Hopes and Dreams(English Transcript)

Zoe: (narrating) It is a stormy afternoon. We postponed our meeting in the hospital where Raphael is so we decided to meet up in Siam Paragon. I really don't know who has been postponing our plans, but we decided to go with it anyways. I am currently waiting at the bus station where it could take me to the train station to Siam Paragon. I remembered the route going there without needing a taxi because me, my mum and my brother had done it before.

Zoe was waiting for her bus at the BRT station. She is heading to the interchange in Sathorn station. She then got a call from her friends.

Zoe: Hello?

Sheryl: Hey Zoe, you know how are plans got postponed?

Zoe: I know, we won't be able to see Raphael in the hospital today. You said that in the chat for some reason.

Sheryl: I know.

Zoe: So we're meeting at Siam Paragon. Right?

Sheryl: Yup.

Zoe: Alright, I'm waiting for my bus now. Where can I meet you?

Sheryl: In front of Siam Paragon. The one that's connected to the BTS station.

Zoe: Got it, see you there.

Zoe hung up and entered her bus. She is busy writing stuff on her phone while there is almost no one in the bus she's in. Once she arrived at Sathorn, there's so many people taking tickets from the ticket machine so she has to go up to the ticket taker.

Ticket Taker: Hello, how can I help you.

Zoe: Hi, erm... 1 ticket to Siam station, please.

Ticket Taker: 25 Baht.

Zoe got out her coin purse and gave the ticket taker, the exact amount.

Ticket Taker: Thank you, here's your ticket.

Zoe: Thank you.

Zoe went to the station where she waited for the train. Some random kid started staring at her.

Zoe: (thinking) Why is that kid staring at me for? Is it because I am some student from Sacred Heart Convent school and that I wasn't controlled by the head teacher? But I'm a foreign girl, I can get out of her grasp easily.

Zoe entered the train. She sat down on one of the empty seats while texting her friends on the phone. The train soon stopped at her station. She soon met her friends in front of the entrance.

Zoe: Hey guys.

Tanya: Hey.

Thaiyo: Sup.

Zoe: So why did you decide to postpone our plan to see Raphael?

Aidan: First of all, we need to get inside, there's a downpour outside.

The kids entered the mall.

Zoe: So what are we going to do here?

Sheryl: We're heading to a book store so that we could talk to each other about everything that has been going on in school.

Zoe: Cool, I love books. Especially history books.

Yuto: Didn't know you like history?

Zoe: I love history. Who doesn't?

Shion: I don't like history.

Sheryl: Guys, let's go.

The kids went to the lift to head to the library. While Sheryl separates from the younger kids in order to find a seat, Zoe and her friends try to find some good books to read. Zoe has got a lot of books. They went to the table Sheryl has assigned them to sit. She was shocked when Zoe got a lot of books.

Sheryl: Woah, that's a lot of books, Zoe. Are you sure you can read them?

Zoe: Since they're history books, yes.

Tanya: Didn't know you're a reader.

Charlie: Yeah.

Zoe: It's just my life.

The kids started reading their books. Then, they noticed beeping from their phones.

Aidan: Weird, why are our phones beeping?

Zoe: I dunno. Crap, I have an Android. My phone can be hacked easily.

Thaiyo: You're a hacker, you can hack into the phone and tell us who is hacking our systems.

Zoe: I brought my laptop.

Zoe got out her laptop from her bag. She connected her phone with the laptop to see who's hacking her and her friends' phone.

Zoe: Holy crap.

Sheryl: Why? Who's hacking.

Zoe: You wouldn't want to guess who it is.

Zoe showed her computer screen and her friends saw a pop-up from the file explorer. It is an MP4 file. Zoe clicked on it and it is a pre-recorded video of the head teacher.

Head Teacher: Greetings, young alliance of the English Program. I know what you were planning to do during this stormy afternoon. You were planning to see your friend who has been suffering from diabetes in the hospital. However, I decided to postpone this and make you go to Siam Paragon instead. You guys are foolish foreigners from the most disrespectful building, EP.

Kids: (gasps)

Ankit: Why did she say that?

Head Teacher: As you can see, I've been watching you all along. I know what you're up to. And you got your special amulets you founded in the park in Zoe's condo. They give you powers, but they aren't powerful to defeat me. (laughs)

The video ended and the antivirus managed to destroy the viruses in their phones.

Aidan: I don't get it. How did she manage to hack into our phones and know what she's doing?

Zoe: I dunno. I don't know why does some adult have to hack into our systems better than me. I'm the best at hacking. Not her.

Tanya: We'll try to find out. Let's do some quick research about what is she up to now. Let's try to hack into her system to find out.

Zoe hacked into the head teacher's system and discovered unexpected things.

Zoe: What?

Yuto: Why? What's going on?

Zoe: The head teacher is able to track our daily lives. But she isn't able to manipulate us because we're foreigners. That's why she decided to do this until school starts.

Thaiyo: That's creepy.

Zoe: I know. I dunno what to do now. Whatever we do, the head teacher decided to track us.

Sheryl: Then we need to hide.

Zoe: Even if we're hiding, she can still track us.

Aidan: Well that's frustrating.

Zoe: I know. It is like we have no privacy. I wish we have some privacy, somewhere.

Tanya: Hey, why don't we go overseas during the school break? We can try to do that to get away from the head teacher.

Charlie: Overseas? Where?

Zoe: There are many places I wanted to go. Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, America and Australia.

Sheryl: Maybe we should go to Singapore during the term break.

Zoe: Good idea, I have relatives there. Maybe they will allow us to live in their flat.

Shion: Will our parents come too?

Zoe: No, we only need their permission to go there ourselves. Let's just explore the mall now. We need to keep these books to where they belong.

Thaiyo: Yeah.

Sheryl: I'll watch your property.

The younger kids kept the books and then went out of the book store. They are trying to find something to do in the mall.

Thaiyo: So what are we going to do?

Zoe: I dunno, maybe we can-

Just then, girls started gathering around and are screaming. This hurts the kids' ears.

Tanya: Ah!

Zoe: What's going on?

Yuto: Look.

Sheryl: Looks like some sort of KPOP star. I am not in the right mood for this, but these ladies are breaking social distancing rules.

Shion: What now?

Charlie: There is a place around here to keep to ourselves.

Aidan: Sorry?

Charlie: I said that there is a place around here to keep to ourselves.

Zoe: I know what you're saying, but where?

Charlie: Somewhere downstairs where you can see koi fish and stuff.

Zoe: I know where, follow me.

The kids ran down the escalator to the ground floor and arrived at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Charlie: Clever.

Zoe: This is the best place here in Siam Paragon. But with the social distancing.

Ankit: Are we getting a snack or something?

Zoe: No, we will just sit down and talk to each other about what has been going on.

They sat down and talked to each other.

Zoe: So, did you see Raphael yesterday?

Sheryl: Just me.

Yuto: What happened.

Sheryl: My mum, dad, Skyler, Sabella and I went there to visit him. Dad has to look after Skyler and Sabella while my mum and I decided to enter the room.

*Flashback*

Sheryl: Mum?

Mrs. Lau: Yes, honey?

Sheryl: Will he be okay?

''Mrs. Lau: Darling, it has been a week now. He might be waking up anytime soon.''

Sheryl: I hope so.

*End of flashback*

Zoe: Raphael will wake up from his coma anytime soon?

Sheryl: Yeah. We just have to keep our hopes and dreams alive.

Yuto: Let's just hope that Raphael will survive this.

Thaiyo: And get away from the screaming noise.

Zoe: (narrating) I can't believe it. All this time, the head teacher has been watching us. I dunno why. How can we be so unaware? Right now, we have to watch out for anyone who has been tracking us. Right before school starts. Now, we have to wait for a while until we are able to use our powers. We have to stay strong, we have to keep our hopes and dreams alive.