Page 17 of Didn't See That Coming

Sourdawg:I’m just saying. She sounds cool. Anyway, what’s the rest of the school like?

Dudebro10:Omg, unbelievably strict. For example, we have to call the teachers “Teacher,” not even, like, “Miss Chan” or whatever

Sourdawg:Okay, well, that’s what we have to do at our school too

Dudebro10:And none of the girls shortened their skirts, WTF?

Sourdawg:Uh. Okay, kind of creepy that you want the girls to shorten their skirts

Shoot. I’d forgotten that I’m supposed to be a guy. Okay, coming from a guy, that comment about girls not shortening their skirts would sound really creepy. Although I can totally see Jonas saying something like that. Not great.

Dudebro10:I didn’t mean for it to come off that way. I just meant, like…it’s weird not to see any sort of pushback on the uniforms. Back at my old school, we were always pushing the boundaries on our uniforms

Sourdawg:I get it. My school has really strict rules when it comes to the uniforms too. When we first started in Year Seven, a handful of us rebelled, but we’re in Year Eleven, we’re used to it by now

Dudebro10:Oh, and get this: We have to bow to the teachers and to the prefects whenever we pass them in the hallways. And when classes begin, the prefect says, “Class stand.” And we stand, and then the prefect says, “Greet the teacher.” And we have to bow and say, “Good morning, Teacher.” And when classes end, we have to go through the whole thing again: “Class stand.” “Thank the teacher.”

Sourdawg:You’ve just described my school to a T. Except the prefects here say, “Pleasegreet the teacher.”

Dudebro10:Seriously? And you’re all okay with this?

Sourdawg:Yeah. Why wouldn’t we be?

Dudebro10:Because it’s like…

I pause midsentence and midbreath, trying to find a way to convey how weird I’m finding all this.

Dudebro10:It’s the kind of thing I would expect from a YA dystopian movie, you know?

Sourdawg:LOL, okay bro. We don’t get sorted into different factions or districts, if that makes you feel better

Dudebro10:You sure about that?

I smile as I type that. Only Sourdawg can make something like an overly strident system sound okay.

Dudebro10:Are all schools in Singapore that strict, or is it just yours?

Sourdawg:??

I frown. Did I just say something weird?

Dudebro10:What’s up?

Sourdawg:Why Singapore? I wouldn’t know

Dudebro10:Uh, don’t you live in Sg? Your location says Sg

Sourdawg:Oooh. My location just says Sg because I was there visiting my mom over summer break when I downloaded the game. But the rest of the time I live in Indo.

Wait, what?? To say I’m in shock would be theunderstatement of the year. I can barely feel my hands as they move across the keyboard and start typing. I don’t even really know what I’m about to type until I hit Enter.

Dudebro10:Cool. Which sch did you say you go to again?

Sourdawg:Xingfa, why?

What. In. The. Hell?! I sit there, frozen, gaping at the screen for what seems like ever, my fingertips hovering over the keyboard, not moving a single inch. My breath is held completely still. Scrambled thoughts whizz through my mind like broken bits of asteroids, crashing and exploding into smithereens.

Sourdawg:U there? Are we gonna play or what? I rly want to hit Silmerrov Gulch tonight.

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