Someone's In My Head (WATTYS AWARD WINNER 2015)

Chapter Five

"Having fun?" A voice rang out from behind me.

Startled, I spun around, my hands shooting up into a defensive stance instinctively. To my relief, it wasn't a hideous blueberry monster. Just good old Wong. Wong was somehow indifferent to my aggressive response at his sudden appearance, for he leaned casually against a tree with his arms folded.

"Couldn't you give me some advance notice before you just...materialize out of thin air?" I complained as I tried to calm a very alarmed Saul.

"Oh, or maybe I should've set up a gigantic advert board right in front of your house featuring my face and the words 'Wong is coming to town'. Right. I'll keep that in mind next time." He snorted.

"Sounds like a pretty good idea to me." I grinned widely. "It's great to see you, buddy. What brings you here to these quiet suburbs?" If my geography didn't fail me, Wong's house was around a hundred miles away from my place.

Wong shrugged. "Mom's visiting a relative who stays somewhere around this place. They've been babbling about clothes for the entire day, so I decided to head out and drop by your place."

"Fantastic! I'm walking Saul, so you could tag along if you don't mind his fart." I invited. Wong nodded. "Sure."

As we made a lap around the park, I asked Wong about his plans for the holidays. He shrugged. "Not sure. Might as well chill out for a couple of days, relax and get the stress out of my head. Exams give me a headache."

"You could say the same for me. But I suppose the Calculus paper was quite a piece of cake for you isn't it, Einstein?" I gave him a friendly jab in the ribs.

"Yeah, it wasn't too hard, I think." Wong replied. "No harder than the Master Sudoku."

I stopped in mid-stride and turned to him. "Oh. So you've heard of it too."

Wong's voice was steely. "I was so close to solving it, when the website suddenly announced that the Master Sudoku had been solved by a genius named Epic Chicken Burrito."

I blushed beetroot red. "Well, I know it's kinda lame, but the burrito was the first thing that came into my mind and so I just typed it without thinking." I blabbered sheepishly.

Wong's eyes widened in an exaggerated display of shock and amazement. "Oh! So it was you who solved the Master Sudoku. What an incredible feat! I must say I'm impressed." Somehow I had the feeling that he'd known it all along. And I smelt sarcasm in his voice.

I narrowed my eyes. "Thanks. Guess I was just lucky." I waited for Wong to burst into his usual infectious laughter and tell me that he was just pulling my leg, but he didn't.

His annoying chuckle was getting onto my nerves, but I tried hard not to let it show. "Lucky, you say. I wonder who was the one who keyed in the digits for you, hmm?" Wong taunted.

During normal circumstances, I would've shrugged off the joke and gave him a playful punch on his shoulder. But my temper, although subdued for almost a week now, was starting to boil underneath that thin and flimsy shield that held it at bay.

"I did it myself." I informed him nonchalantly. A stray thought flicked past my mind. "By the way, do you know anything about the ten thousand dollars award? I haven't seem to receive any emails just yet."

Wong held a hand to his mouth with a horrified look. "Oh, Jarod! Didn't you read the T&Cs carefully? The money is to be donated for charity."

"What?!" I demanded, incredulous. "But it was clearly stated that the reward will be transmitted through Gyro!"