After the rain

Noodles

  The trees are flourishing under the harsh sunlight. They never seem to lose their colours, because they keep growing. They never give up, they never stop photosynthesizing. That is why trees thrive in the hot tropical climate.

  The concrete jungle neighboring them is as y'all as the trees. A perfect rival. If either one of the contestants stopped fighting for even a second, they would lose instantly.

  This scene remains till this day. The fight is not over yet.

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  I entered the air conditioned dome. The familiar stench of food surrounded me. The air was 78% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. I gravitated towards the noodles store, dodging people and avoiding long queues. I seemed to be the shortest in the sea of people. The stall owner did not seem to notice me.

  'Next please,' she shouted, brushing me aside.

  'Excuse me, I ordered -' 

  'Oh you! What do you want?' she questioned me rather rudely.

  Five minutes later, I walked off with that bowl of noodles on a tray. It was the same one I had last week, and the week before that. 

  The canteen was densely packed, with atoms of different elements coexisting in false harmony. I think I've only seen one Neon atom. 

  Daniel was nearly done with his pizza when I had arrived. I placed my tray on the table and sat down. The abnormal concentration of carbon dioxide puzzled me. I turned my head, and I instantly knew why.

  'Ban mian again?'

  Yeah.

  'You're such a boring person,' he sighed.

  'So are you. That's why we're friends.'

  We began laughing. Yes, those were the good times, but soon they would end. After all, nothing good lasts forever right?

  I nibbled the noodles delicately, occasionally drinking a spoonful of soup. The noodles still retained their slightly chewy texture. The soup cleansed my body. The quality of the noodles was so consistent, I could eat this forever. I have been eating it since I started school if that counts as forever.

  There was a change in the atmosphere. An extra atom appeared.

  It was her again. The attraction was so strong that it caught the attention of a Neon atom. This is significant as Neon has a full valence shell. This was unheard of.

  The air was tense. I loosened my tie slightly. 

  'Len?'

  Daniel shot me a quizzical look.

  'Anything wring?'

  'Nothing.'

  'You keep looking at her. Why?'

 ' She's a childhood friend.' She was one of the only people who ever showed me kindness.

  With a smug on his face, Daniel got up and took a big stride to their table. I knew this was trouble. I should've kept my mouth shut.

  Daniel came face to face with the most popular boy in school, Luke. He was the baseball team's captain, and he had the face and build of a model. Boys worshiped him. Girls adored him.

  Gentleman Daniel was smooth. He replied to Luke's facial warning with a sly smile. 

  He tapped her shoulder gently, 'Skye, do you know him?'

  'Of course! He's my classmate!'

  'He claims to be your childhood friend, do you remember him?'

  Skye pauses. She was at a loss for words.

  'I... I had an accident before coming here... some... just some of my memories ... were altered...'

  She looked at him. It was the same smile she had given me on our journey home years ago. The link was not severed yet.

  I smiled back.

'Yeah she doesn't remember Len, now back off!'

  Daniel was repulsed by Luke's rudeness. He stormed off in anger. I followed him.

  We walked out of the canteen and sat in that deserted corner of the classroom. His face was contorted with rage. Every detail of his face was twisted, twisted to show the anger within himself. His inner turmoil seemed to surface momentarily.

  'Chill bro, it's just Luke's attitude, you'll get used to it some day.'

  'That guy is a jerk. I hate him. He thinks we're wimps and pushovers.'

  'We are.'

  'We're not.'

  I took a closer look at Daniel. His face was slightly red. His eyes were full of hatred, which seemed to dull the cool brown colour of his eyes. His hair was out of shape, having stormed off on the spur of the moment. His hands, they were trembling. And his teeth, they were gritted. 

  He wasn't the Daniel I normally hung out with.

  Something in him had burst. But no matter what happened to him he would never ever act on it. He would always old it back, keep it in. Maybe he would storm off once in a while. But he had never lashed out at anyone, as far as I knew. For someone with such intense emotions, this was difficult, but he has always done it, and will always do it.

  'Calm down, Daniel.'

  I soothed him. 

  He felt consoled and his face softened. His featured seemed more relaxed and less strained. He breathed in and breathed out slowly. Observing the movement of air around him. He seemed tranquil at last.

   Thank you, he said.

  I looked up at the sky and I thought  of her. How is she? Transferring to a new school in the last year of education required a lot of adaptability. It was tough and yet she did it. Why?

  I think she's doing fine. Luke seemed to fancy her as he thought they had chemistry. She was a positively charged ion and he was an anion. It would make sense if an ionic bond was formed between them.

  I stole a glance at Daniel.

  The term was drawing to a close. With every passing day, our final year of education gets shorter.