VIII

RECAP

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“A―A―AA―AAR―RON!?!” One of the guys cried out and everyone looked up. “AAAARRROOOONNNNNN@#?$%”

Jiro, Calvin and Wu Chun cross their arms and look at him, some amused while some were surprised. After a couple of seconds, he could hear whistles and cheering through the crowd.

“Oh―” Wu Chun eyes widen.

“My―” Calvin jaws dropped.

“….GOD!!!!” Jiro whistled.

END OF RECAP

Wu Chun snatches Calvin’s towel and walks over to the girl, throwing it over head. And just outside the changing room, Sheng Yi looks over to Xiao Xun and her friends who had wide grins on their faces.

“What are you guys still doing here?” She grinned happily. “Someone told me that a girl sneaked into the boys change rooms!”

Chanting and cheering can be heard from outside, he took one last look at Xiao Xun before walking into the change room to see everyone's attention was at the showers. His teammates walk over to him and briefly told him what was going on. ‘Mr. Oil stains has the guts to bring a girl into the boys changing room. If word got out to the teachers, what will they do about it?’ Explains why Xiao Xun and her friends were hanging around.

“Who is she?”

“No clue.” Fabien answered as he head to his locker, taking his things out. “I just want to take a shower.”

“Same.” Ah Wei commented as he turn around, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “But I got to say, Aaron has guts.”

Sheng Yi sent him a glare and all Ah Wei did was laugh as he unlock his locker. “Who knows, maybe she's his secret lover.” William smirked as he walks away from the scene.  

Calvin slams his locker shut and walks over to them with clean clothes. “Here are some clean clothes she can change into. She is wet from head to toe; you don’t want to get sick in the middle of the semester.” Aaron nods as Wu Chun and Calvin walked out of the stall, pulling the curtain behind them close.

When Aaron lets her go, she immediately wraps her arms around herself and stares at the clothes in his hands. Even if the breeze didn't fly past her, she would've covered herself. As they stood there looking at one another, he held the clothes out to her, urging her to take it. “He’s right; you’re going to get sick if you don’t change into dry clothes. Don’t worry, I’ll stand outside.” She slowly took the clothes as he smiled, wanting to diminish the air of awkwardness between them. “Hurry.” 

Aaron quietly left her alone as he step outside to see his teammates grinning from side to side. Clearly enjoying the specticle.

“Well, well, isn’t this wonderful? Aaron and his secret lover are doing God knows what. What happened to changing rooms being strictly for guys?” Calvin smirked at Fabien’s question. “Don't tell us your jealous?”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Then… are you sad? Because that's what it sounds like cause Aaron got a girl?”

Fabien sent him a death glare and all Calvin and Jiro did was grin. Aaron said nothing, mentally timing how slow she was at changing. The longer she stays in there, the more anxious the wolves were getting. This is the third time he bumped into this girl and quite frankly, it was a shock to see her in the boy’s changing room. What would've happened if he wasn’t the first one to come in? Did she really walk into the boys change room unknowingly or was it on purpose? 

“Aaron who has a secret lover, how does it feel?” Calvin asked as Aaron glared at him. “Everyone’s talking about you and your girl.”

“Everyone in here is going to be talking about it. In a school as diverse as us, there is no secret.” Jiro chimed in. “Did you… you know, did you?” Calvin and Aaron playfully smack him on the head. “You wish!”

“We get hot-headed at times, its normal to―”

Gui was about to walk out when Jiro quickly stops her. He covered her head with a towel and quietly told her to stay still. Calvin nods. “It’s to protect you.”

“Thank you so much for helping me.”

“Don't mention it, it’s not every day a girl comes into the guy’s chan―” Wu Chun nudges Jiro on the arm. “Aaron, now's the time.” Snapped back to reality, Aaron looks over to buddies and nods, taking her by the wrist, he pushed through the crowd and left the cheers and whistle behind him.

“I know you want to say something, say it.” She stops.

“Let me help you.” He turns around to see her point to his wound. “It’s okay, I can do it myself.”

“No, I should help you. It’s call returning the favor.”

“Do you really want to stay in here any longer?”

“I just want to repay the favor.”

“Fine.”

He head towards his locker, took out everything needed to fix his injury up before sitting down. She took of the towel, finally throwing it away as she glanced down at his injury. Sure enough, it was a easy favor in her case.

“We seem to bump into each other with injuries.”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “Thank you for your help at the clinic.”

“I should’ve left you.”

“You should’ve.” He felt a sense of coldness in her tone. “Why would you say that?” She froze, she took her eyes off her injury to look at him. “Why do you say that?” He found himself repeating the question. The less he knows about her, the better it is for both of them.

“It's none of your business. In any case, you already helped me so much. I hope we don’t run into each other anymore.”

“Your Emma right? You’re the new transfer student in my class.”

“Huh? You’re in my class??” He grins, “it looks like this won’t be the last time I'll see you.”

Gui was about to speak but she stops when he cut his own bandages off, quickly wrapping up. “The day's not done yet, you should get going before anyone see's us together. That is if you still want to lead a quiet student life."

Gui thought to herself as she look out the window, most of the students have already went home. The ones who generally stay after school hours are those who are in clubs or assisting a teacher. She was in neither of those categories. 

“Don’t tell me a grown girl is scared to go home.”

“N-N-No!” After a moment of pause, he chuckles. “You are.”

“N-N―”

“How would you feel if someone spotted you with me? I can walk with you but there is a chance the guys would say you were the girl who was in the boys locker room. If you are someone who wanted the normal, everyday student life, it might be impossible to recover.”

"No... I can walk by myself."

"Okay." He rose up to shut his locker close. She was already down the hallway, he continued to leave distance between them as he made his way to the gates. This was her first day of school, not the typical welcoming wagon she hoped for. Her mind was preoccupied with her stepmother and another part of her was wondering how long it will take for her to get out of all this mess.

“Hey.” She stops to see Xiao Xun walk over to her. “Well well, looks like someone didn’t do what I asked.” She pointed out as her two friends stood beside Gui. “I hate to see people not doing what I asked.”

“What have I ever done to you?”

“I don’t need to explain anything to you.” Xiao Xun raised her hand but she gasp when someone held onto her wrist.

“S–Shen–!” Sheng Yi stared at Xiao Xun and smirked. “What does this girl have that you don’t?”

“Go home; your father will be looking for you.”

“He won’t be; he is out for a conference meeting. Surely, the prime minister’s son should know since it’s your father who called everyone together.”

“Ohh… sorry. I don't remember my dad's schedule.”

“Of course you don't, like father like son.”

“Xiao Xun… don’t start.” Xiao Xun broke his grip and smirks. “How could I? I wouldn’t dare offend the Prime Minister son, Qiu Sheng Yi. Let's not get on each other's bad side.”

“That’s why I am stopping you right now. We finally got those pesky teachers off our backs and I do not want to be back there. Besides, this girl has put on a mighty show back there, I just want to see who she is and then you can do whatever it is you want―”

Just then, Aaron kicked Sheng Yi from behind and before he fell, he held onto Xiao Xun, stoppping him from fully falling. Irritated but not as surprised to see how close Xiao Xun was, in a meter's difference, their lips would've touched. Fuming, Xiao Xun got up to have Sheng Yi whip around to see the one guy who he depised. It wasn't Xiao Xun's battle, she remained silent as Sheng Yi spoke.

“You crazy basta―”

“I am returning the favour since you guys like to play around.”

“I have not―” Sheng Yi glances at the girl and smirks, it was the transfer student who became the victim. “She should’ve been more careful who she befriends, not everyone is an angel.”

“If you guys do not stop, I’ll go report this to the office.”

“Why you!?@#$ aren’t you aspiring to be a tattle-tale, oil stains.”

“This will be your last chance to fix yourself up.”

“I’m not your damn clock.”

“Do you want to be?”

“Why yo―?!@#!”

Aaron threw his bag over his shoulder and drag Gui away. “THIS ISN’T OVER OIL-STAINS.” Sheng Yi calls out while Gui looks at them both, questioning their relationship with each other.

“If they pulls this thing again, you should tell someone about it.”

“I won’t do anything like that.” The time she said it, they were outside by the gates. He lets her go and looks at her in disbelief. “What? You won’t tell on them? Why? After what they did to you?”

“I just want to finish school as normal as I can.”

“You think they’ll let you off the hook?”

“Why don’t they? I have nothing against them nor did anything to them.”

“New student, your forgetting that your new and everyone knows who they would pick on, so it makes you their new target.”

“I don’t care, sooner or later, they will have to stop. I'm going home anyway, they won't stalk me there.”

She was about to walk when he pulls her backpack; bringing her back a couple of steps behind. All Gui wanted to do was go home, strip down to her pajamas and end the day with a good rest. If she stays like this, there is no telling what crime she will commit.

“What now?!” He points in the other direction. “You’re going the wrong way, home is this way.”

“I knew that! What, wait! How do you know where I live@?$”

“Are you forgetting?” She froze, slowly figuring it out as he chuckles. “I’m your neighbour.” He just laughed, walking ahead of her as she follows behind him, muttering away. Boy, her first day of school was a bust. Who knew it would be this hard to adjust?

.

.

.

Rainie grabs her cup of freshly brewed caramel macchiato and sat down. She drops her bag on the chair and heavily sighed, feeling the headache coming back. Serveral the nights after the party held by Prime Minister Qiu, she hasn’t been getting enough sleep. To add onto her stress levels, her mother has been pushing her to get engaged to this guy she met through mutual acquaintance, if only she can turn everything off and lay still for as long as time permits.

“You should consider drinking tea instead; it’ll help with your headache.”

Rainie opens her eyes to see the infamous, handsome flower boy Dean Fujioka. Honestly, she doesn’t know why every girl at school is fawning over him. And on top of it, to bestow the title ‘flower boy’ to him seem like a decision made on a whim. He doesn’t look like a flower nor is he handsome but nonetheless, this would be a pointless battle to fight against. 

Dean look at her bag on the chair and smirks, he knew she put it there to stop any pursuers from sitting with her but they weren’t strangers nor friends, they were just acquaintances so he took her bag and put it in the empty chair next to Rainie.

“You have a lot of nerves doing that Fujioka!”

“Chairs are made to be sat on for human beings, not for your… bag.”

“PRA-DA, this is the limited edition Prada bag!”

“Ah right, I forgot I went to a school full of rich folks.”

“What do you want any way Fujioka? You can’t be here to talk about homework.”

“Question, why did your mother kick Gui out of the house?”

“You’re here to talk to me about this?”

“Yes. Tell me, why did she do this to her? You guys have everything you guys could possibly want; from need to wants. Everything that comes after is all materials you guys are buying in bulk. So why bother kicking her out?”

Rainie paused and studies him. She wasn’t a fool to know how deep her little step-sister and Dean’s relationship was. They grew fond of each other when they were being teased together growing up, but Dean has never been the one to step out of his boundaries. So what is he on to? Does he want revenge on them or does he plan to bring her step-sister back into the estate?

“My advice to you, stay out of my family matters as much as possible. Behind your sarcasm, I know you like going to school because you are now where you belong. A part of this rich, upper society oh and another thing, if you are planning on bringing her back, I will not stop you but do you think she will be happy? What you are saying is right, what my mother did is extreme but that’s her way of doing things. And if I were Ying Jie, I will remain as far away as I can.”

Dean leaned back and took out a folder.

“Are you finally using your guns?”

“No, heck no. In many ways, I am like you when it comes to our parents. My dad and I have our own ways of doing things; we have our differences. But we do have some parts where we do connect and this is one of them.”

Rainie took the folder and her eyes widen.

“No way, I’m warning you Fujioka.”

“Give this to your mother; this is something everyone and whoever is a shareholder knows.”

Dean got up and brought out that deadly charmer smile of his. Rainie clicked her tongue as she mentally smacked that smile off his face. This is why every girl in the school is attracted to him, that make-believe prince-charming smile of his that brought his status up a notch. Not to mention his fan-club, that fawns over it every single time. How can she forget, anyone who should be recognize does have a fan-club.

“Does your father want to see Ying Jie back in the estate?”

“He is too busy to worry about this so I did it instead. Just pass this over to your mother and she’ll know what to do.”

“Who knew that a lawyer’s son can do this, is this legal?”

“100% legal.” He stole a look at her ‘Limited Edition Prada’ and smiles. “FUJIOKA!”

“Oh, a small request. Gui left some things back in the estate, will you be a dear and bring it to school for me tomorrow?”

“FUJIOKA!”

“Thanks see in school, Rainie.”

When he flash that killer smile of his once more, Rainie grips onto the envelope and drops it into her bag, furious that he managed to come up with this. She picked up all her belongings and headed out the door, making her way back to the estate.

“Welcome back Miss. Rainie.”

“I’m back.” She looks around, taking note that her mother is somewhere in the estate. “Where’s my mother?”

“In the dining room with―” Rainie was about to walk off until the maids call her back― “they are going through a list Madam got from one of her acquaintances. It’s a list for Taiwan’s notable bachelors.” Rainie stops and turn around frozen in place. "For me.”

Writer's Ramblings

so i am superexcited to get back on track with XII and i know how painful it is waiting for updates so...

i will *crosses fingers* try to update as much as I can!

On a happier note, who heard of Aaron yan's new drama coming out called "Fall in love with me?"

Mhmm, i wonder who is going to fall in love with it?