New Life : A Second Chance

The rumours spread like wildfire. It told of a secret couple that had been hidden so well before, was finally coming out in the open. The events that occurred on that day became more and more exaggerated each time it was retold. By the next day, the story that was going around was that Kyle and Xing Han had a forbidden love story that had blossomed when they were young, which finally came to light that fateful day when they couldn't hold back their feelings for each other anymore.

The rumours had been circulating and gaining momentum, and though it generally died down after about two months or so, it didn't go away. At that moment, the so-called affected 'couple' were having breakfast in the cafeteria with the Elite Five minus for Ali and plus Sarah. Ali lived closeby, so he didn't need to stay at the dorms.

"How are things?" Kay asked her brother as she cut some bacon before putting it delicately into her mouth.

Sarah was sitting beside Kay, on her left. She was eating her bowl of cereal quietly, not daring to look up. Sarah had always been the 'odd-one-out' in her previous school, so hanging out with such a popular group took some getting used to. However, even though she was being more comfortable around them, she couldn't quite keep calm when it involved Kyle. Sarah put it down to her being completely affected by his devastatingly good looks.

Kyle shrugged as he bit into his burger, ignoring the sauce dripping down his chin. Kay sighed, took a napkin and wiped is chin clean.

"Same-o, same-o," Kyle answered in between bites, "Only now, I have guys hitting on me."

Sarah couldn't help but choke a bit on that, and she started coughing. Kay patted her back to help, "Sounds troublesome."

"Nah," Kyle assured her, taking a gulp of milk, "They're okay. They're just being ... more suggestive, testing the waters. Trying to see how deep are my feelings for Xing Han here. It's the girls that are becoming more annoying though. They feel the need to want to 'fix' me, so to speak."

"How come no girl is coming to try and 'fix' me?" complained Xing Han, who was stabbing his scrambled eggs with a vengeance.

Sam laughed, and replied, "Probably because they think it's okay if it's you, but not if it's Kyle. I mean, come on. Look at him. Waste those superior genes?"

[Seriously, Kyle, are you okay with all of this?]

Kyle popped the last piece of burger into his mouth, and picked up the second one. He found that his appetite was more than before, what with the additional physical activities that he goes through now. He was now an official member in the Basketball team, the Football team and (long distance) running. He had passed all the preliminaries with ease, and had to attend training everyday. Master Shifu didn't lessen his training at night either, saying that the additional exercise was beneficial since he was having his growth spurt.

But darn, did his body hurt. Having those muscles tear again and again so as to develop the muscles was no joke. Boys may have it "easier" to shape their bodies through exercise, but it sure was not easy and dang painful. Girls were kinda stuck with their body shape, and any form of exercise would only make them fitter and slim, but would not create bigger boobs or longer legs. For guys, all that was needed was a solid body and a six-pack to get the girls drooling. Okay, and a handsome face didn't hurt but the body sealed the deal.

Darn hard work though.

He bit into his second burger, and replied, [Can't do anything about it, Kay. Let them be. They'll think what they want to think and I'm not going to treat Xing Han any differently]

[But will it cause trouble? You know Principal Dobbins is keeping a tighter watch on you.]

Kyle wanted to snort, but that would make the burger he was chewing go up his nose so he refrained himself. [I'm not doing anything illegal or wrong. I won't do anything to her but it doesn't mean I won't retaliate if she's unreasonable]

[Okay Kyle. The report on her is almost complete, by the way. I also found a few things about her that you can use if you need to]

[Thanks Kay. You're the best]

[I know]

This time, Kyle did snort and yes, he started choking. His eyes watering, he quickly tried to cough it out, and blew his nose repeatedly. A small piece of chewed up burger flew out his nose and landed right next to Kay's bacon.

"Euw Kyle! That's so disgusting!" Kay exclaimed, pushing the offending meat away from her precious bacon.

A few tables away, Janice and her group of friends were watching Kyle and his friends eating. They had been stalking them since the start of school, but other than the occasional 'hi' and class stuff, Janice did not manage to get past first base to get to Kyle.

"Do you think it's true? Is Kyle and Xing Han really a couple?" asked Belinda as she watched the group laughing together.

"I think so! Think about it," whispered Lilah, lowering her head, "Kyle is hot, with a solid body and have SO many girls throwing themselves at him. Yet, he doesn't give them any attention. He has never been seen with a girl before and is always hanging out with the Elite Five guys. In fact, out of those Elite Five, Xing Han has always been the closest to Kyle. They were low key before, and must have been hiding their relationship but now that they are away from home ... "

She looked at her friends, acting all wise as she summarized all the 'evidence'. "In fact, I heard that Xing Han wasn't even his original roommate."

Janice finished her orange juice, crushed the empty paper cup, and threw it aside angrily, "I refuse to believe it. He can't be gay. He just can't be!"

She looked at everyone squarely in the eyes, "Even if he is, I'll just show him just how good it can be with a girl as compared to guys."

Belinda and Lilah looked at her with wide open eyes and an "O" expression. Janice was one of those that matured early, and was already a B cup. She decided to be more pro-active and use her feminine charm on the hormonally charged boy. No boy can resist her when she put her mind to it.

"Great idea Janice! Only you can do it!" encouraged Belinda, clapping her hands excitedly. She had seen how Janice got a lot of boys to do her bidding, just for a few smiles and promises. Kyle would fall very soon, and very hard, was Belinda's opinion.

"What are you going to do?" asked Lilah excitedly.

"First, we've got to create a great scandal. Everyone is swayed by the fact that Kyle is gay just because he hasn't been seen with a woman. How would people react if people found out that Kyle had been caught with a girl?"

"WHAT?!" gasped Belinda loudly. "WHO?!"

"SSSSHHH!!" Janice hurriedly shushed her, "It's not real, stupid! I'm asking what would people's reaction be?"

"Of course that would kill the gay rumour," thought Lilah, "But what would the purpose of all of that be?"

"First, to kill the gay rumour, of course. Or at least, create doubt of its authenticity. Secondly, Kyle being the gentleman he is, would feel bad about the girl in the rumour. I'm sure he'd go and try to clarify it or apologize to her. After all, her reputation would be shot."

"Er ... I still don't get it," Belinda said in confusion, her face all scrunched up while she was trying to keep up.

"That girl would be me, silly girl. I'll be all coy and helpless, sad beyond reproach for such slander. Kyle swoops down and comforts me. Bam. I have him in my clutches!" explained Janice with a smile.

"But but ... what if he doesn't come to help you?" asked Lilah, "Wouldn't your reputation be ruined for nothing?"

"Puh-lease. Who are you talking to? If he doesn't, then I'll just make it as if Xing Han spread the rumours out of jealousy. That would push a wedge between them and I'll swoop in and comfort him for his best friend's 'betrayal'. Two victims comforting each other, see?"

"Wow, Janice. You thought of everything!" gushed Belinda in awe.

"Naturally," Janice answered with a smile.

At a nearby table, unknown to them, Sophia had heard everything. It wasn't so much that Janice's voice was loud, but that Sophia had purposely eavesdropped the moment she heard Kyle's name. She strained her ears, and managed to catch the entire plan that they were hatching. Sophia looked at Kyle's table in worry, and wondered if she should warn them.

Would they believe her?

While she hesitated, she saw that Kyle and his group had finished eating. She quickly finished her breakfast, bade goodbye to Ren and went to class. She was still thinking hard about it, so deep in thought that she didn't look where she was going. She bumped into something, lost her balance and was about to fall when strong arms held her steady.

She looked up to thank the person and also apologize, but she suddenly froze. It was Ali. So she just stood there, unblinking and stunned while Ali merely smiled and said softly, "Be careful. You could hurt yourself." When he turned, Sophia could have sworn that she saw a brief flash of hurt in his eyes and she felt guiltier than ever.

He took a step when she reached out and grabbed his arm. Surprised, he turned and she managed to stammer, "I-I-I'm sorry! And thank you!!" She bowed, her face beet red as she quickly ran to her seat.

Ali was surprised, and smiled softly to himself as he walked over to his own seat.

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