But there's one thing I had to deal first - Pets and her sudden change of attitude about singing. I need to find out she didn't want to sing of all of  a sudden. You know, when we were kids, there's never a time that she wouldn't sing. I would play the guitar, and she will sing a long. And so, this sudden change in her baffled me. 

 

--

 

"I told you, you don't have to wait for me!"

 

Pets said, almost shouting at Jiro. Their last class has ended that day, and she, Hebe and Wayne were ready to go to their choir practice. "If I say I'll wait for you, I'll wait for you." Jiro insisted. Hebe and Wayne looked at each other, and then looked at Jiro. 

 

"Why do you insist on walking Pets home? Are you her boyfriend?" Wayne asked. Wes heard that, and almost choked at what he said. "Of course not! I'm her neighbor. I brought her to school, so I should make sure she's home safe." Jiro told him. "Hey, we'll walk Pets home. You don't need to wait for her." Hebe said. Jiro folded his arms, and gave them a smug look. "I will wait for her." Jiro insisted. 

 

"And why?" Wayne said as he folded his arms. He raised his eyebrow at him. "I want to hear her sing." Jiro said. Hebe and Wayne looked at each other, and then let out a laugh. This baffled Jiro. "What?" he asked. "She does not sing." Hebe said pointing at Pets. Wayne nodded in agreement. 

 

Jiro gave Pets a confused looked as he put his hand on his waist. "What's the point in being in a choir if you don't sing?" he asked her. Pets only rolled her eyes at him. "I play the piano, the guitar and the violin." she told him. 

 

Wes walked up to Jiro, and put his arm around his shoulder. "Da Dong, do you want another reason to wait for Pets?" Wes told him. Jiro gave him a curious look. "Did you know Selina Ren, your princess, is the soloist of the choir?" Wes told him. 

 

It was like a light bulb lighted up on top of his head. "Really?" he asked. "Yup. So, you can wait for Selina instead of waiting for Pets." Wes said, giving him an idea. Jiro scratched his chin as he looked at the three friends. Then, he let out a laugh, as if he invented sliced bread. 

 

"Then, it's settled. I'll watch your choir practice for Selina!" Jiro said. The three looked at each other, then sweat dropped. Hebe then looked at Wes, and kicked him in the shin. "You stupid lanky bean pole!" she said. Wes could only flinch in pain. "You..." Wes hissed as he glared at Hebe. 

 

Aaron then stood up from his seat. "Then, if you guys will wait for Pets or Selina, I'll walk Diana home, OK?" he said. Wayne looked at Diana, and saw a faint smile in her face. "All right, then. I'll see the two of you tomorrow." Jiro told him. Aaron looked at Diana, and smiled at her. "Xiao An, let's go?" Aaron asked her. Diana stood up, and gathered her bag. "Sure, Ah Bu." he said. 

 

Wayne was happy seeing a smile in Diana's face, but at the same time, he felt a tug in his heart, seeing her smile because of him. "Why am I feeling this way? Maybe I'm just jealous because she's close to Aaron, and Aaron's my crush? Yeah, that must be it..." he thought. Then, he just let out a sigh. 

 

--

 

Wayne looked outside the music room, and saw Jiro and Wes waiting outside. "Are they still there?" Hebe asked. Wayne looked back at them, and pouted. "They are..." he said. Pets could only scratch her head, and Hebe just sighed. "Those two..." Hebe said in an annoyed tone. 

 

Pets let out a sigh. "Let them be. Let's just ignore the two for now." Pets said. "Do you think they're here for Selina, or for you?" Wayne asked her. Pets just shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know, and don't care." Pets said. Wayne folded his arms, and joined his friends. 

 

"We need to find a way so that Pets can get his letter back from him!" Wayne said. "We don't even know if he brings that letter everyday." Hebe told him. Wayne sighed, and pouted. "Pei Pei, can you endure hanging out with that monkey king? I know you two used to be close, but he's quite annoying." Wayne said. "If you can endure hanging out with Diana, why can't Pei Pei not endure the monkey king?" Hebe said. 

 

Wayne gaped at Hebe at what she said. Hebe could only laugh at his reaction. "Xiao Zhen!" Wayne shouted. "Don't ever think we didn't notice how you and Diana are getting closer." Pets told him. Wayne let out a sigh. "I'm just helping her embrace her feminine side." Wayne said.  Both Pets and Hebe laughed at him. 

 

After a while, their choir head came in, followed by Selina and her friends. "OK, class. Let's start the practice.  Pets, can you do the violin accompaniment for the piece?" the choir head asked. Pets nodded her head, and then got up with her violin. Everyone took their place while Pets stood in front while playing the piano. They did a little vocalization, and then practiced their song. 

 

Meanwhile, Wes and Jiro sat outside, waiting for the practice to be over. "You must be happy listening to your princess singing..." Wes told him. Jiro shook his head. "I"m actually waiting for someone else to sing." Jiro told him. Wes gave him a confused look. "Who?" 

"Pei Pei."

"Pets? She sings?"

"Of course. When we were young, she loves to sing."

"But didn't she stop singing? Hebe told me..."

 

Wes paused, and realized  what he was about to say. Jiro gave him a dubious look. "When did you and Hebe talked? You two hated each other too, right?" he said. Wes let out a nervous laugh. "I mean, I heard Hebe telling Wayne that Pets stopped singing." he said as an alibi. 

 

Jiro let out a sigh. "I don't even know why she stopped singing. But you know, when she sings before, it's like you're listening to an angel sing." Jiro said with a smile. "Really?" 

"Of course. When we were kids, she would sing while I play the guitar. The two of us would sing a lot. I don't even know why she stopped singing..."

"Maybe she outgrew it. Or, something happened in the past that made her stop singing."

 

Jiro tried to remember an incident that would cause Pets to stop singing. All he could remember was the talent show back in Middle School. He remembered that Pets was sick back then, so she had no voice. "But if it's that talent show, it wasn't her fault at all..." he thought. "Da Dong, listen. Princess Selina is practicing her solo now!" Wes told him. Both of them listened to Selina's song.

 

"Pannis angelicus

Fit panis hominum

Dat panis coelicus

Figuris terminum"

 

"Your princess sure has a beautiful voice." Wes commented. "But I think Pets can sing that song better." Jiro told him. Wes let out a faint laugh. "You really have high confidence on her, huh?" Wes said. Jiro just nodded his head. 

 

--

 

Jiro was in front of his desk that evening. He was reviewing for an exam the next day, when he heard a guitar playing. He looked out of the window, and saw Pets sitting by the window while strumming the guitar. He stopped what he was doing and listened to her play the guitar. Then, he heard her sing. 

 

 

"Thanks for your gentleness

Holding love, waiting quietly

My two hands

Are actually shaking

 

But what can I give you?

I'm just somebody he forgets

My heart has been emptied with a sweep

 

I will plant you in my heart

Maybe one day

I will finally grow another dream

 

Don't know, Don't understand, Don't want

Why, my heart

Obviously wants to go closer

Yet I'm lonely till dawn

Don't know, Don't understand, Don't want

Why, my heart

The beauty of love

Is always in loneliness

Giving you the best of my best love again"

 

As Jiro listened to her sing, he let out a smile. "I missed that voice..." he said softly to himself. "How I missed that voice that I love." he said again. Then he let out a smile to himself as he thought of something. "One day, I will  make you sing again, Pei Pei. I promise that." he said. 

 

-- 

 

The next day was the dance practice at the gym. While waiting for their teacher, Diana and Wayne were setting up the music they are going to use. "Teacher said to play 'Waltz of Flowers' by Tchaikovsky for the first part." Wayne said as he looked at the CD. Diana gave him a dead pan look. "Chai Tea?" she asked. Wayne laughed at her. "Tchaikovsky, dear. You should pay more attention to our Music class." he told her. 

 

"Who is he, and why does he want to make our life miserable?" Diana asked him. Wayne just laughed. "Then, it will be followed by the one from Strauss, and one from Shostakovich." Wayne explained to her. "So, first is the one from Chai Tea, then Storm, then Short Guy, right?" Diana said. Wayne let out a sigh of dismay, and just shook her head. "Whatever, as long as you get the point." he said. 

 

"I'm so excited!" Jiro said as he jumped around. Wes and Aaron looked at each other, and laughed at him. Jiro pouted at his friends. "Jiro, we know you're so excited because your partnered to your princess in the dance, but stop jumping around. You looked stupid." Wes told him. Aaron nodded in agreement. "Aiyo, be happy for me, all right? At least I get a chance with her!" Jiro said. Then, he let out a smile. "And, Aaron and Pei Pei are partners... how exciting can this get?" he added in his thoughts. 

 

Just then, Selina and her friends entered the gym. Jiro looked at her direction, and all of a sudden, he could see pink bubbles around her. "Oh my god, she's so pretty when she smile." he thought. Selina looked at his direction, and smiled at him as she walked towards him. "She's coming to me!" he thought excitedly. 

 

"Hello! You must be Jiro? My dance partner?" Selina said. Jiro gazed at her dreamily as he slowly nodded his head. "It's nice to meet you, finally." she said. "Same here." Jiro said. Jiro could feel his cheeks became warm as the two of them looked at each other. 

 

"Places everyone!" Mr. Cheng said as he and Ms. Lin entered the gym. Everyone took their place, except for Wayne and Diana, who stayed at by the CD player. The two teachers first explained the steps and showed it to them. Then the students danced by count. Once they're ready, Ms. Lin cued Wayne and Diana to play the music. 

 

"Ready to dance?" Aaron asked Pets. Pets let out a sigh. "As if I have a choice?" she asked him. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." he told her. They went back to their position. Aaron put his hand on his waist, while Pets put on hand on his shoulder, and held his hand. 

 

Meanwhile, Jiro was looking over them. "I'm sure Pei Pei is very happy to be partnered to Ah Bu. But I should help her be closer to him." he thought. "Jiro..." he heard Selina call him. Jiro looked at her. She smiled at him. "Pay attention, we'll start." she said. Jiro just nodded his head. 

 

Wayne pressed on the play button. As the music started, everyone started to dance. He and Diana just watched as their classmates dances, waiting for further instructions from their teachers. "I really want to dance..." Wayne said with a pout. He looked at Diana, and saw she's staring at a particular partners at the dance - Aaron and Pets. 

 

She watched as they danced. She watched as they talked. She watched as both of them laugh at her mistake. She watched as he smiled and laughed at her. She felt a pain in her heart, seeing Aaron that way towards Pets. He wasn't like that with him. 

 

Diana let out a sigh. "I'll do anything to be in her place right now..." she muttered. Wayne heard that, and looked at her. "Are you all right, Diana?" he asked. Diana looked at him, and nodded her head. But she could not deny the sadness that he saw in her eyes. 

 

"Are you... are you jealous of Pei Pei?" Wayne asked. Diana lowered her head. "I want to be Aaron's dance partner..." she confessed to him. Wayne let out a sigh as he patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. You may not be Aaron's dance partner right now, but maybe in the future, you will be." he said to console her. 

 

Diana looked up, and stared at Aaron and Pets again. She felt scared that time, She was scared that she will be ignored by him, especially now that Aaron seems to be closer to the girl he likes. "Maybe..." she said sadly. "If he finally sees me..."

 

--

 

If there's one memory I want to keep in my life, it would be the memory of Pei Pei's voice. I want to keep the memory of her singing her favorite songs. 

 

I never thought that there was a painful reason behind her decision to not sing anymore.