chapter 1
Packing my baggage, I was a little nervous about going to Freshmen Orientation Camp tomorrow. It would be my first day in university, and I really hope the next four years would be filled with joy and excitement!
Entering the country's most prestigious Business School and reading Accountancy was not my first choice. I had a youthful aspiration to be a Dentist. No, not that I have a sadistic likening to seeing pain and suffering when I extract their teeth, but.. the salary will be good, and I could help people smile better. This aspiration was anyway crushed by a panel of three interviewers. They stared at me, and I stared back at them. We didn't really talk, until they decided that I wasn't that ready to become a dentist. Man, I was really demoralized… but I moved on anyway. Accountancy would not be too bad too! It is still nevertheless quite a respectable profession.
Yes, I was too quiet. I am the kind of introvert who doesn't have many friends, preferring to be alone, watch YouTube, Korean dramas… and I know, I may face problems with socializing in university. Hence, I decided to sign up for staying in the university hostel (we call it Hall). At least, I would have some friends and roomies, I reasoned. I'd signed up for the Hall camp that's happening tomorrow too. I'm not the kind who like camps, but my friends and cousins reminded me time and again that the most enjoyable thing in university life were camps, and camps, and more camps. "Don't you ever regret!" was the typical response I get whenever I complained I didn't want to go.
Half excited about tomorrow, half unwilling to explore the unexplored. I guess, I'll just see how it goes from here. Who knows, perhaps I might just find my life partner tomorrow or forge the strongest friendships ever…
I was never good with camps. Not knowing what else to bring, I often just brought along some clothes and shower gel. I used about five minutes to do some push-ups to make sure I look the most muscular I could, and had a three-minute shower just to smell nice. Ah! Carefully waxed my hair before I left the house, and spent a neat thirty five minutes just to do so. I guess business school would care more about appearance than character, though I'd rather it not be so… well, here I was anyway.
At the campsite – the open field just beside the entrance to east coast jetty at east coast park.
I could see… many guys with black spectacles, just like me.. boys, who just completed their mandatory military conscription after college. In fact, I could even spot one guy still wearing tiger pattern number four army pants, perhaps to boast to ladies that he served army before. Oh, the rest of us didn't, did we.
I carefully searched for the sign that spelt "Ironman"… well, its like this. The theme of the this year's camp is Marvel. And each hall was broken down into Orientation Groups, of which I belonged to the Ironman OG. I did my homework and stalked on Facebook. Ironman is supposed to contain 20 iron-clad members, of which there were 5 pretty girls, and out of which only two were unattached. Did anyone tell you I had a nickname called the Dark Knight? Im really good when it comes to stalking. Well, typical of introverts, I'd say.
Ironman… Iron… ah! There it is!
Painfully disappointed with whatever happened next. My two Orientation Group Leaders.. well, how should I put it? They looked too plain. They do not look like the kind that would take me through very exciting moments for the next four days. The female OGL wore a name tag that spelt SARAH together with black short pants and standard business school black t-shirt. The guy looks like the typical nerd tagged with RICHARD. I smiled and took a sat down beside them…
The silence was unusually awkward.
By the time Ironman was gathered together and sat in a circle, the neighbouring group Thor were already screaming, yelling and cheering. Here we are… awkward silence. I… was a little disappointed with what it seemed.. very introverted OGLs. Like me. Well… just wondering how the next few days would be like.
"Uh… Hi guys! Im Sarah (duh), your OGL for the next few days. This is Richard (duh), and we are gonna take you through intense fun (im sure) and.. and.. crazy moments for the next few days!"
Looking around me, there were some obvious unhappy fellow OG mates. Some were looking at the iphones, perhaps tweeting about this miserable camp. But there are some who were rather quiet. I particularly liked this long straight haired, FBT-clad girl with fond hazel eyes and petite figure… she's not the kind that shines and stands out like a superstar, but she's surely one who exudes a constant faint glow. Carefully brushing the mosquito away from her long sleek legs, I can't help but feel that she's really pretty. Pleasant. You name it.
"There are many heroes in the world, but only ONE, is a GOD! We are… THOR! THOR! THOR!" The neighbouring Thor was already cheering wildly and rolling their OGLs in the mud...
Well, I do hope to survive the next few days.
Camp was already on its second episode. Well, Richard and Sarah weren't exactly that bad after all. Although they were not the naturally charismatic or engaging type, we can all see that they tried their very best to engage us (though most of the time they weren't too successful)… Richard would often volunteer to carry water bottles for us, ensuring we were sufficiently hydrated, while Sarah would earnestly engage in small conversations with us.
We were noticeably quieter than the other OGs. But well, looking on the bright side, we were all warm and friendly and polite to one another. Maybe we shouldn't be named Ironman after all. Winnie the Pooh would be more appropriate.
I made two friends already. Both guys. One is called Faizal, after I initiated a talk with him and quickly sank our discussions into English Premier League. The other is Shan Shan, the studious-looking type. Though I quickly found out that he had 4 'A' level distinctions, 2 special papers distinctions, and Music distinction back in college. Awesome friend for me to copy homework from. That was when I tried to salvage my ego and try to mention somewhere that I was a black-belt in taekwondo and won a bronze medal in college before. Maybe that made Faizal on the defensive too, because he stammered to add in that he was the Publicity Director of Business Club back in his college days.
As for the girls, well, they were just like the Great Wall. They quickly formed into small battle groups that made it hard for me, Mr Introvert, to make friends with. Sarah seems to be aware of this and tried to get the girls to talk to us instead. In the end… its still... Sigh. I'm better off on my own.
Day 2 was supposed to be a fun and games day. We played activities along the beach and.. some games turned out to be a culture shock for me.
There was one particular game which we competed against freshmen from CaptainAmerica. We played ultimate Frisbee with more than half of our bodies submerged in water. Argh.. the guys were forced to take off their shirts and I had the problem of feeling too cold in the waters… bbbrrr… anyways, there's simply just too many girls for me to show that discomfort. I fought hard, trying to grab the Frisbee as often as I could to attract attention. The CaptainAmerica OGL noticed this, and drew himself nearer and nearer to me… and I'd never ever forget in my life what he did next…
I felt something violent happening at my pants. The damn OGL jerked it off! I was stunned, not knowing what to do, just felt that my groin region was very "windy", bare, and open. I… was doomed.
He swam too far, and I couldn't get my pants back. The match shortly ended and we won. Everyone left the waters… but me. I couldn't go up.
"Come on! Don't be a pussy!" the OGL taunted. I could have bravely remove myself from the waters, but I couldn't bear to let others see my translucent thoroughly soaked disposable underwear… sigh. I.. was trapped. Every second that passed seem to freeze both the time and my submerged body.
The two OGs appeared to sense something was amiss. Finally, my Goddess came. The sweet looking girl took my pants defiantly from the OGL, ran (and almost fell) along the sandy beach and swam… reeling herself towards me like I was meant to be hers.
"Here," she passed the pants to me, catching her breath.. Awkwardly, I put it on, while trying to keep my balance in the waters. Blushing brightly, she turned her head away, exposing her well-defined collarbones and stretched neck bone. Beads of water trickled down from her long wet hair… I could smell the seawaters locked on her skin, and see her pink sports bra under her soaked top.
The two OGs cheered wildly behind us… yes, even quiet little Ironman.
It was a really special moment. Embarrassing, yet I could feel her warmth in the coldest waters.
Her name is Rin.
