I'm so smart, am I? I'm hitting two stones with one bird. Or one bird with two stones. Whatever. All I can say is, I can be closer to Pei Pei again, while helping her be close to Aaron. I'm not a bad guy after all!

 

--

 

Pets gave Jiro a skeptical look. Then, she folded her arms. "Are you sure about this?" she asked. "Hey, who is Aaron's best friend? It's me! I know him so well." Jiro said proudly. Pets let out a sigh. "All right..." she resigned. Jiro gave her the box of orange juice, and watched her as she approached Aaron. 

 

"Aaron..." Pets called him, At that time, he and Diana were talking. Aaron looked up at her. "Hey, Pets." he said. "Jiro wants to give you this." Pets said, handing him the orange juice. Jiro sweat dropped at what he heard. "This girl..." he thought. He immediately rushed to her side, and let out a laugh, which made Diana and Aaron confused. 

 

"What Pets mean is she wants to give you this orange juice." Jiro said. Jiro looked at her and let out a laugh. Aaron took the juice from her hand.  "Thanks, Pets." Aaron said with a smile. Diana looked suspiciously at Pets at Jiro. "Da Dong, why are you suddenly close to this little girl?" she asked. Jiro put his arm around Pets, and smiled. "Because we're neighbors!" Jiro said.  "You two are neighbors, yes, but you are not that close." Diana pointed out. 

 

Aaron looked at Diana, and smiled. "It's all right. At least they're not fighting, right?" he said. Pets squinted her eyes and gave Jiro a piercing look. "You monkey king..." she thought. At that moment, she wanted to kill him. She doesn't want them to think she and Jiro are friends, if it wasn't because Jiro was blackmailing her with her love letter. 

 

Diana just let out a sigh. "Why would she give Aaron an orange juice? So annoying!" she thought. Pets gave Jiro a forced smile. "Can I go now?" she asked. Jiro smiled at her. "Sure, let's go. Guys, I'll see you around." he said. He put his arm around her shoulder, and turned to leave the two. 

 

As soon as they are far from Aaron and Diana, Pets turned to Jiro. "That's so embarrassing!" she said. She wanted to cry, but she could only scowl at the guy beside her. Jiro patted her shoulder, and gave her a reassuring smile. "You did well, Pei Pei. Don't worry, next time, I'll make sure you can be much closer to him, all right?" he said.

 

Pets paused for a while, and then stared at him. Jiro gave her a confused look. "What is it?" he asked. "It's been a long time since you called me that."

"Pei Pei?"

Pets nodded her head. "Yes."

"It's because I only had the chance now."

 

Jiro said that with a smile. Then, he patted her head. "Can I call you Pei Pei again, like before?" he asked. Pets rolled her eyes at him. "Are we even that close for you to call me that?"

"You call me Xiao Dong."

"You made me call you that, monkey king!"

"Well, you have to let me call you Pei Pei again or I will put the letter up for everyone to see." 

 

Pets clenched her fist as she scowled at him. "I hate you..." she hissed at him. Jiro just let out a smile at her. "Oh, you won't for long." he said with a wink.

 

--

 

Jiro just finished his assignments that night. As he stretched out his arms, he noticed an old tin box lying on his desk. He let out a sigh, and smiled as he took it. "It's been so long..." he said to himself. He opened the box, and the first thing he saw is the picture of him and Pets sitting together when they were 7 years old. He was hugging Pets tight, and both of them were smiling happily. 

 

He took it out, and smiled as he stared at it. "Look at you! We were so happy at this time!" he said with a laugh. True enough, when they were younger, they were very inseparable. He put the picture back in the back, and then took out a ribbon. It belonged to Pets, and he remembered he kept it. 

 

Pets used to have a long hair when they were kids, and she always lose her ribbons. This is one of the ribbons he had kept for her. He looked inside the box, and saw a lot more things. There was a wrapper of their favorite candy, a ticket to the carnival, another ticket to their favorite movie. There's also her favorite pencil, and the notes they used to pass to each other back in elementary. 

 

He could only smile as he reminisce the time of their childhood. But as he went through the box, he felt a pain in his heart. Until now, he doesn't know the reason for their falling out. All he knew is that one day, Pets just stopped hanging out with him, and she stopped being his friend. 

 

He let out a sigh as he leaned on his table. "What happened to us, little precious? Why aren't we friends anymore?" he said sadly. He looked out the window, and stared outside. "I know we're going to be friends again one day." he said with a smile. "And I can't wait for that day to come!"

 

--

 

"We don't have choir practice after class, right? Why don't we head to the mall and shop?" Wayne suggested to Hebe and Pets. The three of them were walking to the cafeteria at that time. "I can't. I have something to do after classes today." Hebe said. Wayne let out a sigh, and looked at Pets. 

 

Pets let out a sigh as well. "That monkey king will not allow me to go home without him." Pets said. Wayne pouted at her. "Why the sudden closeness to him?" Wayne asked. Hebe also gave her a curious look. "Yeah, why?" Hebe asked. "Remember my missing letter?" Pets said. Wayne and Hebe nodded their heads. "Your letter to Jun Xiang Ge Ge, right?" Wayne said. Pets nodded her head. "Jiro got that letter, and will not return it to me, until I do his bidding." Pets said. 

 

Wayne and Hebe's eyes widened at what she said. "What?!" they both exclaimed. Pets nodded sadly. "Ugh! That monkey king! So it means he read the letter, and all the cheesiness inside it?" Wayne asked. "He did. That's why he's blackmailing me." Pets said sadly. The two pouted, and then hugged her. "Awwww, don't worry. We'll help you take the letter back,all right?" Hebe told her. "Yes. And we'll make sure you'll be able to give it to your Jun Xiang Ge Ge." Wayne said. 

 

With that, Pets smiled at her friends. "Thank you, guys! I know I can count on you!" she said. "But, first, we need to plan how will we get that letter from that monkey king..." Hebe said. Wayne and Pets nodded their heads.

 

--

 

"Hey, I'm going now." Wes said as he took his bag. Diana just looked at him as he leaves the classroom after the last bell rang. She looked at Jiro, and saw him stood up. "Well, I need to get home early today." he he said. With that, he pulled Pets away from his friends. "Wait! Monkey King!" Pets protested. But she can't do anything as Jiro puled her away from Hebe and Wayne. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Pets shouted before disappearing with Jiro. 

 

"Aiyo, that stupid monkey king... he's been taking our friend away!" Wayne said with a pout. Hebe let out a sigh. "Well, there's nothing we can do." she said as she took her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow, Xiao Jin." she said as she waved goodbye to him. 

 

Diana looked at Aaron, and smiled at him. "Ah Bu, do you want to go to the arcade today? Or maybe we can go eat at the cafe?" she asked him. Aaron looked at her, and smiled. "Sorry Xiao An, I can't. I have to practice piano today for the recital." he said. 

 

Wayne looked back at Diana, and he saw her sad smile. "Oh, all right. I'll see you then, Ah Bu..." she said. He watched her as she looked at Aaron as he leaves the room. "Poor girl..." he thought. As soon as they were alone, Wayne approached her. 

 

"Hey, do you have anything after class?" Wayne asked her. Diana shook her head. "Then, do you trust me?" Wayne asked her with a smile. He held out his hand, and Diana looked at it. "Why should I trust you?" she asked. "Because, I, sweety..." Wayne said as he put his arm around her shoulder. "Will make you the most beautiful girl in the whole class. Even your beloved Aaron will not be able to take his eyes off you." he added as he lifted her chin. 

 

Diana looked at him, and Wayne could see her face lighten up. "Really?" she asked. Wayne let out a smile. "I am a fairy godmother after all. So, do you trust me?" he asked again. Diana smiled, and nodded her head. "Good. Let's go then!" Wayne said as she he pulled her out of the classroom. 

 

--

 

"Whoa..."

 

That was the only thing Diana could mutter as she went inside Wayne's room. It was all pink. It more looked like a room for a girl, instead of a room for a guy. At the center of his room was a princes bed, also reeking in pink. Everything he has in his room are things that a girl could want. 

 

"He is a princess...." she thought as she shook her head. "Sorry, but mommy had the dressing room downstairs for renovation, so we have to do with my room first." Wayne said. "Well, princess. A girl would usually be scared if a guy takes him to his room for the first time. But as for me, I just want to laugh." Diana said. 

 

Wayne pouted at her. "Hey!" he said. Diana looked at him, and laughed. "Kidding. But really, Wayne, pink?!" she asked. 

"I love pink."

"And a princess bed?"

"I am a princess."

"Your room is shouting 'I am gay'".

"But I am gay!"

 

Diana let out a laugh. Then, she pinched his cheek, making him flinch in pain. "You know, princess. You're handsome. Too bad, you're gay." she told him. Then, she let go of him. "Awww... you brute! You don't have to pinch my cheek that hard!" he said with a pout. Diana just laughed at him. 

 

Wayne pushed her to his vanity table, and then opened the lights on his mirror. Wayne looked at Diana through the mirror, and smiled at her. "Today, we'll do a full make over of you, all right?" he said. "So, it means I'm not going to just wear a dress?" she asked. Wayne nodded his head. "I'm going to make you a goddess that no man can resist." he said confidently. 

 

Diana smiled at him through the mirror. "I'm excited." she said. "Then, leave it up to me girl!" Wayne said as he snapped his finger.

 

--

 

Pets sat by the bench as she waited for Jiro. "Stupid monkey kind..." she muttered. "He had the guts to leave me here at the park after taking me away from my friends! Ugh! I want to kill him!" she said. 

 

"Kill who?"

 

She looked up, and saw Jiro smiling at him. In his hand, he's holding two cones of ice cream. One is caramel, her favorite flavor. The other is strawberry, Jiro's favorite. "Here, have some ice cream to cool down." Jiro said as he handed her the caramel ice cream. Pets took it from his hand. 

 

"So, who do you want to kill?" Jiro asked as he sat beside her. "Who else, but you!" Pets shouted at him, making him flinch. "What did I do this time?" he asked her. "You took me from my friends. You made me wait here under the sun..."

"And I bought you your favorite ice cream."

"And bought me my favorite ice cream."

 

When she realized what she just said, she looked at him. She saw Jiro smiling triumphantly at her. "You're welcome." Jiro said. Pets just rolled her eyes at him. She decided to ignore him as she ate her ice cream. Jiro just watched her. "Look at how messy you are right now." he said. 

 

Pets looked at him, and before she knew it, Jiro is wiping the side of her lips. "You're still messy as ever, especially when you eat ice cream." he commented. "What is it to you?" she asked. "Because you still look like a little girl when you eat." he said. With that, Pets pouted. "I am not a little girl!" she said again. 

 

Jiro just laughed at her. "Hey, tomorrow, we have a choir practice after class. Don't wait for me. I'll walk home with Hebe and Wayne." Pets told him. "I can wait for you. And can I watch? It's been a long time since I heard you sing." Jiro said. "I don't sing. I only play guitar and piano for the choir." Pets told him. 

 

Jiro gave her a confused look. "But why? You love to sing when we were kids! Remember? I used to play the guitar while you sing!" Jiro told her. "I just don't like singing, OK?" Pets said. "Ah, I know why... it's because of what happened at the talent show, right? I told you don't think of it that much. You have a really good voice and you shouldn't hide your talent."

 

Pets took a deep breath, and stood up. She looked angrily at him. "Can you just stop?!" she shouted at him. Jiro fell silent. "If I don't want to sing, then I don't want to sing. End of conversation." she told him. Jiro could only watch as she walked away from him. 

 

"Pei Pei, wait!"

 

Jiro said as he followed her. Pets stopped walking, and folded her arms. "Sorry for making you upset. It's just that... didn't you like to sing before when we were young?" he said. "That's in the past. And stop bringing it up." she said in an annoyed tone. Jiro sighed, and raised his hand in resignation. "All right, all right. But..." 

 

Pets looked at him, and saw him smiling. "I'll wait for you tomorrow until your choir practice is over." he told her. Pets could only give him an annoyed expression. 

 

--

 

I didn't know she stopped singing, and I don't know why. First, she stopped being my friend. And now, I found out she stopped singing. I'm now more determined to bring back the old Pei Pei back - that little precious girl who had been my best friend.