Competition begins

Yu Chen, Huo Zenghai, Xi Hua and Mo Kio had been sitting for about an hour when the teams were called and the start of the competition was announced.

The grandeur of the building and tall boy had temporarily driven nervousness out of their minds, but now that they had been sitting in a small cubicle, just the four of them, they were all a bundle of nerves.

They hurried out with all of the other teams and went to the main hall where the first round was to take place. In the hall, many rectangular tables were placed with six chairs behind each one of them, and the name of a team on it. All the chairs were facing a centre stage in the far end of the room. Mo Kio checked, and found out that they were on table 74, a table very near to the door and very far from the stage. Huo Zenghai whispered to Yu Chen, "Did you see Yuan Zuan anywhere?" Chen shook her head. "Maybe she finally had a change of heart and decided not to come."

Xi Hua was the only one who grumbled some complaint about being too far from the stage and not being able to see anything properly.

Yu Chen was happy about being in an inconspicuous little corner and not being in the spotlight.

Huo Zenghai was looking around at all the other participants. He said in an awed voice, "Who knew there were all these computer geeks like us. And they are all in schools!!" He turned around to look at Mo Kio when he heard no reply from him. Kio was looking somewhere on the other side of the door. Huo Zenghai followed his gaze and saw a girl, with her hair in a plaid, sitting across the room. He nudged Mo Kio and said, "Hey Kio, you fancy her?"

Hearing this, Hua and Chen looked at first Kio and then at the girl. Mo Kio's trance was broken and he looked back at Huo Zenghai, "Fancy her, pfft."

And the nosy Xu Hua burst out, "Oooo, jealousy. What is this girl's story? Did she dump you?"

Mo Kio looked back at the girl, this time disgust evident in his eyes, "Kind of."

This time, even Yu Chen became a little interested, despite her non-gossiping nature. She lifted an eyebrow and looked at the girl, "She is undoubtedly pretty. But I did not think that you would only fall for a pretty face. Because it's clear that she is as dumb as a donkey."

Mo Kio laughed, "Well you got that right. She is really dumb. I don't know what she is doing here. When I knew her, she didn't even know the C of computers."

"So, what's the story?" Xi Hua urged.

Before Mo Kio could say anything, a voice came from the door, "I see that you have been given a seat right back of the room. I guess even the authorities know which team will win."

Yu Chen could not be bothered to reply to the tall boy, as she had caught sight of a back which looked too much like Yuan Zuan.