The Sequel (KPP : 1986 # 3)

I'm not supposed to continue with this sequel now...I've just finished marking 5 Dissertations, and 58 pieces of my students' assignments (all within the last 3 days) and I have 24 more pieces of assignments and 82 pieces of exam scripts to mark for the rest of the week (and mind you each exam script contains 3 essays/answers! AAAArrrrrggggghhhh!!!) But, if I didn't take a break now and continue with this Cerita Chenta - I'm going to explode...and poor Ayah would have to pick all the bits and pieces of me nanti.... Eeeeewwwwww...GROSSSSSS!!!

So to avoid that - here's The Sequel :) Hehehehe!

So, everything was hunky dory for us - Ayah was promoted to Ivy League and I was in the Oxbridge Programme and we were surrounded by our fantastic friends. Life was more fun as skodenging was made easier, as our hostels were very near to each other in Subang Jaya. Our classes were held at Sri KL School which was about 10 minutes walk from our hostels, and the best thing was - we girls would have to pass by the guys' block on the way to class, and oh yes - our warung lepak was right in front of Ayah's room, too! (Our warung lepak was the Pawagam P.Ramlee in SJ - not sure if it's still there, though?) So, actually both Ayah and I had a field day skodenging each other in Subang Jaya! Hehehe!

And it might be hard for some of you to believe (and I'm sorry to disappoint some of you all), but the truth be told - the 5/6 months we were in Subang Jaya, Ayah and I NEVER went out together just the two of us on a proper date! Sorry, guys!!!

I remember the first time we went out together, there were TEN of us - myself and Ab*d (from Group 2), and Ayah, Ibu, Ju*a, Sh*dy, B*gg, Az*in and Aza*in (from Group 13), and J* (from Group 12) - we went out for lunch at Subang Jaya's Shakey's Pizza. And it was and had ALWAYS been like that. There would always be a friend or two (or EIGHT!) chaperoning us, and we didn't mind a bit. In fact, it was Ayah or me who would ajak our friends to join us. Strange, huh? But, somehow, we just felt right NOT to go out just the two of us then...

One of the things that I remember most about KPP Subang Jaya was of course the eve of Valentine's Day that year...Ohhhh...how can I forget that night? We girls just came back from our night class, had our teh tarik at Pawagam P.Ramlee, and had gone back to our own rooms, and I was getting ready for bed, when my dorm-mate came to me and said, "Ada orang nak jumpa downstairs". I looked at my watch and it was already 11:40p.m! "Hmmmm...who could it be?" - I wasn't expecting any visitors at that hour!

What to do? I had to change to a more decent clothes as I couldn't be going downstairs in my pyjamas, could I? So, off I went down, and just as I reached the Ground Floor, I saw Ayah. There he was - with a BIG red envelope and a single red rose in his hand!!! Caaaaiiiiirrrrrr, I tell you! I didn't want to appear too anxious, and I kept my cool. And we started chit-chatting (all those time he was holding on to the envelope and rose, and I was glancing nervously at those items in his hand!!! Hahaha! Tak malu betul...)

And at the stroke of midnight, and right on cue, Ayah wished me, "Happy Valentine's Day..." and handed me the big red envelope and the single red rose, and said, "I hope you'll like these..."

"LIKE???!!" I LOVED THEM! I just did not know how to react, and I think my face was all red then! Palpitations...palpitations!!!

And right at THAT moment, Encik Tal*a, our warden walked by and said, "BALIK BILIK!!! Dah pukul dua belas ni!!!" CHIIISSSSSS!!!! Perosak agenda betul... So, no after mid-night rendezvous for us that night. I thanked Ayah, and went back up to my room and he went back to his room. And I remember having a difficult time sleeping that night....Rasa panas seluruh badan woooo...HAHAHAHAHA!!

Another thing that I remember about Subang Jaya was our "Song Composition Club" which we would have on Tuesday nights. I remember our Club teacher, (who was also our Grammar teacher) Mr. Ana*da Ti*aka who would bring his guitar kapok, and there were about 8 or 9 of the club members at every meeting. And surprise, surprise....(not!) BOTH Ayah and I were members of that club! And the funny thing was - the members were either from Group 2 (three of us - myself, Ab*d and Wa*i) and Group 13 (Ayah, Ibu, Ju*a, B*gg, Sh*dy, Az*in and Aza*in! And also another MT friend, J* (from Group 12). So, basically that club was formed exclusively for us! Hahahaha!

I mean...I could understand why Ayah was in it laaa - he plays a few musical instruments, and he was (and is) into composing songs, and he's also quite a good singer But, moi???!!! Gosh, I was and AM the most tone-deaf person who ever walked on the face of the earth, and the berudu-berudu dewasa during their spawning/mating season pun sound so much better than me when I (TRY to) sing! Tapi, sebab nak curi peluang to spend every little time possible with Ayah, I sanggup masuk Club tu and made a fool of myself...(GOSHHHH!!! Cringe...cringe!)

There were also a few occasions when Ab*d and I were walking to class from our hostel and we would bump into Ayah, also walking to Sri KL (kekadang tu memang saja go to class time-time I knew Ayah would be leaving for his class...Heheheh!) and being the gentleman that he was (and is :)) he would teman and walk us from the Pawagam P.Ramlee junction right up to our classroom before going up to the second floor to Group 13. Sigh... :)

I remember being very happy at Subang Jaya. The time spent there was arguably one of the best times of my life. I was hopelessly falling in love...What more could I ask for?

But come March that year, it looked like everything was about to change...

Yup - the day our SPM results came out.

I remember most of us STFians took the night train from KL to JB the night before. We reached JB in the morning and went straight to school. And after meeting our teachers and juniors in school we went to the school office to collect our result slips - our hearts jumping and thumping...

And THAT morning turned out to be one of the worst days of my life...

My results was not as I (or my teachers) expected. It did not reflect the string of A's that I always got throughout my Form 4 and 5. And I just couldn't explain it...What went wrong?! On hindsight, I should bersyukur as it was NOT a bad results at all - but, it was just not good enough for the Oxbridge Programme...I JUST missed out on the single digit aggregate...And I was so, so devastated...

And it didn't help when the next morning it was all over the newspapers that Ayah was one of Malaysia's best students for SPM that year...

I was VERY happy for him, of course...but, at the same time, very, very broken with my own results...

And for the next couple of days after I went back to KL, I didn't call Ayah...and all those while, he was frantically trying to get in touch with me...And I - I just could not bring myself to face him.

And from that moment on, I was resigned to the fact that come September that year, Ayah would be flying off to the U.S of A under the Ivy League Programme, and I would be staying on in Malaysia for 2 years under the A Levels Programme...

"It just wasn't meant to be", I kept on telling myself...

To be continued...