"I'm home!" Sydney said, then hummed a happy tune. She took off her outdoor school shoes and changed into her indoor shoes.
"You're in a good mood," Sydney's father said as he sat on their sofa while reading the newspaper in his hands, "How's school?"
"It's better than yesterday, dad."
"Alright," her dad said, then turned the page, "Don't forget, you have an appointment with the ENT doctor later at eight. Do you need us to go with you? You can also call your brother if you like. I think he's just around the hospital's area."
"Nope, I'll be okay alone. I'm a big girl now!" she happily said, and when she saw her dad chuckle, she excused herself, "I'm going upstairs to my room now."
"Alright. Don't take a nap, you might miss your appointment."
"Okie!" Sydney said and then went to her room.
She placed her backpack at the study table and changed into her pajamas. She was relieved that she still had two hours before her appointment, and while waiting for it, she opened her cellphone and browsed the internet.
"What's a good song to sing in the concert…" Sydney talked to herself as she scrolled down the list of songs. "A powerful song… a song about failures and not giving up…"
Most of the songs that she found were not powerful enough to meet her standards. With a very great voice like her, she would want a challenging song, that was why she was taking an effort to find the best.
"Hmmm… 'Against all Odds'... 'Love you In Spite Of'... 'Can't live without you'... Ugh, all are love songs! I don't want these… Maybe Lenoir can find a better song for me!"
She hurriedly opened the messaging app and sent a message to Lenoir.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Sydney 6:05 pm
"Senior, good evening. I can't find a powerful song that's not a love song! Help me please? >___< "
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Lenoir was still in the taxi when he received her message. He looked at his phone a couple of times to see if he was dreaming or not. His crush had sent her a message!
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Lenoir 6:07 pm
"Hi. When I get back home, I will help you. Right now I'm still outside. And please drop the Senior, or else I won't help you. :p"
Sydney 6:08 pm
"Oops, I forgot, sorry! XD Lenoir XD"
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
He couldn't help but smile so wide that the taxi driver who glanced at the rear view mirror was weirded out and misjudged him!
Lenoir didn't care anyway. He was just very happy that Sydney and him were exchanging text messages.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Lenoir 6:09 pm
"Haha :p What are you doing right now?"
Sydney 6:09 pm
"Nothing XD You?"
Lenoir 6:10 pm
"I'm thinking about you. :)"
Sydney 6:11 pm
"Haha LOL XD"
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Sydney didn't know what to reply to a message like that. She never took Lenoir's compliments and quick confessions seriously because she knew him as a person who liked to joke around.
Lenoir didn't reply, and she wondered if she had offended him in any way, or maybe at that moment, he couldn't take out his cell phone on the road.
To her surprise, she received another message, but it was from an unknown number.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
81-905-5549-189 6:17 pm
"Hi."
Sydney 6:18 pm
"Who are you?"
81-905-5549-189 6:20 pm
"Your bestfriend."
Sydney 6:21 pm
"This is a scam, isn't it?"
81-905-5549-189 6:22 pm
"No. I am really your bestfriend."
Sydney 6:22 pm
"You can't trick me! Get lost, scammer. I'm poor!!!"
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
And the unknown number finally stopped texting her.
'Perhaps it's really a scammer!' Sydney thought.
The boring one hour and a half had passed, and she decided to leave the house to avoid being late for her doctor's appointment. On the streets, she walked in haste, and when she reached the bus stop, a white car stopped in front of her. The window in the front seat rolled down and called Sydney's name.
"Sydney! Where are you going?"