[EnigmaofSorrow]

Secondary 3 started rather interestingly. Firstly because Alex realised he had little interest in science, especially Physics. And suddenly, Mathematics 'C' was totally unlike Mathematics 'D', and those were the grades he was getting for maths. Suddenly he was regretting his choice of studying hard and ensuring he got into the best class.

Seeing as how he was struggling academically, he decided to concentrate on his CCAs instead, especially the uniformed group, as there was another training camp in June, just before the secondary 3 students took over the running of the corps from the secondary 4s.

Not surprisingly, with Alex and Ben's guidance, Jane improved tremendously in her knowledge and skills and there was talk of her taking up a leadership role in the NCO board. Somehow, the uniformed group had transformed the school belle into a mature, responsible and forward thinking young adult. Or perhaps Jane was merely growing up.

Surprisingly, Alex encountered a tremendous growth spurt. Purberty really hit him late. By the middle of the year, he had suddenly gained more inches than the ruler in his pencil case and he was now slightly taller than Jane, around Ben's height. The only difference between him and the other guys, was his absurdly fit and toned body.

The sudden height increase did not turn him into a lanky beanpole like it did to most of the guys, and he retained his broad shoulders, bulging pecs, toned arms and washboard abs. Even the graduating batch of students seemed to be in awe of him, the girls sneaking second glances when he walked past, the guys passing snide remarks about steroid use. Needless to say, suddenly, Alex was no longer in the "clique". He had become the "clique". And scores of girls and guys were practically queuing up to get to know him.

Such was the superficiality of secondary school life.

Grace was still in the sidelines.

She could not accept being blown off by Alex just like that, and seeing that he did not pursue a relationship with Jane, she decided that perhaps she should try again. Except now it would prove to be more challenging, given the sheer amount of competition. But at least she had the upper hand of knowing him first. And he was still nice to her. In fact, he practically ignored his new found "fan" club, other than exchanging courtesies.

Unfortunately for Grace, Alex had yet to reach the "oh-my-god-that-girl-is-hot" stage. He was still somewhere between computer games and sports. She decided that something had to be done, and that she would do it after the camp.

Jane realised this long ago, that Alex was like a teenage boy stuck in a kids body. She often wondered why nothing she or any of the other girls did could attract his attention or even get him interested in them. Did he not have any normal male hormones? She was after all, a nubile young female with a killer body for a 15 year old. And the other girls were not too bad themselves. She realised too that Ben was interested in her. But somehow, her instincts told her that he was just another wolf. Possibly even a colourful one. Part of her told herself to give Ben a chance. After all, this would be a schoolyard romance. It was not as though she was going to marry him.

However, she wanted to be fully certain that Alex was not interested in her. And until she had that answer, she could not betray her own feelings.

In truth, Alex still had this nagging feeling that both Jane and Grace were interested in him. And possibly so were a few other girls. He started to question his own sexuality. Was there a possibility that perhaps he truly was interested in guys? Sure, he found girls pretty, and he did get aroused when he watched porn. But why was it that in real life, he was not interested in girls? So many of his classmates and close friends were going "steady". While he did not feel left out that he was not attached, he felt like a super bright lamppost whenever he went out with them.

But he put all these thoughts away and chose to focus on the upcoming camp. He knew that if he could not motivate himself to do well in his studies, a good CCA grade would put him in good stead for a good tertiary institution.