A vast amount of time passed. Well – not that vast. Eight eventful years passed since the fateful day they met. Eight long years witnessed the duo face countless challenges and changes. A tougher syllabus, new teachers, new friends, puberty – pretty much everything in their lives changed.
But one thing remained constant. Their never-ending rivalry and hatred. Oh, wait… that did change. Up till third grade, Ash didn’t really care all that much for the rivalry. It wasn’t a big deal to him. Well, until Angelina got her first win against him, with the popularity of her web comics. That was when he felt the sting of losing to her. Since then, he swore to beat her at everything else.
That was when the whole school got to know everything. Even after shifting to Sunny Coast Academy for middle school, nothing changed.
Eighth grade saw them both pass with flying colors, and end their middle school lives successfully, even being tied on the yearbook vote, “Most likely to become a world-renowned scientist.”
They had selected their electives, which happened to be the same. They were both satisfied with their lives, for the most part. There was just one problem. The rivalry. They never got to settle the scores. In second grade, they’d sworn to each other and to themselves that in high school, they would finally settle the scores.
But life had better plans, it seemed. Ashton was shifting to a different school with a better curriculum. Coral High, one of the most prestigious schools in town. It was an open schooling experience, where students could hand-pick any 6 subjects from an extensive list of choices, which would be taught by the finest instructors around. And Angelina was at her happiest when she found out he was leaving. That sounded like a good choice, right?
Wrong. Turns out the waiting list was about as long as the list of electives. Very, very long. So long, in fact, that Ash had to wait three months at least to reach the interview stage.
And just like that, Ashton’s dreams of studying at one of the top schools in the state were crushed. All he had worked for was gone.
This simply meant that he would continue at Sunny Coast Academy – where he spent his middle school years, much to the annoyance of Angelina, who was secretly planning on making a ‘Good Riddance’ card over the summer for her beloved arch-nemesis, and was even in the process of writing him a ‘never come back’ song.
Ninth grade started off successfully. Within the first week, a team of 15 prefects from each of the four houses were selected. This roster included both Angelina and Ashton, who were satisfied at getting the role, however, were both upset that they had to work together with their rival. The school also announced an inter-school art competition between Sunny Coast Academy and Golden Oak High.
For the High School Category, students of classes 9 to 12 were made to send in their finest original drawings, which would go through a rigorous judging process, till the top 30 students of each school were selected for the next round, and finally, for the last round, only two people were selected for a huge final round ceremony. Every year, there would be a twist in the final round. According to some seniors, the previous year saw the competitors making origami figures and small crafts rather than painting.
Both of them signed up almost immediately after it was announced, and sent in their drawings, Angie sending in a stunning night sky scenery drawn only using glitter supplies, such as glitter glue, glitter paints, glitter pens, and so on.
Ash had drawn a picture of a girl, to try and test out his skills. His drawing depicted her having blonde hair tied in two buns, and big, expressive green eyes, which seemed like the highlight of the picture. She seemed full of fire and charisma, born ready to take on any obstacle or problem life throws at her.
The paintings both easily made it into the second round, and after another round of painting and submitting their pieces, finally, the results were to be announced that day.
The two of them were sitting around in the cafeteria, having their food. Ashton was eating with his friends, and Angelina, with hers. A normal lunch break, you can say. Angie and her friends were seated at the table right next to Ash’s, allowing the two to glare at each other as long as they wanted. Much to their friends’ disappointment and annoyance.
Finally, one of Angie’s friends, Lana broke the endless death stare-off by saying, “So, Angie, any idea when you’ll get the results?”
Angelina turned around. “Huh? Oh.. no, but it’s supposed to arrive today.”
The girls all laughed heartily. “Angie, you don’t have to hide it from us. You love him, don’t you?” one of the other girls, Lana’s twin Lisa asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous, no. We’re too young for all that nonsense anyway.”
“Okay, okay. I can’t wait to see you win against him in the finals though.”
Angelina adjusted her prefects’ blazer, and brushed her blonde bangs off her face. “We can’t say for sure, Lisa…”
“That is the most mature thing I have ever heard you say.” Lana commented. Angelina smiled. She didn’t know what to say. She was known as the most immature one of the trio. And now she was being called mature. It was only a simple truth, after all, that the future was uncertain. Though she couldn’t deny, she practiced hard, and was almost bound to win.
The lunch break was over, and the students headed back to their classes. Angelina and Ashton were in the same class, and they sat on opposite ends of the room, as far away from each other as possible. They tried to focus on the lesson, but their minds were occupied with the art competition results. They both wanted to win, not only for the prize and the glory, but also to prove themselves to their rival.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. The teacher announced that the results of the art competition were posted on the bulletin board outside the office. The students rushed out of the room, eager to see who made it to the final round. Angelina and Ashton were among them, pushing their way through the crowd.
They reached the bulletin board and scanned the list of names. There were two names under Sunny Coast Academy: Angelina Wylde and Ashton Winters.
They both gasped in shock and disbelief. They had made it to the final round, but they had to work together. The special plot twist of the finals was that the two are paired as a team. They looked at each other with a mix of emotions: anger, fear, excitement for the finals,
They both spoke at the same time.
“You?”
“You?”
They glared at each other, then smiled.
“Fine… let’s do this…” Ashton said.
“Hmm… yeah,” Angie shrugged coolly. Then she suddenly changed voices to a dark, menacing tone, and began staring into his soul. “But don’t. you. dare. ruin this for me.”
Ash gulped. “Oh, boy…” he nodded.
The two of them walked away from the bulletin board, still in shock. They had to work together for the final round of the art competition, something they never imagined would happen. They had been rivals for so long, always trying to outdo each other in everything. How could they cooperate now?
They decided to go to the library, where they could talk without being interrupted by their friends or other students. They found a quiet corner and sat down at a table. They looked at each other awkwardly, not sure what to say.
“So…” Ashton began.
“So…” Angelina echoed, looking unamused, fidgeting with her pencil.
They both sighed.
“Look, I know we don’t get along very well, but we have to do this. For the sake of the school, and ourselves.” Ashton said, in a serious tone.
“Hmm, yeah. But how?” Angelina asked.
“Well, maybe we can start by finding out what the theme of the final round is. Maybe that will give us some inspiration.” Ashton suggested.
“Okay, fine. Let’s see.” Angelina took out her phone and checked the website of the art competition. She scrolled down and read aloud. “The theme of the final round is… ‘Opposites Attract’.”
They both blinked.
“Opposites attract?” Ashton repeated.
“Opposites attract.” Angelina confirmed.
They looked at each other again, then burst out laughing.
“Wow, that’s ironic.” Angelina said.
“Yeah, it is. Maybe it’s a sign.” Ash replied, stopping his laughter.
“A sign of what?” Angie asked.
Ashton shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe that we’re not so different after all. Maybe that we can work together. Maybe that we can even… like each other.”
They laughed even harder at the last phrase.
“Yeah, no. That’s never happening. But I am willing to work with you this time.” Angie smiled.
Ashton smiled back. “I hate you, Angie.”
“I hate you too, Ash. And always will.”
They smiled at each other briefly, looking into each others’ eyes. Until Angelina broke off the awkward silence by saying, “Okay, what plans do you have for the final round?”
“Nothing, what about you.”
“Aurora is a prize-winning character for me. She’s my-”
“Yeah, I know. That blonde-haired princess from your web comics, right?”
“Yep.” Angie replied, casually, before realizing what he’d said. “Wait, you know about the web comics?! Please don’t tell anyone.”
Ash giggled. “I won’t. But that’s not a guarantee. In all fairness, the comics are… decent.”
“Okay, okay. I’m going to pretend that didn’t happen. Hang on, let me get my sketchbook,” she replied, and reached into her sling bag for her sketchbook, in which she jotted down any and all painting ideas.
Finally, they decided they would do a collage. They first decided, maybe they could do a rough sketch in color pencil first. But that was the only thing they agreed on. After that, they couldn’t agree on anything. They argued about the colors, the shapes, the sizes, the placements, and the meanings of the images and objects they had chosen - pretty much anything and everything to do with the picture.
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Ash snapped. “Just admit that my idea is better. A red and blue color scheme is perfect! It shows our contrasting personalities and stuff. It’s simple, striking and symbolic.”
“Your idea is terrible,” Angie retorted. “It doesn’t fit the theme at all. It’s cliché, boring, uninspired, limiting. Nobody but you will be able to make heads or tails of its meaning! Use more colors, shapes and sizes. You’ll see. It’s levels better.”
“It’s not boring or meaningless! It shows our opposites attract. I’m blue, you’re red. I’m calm, you’re obnoxious. I’m the favored color, and you’re only second.”
“I’m not obnoxious, I’m fun! And you saying Red is second place, and being in the Red Team only says that you’re always second.”
“Excuse me?! Who won Best Delegate during MUN? Who got first place in public speaking?! Me. So you have no right to say that.”
They glared at each other, then turned away.
They continued to work on whatever they were thinking of, but they didn’t talk to each other. They didn’t even look at each other. They felt a strange ache in their chests, as if something was missing. They ignored it and focused on their work.
Until, for once in his life, Ashton was the one who broke off the awkward silence, and not Angelina. He didn’t say a word. All he did was tear the page out of Angelina’s sketchbook and throw it into the trash can.
“What was that for?” Angie snapped.
“This is getting us nowhere. I don’t want to risk losing the competition. Not after I worked so hard for the last two rounds. Come on, let’s restart. You’re good at doodles, right? I have an idea.”
Angelina raised her eyebrow skeptically. “Trust me, Angie.” he said. Angie thought about it a little bit, and decided she would. It’s not like she had anything to lose. They were only planning.
They worked in harmony for once. They used red and blue as the main colors, but also added other colors to create contrast and balance. They used different shapes and sizes to create variety and interest. They used images and objects that represented themselves and their relationship: a sun and a moon, a fire and a water, a guitar and a microphone, a comic book and a sketchbook, etc.
They were so lost in their planning for the finals, that they didn’t hear the school bell ring, and the free period end.
“Excuse me, children,” the librarian said. Ash and Angie looked up from their convoluted plans. “The bell rang, 5 minutes back… Your teachers will not be happy once you get back.”
At once, they hurriedly cleared their place, stuffed the sketchbook and color pencils they were using into Angie’s bag, thanked the librarian, and rushed outside.
They had managed to work together, despite their differences. They had learned to respect each other’s opinions and skills. They had planned something unique and meaningful.
They packed up their materials and got ready to leave. They looked at each other and smiled.
“Hey, thanks for being a good partner.” Ashton said. “Maybe… you’re not as much of an incompetent loser as I thought”
Angelina nodded. “Likewise.”
They shook hands, then hugged briefly.
They felt a slight twinge in their chests, as if something was missing. They ignored it and pulled away. They parted ways at the entrance, waving goodbye.
They went back to their normal lives, their normal routines, their normal friends. They didn’t see each other much, except for the occasional glance or ‘L’-on-the-forehead in the hallways. They didn’t talk to each other much, except for the occasional argument or contest discussion, but even that was barely a few words exchanged.
ns 15.158.61.11da2
