Less Than Perfect - Part 2

Adele had a crush on a P6 EM3 boy, Mark and Xiaoxue was the only one who knew about it. Being mesmerised by his look and suave behaviour, she would watch him from a distance, admiring his every move. Somehow, though she tried to be as discreet as possible in her spying, some of the others, especially the gals from his class, noticed her unusually behaviour. They weren't sure if Adele was interested in Mark or in some of the other boys, so they decided to test her out. One day after school, they told her that Mark had asked her to meet him at the void deck of his block as he had something to say to her. Adele didn't want to believe that it was true but she didn't want to miss any chance of getting close to him either so she decided to meet him without telling Xiaoxue. She waited patiently at the void deck and was thrilled when she spotted Mark walking towards the block. As he neared, she turned her face away, being too shy to look directly at him. Then Mark walked pass her and headed straight for the lift as if he didn't notice her. Adele was surprised that he was ignoring her and called out to him before he got into the lift. She asked if he had forgotten that he was supposed to meet her to tell her something. Mark turned around, examined her from head to toe and said, "Har? Who want to talk to a fatso like you?" Then he turned around and entered the lift.

Adele was dumbfounded but before she could understand what had just happened, laughter was heard coming from the background. It was made by the group of gals who was there to find out the truth - something which they would be glad to share with the rest of the class, if not the whole school. Adele was devastated and couldn't understand how they knew about her crush for Mark. Then it occured to her that they must have found out about it from Xiaoxue who was on talking term with them. She didn't want to think that Xiaoxue could have betrayed her but the truth was that the gals did know about her secret or they wouldn't have been present to witness her humiliation.

Xiaoxue was just as surprised as to how the gals found out about Adele's crush for Mark, for she was sure that she didn't breathe a single word to any soul. But she couldn't prove her innocence and Adele wasn't in the right frame of mind to listen to her either. She was more worried about the embarrassment she would face in school the next day. True enough, most eyes were on her the moment she stepped into the school. Some were even laughing out loud and passing nasty remarks about her massive figure. Her eyes were already swelling with tears even before she reached the hall. Then the sight of Xiaoxue made her feel worse and she ran towards the toilet instead. She locked herself in one of the cubicles. She felt so hurt that she needed to do something to drown the pain. Just then, she took out a penknife from her bag and slashed her forearm with it. (She had read about how some people do it to release their stress). The pain was so intense that it overwhelmed the pain in her heart and she felt so good about it that she actually cut herself a second time. Since then she wouldn't hesitate to carry out the same act whenever she felt hurt or humiliated.

She had hoped to start life anew at her new sceondary school but somehow ....................................