One evening in the winter vacation, I was hanging out with my best pal Larry in our neighbourhood. We were walking, having a cosy tete-a-tete. He mentioned a girl called Alice, whom he used to have a crush on. The infatuation had been long gone. They were middle school classmates.

Larry revealed that a few days before, out of the blue, Alice had contacted him on the IM QQ. She made a confession of love to him online. I asked Larry how he had responded. He said that he had refused Alice then and there because he already had a sweetheart called Claire. I cautioned Larry to erase the chat history from his phone, just to be on the safe side.

The next evening, Larry invited me to go out and meet him in the square. Gloom all over his face, Larry disclosed that his present girlfriend Claire had somehow managed to find out that someone had made a confession to him online. She even combed his phone for evidence. Therefore, Claire went mad with him even though he had spurned Alice’s overtures. Larry tried to dispel his girlfriend’s mistrust, but his effort was in vain. Claire vehemently accused him of being unfaithful because Larry’s ex flame’s contact info was still stored in his device. The helpless boy asked me what to do. I comforted him, saying that it was just a girl’s little temper tantrum and that it would be all over in time.

To Larry’s relief, his sweetheart Claire pardoned him after a few days, just the way I had predicted. They made up with each other.

We did not find out the truth until one evening toward the end of the vacation, when Larry and I were window-shopping at a mall, where we saw Larry’s current honey Claire and his middle school flame, Alice, dining together at a restaurant. They were chatting happily over the meal. Their hearty laughter came all the way to our ears. They turned out to be good friends.

Larry and I came to the conclusion that the two girls had tested Larry through Alice’s fake confession on QQ. Now Larry’s girlfriend Claire feels 100% confident about his loyalty.

I have no clue how Larry felt when the truth dawned on him, but I have realised that girls are strange creatures. How scheming they are!

Will I still have an appetite for a relationship, come the time?