New Life : A Second Chance

Kyle and Kay walked to the school entrance, and sat at a nearby bench for the others. School hours were 8am till 4pm, filled with lessons in the morning, then either extra-curricular activities or studying time in the library, in the evening. Today, however, school ended at 1pm as there were no extra-curricular activities yet. Being the first day, everyone was required to sign up.

"So which clubs are you signing up for?" Kay asked as she looked around her, swinging her legs as they sat on the bench.

"Basketball, definitely," began Kyle, "Football and running."

Kay arched her eyebrows, looked at the scheduling of the club activities then said, "Which means not a single day free for study time at the library?" Basketball and football had activities twice a week (Monday & Wednesday, Tuesday & Thursday respectively) while running was on Friday.

Kyle grinned, his eyes twinkling, "Oh dearie me. Really? I did NOT know that."

Kay snorted, then retorted, "You're really going all out to annoy Principal Dobbins, huh?"

"Why, my dear sister. I'm just a decadent playboy that knows nothing except playing. Who wants to waste time studying?"

"Will you be okay? You already have your training sessions with Master Shifu at night," Kay asked worriedly.

Kyle couldn't help but pat her head, then rub her back in assurance, "Don't worry. I sleep during the day in class."

"Except for Doolittle's class," Kay reminded him.

"Oh ya. For hers, I get to play outside," Kyle smirked, "So how was class today?"

"It's okay. As usual, girls swarming over to chummy with me because of you. They're pretty harmless, but take note of Janice and her sidekick, Belinda."

"Janice and Belinda. Gotcha," Kyle replied, and recalled the information about them from his memory bank. The photographic memory really comes in handy for things like this. A lot of people are under the misconception that a person with a photographic memory would be a genius. No. Having this gift only gave you the ability to have the library at your fingertips. Awesome, but useless if you did not understand what you were reading nor be able to apply it.

It's similar to an open book test. Will you score 100% just because the textbook is opened beside you? Hardly. You would need to understand the question, analyse it to see what it was asking for, know where the information you wanted was, and then use your understanding to explain it. Of course, a lot of memorization is needed for exams like the year and name for History, but that would only help a little bit. Imagine flipping through the pages of your textbook, frantically looking for the information, reading it and then trying to figure out what it meant.

Kyle was fortunate that he could actually understand all the complex stuff that he read up, no matter how advanced. It would take longer for the latter, of course, but as long as he studied diligently, he would grasp the concept. Kyle loved this part of his brain in this life. He didn't question why it was so efficient. He was only more than happy for it. In his previous life, he had to slowly digest the information and keep asking around for an explanation about it ... and then had to spend hours just trying to remember the content and its context. In this life, he learned twice the amount in half the time.

Yes, he was THAT good.

Right now, he didn't need much brain power to recall the information on Janice and Belinda. He noted that there was nothing particularly outstanding about their background and no red flags raised based on their past history or actions. Thus, he chucked them out of his mind. Kay's warning thus meant that the two girls were going to be more annoying than the normal flies that buzzed around them, and would most likely resort to tricks.

He hated tricks. He was a straight forward person then, he is a straight forward person now. All those games that people play - more so women, for some reason - was truly annoying.

"Kay! Fancy seeing you here," the voice of that annoying person he had been thinking about was heard, and Kyle saw Janice walk over with Belinda in tow beside her.

[Speak of the devil] commented Kyle, not looking in their direction at all [And why is she surprised to see you in school? Right in front of the school exit? Is she an idiot? Can't she think of a better line? ]

Kay's smile did not falter and she managed not to laugh out loud. Instead, she looked at the two approaching girls and said, "Hi ... and you are...?"

Janice smile faltered a bit, but she quickly recovered, "Janice. And this is Belinda. We're in the same class."

"OH!" Kay replied, putting a hand over her open mouth, "I'm so sorry. There were just so many girls around that I didn't realise. I'm so embarrassed." She patted her cheeks, and for good measure, a slight pink blush could be seen on her fair cheeks.

Janice waved her hand in front of her face, saying quickly, "No no no. It's not your fault. It is our first day and there were really so many new faces."

Kay gave a sweet smile, nodding, "Yes, yes. I'm sorry, nonetheless. I'll remember next time, don't worry."

Janice was smiling, but she was starting to get impatient. Kyle was just sitting there, not paying any attention to the two of them as she conversed with Kay. In fact, he was busy looking everywhere else BUT them. Wasn't Kay going to introduce the two of them? Just when Janice was about to take the initiative to introduce herself, when Kyle suddenly jumped up, waving madly while shouting, "Over here!"

Before she could react, Kyle just looked back at Kay and urged her, "Come on, Kay" and ran off. The moment had passed.

Kay apologetically said to Janice, "I have to go now. Nice meeting you. See you tomorrow."

Janice smiled as she watched them go, but inwardly, she was seething. Her eyes were also seeing red when she noticed that short, dark bob haired girl among the Elite Five. She clenched her hands into a tight fist, and turned around, while hissing at Belinda, "Let's go."

Belinda nodded obediently, tagging along faithfully behind her.

"KYYYLLLEEEEE"

Kyle arched an eyebrow, seeing Xing Han rush over to him with his arms wide open as if to envelop him in a hug. Unexpectedly, Kyle didn't move and Xing Han actually did manage to wrap his arms around Kyle, trapping his arms to his side at the same time. In fact, it was so unexpected that Xing Han actually let go and looked at Kyle straight in the eye, "Okay, who are you and what did you do to Kyle?"

Kyle laughed, rapping his forehead, "Just this once. For old times sake."

"OH NO!" Xing Han exclaimed, and tried to hug Kyle again. Kyle sidestepped him and kicked him in the butt as he passed by, making Xing Han stumble and almost fall. Kyle didn't wait and ran off with Xing Han quickly chasing after him. Sam and Ali looked at each other for a while, then Ali gave a big whoop, joined in. Sam just watched them go.

"Kids," he scoffed as he watched Ali catching up and overtaking Xing Han. Xing Han, unhappy, grabbed Ali's shirt as he ran by and both nearly fell. Kyle just got further and further, laughing away. People were watching the sight, not knowing what to do but wishing they could join chasing after Kyle. It was amazing to see how fast Kyle was, and how he managed to weave in and out of people who were in the way effortlessly. It was so fluid, as if he wasn't even running at top speed.

Kyle made a complete stop suddenly at one booth, and the person sitting there taking names sat back in shock.

"Kyle Smith, First Year. I want to join," he declared, smiling widely. Although he had been running for some time, he wasn't really out of breath and his face was slightly glowing with a thin sheen of sweat. The guy at the booth just shook his head. Even after that workout, he could still look like he just had a stroll or something. Nothing seemed out of place. Life was truly unfair.

The guy just pushed a piece of paper to him, that already had several names on it, "Here. Name, address and number."

When he saw Kyle hesitating, he asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Well, senior ... is it possible for me to just exchange numbers with the Captain or something and not leave my details?"

The guy frowned, but before he could ask further, Ali and Xing Han had managed to catch up, smashing into Kyle's back.

They took one glance at the form and Xing Han explained quickly, "If Kyle was to put down his personal details there, it's most likely you'll be mobbed for it! It'll get stolen!! And Kyle will never get to use his phone ever again. The last time his number got leaked, it would't stop ringing with messages and calls. It was a nightmare I tell you, a nightmare!! Can you imagine, there were over 1000 messages in just one night and there was even one time ..."

The guy put up his hand to stop Xing Han before he started rambling again, "Ok, ok. I got it. Fine. Here," he said, handing Kyle his phone. "Call your phone. I'm Lee, the Captain."

"Ok, Captain Lee!" Kyle smiled broadly, and did as he was told.

"There will be a tryout next week. We only have 5 spots, as that is when the seniors are going to graduate. 2pm. Court C. Be on time," he warned.

Kyle grinned, and rushed to find the booth for Football and Running. The moment he left, Captain Lee saw a whole group of girls rushing forward to the Basketball Booth wanting to be the manager. He rubbed the space between his eyebrows. This ... was going to be a headache.