I hit the green! I hit the green! I hit the green! Yeah! I'm so proud of my accomplishment today!



I cannot believe it! I thought I would never make it yesterday (which was a few minutes ago). And now, I managed to drop my tomorrow's expected workload by 12 words... Err, okay... That isn't so much.

Later today, I must make sure I hit the expected words NaNoWriMo wants me to write by tomorrow. Only 2 more days of perseverance, running at the same pace as today, and after that, I'm home free!

I've done until Chapter 11, and am now working on Chapter 12. Expect one tomorrow, when I'll probably shout out my "little" victory or lost. Chapter 6 is here for your reading pleasure. Click on No. above the Date field to view the story.



If you're eyes tire after reading such long blocks of text, I have divided this chapter into 2 halves for your convenience. Words in bold mark where the anchors lead to.

Quick Jump:
First half
Second half

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Chapter 6

Amy fluttered open her eyelids. She had to squint because of the bright fluorescent light in the ceiling that illuminated her room. She rubbed her eyes hard with her own hands and grabbed a look at her clock. It was 5 a.m., early in the morning. She tried to get out of her bed but flopped back down as the room around her began to spin slightly.

“Man, why did I have to wake up so early even though I’m really tired?”

She lay down on her bed and started to organize her plans for the day mentally. She hoped that by doing so, she will wear herself out to sleep for an hour or two before starting school. She thought and thought, but she could not slip into slumber. After fifteen minutes, she gave up, got up and drew herself a nice warm bath in the porcelain bathtub.

She sat down at her vanity table, and she used a brush to comb her medium auburn hair. She whistled a tuneless song while she meticulously parted and combed her hair. Using her fingers, she plaited her hair and tied a pink ribbon at the ‘tail’. She quickly wore the outside she planned to wear yesterday, grabbed her schoolbag and left her room.

She went into the dining room and was surprised that the table was not even set. She looked at her own watch. The blinking digits 06:15 showed. She sighed. No wonder, it was still so early in the morning. She peeked at the kitchen door, hoping to find that the chef is about to prepare her breakfast. Unfortunately, the lights were turned off and no one was there yet. She was beginning to wonder that the people in the mansion were still fast asleep, besides the security guards and her herself.

Amy dropped her schoolbag on the floor and decided to pop into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for herself. She opened the cabinets in search for some simple and easy to make breakfast. Cereal was what was in her mind. Apparently, the only prepared food there were several loaves of bread together with a few bottles of jam and peanut butter. She plugged the toaster into the main switch, and toasted two slices of bread. She stood there, waiting for the bread to be toasted. She waited, and waited, and waited.

A few good minutes had passed. She wondered why the bread was still not fully toasted yet.

“Oh!” She smacked herself in the forehead. She switched on the switch. “Silly me, it was off all along!” She laughed at herself for her silliness.

The bread suddenly jumped up from the toaster. She grabbed a plate, placed the bread on them and carefully spread the strawberry jam over them with a knife. She hummed a song by Britney Spears “Hit Me Baby One More Time” while she was spreading the jam. Finally, she folded both the slices of bread into half. She placed the loaf and the jam away into the cabinet and she took a bite of the bread while standing up. She felt that she will be finishing her breakfast fast, so there was no need for her to go all the way to the dining table and properly consume the food.

After she was done, she casually grabbed a carton of milk from the refrigerator and poured it into a glass. She downed the milk, placed the dirty dish and the now-empty glass on the sink and hopped to the garage.

Her driver Jenkins who was in his pyjamas was cleaning the black Mercedes Benz thoroughly when Amy gave a small cough. He wheeled around and nearly fell on the floor when he saw the elegant teenage girl looking at him, very bemused herself. Jenkins’s face became shades of red, and timidly asked her, “Amy! What are you doing down here so early in the morning?”

“Hello dear Jenkins! I’m ready and full of energy. I’m enthusiastic about school. In fact, I’m so loving it I can’t sleep the whole night!” Amy wildly gestured, clearly saying that she was over-exaggerating.

Jenkins mouth went wide open. “Clearly you don’t mean that?”

Amy gave a sly grin. She placed her arms over Jenkins’s shoulder. She looked at him, and said, “Of course not my man! Come, I’ve got school to go to!”

“Okay,” said Jenkins while he let Amy’s arm drop off from his shoulder, clearly uncomfortable by her sudden sarcasm. “Let me go change into my uniform.”

Amy shook her head frantically. “No! No need to. Just send me to school, no one will be there that early to see you in your…” Before she could complete her sentence, she burst into gales of laughter.

Jenkins stared at her. He was shocked at Amy’s weird attitude that morning. He wanted to insist changing to his uniform, but for some reasons he could not muster a word. He took a deep breath and opened the car door to let Amy in to the car. The laughing Amy tried to mouth out the word thanks and sat in the comfortable chair, while Jenkins sat in the driver’s seat. The engine roared into life as the garage door slowly rose up. The headlights came on, and as quietly as a kitten the car drove out of the driveway into the streets, humming quietly along the way to school.

“Well, this is going to be interesting day,” exclaimed Amy who kept staring at Jenkins’ chequered pyjamas. Jenkins frowned and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He ignored Amy’s comment and concentrated on his driving. He will get over with this little joke soon.

Amy slunk herself a bit down the chair, and she slipped in and out of consciousness as the scenery zipped by. Without her realising it, Jenkins stopped the car in front of her school. Her door was opened and she gave a big yawn, asking Jenkins where she was now.

“Oh look! Big girl expecting her little ‘slave’ to open the door after now, eh?” came a high-pitched voice that did not quite sound like Jenkins. In fact, it sounded eerily familiar to Amy’s ears.

“Melissa! What are you doing here?” asked a very shocked Amy. She got out of her car and her exit was greeted by hoots of girly girl giggles. When she got out, Melissa shut the door of the shiny Mercedes Benz and missed her blouse by her few inches.

Jenkins flustered to drive the car away as fast as he could. He did not want to witness another development of a cat fight. He felt so bad that he had just abandoned Amy there all alone defenceless with a group of not so nice girls. But he just could not protect her wearing only his pyjamas, it will further embarrass Amy and he himself. He whispered to God his apology if Amy was harmed.

“Amy, dear sweet charming little Charmings. Thank goodness you came early to school today. That horrendous 70’s dress of yours serves as an example of the greatest fashion disaster of the millennia!” snorted Melissa.

The word “Yea!” was echoed by Melissa’s ‘sorority sisters’.

Amy clenched her fist. “At least this dress was hot enough for the 70’s chics to wear. You’re just jealous that you weren’t the one who will revive foxy outfits from the past.”

Melissa did not flinch. “That was because I’m not as stupid as you are and those old-timers! The fashion was soon dead because it was too ugly, of course. You don’t see people like us wearing that now.”

A tall freckled brunette added on to her comment. “Except for Mrs. Sanders.”

The girls roared into laughter at that little joke of hers. Amy was clearly not amused.

“Look, why do you care about what I wear? I’m not you, okay? What is your intention?” challenged Amy.

“People like you who quit our gang will be treated harshly because they deserve it. They made a really big mistake. You disowned us, Amy, you betrayer! Nobody ever does that and gets away with it. And now you shall pay!” Melissa cracked her fist, and out of the blue, she tackled Amy.

“Yaarrgghhh!”

Amy gave a loud scream and she ran to the field and crouched on the floor. A wind bellowed, and the oak tree in front of the school rustled. Suddenly, everything slowed down immensely. The air suddenly became still, the birds chirped slowly in the trees and Amy could see Melissa’s girlfriends. Some cowered in fear, the others watch in anticipation of this assault.

Melissa’s long blond hair swished in the wind as she ran. Her Sunday’s best fluttered in the wind. She sprinted towards her target, giving a growl as she tried her best form of intimidation. Her leg suddenly caught on something and Amy watched in horror as her predator fell on the soft muddy ground instantly.

Melissa remained motionless for a few seconds. The few students who were gathering there gasped, even Amy, fearing that she might have badly injured herself. Melissa slowly got up from the ground using her hands, and when she faced them, her girlfriends immediately fled the scene. Amy could not believe her once so pretty face had suddenly became a mud cake, like a chocolate cake recipe gone bad.


“Oh my gosh! I wish I was there early to see the look on her face! So what did you do?” asked Mary. She flashed a grin which exposed the silver braces stuck on the upper jaw of her teeth.

Amy, who was now portraying Zuleikha, simply shook her head. “Mary, you never believe this,” she sighed.

“I just helped her up and gave her my handkerchief to wipe the mud off her face.”

Mary’s eyes bore at her friend’s. “No way! Why did you do that for? She kept picking on you, isn’t it just great she finally got her own dose of medicine?”

Amy shrugged. “Hey, I’m soft in the heart. No one was there to help her. I think everyone literally fled after they saw the Medusa look-alike. I feel sorry for her though, but then it’s expected. No one really likes her because of her mean attitude. They wouldn’t dare to help anyway. She had this expression of her face telling the whole world that she would explode anytime soon.

“What she didn’t know is, she herself even though popular for her beauty and grace, is infamous for her mean streak. And my mom told me to repay evil with kindness, and that will usually give them a guilty conscience.”

“Amy, oh Amy! You’re too nice!” joked Mary.

“Correction. I’m Zuleikha. Do you want to tell the whole world that,” she lowered her voice into a whisper, “I’m the daughter of President Charming? Please! I’ll be flanked by national reporters and journalist, and Mother will drop nuke on me!”

“Sorry, I forgot. I’m not used to calling you that. Why the disguise anyway?” asked Mary inquisitively.

“Long story,” came the curt reply from Amy. “Oh, come here, look at this cute external hard disk! It’s 40 GB in size.”

Mary studied the hard disk carefully. She then put the peripheral down. “Oh, I’ve seen better and cheaper ones before,” she shrugged. “Anyway, I have all the time in the world to listen to your ‘long story’.”

“Fine,” said Amy. “Well, I have to be Zuleikha because it wasn’t easy staying at home the whole day. It really drives me nutty, it’s like as if I have been put under house arrest! Besides, when I go out, Mother insisted on two bodyguards following me around. I get no privacy, you know, and people will stare at me, especially those pesky paparazzi.

“And so, I disguised myself as a Persian lady. I can cover my glaring auburn hair with a headscarf, and that also makes my face unrecognizable. I have been sneaking out from my house for already a few months, and so far all of my escapades were undetected. Wish I could have thought up of this ingenious plan a long time ago.”

“Why go out? You can always curl up in front of your computer.”

Amy patted her friend on her back. “True, true. But I wanted to see the outside world as well, see how the society works. Oh, it’s complicated to explain.”

“No, no need to. I got you already.” Mary gave her best friend a wink. They both wandered along the little booths set up by various computer companies in the country.

Mary suddenly shrieked. Amy ran quickly towards her. “What? What happened?”

“Look at this, just look at this!” Mary shoved the big and white pen drive she was holding right in front of Amy’s eyes.

Amy looked at her friend in a weird way. “So? It’s just a pen drive, except fatter.”

“No, no, no!” Mary quickly interjected. “It’s the latest iPod Shuffler! Look, look!” She placed the white player in Amy’s hand.

“See the word 2 gig?”

“I see it, I see it, and I don’t believe it!” shrieked Amy as well. “Since when does Apple release 2 gig shufflers? I don’t remember any breaking news on it.”

“Well, who cares, let’s ask the shopkeeper!” Mary pulled Amy’s hands, and they both inquired the shopkeeper of the Apple retailer.

“We received only a batch of it from Apple Corporations last night. They wanted buyers who are in the Computer Expo today to try it out. It’s still in BETA by the way,” informed the shopkeeper.

“Well, how much?”

“$199. But you better buy it quick, because it’s the last one we have in store.”

Amy looked at her friend, and Mary stared at her back. They both weighed the decision laid on them. To buy or not to buy, that is the question.

A small kid of about eight years old pulled Mary’s shirt. Mary looked at the little kid, and politely asked what does he want?

The little kid showed his big blue eyes to Mary. He shifted his feet around and showed her his well-practiced puppy dog eyes while casually pointing at the new iPod shuffler she was holding.

Mary looked at the kid. “Aww, you want it?”

The little boy nodded his head in earnest, but he looked like he was about to wail when Mary shook her head and exclaimed, “No, it’s mine! Mine!”

She gave a sinister laughter, and with jubilance she told the shopkeeper she will take it. He smiled as his hands felt the texture of paper money. He immediately drew up an invoice, and told Mary to fill up a feedback form so that Apple Corporation can contact her after 3 months of usage.

She quickly signed her name and dragged Amy away into the crowd. The little boy looked at her, frustrated that he could not get his hands on the new iPod shuffler. He kept on staring at Mary. Mary looked behind, and put her tongue out at him, and the poor little kid cried and ran to look for his mother.

“Mary, that was mean of you!” lectured Amy.

“Hey Am, errr, I mean Zul…Zul…”

“Zuleikha,” reminded Amy.

“Yes, Zuleikha! I saw that iPod first, and I was the first one who paid for it as well. So of course I deserve it. Like they say: ‘first come, first serve!’”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Don’t come crying for me when the boy’s mother come and look for you!”

Mary’s eye flicked. “She dare do that, I shall bombard her with my receipt, my invoice and most of all, dangle that thing in front of her very own eyes!”

“You’re a devil when it comes to this. Come on, I got a hard disk to hunt for!” reminded Amy.

They both chuckled in laughter as they disappeared into the crowd.


(Catch Chapter 7 soon! Comments and criticisms very much welcomed =). Thanks for reading!)