NOTE: This chapter contains lines from William Shakepeare's Romeo and Juliet.

"Chen Feng, where are you taking me?" I asked, trying to keep up as he tugged my arm and ran.

He didn't answer and continued running. When he finally stopped, I was amazed that I hadn't tripped or fallen. I grabbed his arm and tried to catch my breath. I looked up and saw that we were standing in front of the Art Department building.

"I hope we aren't too late," he said.

"For what? What are we doing here?"

"Come on," he replied, tugging my arm once again and leading me inside.

Please, no more running…

There was a large group of people crowded around something. I was curious about the people, but Chen Feng hadn't answered my question yet. However before I could ask him again, he led me through to the front of the crowd. I then immediately turned and asked, "Why did you bring me here?"

"Look," he said as he pointed away.

I turned my head to the right. My gaze was fixed on a piece of art. I looked at it up and down, realizing the smiling figure in it was me. Standing next to the drawing was Wang Zi.

"So, what is your piece called?" asked a student in the crowd.

"It's called Courage."

"Why is that?" asked another.

A weird but somewhat familiar feeling had grown in my heart. Part of me wanted to listen to his answer, but the other part of me was hesitant and wanted to leave. My heart started beating faster and faster, urging me to make a decision. I turned to leave, but Chen Feng grabbed my wrist and pointed to Wang Zi. After he let go, I took a deep breath as I silently stood and watched.

"Look at her smile. How does it make you feel? Warm? Happy?"

My smile?

"Every time I see her bright smile, she gives me courage, the courage to face any obstacles."

What did he just say?

"But it has been a while since the last time I saw it. It seems like she has lost her courage."

My heart skipped a beat as Wang Zi's gaze met mine.

"I made this piece to remind her how important her smile is. I want her to know that whenever she's scared, I'll be there helping her to find her lost courage."

"I…" I unknowingly said, turning everyone's attention toward me.

They all whispered to one another, realizing that the figure in Wang Zi's piece was me. I bit my lip as a feeling of humility covered me.

"Ying Jie, say something," Chen Feng said, nudging me to reply.

I looked at Wang Zi and said, "Uh, m-message received."

He smiled as the crowd clapped their hands.

It felt strange to be in the spotlight with all of these people looking at me and applauding. But I managed to shyly smile back.

"Today's the day," Professor Xu said. "You all are ready to present your scene from Romeo and Juliet, I presume. Who would like to go first?"

No one raised their hands in the silent classroom.

"No volunteers? I will pick who goes first then."

I slowly slid down on my seat. Although Wang Zi and I had practiced our scene plenty of times, we had practiced separately. This would be the first time we performed it together. I definitely did not want to go first.

"Sheng Yi and Ying Jie, how about you two go first?"

And out of all of the groups in the class, Professor Xu chose us…

I turned to Wang Zi. He smiled, reminding me of his message. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before we went to the front of the class. Chen Feng also smiled at me, strengthening me even more.

"I'm ready," I whispered to Wang Zi.

He performed Romeo's monologue perfectly as expected. I actually did not mess up as our characters conversed.

This seems to be going better than I thought.

"What man art thou, that, thus bescreened in night, so stumblest on my counsel?" I said.

"By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am. My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself because it is an enemy to thee," said Wang Zi, taking a few steps closer to me. "Had I it written, I would tear the word."

I gulped as my heart started racing. The small distance between us had brought back that familiar uneasiness.

"My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound. Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?"

"Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike."

"How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore? The orchard walls are high and hard to climb, and the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here."

"With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt. Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me."

I knew we were just acting, but the emotion from his words seemed so real.

Wang Zi, why are you such a good actor? I hope this doesn't affect my performance.

"It is my soul that calls upon my name. How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night, like softest music to attending ears!" he recited.

"Romeo!" I said dramatically, hoping to ease the awkwardness I felt. Instead, I caused the whole class to laugh.

Wang Zi coughed, quieting the whole room, and then asked, "My sweet?"

"What o'clock tomorrow shall I send to thee?"

"By the hour of nine."

"I will not fail. 'Tis twenty year till then. I have forgot why I did call thee back."

"Let me stand here till thou remember it."

"I shall forget, to have thee still stand there, rememb'ring how I love thy company."

"And I'll still stay," he said, taking my right hand with his left, "to have thee still forget, forgetting any other home but this."

"Um, 'tis… 'Tis almost morning. I would have thee gone—and yet no farther than a wanton's bird, that lets it hop a little from his hand, like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves, and with a silken thread plucks it back again, so loving-jealous of his liberty."

"I would I were thy bird."

"Sweet, so would I. Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good night till it be morrow."

As I turned to leave to the left of the room, Wang Zi's grip on my hand tightened. He pulled me back, bringing us closer. He then placed his right hand on my cheek.

"Wang Zi," I whispered, wondering what he was thinking. "This isn't what we planned."

Instead of replying, he just looked at me. I closed my eyes to avoid his gaze. But then he suddenly kissed my forehead, closing the short distance between us.

"Whoa…" Chen Feng said as the other students gasped.

Wang Zi released his grip on me, letting me exit the scene. As he recited his last line, I stared at the ground, trying to process what had just happened.

After class ended, I walked and walked, hoping to make sense of the situation.

Wang Zi kissed me in front of all those people… It wasn't a kiss on the lips, but it was still a kiss. When I liked him, he didn't like me back. When I don't like him anymore, he kisses me. What is this supposed to mean?

"Argh!" I yelled as I dug my fingers into my hair and closed my eyes, trying to stop the oncoming headache. "Why is this happening to me?"

I opened my eyes and saw the confused stares of other students. I looked away and patted down my hair. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and shyly left the scene.

Hmm… Maybe I'm thinking too much about that kiss on the forehead. We were just acting. Anyway, Wang Zi didn't like me before, so why would he like me now?

"I was worrying over nothing. I am such an idiot."

I continued walking and headed toward my favorite oak tree. When I arrived, I stretched in the sunlight.

Nothing could ruin my mood today…

Suddenly I was pushed against the tree. My back made a hard THUD upon contact.

"Ow!" I said while grabbing my back and looking at the perpetrators. "It's you three again."

"Didn't we already warn you to stay away from Prince Charming? Why are you still hanging around him?" asked the leader of Wang Zi's fan club.

I turned to walk away, but the other two girls grabbed me by my arms.

"We warned you once, but you still hang around him. He even made a portrait of you, and he kissed you on the forehead in front of a whole class!"

How do they know about this? I guess news travels fast around here.

"It's not like I made him do it!"

"So, you're saying that our Prince Charming wanted to do all of this for you?"

"I… I don't know. I just know that I never told him to do it," I replied, trying to budge out of their grasp.

"That does it!" The leader grabbed her full soda bottle and opened it. She smirked devilishly.

I turned my head and closed my eyes, praying that none of my books would get wet. I waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. All I heard was a fizzle, but then there was a shriek. I immediately opened my eyes. Wang Zi held a nearly empty soda bottle that was aimed at the wet and shocked leader of the Prince Charming Fan Club. The two other members let me go at the desperate sight of their leader.

"Prince Charming, w-why did you do that to me?" asked the leader as she shivered.

"Why were you trying to hurt her?" Wang Zi asked in return.

"I… We…"

"You what?"

The girls were silent.

Wang Zi came up to me and grabbed my hand, leading me away.

"Why are you protecting her?" the leader asked.

He stopped, turned, and replied, "Because she is my girlfriend."

"What?" I instinctively said, confused by his answer.

He turned to me and placed his hands on my arms, making my body tense up.

"I'm sorry. If I have the courage to ask you to be my girlfriend, I should have the courage to announce our relationship to the world and the courage to protect you. I'm sorry. I will not let this happen ever again. I promise."

I managed to let out another "What?" after this shock. However instead of answering, he hugged me. When he let go, he held my hand and started walking.

"Oh, one last thing," he said, stopping again. "It's not nice to bully people. You never know when it will make someone, or something, explode in your face." He threw the soda bottle into a nearby trashcan and then continued to lead me away from the scene.

"Wang Zi, I…" I muttered.

"Gui, I'll take you home."

As we walked to his car, I kept looking at him, wondering what was going on in that genius brain of his.

"I think our scene went well. What do you think?" Wang Zi asked.

"I think we did well too."

While he drove in silence, I reflected over everything that happened today.

"Why are you protecting her?"

"Because she is my girlfriend."

Wang Zi, what were you thinking?

"Gui, we're here. I'm just going to park somewhere first."

"Okay."

After he parked, we slowly walked to my apartment building. There was complete silence except for the slight wind that would come and go. I tried to keep a distance from him, but he managed to walk next to me and maintain my pace.

Why does he do this whenever I feel awkward?

By the time we reached my apartment building and entered, I went to check my mailbox. As I opened it with one of my keys, he stood behind me. There was nothing inside. I locked it and took a deep breath. I quickly turned around. The inches that separated us made my heart skip a beat. I gulped and gathered all the courage I could find.

"Why did you say I was your girlfriend?"

"To stop them from bullying you."

"You could have done something else to stop it."

"What? Are you afraid to be my girlfriend?"

"I wouldn't want you to be my boyfriend anyway," I said while pushing him and walking away.

"Why did you give up on me?" Wang Zi asked.

I continued walking and ignored his question.

"Gui, give me an answer. Why did you give up on me?"

I went up the stairs, and he followed. I used my other key to unlock my apartment door. When I grasped the door knob, he put his hand on the door, preventing me from opening it.

"Answer me, Gui."

I turned to look at him and saw his serious gaze.

"Why are you asking me this?" I finally asked.

"Because I want to know."

"My answer doesn't matter."

"Why?"

"Because you don't have any feelings for me. And the feelings I had for you disappeared a long time ago."

He slowly lifted his hand off of the door and took a step back.

"You're right."

I opened it and stepped inside my apartment.

"Bye, Wang Zi."

"Bye."

I closed the door and locked it. I turned and leaned my back against it.

Forget about it, Wu Ying Jie. It's all in the past.