“XiaoJie!” seeing her friend at her locker from down the hallway, the girl quickened her pace and jogged towards her. Hearing someone call her name, XiaoJie paused from taking her books from her locker and turned towards her left, peering at her friend who was leaning on the locker beside hers with a grin on her face.

“Hey Hebe. What’s going on? You seem so excited.” XiaoJie replied casually before turning back to face the inside of her locker and continued taking her books. Hebe remained silent, waiting for XiaoJie to finish whatever she was doing before telling her. “You can start talking, you know. I’m listening, in case you are wondering.” Hearing no reply, XiaoJie spoke up again.

Hebe hesitated for a moment. “Well, you know… the Youth Olympic Games is coming up, and my high school friend is taking part in table tennis. She invited me to watch her play, but I don’t really want to go alone, it’ll be boring…” she flashed a cheeky smile at XiaoJie.

Taking the hint, XiaoJie sighed and finished her sentence. “So I guess you want me to accompany you there? And I know that you really want to go because table tennis is your favourite sport.” She closed her locker shut and started walking in the direction of the classrooms. Knowing her friend all too well, she clearly knew what she wanted. Hebe was from the table tennis team back in her high school, and furthermore it was her friend that was playing, so that explains why she wanted to watch it so badly. However in college, she decided to have a change and joined the rollerblading team, which was where she met XiaoJie.

Hebe followed alongside her. “Aww, you know me so well!” she gushed, hoping that her friend would agree. “Her first match is on this Saturday. There’s no school or activities on that day, so no worries.”

“Well, I don’t mind actually. I like watching table tennis too although I don’t play it. Just hold on, let me check if I’m free on that day.” Whipping out her phone from her skirt pocket, XiaoJie scrolled through her events. “Alright, I’m free on that day. Who’s that friend of yours anyway? Do I know her?” XiaoJie questioned.

“Its GuiGui. Yep I think you know her too, you guys met before right?” Recalling her memories, Hebe seemed to remember introducing them before.

XiaoJie thought for a moment before nodding her head. “Wow that’s cool, I didn’t know that she was playing. Anyway, see you after school!” Giving her friend a small wave, they parted ways to their own classrooms.

`

Xiao Jie focused on the small orange ball in the hands of his opponent. His eyes followed the ball as it was thrown up, and he straightened himself up at the same time. His opponent’s bat hit the ball hard, sending the ball flying to his side of the table. With quick reflexes, he took a small step backward and sent the ball back to the other side at an even greater speed. It hit the edge of the table and bounced off. The opponent was caught off guard. He didn’t except such a great hit, and instantly ran to hit it before it touches the ground. He did manage to hit it, but instead of reaching the other side, it went right smack into the net, ending the game.

“Good job, Xiao Jie. That was a nice shot. All right, today’s training ends here. Go home and rest well, gear up for your match this Saturday. Good luck!” Clapping his hands twice, the coach dismissed him.

Xiao Jie sat down on the bleachers. Grabbing the towel draped over his bag, he wiped his sweat that was dripping down the sides of his face and opened his water bottle to take a drink. Taking out his phone from the side pocket of his bag, he checked if there were any new messages. There was one from Aaron, telling him that he will meet him after his training.

Just at that moment, Aaron appeared. “Hey, how was training today?” he sat down beside Xiao Jie and watched him gulp down his water. “Don’t drink so fast, you’ll choke!”

Closing the cap of the empty bottle, Xiao Jie placed it down beside him before turning to his friend with a small grin. “Don’t worry, I always do that. And nothing has happened to me, right? Training was tiring, as usual... it’s a good thing there’s no more training the next two days, I really need that rest.” He started dumping his items into his bag messily.

Aaron patted Xiao Jie on his back. “Good luck buddy. I’ll be there, watching you.” He flashed him an encouraging smile.

Xiao Jie slung his bag over his shoulder and gestured at his friend. “Thanks buddy. Let’s go, I need to shower first.” They headed towards the shower rooms.

“Oh by the way, who is the female playing?” Aaron grinned mischievously which was responded by Xiao Jie rolling his eyes at him.

“GuiGui. But too bad, she’s taken. By Wang Zi,” he smirked. He knew his friend too well. Aaron’s not a player, nor is he a flirt, it’s just that he likes to look at girls.

The grin on Aaron’s face disappeared and was replaced by a pout. “Aww she’s cute though,” His tone had a hint of disappointment in it.

“But she said her friend would be there. I think her name’s Hebe, if I did not remember wrongly,” Xiao Jie added. Reaching the showers, he placed his bag down on a vacant bench.

Aaron’s face brightened again as he sat down on the bench too. “Is she pretty?”

“You know what, buddy, time for you to get a girlfriend so you would stop looking at girls,” Xiao Jie shook his head before heading into a shower.

Aaron continued to talk, knowing that Xiao Jie could still hear him. “Why should I? I like the way I am now, single and carefree.” He shuddered at the thought of having to report to his girlfriend whatever he was doing. The last time he had a girlfriend, that girl practically clung onto him wherever he went and when they were not with each other, she just kept sending messages to his phone, asking what he was doing. He felt like he had totally no space to do whatever he wanted.

“That’s what you say, wait till you meet someone that is right for you. We shall see then, lover boy,” stepping out of the shower, Xiao Jie smirked. He repacked his bag neatly before carrying it and headed out of school with Aaron. “Do you want to grab a snack before heading home?”

“Sure, Mr Know-It-All,” Aaron shrugged and laughed. Heading towards the nearby café, they chatted merrily with occasional laughter coming from them.

`

XiaoJie and Hebe were walking home after school that day. In fact, only XiaoJie was walking, Hebe was practically skipping all the way. “Ahh I’m so excited!” she spun a 360 degrees turn. Seeing her actions, XiaoJie gave a small chuckle.

“I’ve reached. Shall we meet here on Saturday?” XiaoJie stopped at the entrance of the main gates of her apartment.

“Sure, see you!” Hebe turned around and waved merrily before heading off to her apartment which was two blocks away.

XiaoJie chuckled again. ‘Its only a game, what’s there to be so excited about,’ she thought before heading towards the lift lobby.

`

To clarify some matters: XiaoJie and Hebe were from different high schools. They met in their co-curricular activities in college, not in class, hence they are from different classes. But they are really good friends, or should I say best friends. My own best friends are from my co-curricular activities too. (: GuiGui was from Hebe’s high school, but XiaoJie knew her because Hebe introduced them before. I’m sorry if that was confusing.

scorpio.