I stood at the school’s gate waiting for my friend. It was our first day to school in senior year. Summer

just passed and it was the onset of monsoon. It had been drizzling since a few

days. I deliberately forgot to bring my umbrella to enjoy the rain. As I stood

there waiting, it started to rain. I ran to the bus shelter to not wet myself

in the rain. Of course, I love rain but there's no fun in dancing alone, right?

I stood there kicking the ground in frustration that he didn't arrive on time.

I was going to be late for school on the first day. How worse can it get than

this? I sighed. My mobile phone blinked, and it was his message that he's not

going to make it that day. "I will not let you go so easily. Humph" I

growled at the phone and looked outside. It was still raining. I walked through

the bus shelter and reached the gate. ‘Qingbao School- Country A’—the brown,

rusted board was well hung at the top of the gate. The main building is at

least two hundred meters away from the gate. Without a second thought, I ran

towards the school. The main building was built when I was not even born. It

had cracks all over it which they tried to cover with the lowest possible

quality cement. Numerous trees were planted in and around the campus. I ran

under the trees to protect my new uniform and reached the building. When I went

inside, they were still assembled for the commencement of the semester. I

directly went to the class and scanned the class with my eyes for a perfect spot

to sit for the rest of the semester. I found the seat near the window and

declared it to be mine by putting my bag on the seat. I went to the restroom to

clean myself up. I heard the footsteps approaching and realized that the

assembly dispersed. It's time I went to class. I looked at myself in the mirror

for one last time and reached the handle to open the door. It creaked and made

loud noises that the whole school knew someone was in the restroom during the

assembly. I went to the class only to find my bag on the floor and someone in

my "chosen" place. 'What an unlucky day' I thought to myself and

went to the last bench. No one occupied the seat next to me. So, I put my bag

there. Teacher Lin came and started teaching without a formal

"hello". I'm not bothered either. I didn't notice when the rain

stopped. The sun came out of the clouds giving me a warm feeling. I looked at

the blackboard and started copying literally everything on it. Suddenly the

whole class went silent when we heard someone's voice. "May I come in

sir?" ...a guy.

I looked at the entrance

wondering who was so unlucky to be scolded on their first day. Then I saw him.

He looked like a Greek God in the vibrant rays of light from the sun in the

early morning. He was at least 6'2" with a perfect figure. Not too

muscular, not too skinny. I measured him with my eyes. He didn't wear his

school uniform. 'Looks like, he's new here' I thought to myself. He

was in his plain, yet decent looking T-shirt paired with blue jeans pants and

white sneakers which were in trend at that time. He looked through the class

while he repeated to ask for permission. The teacher allowed him in and to my

surprise, he didn't scold this guy for being late. Instead shook hands with him

and welcomed him into the classroom. The teacher asked him to introduce

himself.

"Hello everyone, I am Zhao Jiang.

I transferred here from blah blah blah.... " He talked for a whole of

three minutes on his first day as a transferred student. When I was supposed to

introduce myself, I tripped twice on my way to the front and took 30 sec just

to say my name. I looked at him all the while he was speaking. The teacher also

spoke highly of him for having "so many" or may be, I can say too

many achievements for his age. Oh wait! How old is he? Who knows! I just want

to see him more. That moment, all I can think about was that I want to see him

every day. What a pretty face! He finished his long speech and turned to the

teacher to bow and bowed to the class too, saying thank you. The class clapped

and welcomed him.

The teacher showed him the seat

next to me to sit. He seemed reluctant. My heart ached a little seeing a

reluctant look in his eyes. Or maybe I am imagining things. Why would he be

reluctant? Maybe it’s the same cold look that he wore when he entered the class.

Am I overreacting? Every girl in the class turned to look at me. What did I do

wrong? Is something there on my face? Am I looking weird? So many questions

popped in my mind. A turbulence of thoughts crossed my mind, but I composed

myself and looked at him as he walked towards the desk. His walk was as elegant

as of those ancient warriors. Slowly, as he approached the desk, my heart began

to race as if it’s going to jump out of my chest. I could clearly hear my heart

beating so fast. I don’t know what I was afraid of, but I turned my face away

towards the window on my left and looked at the garden outside. The gardener

was cutting the short bushes into different shapes. He cut the small leaves and

branches skillfully with a long pruner. I watched him immersing myself into the

art of gardening until I heard a voice which was not so similar.

“Hello” he said.

“Huh?” I looked at him having no

clue what he called for.

“I was calling you since long. Is

this bag yours? Can you please take it away?” he asked. Then I realized that my

bag still was on his seat. What would he think about me? I was distracted all

the while he called me. I smiled awkwardly. I took my bag and put it on my

desk. I dared not to say a word to him. He didn’t talk to me either. I wanted to

talk to him. I wanted to ask him many details of his, but I couldn’t pull my

gut together to open my mouth.

Anyways I jumped contently in my

imagination as he sat next to me. Then the class resumed. The teacher was

teaching something, and the rest of the class was busy doing their own

business. I couldn’t concentrate on the class with him next to me. I peeked at

him. He was noting down important points in his notebook. These notes would be

of no use to him considering his previous achievements. It would be an

understatement if I say he’s perfect. He is more than perfect. He was the only

man who caught my eye since my existence. I observed his long eye lashes. His

deep brown eyes were shining in the morning sun light. Those two eyes of his,

moving from the white board to his notebook time to time, were so pretty. His

face was flawless with a defined jaw line. His black silky hair was dancing in

the wind and disturbed his eyes while looking at the board. He gently brushed

his hair off his face and continued writing. ‘I couldn’t even resist myself

when he was still far away from me. He is 30cm away from me now. What do I do?

He is irresistible.’ He held a pen with his long fingers and was writing

furiously as if he missed that class, that would be the end of the world. The

session was completed, and I was still staring at him. Looks like he didn’t

notice me. Or he didn’t want to?

“Wang li?” the teacher called.

There was no response. “Wang li?” he called again. He’s angry now. He came to

my desk and “Xiao Wang li!!?” he shouted.

I jumped to my feet and said,

“Present sir”. Everyone in the class laughed out loud. I was embarrassed and I

hung my head down. The teacher gave me a stern glare but cooled down. Afterall,

I am his favorite student.

“Wang li, come with me to my

office along with Jiang. Help me hand his uniform to him and take him to a tour

around the campus. He’s new here and you are his classmate. You should get to

know each other” he said, and we walked out of the classroom together. We

followed him to his office, and he handed some forms that needs to be filled by

a newly admitted student. “Help him in filling this and then take him to the

storage room to get him a uniform. You can walk around the campus until lunch

break” he said handing the storage room keys to me.

“But sir, we have another class

now” I said hesitantly.

“Your class is suspended for the

next two periods. We must clean the library and the ground now. So, I don’t

mind you skipping cleaning work for today. You are the class monitor. Just

inform this in your class and leave someone to supervise the work” he said. “I

feel like you are out of mood today. Just take a break this way” he whispered

to me.

Mr. Lin cares about me. I smiled

and nodded at him. I showed Jiang the way to follow me. We first went to the

class and informed them about the work and asked them to decide amongst

themselves for whom will be supervising the work. Then we left the class. We

walked through the corridor and went downstairs. We sat down on a bench beside

the garden, under the shade of a tree. I handed him the forms to fill, and he

took them from my hands, with care to not to touch my fingers. I was surprised

by seeing his “extra” care about touching me. What was he thinking about me? I was

disappointed. But I faked a smile. He quickly filled the forms and tossed the

sheets to me. He didn’t bother to look if I have caught or dropped the papers.

I took the papers and lead him to the storage room with the keys jingling in my

hand. The storage room was a bit far from the school’s main building where all

the classes and offices are. It is next to the vast playground usually not

visited by the students. There were even rumors spread about this old,

abandoned warehouse, I mean, the storage room, that it is haunted. The thought

made me laugh. ‘Bunch of idiots’ I said to myself and laughed quietly while

Jiang was staring at me. He was probably thinking that I am mad. I can say it

from his expression. ‘Does he really have an expression on his face?’ Yeah, he

didn’t have any expression to his face. We walked and walked and walked. No

talking. I wondered if he was real when he gave that eloquent speech in the

class. Finally, amid the awkward silence, we reached the storage room. I looked

at the building which was built earlier than the main building. Cracks were

there in every corner of the wall and even at the joints of the pillars to the

ceiling as if the building is going to collapse anytime soon. We both went to

the door and opened it with the keys. The creaking sound of the door echoed in

the old construction. It was dark inside as the curtains of the windows were

never opened. There was only little amount of light coming from the door. We

entered the building. Suddenly the door closed due to the blowing wind. I felt

a cold thing touching my back. I freaked out. I thought it was really a ghost

and prepared myself to knock it out with my martial arts. Wait! Can I touch

ghosts? Well, there are theories that we can’t. I stood there petrified. But I

can’t stand there forever. Gathering my courage, hoping that it’s just a stick

or something in the building, I looked back.

Gathering my courage, hoping that

it’s just a stick or something in the building, I looked back. I was astonished

to see Jiang there. He was trembling with fear. He held me by my shoulder so

tight. I could see his frightened eyes. I never expected him to be afraid of

dark.

“Jiang, are you okay?” I asked

him.

“Can you please not let me go? I

beg you” he pleaded. ‘Oh, he speaks!’ I smirked.

“Let me switch the lights on” I

said removing his hands from my shoulders.

“No. Please don’t. I will follow

you to the switch board” he held me by my waist this time sending a shiver down

my spine. I couldn’t do anything but to let him follow me.

I looked at all the walls and

finally found the switch board at a corner of the room. ‘Why did they fix the

switch board in a corner? Weird’ I thought to myself. I walked to the corner,

and he followed me, still clinging to my waist. ‘What a kid! Puff’ I smiled and

turned the lights on. He was still holding me, his eyes closed.

“Uh, Jiang? Now you can open your

eyes” I said, flushed. He opened his eyes and looked around. He confirmed that

the lights were on. Then he suddenly realized that he was still touching my

waist. He took back his hands and apologized.

“Ahem, I am so sorry for what

happened just now. I am Zhao Jiang. May I know your name?” he asked, a little

hint of redness in his cheeks. ‘Oh, now he’s asking my name too! What a great

change’

“I am Xiao Wang li, your class

monitor. You can call me Wang li” I told him and extended my hand to shake

hands. He ignored me and put his hands in his pockets. Again. I was angry. So,

I retrieved my hand and looked around. The room was huge. Though it was an old

building and had a smaller number of cupboards, they arranged things very well.

Sports equipment to the left side of the entrance and several school supplies

including uniforms, chalks, notebooks, markers, dusters, spare bulbs, a small toolbox

with spanners, screw drivers, cutting pliers, screws, and nuts of different

sizes in it. I walked to the cupboards and picked out the uniform for him based

on the size he mentioned in the form. Even if I hadn’t seen it in the form, I

could still tell what his size was. I blushed at the thought of his figure in

my head, imagining him walking towards me. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ I was never

like this before. I always stayed away from any kind of romantic relationships.

I gave the uniform to him and asked him to try it showing him the way to the

restroom. He went in to change. I went into deep thoughts in the meantime. Then

it occurred to me that I lost the one and only chance to get to know him a few

moments ago.  ‘Xiao Wang li, you are such

a log head!’ I cursed myself. He changed into his uniform, and I asked him to

go out first. I switched off all the lights inside and drew the curtains

properly and left the building. We walked towards the school ground with the

forms still in my hand. We walked through the ground, and I showed him the

basketball court, football court and introduced him some of the best players in

the school. We went to the swimming area and then to the garden. The garden was

very cool, thanks to the thick cover of trees we have. There were bushes full

of flowers and butterflies revolving around them analyzing which flower to suck

the nectar from.

“Here is the garden. This is one

of my favorite places in school” I told him with stars in my eyes.

“Why do you like the garden?” he

asked without looking at me.

‘What’s his problem?’ I screamed

internally. But I composed my face and answered him with a smile. “Because it’s

peaceful and I like the nature. Sometimes I wish I were a butterfly.”

“But butterflies are stupid I

think” he said without any hesitation. He wore the same cold expression which

he had in the class, in the storage room, in the office, in everywhere. I

nodded and smiled awkwardly not knowing what to do. If it were someone else, I

would have debated about why I like butterflies and I would have won. He is

dangerous for me. He makes me nervous. Nothing made me nervous since the last

time. I shuddered at the thought of it. I didn’t want to think about unpleasant

things. I shook my head and told myself ‘Wang li, concentrate on what you are

doing. You have already gotten over it. You have moved on. Once you have

decided to live your life like nothing happened, you must live up to it. Think

about something pleasant.’

The bell rang indicating it was

lunch time. My stomach rumbled taking me into the real world. Well, to think

about something pleasant, it’s always about food for me. Gosh, I forgot that he

was still with me. It was so embarrassing. I looked at him. Was he smiling!? I

think he was trying hard to hide his smile. His lips curved up a bit and his

eyes fixed on my face. He was staring at me. For some reason, I felt

uncomfortable. I worked as a model for several brands. What’s creepy about

being stared at? Many eyes were on me when I walked the ramp. But he is making

me feel butterflies in my stomach with every slight movement of his. I turned

my face away from his gaze.

“Shall we go and grab some

lunch?” I asked, redness all over my face.

“Okay! Lead the way please” he

said.

I lead him to the school canteen

as he followed.

“How is our school? You are going

to spend nearly 8 hours daily for a whole year here. What do you think? Are you

excited?”

“Not bad. A bit too old of

buildings. I think I can survive.”

“That’s all?”

“What else?”

‘Weirdo’

“Anyways, why did you transfer from

your school?”

“What? You are not happy for me

to be in this school?” he smirked at his own sarcasm.

“No. I didn’t mean that. I was

just curious about why you had to transfer, given your excellent academic

record. The school you were in before is an excellent one. Better than Qingbao

I guess.”

“I just wanted a change. I can’t

stay in a place for more than a year unless I get attached to it.”

“What about your parents? They

move with you too?”

His face turned serious. I

wondered if I have pushed the wrong buttons. “My parents died in a flood when I

was a kid. I lost everything in that calamity.”

“Oh…! I am sorry about that” I

apologized immediately.

“You don’t have to be sorry. It

happened a long time ago. It doesn’t affect me anymore. Since then, I decided

to move and live on my own. It’s been hard. But now, I have a scholarship.”

At that moment, I realized the

pain behind his cold look. “Have you made any friends yet?” I changed the topic

afraid that I would hurt his feelings.

“Aren’t we friends yet?” he

smiled. My heart started to beat faster. How did he do that? How can he make me

go out of control?

“Yeah. We are” I smiled back.

Meanwhile, we reached the canteen and went inside. The whole place was crowded

with the students coming and going, eating, chatting, and shouting. “What do

you want to eat? I will get it for you. Let me treat you today as we became

friends”, I told him.

“Are you not waiting for anybody?

Like, your friends are not joining you?” he asked me with a surprised look on

his face. He probably has thought of me having a large group of friends.

“No. Not really. I have one best

friend. He is absent today. Anyway, I have you now” I said promptly and turned

away from his gaze again. His eyes were penetrating. What is he doing? He is

cold for one instance and friendly in the other.

“Okay then. Let’s go together to

get our food” he said, and we walked to the buffet. I filled my plate with

almost every item cooked in the kitchen for lunch. On the other hand, he just

took soup and some vegetables.

“I said it’s my treat. Have some

more” I said as I put more items in his plate.

“Okay. If you insist” he tilted

his head a bit and nodded. Gosh! How can he be so handsome? I put meat and

yoghurt into his plate. He saw me staring at him and looked away. I think he is

flushed. I would really love to see his shy face. But sure enough, he hid it

well.

”” Would you like some drinks?””

we both said at the same time. I giggled.

“So, what would you like to

drink?” I asked him, still smiling.

“Orange juice would do”

“Alright, I would get it for you.

Let’s choose a place to sit first” I said and walked away from the buffet with

a very heavy plate in my hand. He followed me like an obedient puppy. It was

cute. We sat in the right most corner of the canteen since it was the only

empty table.

“Wait here for me. I would get

the drinks” I said putting down my plate.

“Then sorry to trouble you” he

said. He is too polite. I went all the way back again and returned with an

orange juice bottle in one hand and a milk shake in the other. I walked up

straight until I noticed him watching me. He’s watching me walk all the way.

That made me nervous, and my clumsiness acted upon right in the moment. I was

two tables away from our seats when I slipped. I was about to fall and hit the

girl sitting at the table beside me and ruin her perfect date with her

boyfriend. Her boyfriend looked like a nerd who only cares about studying and

nothing else. If I really ruin her date, it will take ages to get this guy out

of his study universe again. Oh my god! Please help me.

“Aah” I closed my eyes by reflex.

But I didn’t fall. Someone held me like a hero holds a heroine in a drama. I

peeked through my eye lashes to see who saved me from falling.

“When would you accept my

proposal of love, senorita?” the voice sounded familiar.

“When would you accept my

proposal of love, senorita?” the voice sounded familiar.

“Huh?” I lifted my head and

looked at him. “You…! Yi Zhong Chen! I would kill you. Humph” I jumped out of

his arms and walked to our table furiously.

“Hey blondie. I just saved you.

Is this how you treat me?”

“For the last time, don’t call me

blondie. I have a name. Besides, you were the one who texted me in the morning

that you are not going to come to school. I am super mad at you. Leave me alone

with my new friend” I said and sat at the table. Jiang looked at us, surprised

or shocked may be. Zhong Chen looked at Jiang equally surprised.

“What proposal?” he looked at me

with ‘god knows what’ look. I was taken aback by the accident just then and

forgot about Jiang.

“Nothing like that. He likes to

fool around. Let me introduce you two. He is Yi Zhong Chen, my best friend.

Zhong, he is Zhao Jiang. A newcomer, also, my new friend. So, your new friend

too” I winked at Zhong and gestured them to shake hands. They shook hands and

Jiang continued eating. Zhong brought his food and sat next to me, making weird

sounds while chewing. He looked as if he hasn’t eaten in years. He thrusted the

food into his mouth. ‘He might eat the chopsticks too’ I thought. Anyways, he

was the same since we met. He is naïve, innocent and loyal to his friends. He

is a little glutton just like me. I met him when he was still a child of five,

helping a girl when she was bullied. He defended her and was beaten badly by

the bullies. I saved him from them. I liked his courage. I watched him grow up.

People in the town never noticed me since they were busy working hard to meet

the ends. That was advantageous to me.  I

lived there for 11 years. When I was in a conflict to go to school or not, I

saw him filling his transfer application to Qingbao school. Then I decided to

go to the same school as him and protect him. We officially met at the school.

He seemed to not remember me. That’s good too. At least, he won’t ask anything

about what he saw 11 years ago. When I first saw him filling the form, I

realized that the boy has grown up. He is as handsome as Jiang, but Jiang is

taller than him by 2 inches. I came back to reality when I heard Jiang calling

me.

“Wang li? Why are you in a daze?

Eat your food. Otherwise, it will turn cold” Jiang said wondering what I was

thinking.

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking

about the new term” I lied promptly.

I turned to Zhong remembering

that he stood me up today.

“So?” I scowled.

“So?” he was puzzled.

“Aren’t you giving me an

explanation?”

“I was late to school. So, I

texted you that I won’t be coming. But I felt bored at home. So, I came. Aren’t

you happy to see me?”

“Happy!? Zhong Chen, you are overestimating

yourself. I hate you. Because of you, I had to run to school in rain.”

“Don’t you like rain?”

“I don’t like playing alone.”

“Whatever”

“Huh?” I punched him in the gut.

He choked on the food in his mouth. Jiang laughed at me.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Say sorry”

“In your dreams”

“Say that you are sorry.

Otherwise, I will tell your mom that you stood me up today.”

“Do you think I’m afraid of her?”

“I will also tell her that you

used all your pocket money on computer games” he looked at me angrily. He

looked like a little angry bird which was enraged by the green pig.

“It was my fault. I’m sorry that

I didn’t come today. Okay?”

“That’s more like it” I made a

silly face to annoy him even more.

“Humph. She-devil. Today’s your

day blondie. I’m not going to spare you if I ever get a chance”

“So, how long have you known each

other?” Jiang asked us to see us being too comfortable with each other.

“We knew each other for two

years.”

“Right, I wanted to ask you two.

Have you planned your stay?” I asked them to switch topics.

“Aren’t they providing us with

hostel?” Jiang didn’t see the hostel yet. If he has seen it, he would not think

about the horror again ever in his life.

“Don’t even think about it.

Hostel in our school is under repair since forever. So, we must travel from our

home, or can find hostels near our school” Zhong said stuffing his mouth with

meat more than he can chew. Listening to this, Jiang frowned. He lives on his

scholarship. He would feel sad when he can’t find a cheap place to afford.

“Alright, you two, finish your

lunch. I will be taking you to a place today. We will discuss about the hostel

later?”

“Cool. Let’s just go to class.

What subject do we have now?” Jiang asked me to lift his empty plate from the

table. My glance immediately shifted to the corner of his mouth where a thin

rice grain was stuck. How I wish I was that rice grain resting on his lips. I

took a tissue and moved my hand towards his mouth. He immediately dodged and

looked at me, confusion written all over his face. I smirked at his quick

reflexes.

“You have got rice over there” I

pointed to the left side of my lower lip.

“Oh! Thanks”, he took the tissue

from my hand and rubbed it off quickly. We all went back to the class. Another

boring lecture continued challenging our ability to remain awake. Later the

teacher announced that there will be a guest lecture by the famous physicist

Dr. Lu Wei Dong and asked us to gather in the auditorium. The auditorium was

built next to the garden 10 years ago. I forgot to show Jiang the auditorium

thinking about food. Anyways, he will see it now. Introduction to theory of

relativity; No matter how many times I listen to this, I never got bored. It

was my 16th time attending high school.  Wait, did they just say the name of the

physicist is Lu Wei Dong? No. It shouldn’t be him. There must be another person

with his name. What if it’s really Lu Wei Dong? Oh no. I shouldn’t be seen by

him. If he discovers me, it would be very hard to explain. “Um, Jiang, Chen Chen, can we not

go to the lecture today?”

“Why?”

“No reason” After all these years

of my existence, I’m still a bad liar.

“You are the one who says Theory

of Relativity is fun! Also, Jiang is here too. It would be bad if we miss the

first guest lecture on the first day in our first day of meeting…” he

continued.

“Enough, we are going. Can you

stop now please!?”

“Okay. Let’s go” a smile sliding

across his face.

We walked all the way through the

garden again. Looking at the flowers, playing with the butterflies, I

purposefully stalled time so that we can reach the auditorium after the lecture

begins.

“So, you are interested in

physics?” Jiang’s question startled me who was still thinking about escaping

from the sight of Wei Dong.

“Um, not exactly. I just like

Theory of Relativity. It is different from all the other theories that I have

ever read. It relates space and time and explains how they are related to the

motion of objects. So, it’s kind of interesting.”

“Oh” Oh? What a conversation

killer! I scolded him internally. After a few minutes, we reached a red and

blush color painted building. I always hated the combination. We entered the

building.  It was dark inside. We could

only see Wei Dong standing near the podium and his Power Point Presentation

running on the screen. In this pitch-dark auditorium, even Chen Chen won’t be

able to recognize me. Not to mention Wei Dong and I didn’t meet in years. Chen

Chen went inside and grabbed two seats for us while I stood there

procrastinating whether to go or not. Then I heard a soft voice near my left

ear.