Chapter - 18 - Another money losing project…
Despite the sea breeze controlling the temperature, the winter in the Whiterock town turned colder. The College started from November till the end of February. Then, they have two months to rest at home.
The second semester was from May to August. In September and October, the trainees can't rest but intern at the elementary schools nearby. That's counted as the first year.
Second year was the same as first year. First semester four months, rest two months, second semester four months and intern two months. Then, they graduate and go wherever the Ministry of Education sends them.
In the four months of winter, December and January are the coldest months. Wine started to feel cold at the end of November.
Fortunately for him, the two mosquito nets were sewn up as one. He could just roll towards the heat source in the coldest midnight.
The heat source Anawar was happy and unhappy at the same time. As a person with some problems in the brain, the thoughts of ,"What if he became a neighbour of beds with another man instead of me?" "Will he roll towards that man too?" rotated inside his head. Then, he became jealous of the imaginary man through the night.
The most unhappy thing for Anawar after that was when he got enough warmth, Wine rolled back to his bed leaving his arms empty. He couldn't even pull back, afraid of waking him up.
Tonight was also a night Anawar was jealous of imaginary bedmate of Wine, because Wine was too skilled at rolling in and rolling out of the arms.
"You don't seem to hate sharing a bed with friends. Do you have many close friends in highschool?"
Che… I am such a hypocrite. Asking about the things I wanted to know in roundabout ways. Anawar cursed himself in his mind.
"I don't have close friends but I have a bunch of sisters and brothers. As you know, I was also the youngest in my class in highschool."
Did he want to know this? No, he wanted to know about how his sleeping habits formed.
"Haha…. Look at your face. Don't you ask about my friends?"
Anawar's unsatisfied face attracted laughter from Wine. It was interesting to look at the stern face showing that kind of expression.
"Did you know that, BambooHill is very cold during winter?"
"Really?"
"Our family used to sleep together for warmth during winter. When I was younger, thick woollen blankets were very rare. We each have one but it was not enough in the winter."
"I haven't felt winter that cold."
Like Whiterock, the Warless town is also a coastal town. The temperature there is not as low as Bamboo Hill town.
"Starting from November, our family of four joined the mattresses and lined up to sleep. Dad and mom are in the middle, my sister slept beside mom and I slept beside dad. Before sleeping, mom, me and my sister lay down first and my dad stacked the blankets layer after layers. Do you know how heavy ten layers of blankets are? I can't even lift it up when I get up. We slipped in…"
Wine had a bright smile when he was talking about his family. Anawar was satisfied about this matter. Anyway, he can't be jealous of his own father.
"Sleep.."
He was content and closed his eyes for the night. As expected, Wine rolled into his arms at midnight and rolled out before dawn. If it becomes a habit, he doesn't know if he can still sleep without Wine in his arms in the summer.
********
"All the class monitors have a meeting. Go to the library now.."
"Thank you, classmate.."
Wine called Su Phyu and strides towards the library which is across the road beside Assembly hall. Almost all the monitors were sitting around the tables when he arrived.
"Hello…everyone. We are from Class A."
"Come..come.. sit here."
"Thank you."
They got seats near the top of the table. Wine counted how many people were there. There were exactly ten, including Wine and Su Phyu.
"Are we all freshmen?"
All eight of them nodded.
"I am Wine and this is Su Phyu. Monitors of Class A."
"I am Zaw Lwin Moe and this is Yuya. Monitors of Class B."
"I am Zaw Naing Win and this is Amy. Monitors of Class C."
"I am Lã Pyae and this is Thandar Win. Monitors of Class D."
"I am Min Oo and this is Soe Soe San. Monitors of Class E."
They introduced each other simply. Like Wine, they were called here without knowing what to do.
"Oh… You are all here.."
"Good morning, teacher.."
"Good morning, trainees.."
The coming teacher was a plump PE teacher they all faced every morning. She sat in the top seat after greeting.
"Do you know why you are here?"
"No, teacher."
The PE teacher's round face lit up like a full moon when she smiled. Wine had no complaints about her being a PE teacher now since she was more flexible than most of the teachers in the College.
"We are planning a newbie outing. All the monitors are responsible for the cost of your Classes. Get it done in two days before they run out of cash."
Wine was a monitor in both middle School or highschool. Getting money out of classmates was not a new job for him.
"How much?"
"Calculate it yourselves. The seniors can do it themselves after confirming the date. We are going to the Cobra Saffron forest pagoda. You can hire trucks or buses for transportation. For your information, trucks are cheaper than buses."
Only Soe Soe San, who was from the village in the Whiterock township knew about the Cobra Saffron forest pagoda.
"It's nearly fifteen miles away from Whiterock town."
A truck can carry about twenty people if they sit properly. It cost 50,000 to hire a truck. If 25 people sit in a truck, collecting 2000 per person will be enough.
"What about food and drinks?"
"No way. Do you want to take that much responsibility? Arranging food and drinks for a group of people is not a joke. It is even a thankless job. I object…"
"I object too…"
"Me too.."
It was decided that the trainees need to pack their own food and drinks themselves because of overwhelming rejections from the monitors.
The fees were 2500 each to allow room for error. The PE teacher was responsible for hiring 7 trucks for the freshmen.
On the way back, Wine sighed tiredly. Here we go again!!! His wallet's loss of weight …. Without Anawar's treats from time to time, he suspected he had to rely on the dining hall dishes earlier than this.
He was sometimes jealous of Anawar. Just because he never saw Anawar racking his brain to ask for more allowance from his mother.
Last time they went shopping, Anawar spent over 70,000 for 6 sets of clothes. And he seems to have more than this in his coffer. He even said he would support him if Wine's mother refused to send allowance…
Why is the difference between people so huge!!!!!