Meeting the Boys

GuiGui spin around to see four grinning boys in a tiny Honda Civic. The kid in the front seat had brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a diamond stud in one ear. He stuck a hand out of the open window as if reaching for her. "How about it?"

GuiGui made a face and started to walk away, taking long fast strides.

The car moved forward slowly, keeping right at her heels.

"How about it?" the kid repeated. "How about a date?"

"Plenty of room in here," another voice said.

She heard a high-pitched laughter.

GuiGui kept walking. The car moved forward, staying right beside her.

She heard more laughter. One of the boys made loud kissing noises.

"Come on. We're nice guys," the kid with the ponytail said, grinning at her, his hand still out the window.

"We're great. We're really great," a boy called from the backseat.

"Bet you're great too," another voice from the backseat echoed.

More laughter.

GuiGui spin around angrily. "Get lost!" she snapped, glaring at the four boys.

"Aww, that's not friendly," one of them said.

"Don't you want to be friendly?" another called out.

They all laughed.

"I'm warning you---" GuiGui started.

"Ooh, she's getting steamed," the driver said.

"That's not friendly," another boy said.

GuiGui realized her heart was beating fast. Her anger was giving way to fear.

Were they just teasing her? Were they eventually going to drive away? Or did they really plan to harm her?

She stared into the car, studying each grinning face. She didn't recognized any of them. They didn't go to Taipei High, she was fairly certain.

"Come on, let's all get friendly," the passenger pleaded, reaching out for her. The driver pulled the car up beside her so the ponytailed kid could grab for her arm.

"No!" GuiGui cried, leaping out of his grasp.

The four boys laughed.

"Leave me alone! I mean it!" GuiGui cried.

One of them flicked a lighted cigarette at her. It landed on top of one of her sneakers. She kicked it off and started to run.

Their laughter was loud and cruel.

Animals, she thought. They're just animals.

She was running up on the grass now, running up close to shrubs. Breathing hard and gasping out loud as she ran, GuiGui listened for car, listened for the laughter, the voices, listened for the sound of a door opening, the sound of one of them running after her.

When the tiny car passed by, she stopped to catch her breath, her fear is still there, her legs trembling, her heart still pounding.

They're gone, she thought, watching the car make a turn around the corner. She felt relieved and miserable.

If only something good would happen to me, she thought.

If only I could meet a guy who liked me.

###########################################################

The new boy at Taipei High got the seat in homeroom next to GuiGui. It was the only vacant seat in the room, in the back row next to the waste basket.

GuiGui studied him as he made his way down the long row toward her. He walked quickly, carrying his backpack in front of him, avoiding everyone's eyes. He was still wearing his leather jacket. Probably hasn't been assigned a locker yet, GuiGui decided.

He was average in height and weight and had dark eyes and brown straight hair. He flashed GuiGui a shy smile as he took his seat, and she saw that he had powerful-looking arms.

He caught her staring at him, and she quickly turned her head to the front, embarrassed.

Wang Zi.

That's what Mr. Tang had said his name was.

Wang Zi.

He's kind of cute, GuiGui thougt, stealing another long glance at him. His dark eyes were looking at the floor. His cheeks were slightly blushed.

He really is shy, GuiGui decided.

She wanted to say hi or welcome or something. But she couldn't.

I'm shy too, she thought. I hate being shy!

Mr. Tang was racing through the morning announcements, reading faster than the human ear could hear as usual. When he put the announcement sheet down for a minute, he surveyed the room, searching for empty seats.

"All present and accounted for," he said, marking something on his attendance sheet, his eyeglasses sliding down to the end of his nose. "I think there's going to be a fire drill today. Hope you guys can take all the excitement."

Mr. Tang had a very dry sense of humor. But everyone always laughed and talked in homeroom so it was hard to hear a word he said!

The first period bell rang. GuiGui glanced at Wang Zi, but he avoided her eyes. He ran a hand nervously through his brown hair before starting to pull his backpack up from under his seat.

GuiGui stood up and started to put her backpack to her shoulder. "Oh, no!" she cried. Her notebooks, books, and supplies tumbled to the floor. She had forgotten to zip the bag.

She looked down to see her brown-paper lunchbag open, her sandwich at her feet, an apple rolling across the room.

With a loud sigh she bent down and began to collect her things. To her surprise, Wang Zi let go of his pack and dropped down beside her to help.

"Pretty stupid huh?" she managed to say.

He smiled. His cheeks turned pinker. He stuffed the sandwich back in the bag and handed it to her.

Their eyes met for only a second. He quickly turned away.

He's even shyer than I am, she thought.

She found herself staring at his biceps and quickly lowered her eyes to the floor.

Say something. Say something! she scolded herself.

"Thanks for helping," she said.

Brilliant! What a brilliant remark!

He shrugged and flashed her an awkward smile. Then he picked up his bag and walked quickly to the door without glancing back.

I hate being shy, GuiGui thought, still scolding herself.

But what can I do?

Another girl would have thought of something clever to say, something funny. Hebe would have had him laughing his head off. Hebe would have had him asking her out before her stuff was back in the backpack.

Why can't I be more like her?

I'll talk to him tomorrow morning, she decided, hurrying out into the crowded, noisy hallway.

I have a whole day to figure out what to say. She was even smiling as she walked into her firs-period English class and headed to her seat in the back row.

That evening, GuiGui was thinking about Wang Zi while she worked in her father's restaurant. The All-Star Cafe was a brightly lit coffee shop on one of the narrow, run-down streets of the Old Village. That night, GuiGui was the only waitress. There was really only room for one. Ernie, the fry cook, had called in sick. So her father, tired and troubled, was behind the grill in the kitchen.

There were very few customers. Two old men drinking coffee at the end of the counter. A teenage boy and girl having club sandwiches and Cokes in the next-to-last booth near the back.

GuiGui found herself daydreaming about Wang Zi. She had decided what she was going to say to him. She was going to ask him if he worked out. Then she' ask when his family had moved to Taipei and where he lived.

A third old man entered and joined the two at the counter, calling GuiGui for a cup of coffee. She picked up a cup, carried it to the coffeepot, poured it, and started to take it to the old man, all the while daydreaming about the conversation she and Wang Zi would have, imagining both roles.

"Oh, no!"

The heavy china cup slipped out of her hand and landed on the counter before crashing to the floor in front of it. It shattered into several pieces, coffee splattered everywhere.

GuiGui saw her father glaring at her from the kitchen. "I'll clean it up," she called to him.

GuiGui brought the old man another cup of coffee. Then she picked up the broom and dustpan and bent over the broken china on the floor.

She picked up several large pieces carefully by hand and dropped them into the dustpan. Then she climbed to her feet--- and bumped into someone who had just entered.

"Oh! Sorry!" she cried, startled.

He grinned at her. "I enjoyed it," he cracked.

He looked about seventeen or eighteen. He had laughing dark eyes, a handsome, high-cheekboned face, and thick brown hair.

He looks tough, GuiGui thought, staring at his black leather jacket with silver pocket zippers, his faded jeans torn at both knees. The jacket was partly ped, revealing a black t-shirt underneath.

"Sorry. I'm in your way," GuiGui said retreating behind the counter. She watched him walk to the far end of the counter. When he wasn't flashing a crinkly-eyed smile, his expression was hard, tough.

GuiGui deposited the broken china into the waste basket, then hurried to bring the boy a menu. He held up his hand, shaking the menu away. "I know what I want. Just a hamburger and a Coke."

"How would you like your hamburger?" GuiGUi asked, wiping her hands on the long white apron her dad made her wear.

"Cooked," he said.

GuiGui could feel her face growing hot. She suddenly felt embarassed. I must look like such a geek in this stupid apron with my hair pulled back, standing here asking him how he wants his hamburger.

"That was a joke," he said, his expression not changing.

GuiGui forced an awkward laugh. "I know," she said. She turned and called the order through the window to her father. He nodded, and she could hear the splat and sizzle of a hamburger hitting the grill.

"So what do you do for a living?" the boy asked, his dark eyes gleaming.

GuiGui stared at him, unable to think of a reply.

"That was another joke," he said. "Guess you're not in a joking mood, huh?"

"I don't hear too many jokes in here," GuiGui replied picking up a rag and wiping the counter.

"What's your name?" He was staring hard into her eyes as if challenging her to speak to him.

"GuiGui. GuiGui Wu." she realized he was the first customer ever to ask her name.

"I'm Aaron Yan," he said. "But everyone calls me YaLun." He surprised her by reaching out and shaking her hand. He had big hands and a firm handshake. He didn't seem to know his own strength.

"Hi, YaLun," GuiGui said, managing a smile.

GuiGui refilled the coffee cups for the three men at the other end of the counter. Then she checked YaLun's order. Not ready yet. She drew him a Coke from the dispenser on the counter and brought it to him.

"I just moved here," he said, spinning the glass between his hands, staring at her again. "To the Old Village."

"I just moved to Taipei about a month ago," GuiGui said.

The two teenagers in the booth were signaling for a check.

"Is this town as nowhere as it looks?" YaLun asked, his lips forming a smile.

"Yeah. I guess," GuiGui said.

Talking with this boy was making her feel really uncomfortable. Despite his jokes, there was something hard about him, something cold, something--- dangerous.

"Hey--- how about going to a movie with me?" he asked.