Teach

Chapter 3A

The only sound in the classroom was the scratching of pens and the flipping of paper as we attempted our Chemistry Common Test 2. Now that I came to think of it, I supposed <> must have trusted us quite a bit for she was outside of the classroom discussing administrative matters with Yi Xun, only glancing at us once in a while to ensure there was no monkey business.

I tried not to look around, knowing that any action I made might well be interpreted as an attempt to cheat. But it was difficult not to at least stare at the back to Roadrunner's head, especially when he was just sitting right in front of me and I could literally see every hair of his whenever I looked up from my work. Although I could not see the expression on his face, he kept on erasing something on his paper and I could see every bit of him threatening to let out harrumphs of frustration and despair, the only thing stopping him was the fear of him being called dishonest.

To my relief, on my end the questions seemed relatively simple, with all the things I had revised for coming out. I appeared to had worried for nothing. And as I wrote my last word on the final part-question, I felt satisfied. Sure, there were a few slightly more brain testing teasers, but I believed it would work out just fine.

When we were finally dismissed for our recess break, Roadrunner immediately flopped down on his chair and let out a large sigh. "What up?" 浩诚 walked over with his bag slung over one shoulder.

"Uhhhhhhh...I didn't even finish the last question..." He leaned over and placed his head on the table. "Wait, but wasn't that supposed to be easy? Mole concept?" "Was it? No...you know what...I shouldn't be so surprised...I can't even do the easy ones...I'm so bad at chemistry!" He closed his eyes and ran his finger through his hair in dread. "How will I SURVIVE...??"

阿哲 walked over. "Chill...There's still half a year to prepare. All is not lost, okay? Once we get back this CT, we'll go through everything all over again..." He stretched his arms which looked red and tense from working. "What did you guys put for question 8, guys? The long one?"

"Magnesium. Wasn't that supposed to be 5 parts, or something?" I asked.

"Precisely. That's what people are all talking about. Apparently a whole friend group got ECF'd."

"Ow."

"Seriously? I PUT ALUMINIUM!" We had to avoid the stares of our other classmates who were apparently put off their private conversations by Roadrunner's sudden exclamation. "...I'm never going to be good at chemistry...It's my destiny to be academically weak...I couldn't even get a one word question correct?"

浩诚 looked exasperated. "Roadrunner. Don't worry. You've got us! We'll help you! Chill!"

I quickly told him, "It's okay. It's hard for him to chill now. Give him a minute to calm himself. Green tea as usual?"

浩诚 nodded. "Get me an iced 奶茶." 阿哲 whispered to me. In a second, I was out of the classroom.

The owner of the drinks stall in our canteen, <>, saw me coming right away as the OG song "朋友" by Wakin Chau played on his stall radio. We were regulars, having always bought drinks from him for the past 2 years during breaks, and he recognised my shadow in the empty canteen immediately. "两个冰奶茶，three green tea, correct?"

"Add one 豆沙包, 谢谢 uncle." I quickly handed over my allowance for that day. Hopefully Roadrunner would be content with his favourite snack. "Ok ok." The items were prepared at record speed, and I dashed at an even faster speed to class.

Roadrunner had recovered slightly by the time I got back while the rest were just sitting around, continuing to discuss Chemistry knowledge. I passed out the drinks to mumbles of thanks all around as everyone opened up and started drinking.

"Thanks...You guys don't have to do this." Roadrunner took his food quietly and looked down at the floor.

阿哲 leaned in towards him. "But we want to. You're one of us. We'd be selfish if we let one of our friends suffer like that." Seeing that Roadrunner still looked slightly apologetic, he quickly offered, "Come on! Fine, we'll have a 创义族 meeting later just to cheer you up! You asked for it!"

Behind him, the other three of us nodded energetically. Afterwards, Yi Xun whispered into my ear, "创义族?" I told him that I would explain later - 创义族 was our band. It had all started with 阿哲 - he had this terrific singing voice which only his friends and acquaintances knew about. He had never performed publicly due to his shyness, but he was very versatile and could perform along a range of multilingual songs as well as various genres. For a long time, classmates and seniors and juniors had been pestering him to start a band, or something, and make it official, give himself an identity as a singer in the schoolyard.

One day, he finally gave up and asked all of us, "Do you know how to play instruments? I want to start a band. Us. Here. Now." We shook our heads no. "Fine. I have a few guitars at home. I'll teach you. Come to my place after school." And with that, the small 乐坛 consisting the 4 of us were born. Now, it seemed like Yi Xun would be integrated into the group as well.

创义族 gave me a lot of first experiences. Whether it was the first time visiting 阿哲's condo in Eunos for a rehearsal, or the first time ever performing on stage, for a live audience made up of 1000-plus students and teachers, it was a breath of fresh air to me. Even learning how to play the acoustic guitar was absolutely novel and great. And one day, at the end of one of the rehearsals, 阿哲 was like, "We need a name."

Half an hour passed without us being able to think of a suitable item to call our group. "We could call ourselves The Value Creators. 创义族. A group of people who are creative and can contribute to value in the school."

We were set. The first time I ever did something for this team. 

Roadrunner already looked happier at the suggestion.