The Ball

To say that Gui Gui was nervous is an understatement. She was extremely-super-mega-uber nervous! It was very out of character for her considering that she was always confident in almost everything, well, except for the things involving a certain hottie guy.

Incidentally, this certain hottie guy, who goes by the name Aaron Yan by the way, had invited her to her former school's annual ball. Gui Gui was thoroughly exulted. It was the only thing she thought about for the whole week. But now that the day for the ball has finally arrived, all excitement was gone and Gui Gui can only feelthe dread on the pit of her stomach.

"I look dreadful" Gui Gui moaned. She was standing in front of her full length mirror, staring, or more precisely glaring, at her reflection. She had been doing that for the past hour, trying miserably to keep her nerves in check. Was her dress to simple? Should she tie her hair up instead of letting it down? Should she put more make-up on? Was all her preparations enough?

"Wow, Gui! You look... constipated." Calvin said from her bedroom doorway, eyeing his cousin who looked like on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. He watched amusedly when Gui Gui spun around with a look of horror etched on her face and quickly said "Ok, ok! I'm only joking!"

Gui Gui crossed her arms and pouted. "That's not funny at all, Cal!"

Calvin walked towards Gui Gui and slung an arm around her shoulder before leading her to her bed, beckoning her to sit down. She grudgingly sat, pout still visible on her face. Calvin knelt down in front of his favorite cousin, gently brushing her bangs away from her eyes. "I'm sorry." He sincerely said before flashing her his infamous smile. "You look absolutely breath taking!"

As hard as Gui Gui fought it, she knew that she can't stay mad at Calvin. The corner of twitched, and not long after, a genuine smile crossed her face. Calvin sat beside her and they shared a comfortable silence.

"Thanks, Cal." Gui Gui murmured gently. “Do you think Aaron will like this?"

"He's an idiot if he doesn't." He assured her. "Just look at you! You're simply stunning! Well, except the fact that you looked like about to puke minutes ago. Why so nervous, dearest cousin of mine?" Gui Gui quirked an eyebrow and shot him an 'are-you-seriously-asking-me-that-question-with-a-very-obvious-answer' look. Calvin chuckled and raised his hands in surrender.

"Calvin, what about Hebe?" Gui Gui asked, her voice was so soft that Calvin almost missed the question.

"Hmm? What about her?" He asked, watching his cousin wringing her hands on her lap.

"She likes Aaron, right?"

"And you like him too, right?"

"But---"

"But Aaron asked you out, not her. Stop worrying, ok?” Calvin patted her hands, squeezing it gently, hoping that this action will give her some assurance.

Gui Gui watched Calvin from the corner of her eyes and berated herself. She knew her cousin's feelings towards Hebe yet she still brought her name up. She even pointed out that Hebe likes Aaron! Stupid, stupid, Ghost! She shook her head and noticed that Calvin was still waiting for her answer. "Alright."

"Good! Because I need to deliver you to Aaron…right now."

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Aaron was standing near the entrance of the ball's venue, waiting patiently for his date to arrive. They have agreed to just meet up there instead of him picking her up. Besides, he doesn't really know where she lives. He was dressed in a black suit and a deep burgundy shirt underneath. He was absolutely smashing. Almost every single female in the room was set on catching his attention and hopefully his affections. Ever since the rumors of him dating Hebe was proven not true, his wannabe lovers had doubled, much to his chagrin. He just can't seem to grasp the idea why his bachelorhood excites the female population in their school. Well, that will hopefully change soon. Aaron chuckled to himself.

Despite the calm demeanor in Aaron's appearance, he was struggling inside. His heart was beating sporadically and the butterflies or rather dragonflies (butterflies are for girls, dragonflies are more manly, Aaron thought) in his stomach kept on fluttering as time passed by. He felt panicked yet excited at the same time.

"Hey, Aaron!" He sharply turned around only to find Jiro, one of his good friends walking towards him. "I see you’re dateless like me. Well, it's so much better; at least we can dance all the pretty girls here anytime we want! Where's Calvin?"

"First, unlike you, I do have a date. Second, you can have all those pretty girls, I don't really care, I already have one. And third, Calvin's on his way already. Anything else?"

"You have a date?" Jiro asked, peering over Aaron's shoulder. "Why didn't I know about it? Where is she? More importantly, who's the unlucky girl?"

But before Aaron can respond, murmurs from nearby students caught their attention.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Calvin is so hot! I think I'm going to faint!"

"Wait, that girl... Isn't she…"

"Gui Gui? That's Gui Gui right?"

"She's still so pretty!"

Aaron could hear his heart beating in anticipation. Soft clinking was heard and Calvin walked in, together with him was the most beautiful girl Aaron had ever seen.

He felt his heart stop, his breath left his lungs and his eyes involuntary widened. Calvin grinned as he spotted him. He led Gui Gui towards him, offering him a small gentle smile. Aaron can't help but smile back at her, the exchange was not missed by the students at all. There was complete silence that befell on the enormous room. All eyes were on her. She was an angel dressed in a simple white strapless dress with delicate silk adorning the skirt. Her hair was falling freely on her shoulders. Her lips were a light pink color matching the blush. But what really made her stunning were her eyes. Light brown eye shadow with a touch of gold and black mascara. Even though it was quite simple it made her look elegantly beautiful. She was absolutely breath taking.

"Hey Jiro!" Calvin greeted. "You may want to wipe your drool off. It's not a good sight to see you know. Especially with my cousin right here."

Wiping his mouth, Jiro looked over at Calvin then to the beautiful lady beside him. "Cousin? You two are cousins?"

"Can't we?" Gui Gui asked innocently, amusement dancing in her eyes. Calvin had told her about how her former schoolmates thought that they were dating and they apparently 'look great together'. Gui Gui laughed so hard when she first heard that ridiculous rumor.

"Oh no, no! I mean yes, yes! Of course you can. Why can't you?" Jiro blabbered. Gui Gui just chuckle at his obvious display of nervousness.

"It's okay. No worries." Gui Gui reassured him before turning her attention to the handsome guy standing beside him, watching their interaction with so much amusement. "Hi Aaron!"

Aaron gently grabbed her hand and pulled it to his mouth, leaving a small peck on her knuckles. A collective gasp was heard as Gui Gui blushed furiously.

Calvin chuckled silently. "Well, I'm leaving my cousin in your hands this night, Aaron. Better be good to her." He said as he handed him Gui Gui. He then turned his attention to Jiro, who was obviously stunned with the exchange. "I'm famished. Let's go and grab a bite." Calvin said, dragging Jiro to leave the two future lovebirds alone.

Aaron and Gui Gui stared intently on each other's eyes, neither caring at the silent whispers and jealous glares they were receiving.

“You look beautiful.”

Gui Gui blush became even more prominent. “Errm.. Thanks. You look good yourself.”

"Are you hungry?" Aaron asked.

"No." Gui Gui replied, though the grumbling of her stomach told otherwise. She was quite hungry. She haven't eaten anything all day because of her nerves.

Aaron laughed as Gui Gui's cheeks turned a little bit brighter. She was just so adorable when embarrassed. "Why don't we join Calvin and Jiro first? What do you think?" Gui Gui can only nod. Aaron smiled to himself as he led her over the table.