Crimson Angel

  * * *

  The day went on smoothly except everyone was befuddled by Len’s wisdom. He was perfect in every single subject. He spoke fluent French and Spanish. He could design an experiment in Chemistry lesson which was not yet even taught by the teacher. He got full marks in Physics pop quiz and memorized all parts of a human body.

  “How can you do that?” I frowned at him. That couldn’t be possible for a normal fifteen year-old boy to possess that much knowledge. Did he self-study at home?

  “My parents always want me to be the best, so…” Len seemed to find it difficult to continue. “Um…”

  “Won’t you just say you are simply intelligent?” Kelvin turned around and smiled. “You are being too modest, Len.”

  “Haha…”

  I loved that naive laugh. His voice was so tempting.

  “What’s your IQ?” Helen next to Kelvin also joined in and inquired.

  “Huh?” Len looked challenged.

  “IQ…Intelligence quotient.” I explained. I hoped he understood.

  “Oh, yes.” He was like suddenly remembering something. “I never checked it before.”

  “What a waste.” Helen sounded let down. “You really should.”

  “Maybe you get over 180.” Tom taunted.

  “Stupid, even Albert Einstein was around 180.”

  Well, I didn’t deem it was a stupid idea although Tom might just have said it randomly. I DID think Len could have IQ above 180, inhumanly talented.

  “What do you do for lunch?” Len turned to ask me, smiling again.

  “Nothing, eat and read.”

  “Oh, mind if you show me around the school, just for a bit?”

  “Okay.” I sounded cool and all that but deep down I was delighted. At least, I had met a new friend.

  However, things didn’t turn out this way at lunch. When the clock first stroke twelve, lots of boys gathered around Len, asking if he wished to play basketball.

  “I can’t, I have to…” No one allowed him to move on.

  “Come on, Len, show me your talent in sports.”

  “Len, we need one more player!”

  “Len, you can just tell Alice to wait!”

  I took a quick glimpse at Len and he was also looking at me.

  “I don’t really like sports…” He was still staring at me when he said that. “But who’s also playing?”

  “Who, the sporty group in the next class of course! You haven’t been told, have you? Edmond Adams, the fastest basketball shooter in this school. Wanna challenge him? We are playing against him.”

  “Alright.” Len replied almost right away. He stood up and left with the crowd. Before turning to the door, he threw me a piece of paper.

  Frankly speaking, I was a bit annoyed by his action. Boys always loved challenges and they didn’t remember their promises to girls.

  I turned over the paper and there it wrote.

  Help me buy my lunch, please.

  I sighed. Boys were like that.

  I stood up reluctantly and went to the canteen. I was purchasing our lunch when I heard shrieks and howls at the playground.

  “What’s happening?” I asked the closest person I could get.

  “Don’t you know? Len the new comer is fighting against Edmond!”

  “Fighting?” Lunch almost slipped from my hands.

  “I mean, playing…That new comer is so outstanding that Edmond’s group is nearly losing.”

  “Wow…” I should have expected that. Len was something different.

  Quickly gripping two lunch boxes, I dashed towards the playground. It was the funniest moment in my life. The second Edmond saw me, he looked impatient and disturbed. On the other hand of the court, Len was grinning confidently at me.

  Things changed fast, didn’t they?

  Everyone at the court who used to shout “EDMOND” was now calling out for Len.

  “LEN, LEN, LEN!!!”

  He was the star of today. Another match began. Len got to his feet and leapt up. The ball was his immediately. He was incredibly fast and flexible. I had never seen someone play so flawlessly. Every movement he took was unpredictable. Every action he made was stunning. You could never take a breath till the end. Even the way he played it was elegant and seductive. Edmond was totally defeated.

  The coach whistled for a stop. Lunch was around ten minutes before over and I still hadn’t started eating yet. Len accepted towels from his playmates and then jogged to me.

  “Hey…” He called out.

  “Hi,” I smiled. I felt so pleasant to see Edmond lose. That arrogant, proud boy should have learnt the lesson this time!

  I handed him his lunch and he gratefully took it. “I’ll pay you back.”

  “No,” I said. “You already did.”