It's Payback Time

Chapter Five: Roller Coasters Ain't Got Nothing On Me

Chapter Five: Roller Coasters Ain't Got Nothing On Me

I had awoken earlier than the usual, rather cheerfully, to a sunny Monday morning. Waking up on my own accord and in a good mood was justifiably a rare occassion but then again, today was different: today was special.

Seeing that I had more than enough time to get ready for school, I hastily snatched my phone and fished out my laptop from one of the drawers from the side table. Turning it on, I grabbed a brush and fixed my hair up in a messy bun while waiting for the laptop to start up and immediately clicked on the Skype application.

Taking a glance at the clock on my side table, I saw it was 7:23 AM in the morning, American time, and there was a time difference of -12 hours in Singapore so it was probably the same time in the evening. The surprise party I had planned out for Abigail was for sure, already commencing in action at this very moment.

I browsed through my contacts for Chelle Yi Ling, the person I had left in charge of the surprise party I had organized, and instantaneously pressed call after spotting her name. After plugging in my earphones and tapping absentmindedly against my bed sheets, I waited for Chelle to answer.

Anxiety and a mix of excitement clawed within me creating an inner turmoil of impatience which left me glaring at the screen, telephatically willing Chelle to answer already. Barely 4 seconds had passed and I came face to face to a smiling Abigail surrounded by a lot of Asian people.

"Oy! Abi, if you dare drop my phone, there will be consequences! You won't want to face the wrath of Liyingagator!" Chelle blurted out while coming into view, her face knotted in slight annoyance.

Without waiting for any response from Abigail, she turned towards the screen and excitedly waved at me before yelling out, "We did it Savanny! We did it, we did it!" in a horrible attempt to mimic Dora the Explorer and she even danced.

"Hi Chelle," I managed to splutter out in between fits of laughter.

"Chelle is no longer a valid name for me. I preffer liyingagator cause I'm awesome just like that." Chelle replied with a wink.

Abigail had turned to look at Chelle with both of her eyebrows raised before muttering a dumbfounded, "What?''

"Lee-ying-a-gay-tor," stretching out the syllables as if she were talking to a preschooler, "It's a clevergent, clever and intelligent, merge of my last name, Li Ying, and alligator! Duh." Chelle explained in a bored tone.

I fervently question her sanity.

"Go away, Chelle. You're too cray-cray right now." Abigail was shooing Chelle away while grinning widely.

"Abi's no fun today!" Chelle whined while turning to look at me, lips in a pout.

"Shoo!" Abi retorted while I just laughed at their amusing exchange.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone!" Chelle sung out in perfect harmony before turning around to walk away, her slim figure fading into the shadows.

"Happy Birthday Abi!" I instantly shouted as soon as Chelle's fleeting figure had totally melted into the shadows and a stream of confetti popped up from 4 different directions.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of giddiness that the plan had worked out well and slightly sad that I wasn't physically present to celebrate Abi's birthday with her. Nevertheless, the smile on Abigail's face made all the efforts worth the while.

"I have no idea how in the world you managed to pull this off but you better come here, right now, to clean up the mess they'll make after this party's done." Abi muttered back before cocking an eyebrow at me.