The Red Bicycle

After a grueling 3 hours of badminton with the guys, Chong was anything but tired, somehow. He dreaded how one by one his friends got off the car as his mom sent the boys to their respective homes. He was so pumped up with adrenelin that he couldn't even keep still in the car. It was a Saturday afterall.

"Mom, can we please go play tennis at the club? Please..." he begged his mom.

"Boy, cannot la. I'm going out for tea with my friends."

Disheartened, Chong flopped down in front of the television and attempted to play something on his PS3. From the corner of his eye, he saw something red pass outside his gate. Instinctively, he turned to his right, past the glass doors and hoped to catch a second glimpse.

Then it happened again. But this time, the slow flash of red was going the opposite direction, opposite his house. He ran out, jumped on his LeRun bicycle, opened the electric gates and rode off in search of the red flash.

About 100 meteres from where he was, he saw a kid with a red hoodie cycling away. He stood up on his bike and made a dash towards the stranger's direction. 

When he caught up to him, he yelled, "Hey, slow down! I've never seen you around before. I'm Chong"

The red hooded stranger slowed down and stopped by the side of the road. Turned towards Chong and waved just as Chong stopped beside the strangers bright-red bicycle.

"Hi! I'm Ash. Nice to meet you Chong." the girl smiled.

A girl! Chong did not expect to see a girl. Somehow, it never crossed his mind that the cyclist could have been a girl.

"Ash?" he asked panting from the quick sprint.

Ash laughed, "Well, my name is Ashwini but, mot people call me Ash for short. I just moved here. My house is there at the end."

Chong looked at her and then at the end of the road and said, "Wanna race?"

Ash smiled.