview of what the exco would do and some of our FRansformed plans left hanging. I showed them the online form for exco interest indication and told them I would have chit-chat sessions with candidates before their actual interviews. Yes, just me, enough screen time for Daniel.


    I became busier. I had to settle the chit-chat sessions, Aquarius and the dance. The night after the briefing, I received ten responses, five of which from Abner, Kelly, Grace, Adam and Alyssa were for School Captain. That would be a close fight. Many of the candidates wanted to see me the next day, which also had a dance practice session.


    I had great conversations with the candidates, who were very motivated to lead the school. I saw hope in that, but not in the dance. Prom was exactly in a week and Xuanyu was still adamant to switch to the new dance moves, let alone cooperate with me.


    The next day was our first Aquarius session. There was an excess of volunteers so Abishek decided to prioritise the P6s. I spent my time guiding Grace, also discussing ways to engage the younger batches to participate. Again, Daniel made a big contribution by providing loudspeakers and many trash bags. Why was he always prepared?


    We had three practice sessions the next week, of which the third would be held at the prom location.


    ¡°A little last minute, but we have yet to confirm the attire.¡± Daniel announced while flashing a presentation on the screen. ¡°Please wear jeans if you have or other comfortable pants that are not track pants. For the top, make sure there are no visible drawings or logos in the middle. You guys need to wear denim jackets or long-sleeved shirts over your top.¡±


    ¡°Denim jackets are preferred. If you don¡¯t have, ask Daniel, but he has a limited number,¡± Khairul added.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t wearing those for the actual prom! Wear the dance attire to school on Thursday and bring your prom attire along!¡± Daniel said.


    Xuanyu said to me, ¡°I think I won¡¯t dance. The jacket and pants will make it worse.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me? The ballroom is probably going to be so cold that you need them. You¡¯ve put in such much effort practising and you¡¯re quitting like that?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, Jordan won¡¯t do anything bad to you. Just hold his hand!¡± Willis added.


    Clarissa came and forced Xuanyu¡¯s hand into mine.


    ¡°I¡¯m letting go, tell me how you feel,¡± she said, but Xuanyu let go.


    ¡°I want to know what is stopping you,¡± I said to Xuanyu, who just smiled and shrugged.


    ¡°Just hold his hand!¡± Elliot said.


    ¡°You¡¯re dancing in front of every P6! Would they want to see a weird couple?¡± Xin Ying said.


    ¡°Stop! You¡¯re giving her pressure. Let her get used to it herself!¡± Jerome said.


    Xuanyu showed no signs of discomfort, but rather found the switching of partners during the moves involving contact amusing. We had to trouble Hui Wen and Clarissa again. Even others were complaining about that.


    I had no idea what to do, so I said, ¡°If you can hold my hand and do those moves together today, I¡¯ll buy you something.¡±


    Xuanyu¡¯s expression changed.


    ¡°Buy me a Samsung S6!¡± she chuckled.


    I facepalmed. She was hopeless. I zoned in and out when the next round of practise began, until the first move which we needed to hold hands¡­


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Switch,¡± I said.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t spin me!¡±


    I heard cheering. Was I dreaming? Xuanyu finally held my hand? We quickly caught up with the beat. I did not have to worry about that again!


    Some of us in the exco proposed to the teachers to have a handover ceremony the next morning with all prefects and junior leaders present rather than the next year. I was eager to know who my successor would be¡­


    The ceremony commenced with the teacher thanking my exco for our contributions, before the following table was flashed on screen.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    CAPTAIN


    </td>


    <td>


    CHUN SAU WAI KELLY


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VICE CAPTAIN 1


    </td>


    <td>


    ABNER TEO QIAN


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VICE CAPTAIN 2


    </td>


    <td>


    GRACE MARINA LAYCOCK


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SECRETARY


    </td>


    <td>


    TAN RUI HAN


    </td>


    <td>


    5B


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL  ASSEMBLY


    </td>


    <td>


    ADAM RABIUL BIN MOHAMAD OSMAN


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL ASSEMBLY


    </td>


    <td>


    SUGAWARA JOYCE


    </td>


    <td>


    5C


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL CLASSES (BATCH 1)


    </td>


    <td>


    ALYSSA KUAH


    </td>


    <td>


    5B


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL CLASSES (BATCH 1)


    </td>


    <td>


    SATO AKANE


    </td>


    <td>


    5B


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL CLASSES (BATCH 2)


    </td>


    <td>


    VIJAYARATNA KALIMUTHU


    </td>


    <td>


    5D


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL CLASSES (BATCH 2)


    </td>


    <td>


    CHEN LANXIANG


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL STAIRCASES


    </td>


    <td>


    ASHTON LOH JIA XUAN


    </td>


    <td>


    5C


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL STAIRCASES


    </td>


    <td>


    TAN JIATONG RYAN


    </td>


    <td>


    5A


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SL  FACILITIES


    </td>


    <td>


    KIRSTEN ERIKSDOTTER


    </td>


    <td>


    5B


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    VSL FACILITIES


    </td>


    <td>


    STEFANIYA ANTONOVA


    </td>


    <td>


    5C


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The incoming exco was asked to stand. Abner began jumping and shaking others¡¯ hands. I had a good glance at them - nine girls and five boys? That was incredibly skewed. The top three positions were pretty much expected. I was glad that Lanxiang made it in. It had been a long time since I talked to Ashton, but I remembered I saw some potential in her.


    Both batches of exco were asked to stand in front while the teachers handed my team the new badges to be pinned on our juniors¡¯ uniforms. I pinned the shiny red badge on Kelly¡¯s uniform after she removed her ¡®PREFECT¡¯ badge.


    ¡°We have to celebrate this!¡± she said. ¡°Suggest a place to go!¡±


    ¡°Ask the rest. I need to talk to all of you. Friday¡¯s a good day,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll Whatsapp you?¡±


    ¡°Again, I don¡¯t have Whatsapp. I''ll tell you my new Gmail address.¡±


    Later, the P6s had some informal photo taking sessions, where we could form groups and bring props. As expected, no one in my class brought props and we had our photographs taken in cliques, whereas 6A had arguments on how the groups should be formed. They brought all sorts of props like balloons and soft toys. One even brought a mini fish tank.


    The final day of primary school had finally come. All P6 prefects were allowed to ditch their uniforms for once. As I did not fancy suits, I decided to wear the jeans for dancing throughout the day and change my T-shirt to the long-sleeved shirt I would wear for the dance. I brought suspenders too.


    The prefects involved in dancing set off immediately after lunch. Our teacher took us to the backstage area of the ballroom to put down our items, and when he turned on the lights¡­


    ¡°Hey! Hey! What¡¯s up? Come on and join this dance! And I¡¯m not Megan¡¯s brother!¡±


    We saw Abner fidgeting about, then the familiar hip-hop song played and he pulled Kelly out for the dance.


    After a while, Abner shouted, ¡°Now!¡±


    Two pairs - Adam and Grace as well as the Secretary Rui Han and Alyssa emerged. When the song ended, a lot more P5 prefects emerged out of the blue and threw confetti.


    ¡°You guys are always full of surprises!¡± Daniel chuckled.


    I approached Kelly. ¡°What brought all of you here?¡±


    ¡°We want to see all of you together one last time! Our outing is tomorrow right?¡± she said.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve asked Ariana to come along. She said Daniel can¡¯t make it and told us to go ahead. Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°Kelly¡¯s house!¡± Adam replied.


    After some practising, it was time for us to get our makeup done. One of the makeup artists was Cuthbert, and Stuart and I had a good catchup with him. Before we knew it, the dancers for the first scene were already getting in position¡­


    ¡°Ready?¡± I whispered to Xuanyu.


    ¡°Yep,¡± she replied.


    I gave her a light handshake before we set out. The dance was really enjoyable despite the music genre and I was sad it ended so quickly.


    ¡°We should really meet again someday to do this dance!¡± I said out loud when we returned backstage.


    ¡°Lives get busier next year,¡± Darren said.


    We then changed into our prom attire.


    Before returning to our seats, I said to Xuanyu, ¡°Dance together later?¡±


    She gave an awkward smile and nodded.


    I returned to my seat. Unsurprisingly, my class only filled two tables. I sat with my clique (except Graham) and Vivian¡¯s. Eng Soon sat with us too because he was the only one in his clique present.


    ¡°Jordan! Look at Vera!¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Wow! You look amazing today!¡± I said to Vera, who clad in an orange sleeveless dress


    ¡°I haven¡¯t worn a dress for years, and this will probably be the last time in many years,¡± she replied.


    After some food, we had our first mass slow dance. I looked over where 6A was. Xuanyu seemed busy talking to Izumi. I decided to pair with Vera first, until Vivian told me to switch with him and I paired with Joey instead.


    Later, the P5 prefects sang a song for us on stage. I would miss out on their activities the next year, but I just wanted to graduate quickly and have a fresh start in secondary school. Looking at how enthusiastic they were set my mind at ease.


    ¡°Jordan! Hannah wants to dance with you!¡± Zoey said to me when the next dance was about to begin.


    ¡°Sure! Why not?¡± I followed her to Hannah.


    ¡°Sorry, Darren Tan wants to dance with me first. I¡¯ll catch up with you later. I thought you are dancing with Xuanyu?¡± Hannah said.


    I caught Xuanyu¡¯s attention and we proceeded to the dance floor.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± she said awkwardly.


    ¡°Just hold my hands and follow my steps,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    ¡°And this dress looks great on you!¡±


    ¡°Okay...I just realised you¡¯re wearing the shirt for the dance.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t fancy suits. Are you worried about our results?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think you should choose a better school if you want to avoid Daniel so much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m quite sure he will change his mind and go to GI.¡±


    Prom ended with numerous photo taking sessions which almost drove me nuts, especially Joey who kept asking me to join her group pictures. I caught up with the prefects and some 6A students before leaving.


    The outing with the incoming exco started with lunch at Estuary Colonnade.


    ¡°Why are both of you in uniform?¡± Alyssa asked Abner and Kelly who just arrived.


    ¡°Awards Ceremony! I got first in class!¡± Abner replied.


    ¡°And I got a character award!¡± Kelly said.


    ¡°Oh, the award that Daniel gets every year?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes. He was at the ceremony and now he¡¯s meeting other people,¡± Ariana replied.


    While eating, Grace asked me, ¡°How many dance partners did you have yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Three?¡± I said.


    ¡°I had more!¡± Ariana chuckled. ¡°You know my class, and how does it feel to have Xuanyu holding your hand?¡±


    ¡°Why are you asking me that? Now I owe her something!¡± I said.


    ¡°I saw both of you yesterday and it reminded me of the camp last year when she refused to hold your hand! What¡¯s up next?¡± Ashton smirked.


    ¡°You said you owe her something? You''re going to buy her a ring!¡± Lanxiang said.


    ¡°Off topic, but did you notice that Lawrence wore something different yesterday?¡± Abner asked.


    ¡°Yes he wore a different shirt but I¡¯m quite sure he wore the same pants!¡± Kelly chuckled.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Ariana said.


    ¡°He unironically said he wanted to be a taxi driver!¡± Abner added.


    ¡°Nothing wrong with that, as long as he likes it,¡± I said.


    ¡°Lol I don¡¯t get how he likes to stinge on clothes and wants a low-paying job,¡± Adam chuckled.


    ¡°Maybe he saves money now so will have enough next time,¡± Rui Han pointed out.


    ¡°And Daniel said taxi drivers are getting pay increases and more bonuses,¡± Kelly added.


    Daniel yet again. Could I stop hearing positive things about Daniel for one day? I already knew how ¡®great¡¯ he was and did not need reinforcement on that.


    We went to Kelly¡¯s home nearby after lunch. Ariana and I took the chance to talk about the prefectorial board.


    ¡°So, how confident are all of you about taking over next year?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Very!¡± Abner replied. ¡°Thanks to Daniel for taking care of all of us since we were P4. He taught us the values of unity and compassion and we¡¯re now clear of what direction to drive the future prefects to.¡±


    ¡°Daniel again? You can¡¯t give him all the glory because he¡¯s not God,¡± I highlighted.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Abner said.


    ¡°But you see, he has been putting in so much effort trying to bond all the prefects,¡± Grace said.


    ¡°Yeah, and look at his class! There isn¡¯t a division between the boys and girls. I see boys shaking girls¡¯ hands!¡± Kelly added.


    ¡°Back to the question. Who is not confident?¡± Ariana asked.


    No one dared to respond.


    ¡°We¡¯re already planning!¡± Kelly said as she ran to get her laptop to show us their updated proposals.


    Akane, Alyssa¡¯s vice, began talking about how they planned to organise regular activities for the class buddies to get together and identify problems in their duty areas. Grace brought up new ideas for Project Aquarius and Rui Han talked a bit about Project Pegasus.


    I was satisfied. I could graduate without worrying about them. I told them I would like to meet up sometime the next year, but would I be free enough to do so?


    Soon, November almost came to an end and I was back in the school hall with my friends. I was too anxious to even catch up with my 6A friends, so I sat still in between Vera and Clarice.


    ¡°I think your name will be up there,¡± Clarice said.


    ¡°Being the Captain doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll naturally do well,¡± I replied.


    What was the chance of me hitting a score of at least 250? I was never one of the top fifteen. Based on what I heard from my 6A friends, Roshita or Darren had the highest chance of being the dux. I sort of hoped Daniel would do well so he would change his choice of secondary school. Not long later, a list of names were flashed on screen, all of which belonged to 6A students.


    Alex¡¯s name was at the top of the list...no way he would be the dux. The next was Ariana¡¯s. Alright, they were in alphabetical order, not rank order. As expected, Daniel and Darren¡¯s names were up too. Ethan was leading cheers where the class would chant the names and clap. Back to the list, I saw an ¡®Ethan¡¯...never mind, it was the other Ethan in their class.


    ¡°See? I told you I didn¡¯t do that well! I¡¯ll beat you at O or A Levels!¡± Ethan shouted out loud.


    ¡°Will you? I don¡¯t see the word ¡®smart¡¯ in ¡®Ethan Tay¡¯!¡± Alex shouted back.


    I saw a new list of names. Xuanyu¡¯s appeared first¡­


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m right!¡± Clarice said.


    I glanced at the list faster. Khairul¡¯s, Roshita¡¯s, Sean¡¯s, Jia Jie¡¯s and Zoey¡¯s names were there..and right below Zoey¡¯s name was mine! How was that possible?


    ¡°Woah Jordan! School Captain!¡± Ethan shouted while most of the 6A students turned to look at me.


    ¡°Bro, you¡¯re supposed to stand up!¡± Daniel chuckled.


    I stood up, then followed the rest up on stage for photo taking. Daniel went around shaking hands with others.


    ¡°Congrats, bro! Your hard work paid off!¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°Yes! Good job man! How does it feel to be the only one from 6B up here?¡± Khairul asked


    ¡°Good? I wonder how I actually did,¡± I said.


    Vera was the first in my class to receive her results slip.


    With a shocked expression, she said, ¡°All As? 242? What?¡±


    Joey instantly hugged her. ¡°Wow! You¡¯re smart! Let¡¯s see if I can beat you!¡±


    ¡°Graham will beat me!¡± Vera said and Graham remained expressionless.


    Jerome called me and I went over.


    ¡°How is it?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Lower than I expected but good enough! 246!¡± he replied.


    Willis said, ¡°Daniel got 252. Look at Darren! He¡¯s complaining about his score. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°Just stop! You have so many chances. You have six years in TI to prove yourself! You don¡¯t have to do it now!¡± Jia Jie said to Darren.


    ¡°Yes! But I got cheated by this school! Now I know my past six years were a complete lie!¡± Darren said.


    ¡°Hi, congratulations!¡± I said to him.


    ¡°Thanks, but it¡¯s not good enough!¡± Darren said while stomping the ground.


    ¡°261 is legendary! Come on!¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°That¡¯s really amazing!¡± I added.


    ¡°I needed 270!¡± Darren protested.


    ¡°Jordan! It¡¯s your turn!¡± Vivian shouted.


    I walked to the table where my teacher was with pride. Having my name flashed on screen was a good enough achievement. A* for Science, A for English, Mathematics and Chinese as well as a distinction for Higher Chinese with a score of 250. Close call.


    ¡°That¡¯s so high!¡± Joey remarked. ¡°I only got 236! But according to Elijah we can be in the same class right?¡±


    ¡°I hope¡­let¡¯s see,¡± I said.


    ¡°I got 219, but that¡¯s fine. We can still find time to meet next year,¡± Clarice said.


    ¡°How did Graham do?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Where did he go? Did he leave?¡± Vera asked.


    ¡°He said his parents wanted him to leave. I peeked at his results. He got 226,¡± Joey said.


    Xuanyu and I caught sight of each other and I waved at her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a picture!¡± Joey suggested and asked Xuanyu to take a picture of us holding our results slips.


    I decided to chat with Xuanyu for a while after the picture was taken.


    ¡°How?¡± she asked.


    ¡°250. You?¡±


    She showed me her results. She had two A*s - Chinese and Math, got a distinction for Higher Chinese too and a score of 254.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m not going to FR. Sorry,¡± she said.


    ¡°I see...I don¡¯t really like FR culture but I stay here for my friends and siblings. Anyway, I¡¯m just here to get an education. Oh! As promised, I bought something for you. Actually, my siblings and cousin paid for it too.¡±


    It was a phone cover.


    Xuanyu said, ¡°I was just joking! But thank you! I got this keychain for you. Thanks for being my Captain.¡±


    ¡°You bought it just for me¡±


    ¡°No, I gave others too. I¡¯m flying back to China tomorrow, but I¡¯ll be back before Sec 1 starts.¡±


    ¡°Will you go back for good one day?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I know I¡¯ll still be here for JC.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you a lot. I hope we can have some prefects reunion next year.¡±


    ¡°When you get Whatsapp, tell Jerome and he¡¯ll add you into our chat. I want to tell you a secret.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡±


    ¡°Why I hate it when guys touch me. You¡¯ll be happy when you hear this - Joseph Adams is bad. I lied when I said he¡¯s not. He scolded me for no reason and pressed my belly until it was very painful. Then I think he got some guy to touch me. It was scary!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry it happened to you. Joseph is Joseph. The secondary school now knows he¡¯s bad. I think my friends are waiting for me. Have a good trip and we¡¯ll meet again...someday¡­¡±


    I walked back to Vera, Joey and Clarice and Xin Yi began shouting, ¡°Captain! What did you get?¡±


    ¡°250. You?¡± I said.


    ¡°237! Aloe Vera! What did you get?¡±


    ¡°242,¡± Vera replied.


    ¡°Woah! I think we¡¯ll be in the same class! See you on posting day!¡± Xin Yi said.


    Vera, Joey, Clarice and I left with our mothers for lunch. Elijah and Rebecca joined too.


    ¡°I feel worried for Graham,¡± Joey said. ¡°I didn¡¯t have a chance to talk to him much just now. I hope he¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°How did he do?¡± Rebecca asked.


    ¡°226. He worked very hard but his parents forced him to go for his piano exam during PSLE, and I think that exam is a retake,¡± Joey replied.


    ¡°He could have asked me to teach him. But it¡¯s sad to see someone hate music so much. The world loses another keyboardist,¡± Elijah said.


    ¡°True, it¡¯s sad he can¡¯t be your classmate too,¡± Rebecca added.


    ¡°We should play a game and guess who our classmates will be!¡± I said.


    ¡°Definitely not me,¡± Clarice groaned.


    ¡°Jerome, Xin Yi, Ethan Tay,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°Sonia got the same score as me! What did Vivian get?¡± Joey said.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t say,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m curious to find out how the majority of 6A did. I know Jerome got 246. Willis got 245. Xuanyu got 254. Ariana got 253. Khairul got 256. And Darren Gore is salty over his 261.¡±


    ¡°That guy lol. What did Daniel get?¡± Clarice asked.


    ¡°252! I¡¯m so close! If he goes to FR, I¡¯ll make sure I beat him in every single exam!¡± I said.


    I still did not understand the general reaction to Daniel¡¯s results. People were expecting him to score at least 260, but his level ranking since P5 clearly suggested it was not possible. Really, wake up FRLites!


    Around a month later, we received our posting results. Indeed, Vera, Joey and I were posted to FRSS. On posting day, we met for lunch with our parents. Clarice was not there, unfortunately, as she had to report to National Sports Academy, where she had long secured a vacancy.


    ¡°Woah! Leroy sent me a picture of our class list! We are in 1A!¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Since when did you start communicating with Leroy?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It was after prom, when you were busy with your prefects. I mean, Leroy shared the same table with us. He asked me where I got my dress from and how much it costs, then he asked for my phone number,¡± Joey said.


    ¡°He¡¯s interested!¡± Vera chuckled.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not. I¡¯m trying to see the names!¡± Joey said and Vera moved herself closer to Joey to have a better look at her phone¡¯s screen. ¡°Vanetia...Daniel!¡±


    ¡°What? He was serious about it? Is he the only one with above 250 there?¡± I said.


    ¡°Wait...woah, Ethan Tay, Leroy, me, Sonia, Jordan, Jasmine, Milenka...Tham Yee Sin Hannah! Jordan, you care a lot about whether she¡¯s here right?¡± Joey said and handed me her phone.


    I scrutinised the list. Daniel was indeed in it. I hoped he actually appealed out, because I doubt FRSS suited him. There were many familiar names like Abishek, Jerome, Elise, Xin Yi, Nazreen, Alicia and Ace. I was surprised Xin Ying and Kok Keong made it into the top class too.


    ¡°Wait, Zoey is not here? I thought she said she wanted to come here,¡± I said.


    ¡°If there¡¯s a Zoey in our class the teachers will confuse both of us!¡± Joey pointed out.


    After lunch, we headed over to our secondary school hall where the registration was taking place. I walked over to Nazreen who was looking at our class list.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I greeted her.


    ¡°Hello. You¡¯re in this school?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t really think of other schools to go to. Is Daniel really here?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right there.¡±


    Nazreen pointed in the direction of Daniel, who was socialising with Jerome, Ethan and a few others. Alright, I was going to be stuck with someone. I should have my escape plan done soon.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m stuck with someone. What do you think our class will be like?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Very noisy. You¡¯ve heard Daniel''s voice so many times, but don¡¯t worry he doesn¡¯t talk as much as Ethan Tay. Most of the noise will come from Ethan and Xin Yi. Gani can be quite noisy too,¡± Nazreen explained.


    ¡°Those from 6B aren¡¯t noisy. We¡¯ll expect a lot of cheering?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Mainly from those people. Jerome and Alicia are quite loud when leading cheers too.¡±


    ¡°I forgot to introduce you to my friends. They went to sit there.¡±


    Nazreen and I went to join Vera and Joey.


    ¡°Meet Nazreen,¡± I said.


    ¡°Hi! My name is Joey!¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Hello. I didn¡¯t see your name on the list,¡± Nazreen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s Lam Cho Yee, but call me Joey. I¡¯ve seen you in primary school before. You were a prefect! What was your CCA anyway?¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Badminton,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Sonia¡¯s from Badminton too! Where is she?¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Sonia¡¯s really good. She¡¯s one of the best in the girls team. She¡¯s not here yet I think,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Vera and I were from Chess. What CCA should I join next year?¡± Joey said.


    ¡°Speaking of Chess, is Elliot in this school?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Nazreen replied.


    ¡°Same. I didn¡¯t have a chance to talk to him after prom,¡± I said.


    Vera pointed away. ¡°He¡¯s there.¡±


    ¡°Sup!¡± Varunya joined us.


    ¡°Did you really finish that pile of work you bought?¡± Nazreen asked her.


    ¡°Ahaha! I wish! I got lazy after doing two-thirds,¡± Varunya said before turning to me. ¡°Oh hi! What¡¯s your PSLE score?¡±


    ¡°250. You?¡± I said.


    ¡°245...sad,¡± Varunya replied.


    ¡°Heyo! What¡¯s up?¡± Ethan came and shook hands with us.


    ¡°Is handshaking a 6A thing? I feel like it is,¡± Joey said.


    ¡°We do it naturally, thanks to Daniel who tells us to make peace!¡± Ethan said, signalling at Daniel who was talking to Lawrence and another boy.


    Daniel walked over. ¡°Hello guys! Hope you¡¯ve had a great holiday! Hi Joey! You¡¯re in 1A too?¡±


    ¡°Since when did both of you know each other?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Last year, when you were busy with Clarissa and other people during recess,¡± Joey replied with a smirk.


    ¡°You appealed in, sis? Didn¡¯t see your name there,¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°My birth name is Cho Yee but I want to be called Joey. Heard that? Heard that?¡± Joey raised her voice.


    ¡°Okay, okay. Tell our teacher later. See you around!¡± Daniel said and left to talk to others.


    ¡°Oh wow! I didn¡¯t realise you¡¯re already here!¡± Jerome said to us when he turned his head around.


    He made a simple gesture, making Elise, Xin Yi, Alicia, Ace and another boy come to sit near us.


    ¡°This is Yeremy, Ace, Alicia, Xin Yi, Elise,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Where¡¯s Abishek?¡±


    ¡°Frederick told me he¡¯s sick,¡± Varunya said.


    ¡°Sick of studying? Was he really studying throughout the holidays?¡± Ethan chuckled.


    ¡°Yeah! 248 and still wants to study some more?¡± Alicia added.


    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s this talk about?¡± Izumi popped in.


    ¡°Wow! The smart kid is here!¡± Ethan said.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that to a 6A kid who¡¯s now in 1B? When you think of Izumi you shouldn¡¯t think of smart, and if you think of smart you shouldn¡¯t think of Izumi,¡± Izumi said.


    ¡°What he means is that you will become smart in secondary school!¡± Jerome said. ¡°Wait, guys...we should let Joey and Vera introduce themselves!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Joey can talk,¡± Vera said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not talking? Okay, I don¡¯t know what to say but we were from Chess Club. This girl is a gamer. She plays a lot of games,¡± Joey said, referring to Vera.


    ¡°Wait, where¡¯s Hannah?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Xuanyu is going to be sad if she sees you caring so much about Hannah. How? Did you contact Xuanyu?¡± Izumi asked.


    ¡°No¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Hannah checked her phone at all. She didn¡¯t even respond in the group chat,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Zoey? I thought she would come here?¡± I said.


    ¡°She¡¯s too smart for here!¡± Xin Yi said.


    ¡°Let''s read out from the list from our 6A chat,¡± Jerome said while taking out his phone.


    ¡°You can¡¯t use your phone in school!¡± I said.


    ¡°You goody two shoes!¡± Xin Yi said. ¡°It¡¯s not even a school day. Be our school Captain in 2019!¡±


    ¡°I need a break,¡± I said.


    ¡°Zoey and Ariana are in Lunar Girls. Roshita and Josephine in GGS of course. Jia Jie and Xuanyu in VLGS. Alex and Marcus in DPHS. Sean, Khairul and Ethan Johanan in Starlight,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Good that Alex got into a boys school!¡± Alicia said, then turned to Ace. ¡°See! You shouldn¡¯t have gone there.¡±


    ¡°How did Jia Jie do?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s a legend! She suddenly got 258 and suddenly got fourth in level!¡± Ethan said.


    ¡°Who¡¯s fifth?¡± Joey asked.


    ¡°Khairul. Sean is sixth,¡± Ethan replied.


    ¡°Wow! You guys have a Whatsapp chat? 6B doesn¡¯t!¡± Joey remarked.


    Ethan, Xin Yi, Alicia and Jerome began laughing.


    ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s pathetic!¡± Ethan laughed.


    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s actually not funny. Forget the unhappy times in 6B and move on! You¡¯ll have a fun and fulfilling four years in FRSS!¡± Jerome said.


    I was eager to find out what this class 1A would be like in a matter of days. Joey agreed that our new classmates were very friendly and welcoming. We managed to see Graham sitting with his parents at the designated area for 1B. He seemed distressed and was constantly reading a book. Unfortunately, we did not have a chance to catch up with him.


    What did I have to say about my experience as a School Captain? It was tiring, and made me feel incompetent. All the credit still went to Daniel although he was of a lower position. He had the courtesy to give others a try, but still got all the attention, which made no sense at all. To see things in a positive light, being stuck with Daniel could help me dig deeper to find the answers to my questions.


    I met different kinds of prefects. Supportive ones, and jealous ones. Hopefully, the undeserving prefects would learn their lessons and the deserving ones would continue to be good influences. Who actually deserves to be a leader? What does it take to be a leader? Would continuing my education in FRSS give me the answers?