Saturday soon rolled around fast. XiaoJie and Hebe arrived at the entrance of the indoor stadium only to find that a small crowd had gathered around the doors as they were not yet opened. “Wow, they’re early too,” XiaoJie laughed. Hebe wanted to come slightly earlier as she wanted to talk to GuiGui before the match starts, but it seems like it was of no use now. “Guess we’ll just wait here then.”

Just then, a bus arrived at the drop-off area. Some people amongst the crowd started standing up as athletes started alighting the bus, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite athlete. After a few players from the other nations have alighted, GuiGui was seen dashing down the steps of the bus and rushed towards Hebe, waving frantically. “Hebeeee! Glad you could make it!” GuiGui was wearing a polo tee with their country’s flag on it. “Hi XiaoJie! You came too!” She suddenly had an additional burst of energy and started jumping up and down happily.

XiaoJie and Hebe laughed at her cute reaction. “Sure, no problem. Good luck!” they wished her. “And stop jumping, you gotta save your energy for later,” Hebe added and tried to calm her down.

“I’m very happy that you guys could make it! At least you guys are there to watch me! I’m definitely going to do my best! Bye!” Seeing that the group is already entering the area, GuiGui hurriedly left to join them with a quick wave of her hand.

“Speaking about that, who’s the male playing for us? I didn’t see him just now,” XiaoJie was curious. But Hebe shrugged her shoulders, an indication that she did not know either. “Never mind, we’ll still get to see him later anyway.” They started making their way with the crowd of spectators into the stadium.

`

Xiao Jie watched as GuiGui made a dash to her two friends waiting outside the entrance of the stadium. “Silly girl,” He chuckled. He spotted Aaron amongst the tiny crowd beside Wang Zi, who gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back and nodded, showing that he would do his best later. His eyes caught onto GuiGui when she started jumping up and down and it was then he realized who was beside her. “Isn’t that XiaoJie?” He wondered. “Must be here to support GuiGui.” He thought as he headed in with the other athletes.

He followed his coach to their assigned place to put their bags before starting on their warm ups. GuiGui soon caught up with them, but she seemed more hyperactive than before. He assumed it was because she met up with her friends, after all, she is always like that.

“Hey, I didn’t know that you know XiaoJie,” Pausing in the middle of his warm ups, he turned to her in that position. Thinking about it, GuiGui wasn’t in the same high school as them, so how did she know her?

GuiGui smiled. “I knew her through Hebe. She’s really nice! Although we aren’t really close, but she still came today. I’m really grateful for that!” She stood up from the ground from where she was sitting previously and stretching her calf muscles. “Anyway, time to head out now, its starting soon.”

Xiao Jie did his few remaining stretches and headed out with her, carrying with him a towel and a water bottle. He suddenly felt more determined to win than ever.

`

“Hey XiaoJie! They’re coming out!” Hebe squealed excitedly. She stood up and cheered along with the rest of the spectators. She pulled XiaoJie up from her seating position and urged her to cheer along too. “Look! GuiGui’s there! GUIGUI!” Seeing GuiGui emerging along with the other athletes, she started cheering even louder than before and waved her hands frantically about, trying to catch her attention. GuiGui immediately spotted her and gave her a smile in return, before diverting her eyes to find Wang Zi amidst the crowd.

What surprised XiaoJie was the person that followed behind her. It was Xiao Jie, her high schoolmate! She observed him closely. Yes, it was definitely him. He was the table tennis captain of their high school team, but she didn’t exactly know how good he is as she hadn’t seen him play. She just knew that they often won awards in competitions.

“XiaoJie! XiaoJie!” She suddenly became aware that Hebe was shaking her. “What’s wrong? You spaced out for a moment there.”

XiaoJie realized that she was still looking at Xiao Jie and shifted her eyes to focus on Hebe instead. “Oh it was nothing, I just realized that the male playing is actually my high school friend,” she laughed. “It’s such a coincidence, I know.”

`

Decided to post this today cause, ITS XIAO JIE’S BIRTHDAY! :D

Let this be a little present to all out there to celebrate it. I apologize for it being a short chapter, I didn’t really have much time. Its exactly one month to the exams, argh. Ending isn’t really interesting, but now they saw each other. :D My Prelim 2 results were… I almost failed Higher Chinese. On the bright side, I’ve gotten a few As. Its time to study Chinese ~.~

scorpio.