"Stop messing up my life!"

Gui Gui's voice echoed throughout my mind, preventing me from sleeping. I reached over to turn on the lamp on my bedside table and sat up. I ran my fingers through my hair and took deep breaths.

After a few minutes, I let my back fall onto my bed and my head onto my pillow. I closed my eyes and slowly let all of my muscles relax. I cleared my mind and listened to the rhythm of my breathing, hoping to fall into a deep sleep.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Ex–

"Stop messing up my life!"

I immediately opened my eyes. I threw my blanket off of me, got up, and went into the bathroom. I the cold water on the sink and splashed the water onto my face. I turned off the running water. My hands gripped onto the edge of the sink, trying desperately to hold onto reality. I lifted my head up to look at the mirror, watching the beads of water drip from my face. I then examined my face, seeing how sad I looked. I grabbed a towel and leaned on the bathroom doorway. I proceeded to wipe the water off of my face, neck, and hands. I tossed the towel into the laundry hamper and continued to lean on the doorway, contemplating what had happened with Gui Gui.

"Stop messing up my life!"

Did I really mess up her life? What did I do wrong?

"Couldn't you go study somewhere else? Why did you choose Hangzhou?"

She clearly doesn't want me here. But it's not like I stalked her to China.

I went and lay down on my bed with my arms behind my head.

The Gui Gui that I remembered was always optimistic. She liked me so much that she mysteriously slipped pictures of herself under my pillow and followed me everywhere. But today I didn't see an actual smile from her, and she tried to avoid me. I never felt the cold that always came whenever she appeared. She's changed so much. Is it because of me?

I ran my right hand through my hair and scratched my head.

Since I am going to be studying here until the end of the school year, I should make the best of my time here. And it looks like I'll be spending some of it with Gui Gui, so I guess I should go and make up. I hope she won't try to avoid me tomorrow.

I my side and turned off the lamp.

Now I just hope I can get some sleep.

After parking my silver convertible, I walked toward the East Courtyard. I felt slightly uneasy as if a thousand eyes were staring at me. I continued walking, turning my head every few minutes or so to look around, but all I saw were students chatting and going to class. I brushed the thought away, continuing on my trek to the oak tree.

When I arrived, I found Gui Gui deep in thought. I squatted in front of her, hoping to catch her attention, but my attempt failed.

I wonder how long it will take for her to notice me.

I sat down and looked around, waiting for a reaction from her, but nothing. I then turned my head to look at her face. The seriousness I saw in her expression was something I wasn't used to.

She has really matured…

"Wang Zi!"

The surprise exclamation from caught me off guard, causing me to fall backwards.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I was zoning out. When I came back to reality, you seemed to have popped up out of nowhere, which surprised me, so–"

"It's fine. Just don't surprise me like that again," I replied as she helped me up. "Your name really fits you, Gui Gui."

"Humph! You're the one that scared me!" she said while pointing at me. "Why are you here?"

"I already told you. I'm here to study."

"No, not that. Why are you here standing right in front of me and talking to me?"

"Um… Because of what happened yesterday."

"Oh."

Gui Gui's confidence from just now seemed to disappear. She silently stood in front of me, staring at her feet. I gulped and looked at her, trying to find the right words to say.

"I'm sorry," we said in unison. We both looked at each other, waiting for the other to break the awkwardness.

"Uh… Ladies first."

Why did I just say that?

"Okay. Um… I'm sorry for going off on you yesterday. I wasn't mad at you; I was mad at myself." She took a step back to bow and said, "I'm truly sorry. Please forgive me!"

What I had wanted to say was almost exactly what she said. She practically took the words out of my mouth.

"I forgive you."

She straightened her body and asked, "Really?"

I nodded.

"Can we be friends?" she eagerly asked.

I nodded once again.

"Yay!" she happily exclaimed. She grabbed my right hand and jumped up and down, but then she suddenly stopped. "What were you going to say to me?"

"Basically what you said."

"Oh… Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Can you call me Gui Gui instead of Ying Jie? No one's ever called me that in a long time. I miss it."

"Okay, Gui Gui," I replied, seeing a big smile on her face, "but under one condition."

"What?"

"You have to call me Wang Zi as well."

"Fine, but I'm not calling you that because I think of you as Prince Charming."

"Then who do you think of me as?"

"The Prince of Arrogance."

"You!"

"Don't get mad. It's only friendly teasing."

"Sure it is."

"Aiyo, don't be mad. I'll show you to your next class, okay?"

"That's more like it." I took my schedule out of my backpack and handed it to her.

As she looked over my schedule, I could see her eyes widening. She quickly took out her own schedule and compared the two.

"They're the same."

"What?"

"Wang Zi, our schedules are exactly the same."

"Well, it looks like we are going to spend a lot of time together this school year."

"Yeah…"

"Come on, let's go to class."

"Okay."

As I followed Gui Gui as she shyly walked to our classroom, a small smile managed to surface on my face.

When the class dismissal bell rang, Gui Gui and I headed back toward the familiar oak tree. We both sat down and leaned against its trunk, tired from sitting through a boring business class.

"So, you're majoring in business management?" she asked.

"Yeah. You too?"

"Uh huh," she replied with a nod. Her usually cheerful facial expression suddenly changed to a glum, troubled look.

"What's wrong? Do you not like your major?"

"Yeah."

"Then why major in business management if you don't like it?"

"Because I don't see what other choice I have. I'm not good at anything, so I guess I'll be taking care of my parents' bookstore for the rest of my life."

I didn't know how to respond. I never thought there would be a day when I would see the usually happy-go-lucky Gui Gui being depressed and lacking self confidence. Her sad eyes… I really wanted to do something, but I froze. An odd feeling flowed throughout my body. I just continued to look at her, hoping that it would leave as we both sat silently.

"But enough about me," she said with a smile. "Why are you majoring in business management?"

"I'm the only son who is able to take care of our dad's company."

"What about the other guys?"

"Xiao Yu is on tour with his band, and Ah Wei is becoming a professional choreographer. Wei Lian and Xiao Jie are both training to be athletes. I'm not sure what Ao Quan is doing with his life, but I know he's not responsible enough to head a company."

"Oh."

Gui Gui stared at her feet while I looked to my right, waiting for the other to break the new awkward silence.

"Wang Zi."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to take care of your dad's company?"

I turned to look at her. Her eager eyes wanted to hear my answer. I then looked at my feet, but I could feel her unmoving stare.

"Um… I–"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Crap! We have to go to our next class right now!" she exclaimed while turning off her watch alarm. She quickly grabbed my arm and ran after we both got up.

I didn't really care if we were late to class, but I didn't stop her. Something in me was taking over. I didn't want to stop running.

After we left our second class of the day, I leaned against the wall as Gui Gui received a call. I hugged my stomach to prevent it from growling. I tried to remember what I had eaten this morning, but my mind was blank.

"Okay, see you in a bit," Gui Gui said and ended the call.

"Was that Chen Feng?"

"Yeah. I invited him to eat lunch with us. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, it's alright. Where are we eating?"

"In the cafeteria."

"Let's go."

Thank God, I was starving.

"Sheng Yi, how's your burger?" Chen Feng asked before taking a bite of his own.

"Great. Yours?"

"Delicious. Ying Jie, why are you so quiet?"

"Unlike you, I can't talk and eat at the same time."

I chuckled and took another bite of my burger.

"Sheng Yi, why are you on her side? Dudes have to stick together!"

"What? You two are gonna gang up on a helpless girl?"

I swiftly cut in and said, "Okay, you two. Let's eat our lunch."

"I was just playing. I would never do that to you, Ying Jie," Chen Feng said while nudging her with his elbow.

She smiled and nudged him back. We all continued eating our lunches peacefully, but the strange feeling of being watched came back again. I tried to brush it away once more; however the feeling grew stronger and stronger. I turned my head to my right and found a group of girls looking at me. They quickly turned away when we made eye contact. I turned to my left and the same thing happened again.

"Is there something wrong, Sheng Yi?" asked Chen Feng.

"I've had this odd feeling that people are staring at me."

He turned and laughed. "Of course they are. Just look at yourself. You're the most handsome guy in the university. It looks like it's gonna be the beginning of a great school year for you!"

"Sure," I replied. I looked at Gui Gui. She just quietly continued to eat with no reaction.