My First Novel: Noelle

David or Jason?

*reprint from Mod Magazine, 2011

published on Mod magazine, Jan-Feb 2011 issue

Chapter 1
David or Jason?

Noelle sits by her bed alone hugging her pillow, staring at her laptop, a slideshow of her pic with David is running. After a month in Singapore, she misses her boyfriend of 2 years who is in Manila. She longs to hear his voice, caress his face and mess his hair. If he was only across the hall, across the street or right in this city, she would have marched right now. But he is far away, across the ocean, thousand miles away.

Why did I put myself thru this? She asks herself. She remembers the day she told David about her receiving a scholarship at Nanyang Technological University. He was in total shock. Why wouldn't he, she only told him when she was just about a month away from leaving. She had her reasons she said which all the more fired him up.

"I don’t understand," was all David could say. He kept shaking his head in frustration. He repeats himself and looks at her in disbelief.

"It’s just two years. I will be home on Christmas and summer breaks. You can visit me any weekend you are free. David, please let me do this."

"It ‘s not that I don’t want you to grow and…. You know I want what’s best for you. I don’t understand why go behind my back?"

"Honestly, I never thought I would pass and be chosen… Can you not be happy for me? Why are you so selfish?"

"Now, I’m selfish?"

"I’m sorry. Let’s not talk. This is getting nowhere." Noelle was feeling so lonely that time. She was so near him and yet he seemed so far away. She wanted to give David a hug but she couldn’t.

“Is it because I started talking about getting married and having kids lately?” he asked.

“No!” Noelle was quick to reply. She thought to herself, liar! She looks at David’s handsome face again and she is beginning to hate herself for putting him through this hurt.

She applied at NTU as prompted by her older sister Denise. She said, "it’s best to do this now while you’re still single. Besides, if you miss us, we are just a 3-hour plane ride away," and that got her moving.

Just then her phone buzzed and she remembered she is in Sing. It was a text message from her roommate Kara reminding her of their movie date with their friends in Sing. She gets up and gets ready.

She is quite happy she got assigned to Kara for a roommate. Noelle is in her mid 20’s while Kara is in her early 30’s but they get along fine. She can tell Kara likes her a lot. She even calls her her “angel.” During their free time, she tours her around, where best to eat, where to shop, which restaurants to avoid. She has been in the Land of Merlion for a year now. She knows the ins and outs of the city. Kara is taking up her Master in Business Administration (MBA) too like Noelle.

“Noelle, here.” She turns to find her chums. Kara was waving at her, smiling. There was Frances Mendoza, features editor for a women’s magazine, her chef husband, Anton. Martin, the Singaporean businessman is right beside Kara. But the face that she was looking for is not there. She was not meaning to ask, but the words just came out, ”where is Jason?”

“I don’t even know if he is coming, though this afternoon, he said he will. He is not answering his phone right now.”

As soon as Anton finishes his sentence, Jason, the dashing debonair that he is appears. He flashes his smile and Noelle’s face lit up.

“There you are!”Anton shouts at him and they high five.

“Am I late?” he asks the group and walks beside Noelle as the group starts walking shaking their heads as if to say, you are late again as always. He gives Noelle a side hug and tells her she looks pretty tonight. She sure hopes he did not see her blush. He was too close, she could smell his manly scent.

Noelle was telling herself, one minute you were missing David, another minute you are flirting with Jason? It is nothing but silly attraction, nothing to it, she assures herself. Or is it really?