Find your faith

Chapter 8: Confrontation

Ethan's POV
Crystal and I became friends in Primary 2 when she rendered help in a way I didn't imagine. We stayed friends ever since, even though  the odds were always against us, screaming "you two can't be friends." We were classmates from Primary 3 to 6, and I even friended her twin sister along the way. However, we slowly drifted after she got into my school through her grades and I got into Kallang Christian through my high leadership positions. No hard feelings; we weren't allocated in the same class so I was in a way forced to be with Chloe because I was in the same form class as her.

Yet visiting Crystal made me realise I actually wanted to be her friend all along. I just succumbed to peer pressure and avoided her because "being friends with the sister of an outcast" would "damage my reputation."
Flashback
Christina opened the door to see Crystal seated on her bed. It was like seeing her unfiltered. No glasses, cold sticky compress, legs covered up under her blanket...in PE uniform. Her room was quiet and big, piles of notes stacked up at the side. There were stacks of books and art supplies surrounding the bedroom, but there was her characteristic cheerful, "do my best in everything" spirit in her organisation, a stark contrast to Chloe's apathy towards life written by everything scattered on the floor, crumbled papers in her bag and her sketchbooks mixed with her school ones.
Present day
I finally realised how Crystal's absence created a void in my heart. She was the one making the first move. And Chloe just did everything Crystal did, being friends with me included.
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"Ethan, come up to the board and solve this question," my Physics teacher announced. I jolted out of my reverie and stumbled to the board where my mind went blank. I decided to hack my way through the question, but I had no idea what I was doing half the time. Maybe I really did zone out with the flashbacks overwhelming me. That's when Xingqiu made jokes in front of me in the front of the class.

"Ethan, are you thinking of your Nicole?" Joe asked. "Why haven't you two married each other?"

"We don't have time~" I replied innocently.

"Students, enough of all these dirty love jokes. Let's get back on track." He continued teaching us about physics quantities.
Lucas' POV
Being the newly appointed class monitor of 3 Faith, I knew something was off with Ethan. He was a lot more attentive in class, so I wondered what happened to him. But it'll be rude to butt into his personal life, so I decided to observe my surroundings to find some clues. Anyway, I was in the same classes with him except for Geography.
English class
Xingqiu's POV
Finally, our yearly writing assessment was going to be distributed! I nudged Keqing to start the ball rolling, forcing everyone in 3 Faith to spill the tea about their English grades. She agreed and forcefully dialed our class informal chat. 37 other phones rang and I stood up on my chair, bellowing, "3 Faith, join my voice call right now. It's compulsory!" I managed to shut our English teacher up and continued the call. Honestly, I felt a sense of satisfaction seeing everyone scrambling to heed to my requests. A chaos was brewing as the results were passed around, and it amused me when I got the results of everyone in the class.

Crystal got a A+ and Chloe an A? We knew what to do for the sisters.

You're in 3 Faith
The best class
You should always get the highest grade
Don't settle for no.2
Because it'll be a habit
That'll break your f*king life
Lucas' POV
I think I might have a hint about what's bothering him; he's conflicted between continuing his bond with Chloe and renewing that with Crystal. I was ready to have a heart to heart talk with him.