Playing Hooky

T-4 Days to Incident

#Skipping School

Cacey felt a kind of disinterest in all the affairs in the world. She was afraid of everything and everyone. There was no one she could really trust other than her parents. There were no friends, no relatives her age; even if there were, at least not in this suburb. In this vast ocean of people, she couldn’t trust anyone. “Wait! There is that boy! If he were here with me, we could have talked about our hobbies and so many other things.” She was really taking an interest in that boy she did not know about.

She boarded bus number 103 to Ogologos High. The whole way, she was in a daze. The inauspicious thoughts of future misfortune clouded her mind. The girl gangs, the bullying in the toilet, those overbearing boys, and their irritating constant presence—everything made her feel uneasy.

“I don’t want to go to school today. But where can I spend the whole day?” She kept thinking about where to go to play hooky. “Ah! There is that and that as well!” Her face brightened up.

The bus dropped her off in front of the school. Under the shed, she stood for a long time, looking at the school entrance. They turned her face toward her destination. “I will just go and sit by the Sunsunhan River. It would take her a long time. Who cares? I have the whole day!” She thought with childlike determination.

Cacey entered a nearby shopping mall and went to the ladies' bathroom right away. When she came out, she was wearing jeans and a casual long shirt—bigger than it was necessary. Her bag was on her back. She moved from shop to shop without any purpose, then exited the shopping mall.

Tom was following her diligently. “Most probably, she lost interest. Where is she going now?” He was enjoying this escapade. He loved it. A boy of sixteen—if this didn’t interest him, what would?

Tom felt as if he had known her for such a long time. He felt a kind of companionship. Not knowing what he was doing could potentially be termed screaming. He was just a teenage boy with a new-found interest—a beautiful girl who helped him in his bad times! What relationship could be stronger than this one?

Cacey looked at her wristwatch.

Tom thought, “What are you worried about? It’s just been an hour. You have a whole day to spend!” He was humming. Suddenly realizing this, he came to his senses and said, “Haha, look at me! As if I’m on a date with a girl... Funny!”

The girl then moved to a gaming zone. She looked around. Suddenly, a claw machine caught her attention. She skipped joyfully to the machine. She tried to get a particular doll but failed each time. After the tenth time, she gave up and moved on to other games. She forgot she still had one more turn left at the claw machine.

Tom wanted to follow her, but thinking that not playing the turn would be a loss, he quickly moved up there and grabbed the doll using his expert gaming skills. “I will give it to her someday.”

He put the doll in his bag while looking for the girl.

“Where did she go?” He eagerly searched for the mysterious girl. “Ah! There!”

She was now in the bowling zone. Tom was surprised to see how professional her movements were, yet how bad she was at each of the games.

Tom kept gleefully laughing from the back, unnoticed. Just being around Cacey brought Tom an enormous amount of joy and happiness. His life, full of gloom and dark thoughts, was brightened up by a girl. He was so grateful to her.

Cacey was leaving at least one turn unplayed in most games. Tom wondered why.

“Well, whatever the reason is, I will just take the opportunity to play the hand.”

Tom kept following Cacey and playing all the leftover opportunities.

“This is cool! Playing hooky is so nice when you are with a girl!”

Tom didn’t care to think that he wasn’t really with the girl. He was just an individual, like many others around her at this moment. He wasn’t anyone special to her!

The gaming zone was a favorite place for teenagers who loved to play hooky, especially delinquents. The moment Cacey saw some groups, she left the zone, and Tom followed, not knowing why. Then he saw them—Pig and Snake with some of their trusted friends—busy playing games. Tom immediately ran off. The corner where they gathered felt like a den of lions and lionesses. The disgusting smell of cigarette smoke made Tom almost vomit. The vibe was dangerous and life-threatening.

Tom looked for Cacey for a while. “Where did she go?”

Tom searched for her like a madman. He asked around.

“Sir, did you see a cute girl in jeans and a white shirt, almost my height?” No one saw her. “How the hell did she vanish in such a short time?” He was lost in his thoughts, and again, as usual, he came back to reality. “What am I doing?”

Feeling dejected, he exited the area. Wondered around. He felt like eating ice cream or something sweet. He was not feeling well. He went to an ice cream parlor and ordered a parfait. While enjoying the sweetness, he casually looked out the window.

People were passing by. Some were his age—girls and boys—all playing hooky. Some were in school dresses, and some were in jeans and white. SHIRT?!! “There she is!!!” He almost cried out but with his inner voice. Cacey appeared from inside a different ice cream parlor. Tom jumped and quickly went to the counter to pay the bill. He was so happy!

“Please, keep the change.” For the first time in his life, he didn’t care about the change. He ran outside and looked around. Cacey was about to vanish beyond a corner. He quickly shortened their distance. Like before, he kept following Cacey around. He didn’t know her name, and perhaps she didn’t notice him as well. But it didn’t bother him at all. “Who cares! No one understands how good I feel right now. As if I were with one of my dear classmates. Let me enjoy this a little more.”

Cacey kept walking till she reached the Sunsunhan River bank. There she went to a bunch of people catching fish, lazily sitting on the riverside. Cacey went to one of them and started a conversation.

Tom was surprised. “Does she know those people?”

One of them gave her one of the fishing lines. She sat by one of the ladies. They laughed as they fished.

Tom was so envious! “She had a circle of her own!”

Tom, with a sense of insecurity and inferiority complex, felt rejected by the carefree aura of self-confidence about Cacey, “Lucky girl!”

Then a question popped into his mind: “But why did she choose to go to that devilish school? A pure girl like her cannot stay there in peace."

Time went by like flies. When you are with someone you are infatuated with, you forget to track your time. It feels nice—the sky suddenly looks brighter, the hot midday sun feels enjoyable, the breeze feels amazing, you feel butterflies in your stomach, your heart races, and you sweat in unknown anticipation. “I want to talk to the girl so much! How do I approach such a beautiful girl? She is so out of my league! Look at her shining so brightly!!” Tom felt dejected and rejected again.

Tom felt hungry. Cacey was feeding on the fish her groupies caught.

“How nice to have good friends like them! I want some of that too!” Tom licked his lips. The next moment, he felt embarrassed. “What am I doing?”

He looked around for any mobile food courts. “Ah! There is one!” He went there and bought a fish sandwich and chips. By the time he came back, the groupies began fishing once again, but Cacey was just making conversations and laughing brightly.

Tom took the seat of a spectator and resumed enjoying what the girl was doing, as if he were watching a show in front of a TV. “My God! What a good girl! What a beautiful human!” Unknowingly, Tom felt like crying. He was so touched by her innocence that his heart melted.

“How can a human smile like that?” Tom felt empty—really empty. “What have I been doing all my life? No friends, no groups... no companion to share emotions! What am I doing, dear god? Can you not give me a companion like that girl? We could catch fish together and have so much fun!”

Then Tom remembered Pig and Snake. “I take that back, God. I take that back. I don’t want to put that bright girl in danger as well."Tom cried some more, then stood up to leave. It’s almost sundown. “I can’t make any more delays. I must start now; otherwise, today I may face a serious beating.”

#Skipping School—Before Sundown

As Tom took his leave, Cacey looked back and saw a familiar figure walking away, following the path she had taken to reach here. A shade of melancholy suddenly appeared on her face.

“You are leaving already? I thought we could hang out some more!” She sighed. The whole day was like a date with that sad-looking boy. She thought he would approach her!!

“I was hoping to talk to you today! I really wanted to talk to you! I wish you would come and talk to me! You were brave that day with all those boys around; what made you so cowardly when there was no one to stop you from approaching me?

“Thank you, sisters! I will come back another day! Today, it’s getting late. I don’t want to get caught playing hooky by my mom! Bye!”

She stood up and ran with the wind. "Perhaps if I hurry, I will catch up to him? I want to know his name! This dummy! If I don’t make advances, he will never talk to me!”

She thought she was fast, but Tom, who ran with his life on the line, was even faster and nowhere to be found. By the time Cacey changed into her school uniform and reached the school gate, her mom was waiting. She technically avoided being spotted and stood by her mom.

“Mom! You are here!”

“Cacey? Where did you come from? I didn’t see you coming out from inside!”

“Oh! Mom, I had to hide from prying eyes. I am practically like a celebrity in my class!” Her mom caught on to the subtle sarcasm in her voice but decided not to press. “I will wait till you open up! But make it quick, girl! You could be in trouble later!”

They both boarded the bus. She sat by the window, looking toward the side of the road, leaving the school behind. Cacey was drawing invisible sketches on the window. As the bus moved quite a bit, she noticed the boy doing a marathon toward the nearby park. “You sure are fast, boy!!” She intently kept gazing in that boy’s direction until the bus left Tom in the dust.