Find your faith

Chapter 7: Visiting the twins

YZ's POV

Crystal and Chloe's home

"Hello, you must be Crystal's friends," Crystal's ultimately plum, large, bespectacled father greeted.

"Chloe's too," Ethan, his best friend Simon and Nicole chorused in annoyance.

"Yea, yea, the ones Chloe only talks to and refuses to mix with the rest. Good grief you haven't gotten sick of it."

"Uncle, can you stop talking and let us in?" A tanned girl with a sweet voice queried. "I want to visit my history partner." That is my ex-classmate Christina and Crystal's history seat partner. We were finally greenlit to visit, so we took off our shoes and entered the house.

Christina's POV

Outside the twins' rooms

Gently knocking the door, I waited for a response. There was nothing. I knocked again, whispering, "Crystal, it's Christina. We're here to check on you." Expecting no response again, i was about to leave when Ethan grabbed my hand. He gestured to the door, where Crystal said, "Are you sure your parents are ok with this? The teachers?"

"Long story short, we used Ethan's phone to beg Mdm Yeo to head to your house. And we all got on our knees for our parents to let us come," Anika explained. "They all said yes. Do you need to sleep for a little more? If so, we'll wait for you to be ready."

"It's not that! I just didn't think I'd get visitors. But thanks for the gesture, come in."

I 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. I'll remind her about it when we're old ladies that spend the days playing mahjong. 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. The hum of the aircon was peaceful, and if tomorrow was a weekend, I'd have also asked my parents to let me stay over. I want her big bed, her plushies, a hug from her and super soft blanket.

John and YZ plonked her bed and started to chat with her. Meanwhile, I placed the extra history worksheet on her study table and studied her bookshelf a little closer. I didn't know she liked manga but I'm not surprised by the sketchbooks. She really wants to be an illustrator, Huh? With her consent, Anika and I looked through her art, while Ethan and Nicole stared into thin air waiting for Chloe to awaken. How do I know of Chloe, you may ask? Crystal told me.

The door knocked, and we all stopped chatting. "Crystal, please come down to the dining table," Mdm Yeo said in Chinese. "I'd like to have a word with you."

Crystal left.

Crystal's POV

Dining table

At the dining table, Mdm Yeo reiterated what she discussed with my parents. To gain back the weight I had lost, I was going to see her friend for counselling. She guaranteed that not only would I have counselling for my mental health, but she specialised in physical health issues pertaining with exercise and would help me recover faster. She had a word with Mr Han as well, and conveyed his apologies to me, even going as far as to ask me to ask my class what kind of warmups they'd want in the future. I agreed with the offer and I was soon able to contact her friend to start the sessions proper.

Crystal's room

"So what did Mdm Yeo say?" Ethan asked me eagerly.

"There's a way to get me out of this fix, but I'm not going into details," I said.

"That's good. Also you look better."

"Thanks, the sleep helped. Still chilly as ever though."

"Maybe you need food." He proceeded to flick my cheek

"Ethan? Nicole?" A weak voice echoed. Everyone turned around to see Chloe with the same cold compress as Crystal, huddled in a blanket.

Nicole was hysterical. She was demanding about how she was feeling, shaking her up and down, to which Chloe replied about how she still felt like sh*t but she wanted to see if Nicole and Ethan were there and to see if I have truly died. I still feel the same as in the morning and I'm technically distracting myself by chatting with friends!

John's POV

"So why is Chloe even sick? She was perfectly fine just now," Crystal asked.

"She collapsed at PE," I replied.

"And has a 40oC fever," Ethan finished. "I'm still surprised she's not in hospital."

"39oC as of my last measurement," Chloe added. "and my sister and I always get sick at the same time. Our parents say it's been like this since childhood. Anyway, I need to go and rest more or my parents will kill me, bye bye~" Chloe fumbled into her room, so the 8 of us decided to play a game of UNO. We all had fun as one, yet I saw Crystal's smile fading away. Maybe she was right; her fever hasn't gone down yet.

"I'll go and see if dinner's ready," Christina announced, bouncing her way out of Crystal's room. We wrapped up the game with Crystal Ong stunning us by coming in first although she was sneezing every 5 seconds and coughing every 10. Thankfully, she picked up a mask on her way back to her room. And as we kept the cards, Crystal came clean: she appeared to look better solely because her friends were by her side. Now I understand the comparisons between Crystal and her twin sister, but it's still not excusable.

"Guys, Mr and Mrs Ong said that dinner is ready~" Christina announced. Turning off lights and air con, we headed down.

-

"Sukiyaki?!" Everyone chorused, yet it was out of surprise and not disappointment. Crystal's mother nodded and Christina helped to distribute everyone's portions. Meticulously using the tongs to get the noodle soup ready, she ensured everyone got enough hot food and even offered to pour the drinks. It was like we were spoilt by Christina's hospitality even at someone else's house. After getting my serving, I sat next to Crystal.

-

John: you should eat while it's hot

Crystal: I want to wait for everyone to get their share before I eat~

John: girl guide at heart. But come on, it's your day today. Don't be afraid to eat anymore, we've all got your back.

Crystal: maybe you're right, I miss having real food. Man, it's been so long since I had proper food in its real form.

*she proceeds to eat her sukiyaki like she hasn't eaten ramen for 5 years*