[CONTENTID1]Chapter 43[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Protective Oppas[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

"AHHHH!" Anne screamed upon seeing the disgusting head pop out of the ground.

She quickly grabbed onto the closest person, forgetting that she was trying to hide her fears. She started whimpering and sniffling, completely frightened to death. She was also shivering because it was getting cold and she had only worn shorts.

The lights suddenly , and she realized they had reached the end of the 'ride.’  Still holding onto someone, she looked around to see all eyes on her.

Lay and Chen had linked arms and Xiumin was clinging onto Kris for his life. To Anne’s surprise, Mei Li was hugging Luhan, and her face was turned away from his chest, looking at Anne with eyes full of worry as she saw her tear-stained face.

Anne stared back at her with wide eyes, and Mei Li looked back at her, confused. Anne gestured towards Luhan, and Mei Li turned her head around.

She looked up at him, and finally realized what she was doing. Quickly standing up straight, she removed his arms from her waist, and awkwardly stepped away from him, running over to Anne. "Anne, are you okay?"

"I'm f-fine. It's o-over now, right?" Anne sniffled.

"Yes. Now...do you mind letting go?" someone said.

Anne looked beside her to see Tao looking around awkwardly, refusing to make eye-contact. She then looked at her arms, and back at him. WHY AM I CLINGING TO THIS RUDE, IMMATURE BOY? She quickly let go and straightened her clothes. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Xiumin smirked at Tao and winked. Tao glared back, but said nothing. Then, they finally left the haunted mansion.

"If you were scared, you could've just told us," Kris said as soon as they got out.

"Pfft baozi. So much for 'I heard the ones in Canada '," Tao mumbled.

"Yea. And Mei Li, you didn't know your sister was scared of things like this?" Lay asked her.

"I did, but she told me not to say anything," Mei Li replied, looking regretful.

Anne noticed that Luhan couldn't take his eyes off of Mei Li since the lights and they left the mansion. Did they just accidentally hug? Anne wondered. What am I saying, of course it was accidental! She'd never just give into this easily. She has more pride than that.

It got quiet, and the atmosphere suddenly felt uncomfortable. The others were probably also wondering why Luhan and Mei Li were hugging back there, but no one wanted to say anything of course. "Uhm...I'm hungry," Xiumin broke the tension.

"Let's eat?" Chen suggested.

They nodded and walked off to find the concession stands. They all wanted different things, so they decided to split up. Lay, Chen, Kris, and Xiumin went off in one direction, while Mei Li, Luhan, Tao and Anne went the other way. They agreed to meet up at the picnic tables later.

It was already getting late, so there weren't that many people around.

"Cheese fries are over there!” Mei Li beamed.

She really had a thing for junk food. Who doesn’t, right? But Mei Li ate like crazy. And yet, she was still so skinny. Anne envied her sister’s high metabolism.

"And cotton candy too!" Tao added.

"I'm craving sushi suddenly," Luhan said.

Anne spotted a Japanese stand nearby. "Whoa, they have sushi too! Over there," she pointed to it. "Hmmm, I could go for some sushi."

"Let's split up then; two and two," Tao suggested.

Before anyone could answer, he dragged Mei Li to the more fatty food stands far away. Luhan and Anne walked over to the Japanese stand and looked up at the menu posted. Upon looking at the prices, Anne realized her wallet was with Mei Li. "Shoot, Mei Li has my wallet,” she said.

"Oh, I can just pa—" he paused and changed his mind, "I'll go get it from her then."

"It's okay, I can g—"

He cut Anne off, "Just wait here and I'll be right back."

With that, he ran off to find Tao and Mei Li.

Does he like her still? Unlike her sister, Anne had pretty good observation skills. And, it really didn't seem like Luhan was a huge jerk or anything. So...why?

Someone decided to interrupt her thoughts. "Hey hottie."

She turned around to see three boys who looked around four or five years older than her. Judging by their appearance, they were delinquents.

Anne ignored him and continued looking at the menu, pretending to be busy. "Playing hard to get I see?" one said. "Come on, don't be that way."

He touched her arm, causing her to flinch. They chuckled, "Whoa, no need to be scared. We just want to play, you know…"

Meanwhile, Mei Li was standing at the fries stand with Tao, trying to decide whether she should get a large or a medium. Just then, Luhan ran up to them. "Your sister said her wallet's with you?" he phrased it like a question.

"Oh yea!" Mei Li took out Anne’s wallet from her bag, handed it to him, and went back to looking at the menu hesitantly.

"Tao," Luhan called.

Tao turned to