The Corner Read Free Page B

next, after I had finished reading up on China’s.
    I had developed a morbid
fascination with the cruelty of humans. Why would people want to
hurt others? Did they derive happiness and satisfaction from doing
that? Did Carmen feel the same way when she edged on everyone to
tease me and step on my shoes as often as possible?
    Reading about the horror and
hardships endured by the people of turbulent times helped me to
feel better. What I had gone through was nothing as compared to the
sufferings of many others.
    Alice, a bespectacled redhead,
joined in the discussion, “Yeah, my sis, a senior here, told me
that this place used to be the headquarters of a guerrilla
organization. There’s another story: a group of spectral-like
soldiers march around the basketball court at midnight.”
    Both Mandy and Kelly widened
their eyes in horror. I fervently hoped that all those talks about
ghosts weren’t attracting the attention of the standing girl.
    Kelly cleared her throat. “No
wonder they can’t get most renovation works done. There were
rumours spreading in my elementary school … awful accidents always
happen when the contractors try to do their job in Lawson’s school
compound. Must be the curses of those slain yet violent souls.”
    Alice adjusted her spectacles
while rebuking, “Could be just the Principal’s excuses for not
doing a good job on the maintenance of the building.”
    “That reminds me—her office
seems newly renovated,” said Kelly while folding her arms.
    Alice smiled. “See what I
mean.”
    Mandy then whispered, “Hear me
out, Cindy mentioned that when they camped overnight in one of the
classrooms, her friend had heard a woman crying … there were wails
in the background.”
    “Which classroom?” asked the
nervous Alice.
    Mandy replied, “2/8.”
    The other two girls breathed a
sigh of relief, but I wasn’t feeling any better.
    “There’s one about our classroom
…” added Mandy.
    I froze up. An eerie presence at
the back was crawling towards me as I waited for Mandy to continue
her story.
    Should I stop her?
    It was getting nearer.
    With a look of suspense
plastered onto her face, Mandy revealed, “Corner—”
    The clogging sounds of the
teacher’s heels sent us scampering back to our seats.
    “Good morning, class,” greeted
Ms. Fairfield, our Mathematics teacher.
    I had good impressions of Ms.
Fairfield. From my observations on yesterday’s lessons, I could
tell that unlike other teachers who had that lazy vibe, she was
alert and focused, conducting her lessons with deadly precision.
She didn’t simply read to us what was written on the textbooks.
Highlighting the fundamental concepts was her way of getting us to
understand the topics. In fact, she was the only teacher whom I
paid attention to for more than fifty percent of the time during
lesson.
    While Ms. Fairfield was delving
into the concepts of Trigonometry, her mention of mirror sparked an
idea in my mind. If the corner girl was a ghost, she shouldn’t have
a reflection.
    After the Mathematics lesson
ended, I took out my compact mirror. It was more for the purpose of
checking if there was any food stuck between my teeth after meals.
I felt uneasy about looking at myself in the mirror when in front
of others. My preferred way was to do it in the privacy of the
cubicle. So no one could judge me for what I was doing.
    The thought of finding out the
truth was daunting and scary, but I really needed to know. It might
just put me at ease upon understanding the nature of that standing
girl.
    With my
forearms rested on the desk, I held up the mirror to have it facing
me. I was ready ... maybe.

Chapter 5 Sick?
    Gripping the mirror in my
trembling hand, I used it to get a view of what lay behind me.
First, the reflection of the wall appeared in the mirror. I slowly
tilted it towards the corner.
    The edge of a white object
showed up at the side of the mirror. Her uniform?
    The mirror was tilted further,
then I saw her image.
    She