Find your faith

Chapter 47: Am I enough? ⚠️

This chapter contains explicit imagery on 🤮. Reader discretion is advised.
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Jane's POV
I am Jane, John's big sister. I am 6 years his senior and I'm a sophomore psychology student in university.

Back to the main story, I happened to sprain my ankle a few days prior so I decided to stay home and temporarily switched to remote learning to ease pressure on my leg. I was finishing one of my assignments when I heard the door creak. It was John, but he seemed darker than usual. No, I swear I'm not a racist narrator. He was looking down and just ignored me throughout, heading straight for his room and slamming the door. Mum was probably writing her blog again, and she has an out of bounds rule because of that. I decided to make sure he was alright.

John's POV

I was curled up in bed followed the distressing thoughts that Mr Lee doesn't truly care about me anymore. All of a sudden, the door creaked open.

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John: sis?

Jane: hey, you doing ok?

John: dunno, just a rough day I guess

Jane: I'm going to give you some space right now, but look for me if you ever need anything ok?

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I nodded and she closed the door. Staring at the grey wall, I tried not to think of anything but to recover emotionally. Maybe some sleep would do the trick...I turned around and closed my eyes.

The next day

Kallang Christian Private Secondary School's canteen

"Katsu sandwiches?!" Everyone chorused as Crystal revealed what was in her lunchbox. She nodded as she took one out, gently putting it into her mouth. I wanted to try her handmade chicken katsu sandwiches, but didn't feel at my best. I woke up thinking I was run over by some car (I wasn't) and all day, I haven't been feeling alright. There's something stuck in my chest that feels like it would come out anytime soon, but couldn't. Yet my mother frequently insisted that I eat something during recess, so I asked Crystal for her katsu sandwich. She agreed.

I took a bite into the powdery chicken and chewed it. Nice mixture of smooth and crumbly. I forced a few laborious bite into my sandwich, every move feeling like time has warped. When I finished the sandwich, everything happened too fast. I slowly felt that thing stuck in me rush to my throat, and I could only helplessly cover my mouth with my hands. YZ rushed me to the toilet, locking the nearest toilet cubicle behind us and making me crouch down. I let out everything in my body that has been contained and YZ was first to flush everything down, then making me wash my mouth and rushed me back to class.

"I think you should get home, you know," YZ admitted. "Your face is shining with cold sweat and when I was assisting you in vomiting your body felt hot to the touch."

"Don't we have WA?" I asked in concern. "Literature."

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you're sicker than a golden retriever! It's definitely a stomach bug that you've contracted! Just go doctor and get MC lah."

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Turns out, it was moderate gastritis after having skipped two meals due to my foul mood.

Crystal's POV

John's house

"Good evening, ma'am," I declared. "I am John's friend..."

"You must be Crystal, come in," a lady replied, generously showing me in. Taking off my shoes, I headed into his house whilst asking about how she got to know of me.

"Well, John has never smiled at his phone chatting with anyone. And I might be a writer unlike you, but I have seen your page. Gosh, the profile picture of his Instagram DMs look exactly just you!" I smiled, as I was ushered in and given a seat at the dining table. "I'll get John."

At that time, the door opened and a lady that looked a little older than me came in. She squinted at me suspiciously and asked me, "Crystal! What are you doing at my house?"

"John," I replied coolly. "I heard he's got a serious case of gastritis."

"That I know. Thanks for looking out for him as you always do. Not just because you're company leader. Oh yes, mind my rambling. I'm Jane, and I'm one of your dearest followers! Jazzed to see you face to face. My father is having dinner outside tonight, so I decided to get some sushi for all of us to share. Correction, I made some rolls and bought the rest. So just for today, relax your strained muscles and let me do the work, ok?" She winked sweetly and proceeded to the kitchen.

"Crystal?" A weak voice echoed from nowhere. I turned around, it was John with a cool compression and light green pajamas. He draped his olive green jacket over him.

"John! How are you?" I asked eagerly.

"Definitely better than yesterday, thanks for asking. I'd just say, the disqualification did get to me too quickly~ how was literature?"

"Alright. I'm confident I'll get an A this time."

"That's good. My sister and I are close so she kind of knows you well from me. nervously chuckles We talk about 8 point compass a lot!"

"I'm glad to hear everyday's become brighter for you ever since I formed that group." All of a sudden, my sister brought in the sushi. It was coloured like a rainbow, raw squid, carrots, crab stick, cooked salmon...anything that you'll find in sushi! Jane went a step further: serving all of us sushi with little chopsticks. It was enough to warm my heart up after it froze from being dismissed by Mr Lee. However, I didn't know what came to me after.
When John returned
Mr Lee: John, I need to speak to you. As a person.

John: what do you mean?

Mr Lee: I heard about what happened after I broke the news to you people of the disqualification. I'm here to personally apologise to you.

John: anything else?

Mr Lee: I'm so sorry for not giving you people the space to explain yourselves. The only person I was truly disappointed with was Chloe. She abused her power as a KCPGT finalist, and I only disqualified the team because it'll be fair to the rest of the finalists. You're doing excellent, both as a KCPGT dancer and as a member of the photography club. So what are you going to focus on now?

John: Robotics CCA showcase

Mr Lee: good, you bounced back well. See you next Tuesday.

John: see you!