The thirty-two years old Vic Zhou was staring at his daily newspaper in disbelief. He had opened it to find out what was going on in the world, but all he saw was a picture. A picture of a women with long, silky black hair, deep brown eyes, pale and perfect skin, and a smile that was worth killing for. At least in his confused head. But she wasn’t alone; she was with a man whose handsomeness could compare to her beauty… She was with her fiancé. A man whom everyone admired, and a man who Vic knew didn’t deserve her, the least bit. She was the kindest and most gentle person on earth, while he was the most arrogant and over confident person that Vic had ever met. They had gone to boarding school together, all three of them, and they had had a rather weird relationship. Vic’s thoughts started circling around his memories from those times. What painful, immortal memories.

“Vic! Vic look at this!” a beautiful, smiling girl yelled at a slight guy, who was slightly shorter than her. He had dark hair that fell down his eyes, and he was wearing the school’s compulsory uniform. The male version consisted of grey, pressed pants, a white shirt, a dark green tie and a grey vest. The only difference between the male and female uniforms was that females wore grey skirts instead of pressed pants.
The pretty girl jumped over a fence that separated the school’s area and a lake right next to it. Vic smiled and laughed.
“Wow… That’s a mighty good jump!” he exclaimed while clapping his hands, though he knew that they would get into trouble if they were seen. The girl, Barbie, certainly always had some wildness over her, though she looked like the innocence itself when you looked at her, with her straight black hair, and flawless fair skin… Though she always had little scrapes on her knees and elbows. Apart from her wild side, she was an extremely good student, and the fairest person Vic had ever met. She was also the only one that actually talked to him, apart from Jerry Yan, Ken Zhu and Vaness Wu, but they didn’t count; they only talked to him to make evil jokes about him.
“Thanks!” Barbie answered, while she jumped back. “So, Vic… Have you written your short-story yet?” Barbie asked.
“No, I haven’t… Who would’ve thought that fifth grade would add so much extra homework?” Vic said, with a fake cheerfulness. Even though he was only in fifth grade, he still never really came off happy to people. He didn’t exactly have a happy childhood, and though Barbie was the only person he had told about it, an educated grown up would easily understand it.
“I know, right? I wonder if Jerry Yan wrote it yet; if he did, it’s probably terrible!” Barbie laughed. She then sat down on the grass. “Come on, sit down with me Vic, please?” she said, with a smile on her face. Vic of course, did as she told him to.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s only one smart member of his clique, and I honestly don’t think that Edward would ever do the homework for him… Besides, there’s something weird about that Edward guy; he always just stands quietly and watch, while the rest of the famous clique bullies fellow students” his voice was filled with thick sarcasm when he said the word ‘famous’. Everyone knew that Vic, the quiet, poor kid who didn’t exactly dress probably, and wasn’t as skillful as them to charm everyone around them. Well, of course the clique that Barbie and Vic loved to hate got detentions pretty often, but though many huge chances had been there for the teacher, they hadn’t even gotten a warning about expulsion yet. It was madness, in Vic’s eyes.
“Come on, they’re not that bad… I mean, sure, Jerry, Vaness and Ken are arrogant brats, but they aren’t exactly evil…”
“Barbie, you know that you don’t mean that.”

The two kids had grown a little older, and were now in eighth grade. They were still each other’s best friend, but during seventh grade, Barbie had grown extremely popular. This saddened Vic a bit, as the four people he hated the most, had gotten a new interest in her. Apart from that, he had started seeing new people too.
“Look who we have here… Little whiny Zhou!” Jerry Yan exclaimed, as he found Vic on the school area, reading a book. “What are you reading, you good-for-nothing brat? A book about how to get friends? Don’t waste time with it; it won’t work anyways.” Ken and Vaness both laughed very loudly, while Edward, the quiet guy of the group, maintained calm.
“None of your business…” Vic said, in an almost un-hearable voice, while desperately trying to hide the title of the book with his hands. It indeed was a ‘how to’ book, but it had nothing to do with friends. It had something to do with winning the heart of your most beloved.
“So it’s none of my business, Whiny? Well, I kind of think it is… You see, the girl I currently have my eyes on, seems to be hanging out with you quite a lot. What have you done to her, huh? Have you kidnapped her sister, or something?” Jerry seemed more threatening, while Edward laid a hand on his shoulder. While Vic understood this sign as support, it was really meant to keep Jerry away from Vic.
“Have you tried being nice to her, maybe? And other people? ‘Cause that might be the first step, if you want to befriend Barbie. Of course you won’t ever make her do, whatever… Whatever you want her to, as she’s too good for you, but you can always try.” Vic’s usually very quiet voice had turned loud and proud. By eyeing Barbie, he felt as if Jerry had insulted her, and that he needed to defend her.
“I find it rather funny how you think that Da S is too good for Jerry, when you follow her everywhere like a puppy dog, Whiny… What does she see in you? Why would you guys even be friends? I mean, no offense of course, but even Pimple-Peter is better than you, and you don’t seem to acknowledge it.” Ken had an evil grin on his face. “Soon she will see that you’re a pathetic little punk, Whiny, and guess what she’ll do then? She’ll join Jerry’s official fan club.” By fan club, Ken meant the girls who always followed Jerry everywhere he went, and drooled over him. Vaness and Ken also had girls like that, while Edward took a distance to it; girls like that annoyed him.
“Never; she’s too good for that. Barbie’s too good for that.” Vic was certain about what he was saying; even if he and Barbie did have a fight, she would never ever date Jerry Yan. She just wouldn’t. She was kind, and nice and gentle, while he was irritating, over confident and arrogant as hell.
“We’ll see about that.” Vaness smirked, and the four boys left.

In the end of eighth grade at the fantastic boarding school, something terrible and totally unplanned happened, as Vic and Barbie were doing their homework together on the school’s outside area; they were having a fight.
“How can you hang out with people like Mark Chao and Xiu Jie Kai?! I mean, Vic, they’re pure evil! There’s not one good bone in their bodies, and…” Barbie sighed, and made an annoyed sound, that sounded somewhat like ‘URGHH!’
“Well, then what about Jerry Yan and his crowd? How can you even look them in the eyes? They always walk around and think they own this school.” The hatred Vic felt for Jerry Yan was obvious, and Barbie had reacted to his mentioning of him just as Vic feared she would; she had slightly blushed.
“Well, at least Jerry and his crowd don’t turn to physical violence! Besides, they… They have nothing to do with this…” Barbie’s last sentence was spoken with a softness, which almost made Vic’s stomach turn. He couldn’t help but wonder when it had happened. When had the love of his life started liking the most arrogant guy that he had ever met? When had Barbie Xu, the fair and gentle girl started to like the big bully, Jerry Yan?
“He likes you, Barbie. Jerry Yan likes you, and he’s not just the handsome hero everyone thinks he is. Both of us know that; you’ve seen what he has done to other students too. You’ve seen the disrespectful passes he has made on your girlfriends. You’ve seen me humiliated in front of the whole school because of him, and now you’re defending him?” Vic’s voice was steady and soft, as if he was just speaking about the weather. He couldn’t be angry at Barbie, no matter what. “I… I just though we were friends… Best friends…”
“We are, Vic, but I don’t like you seeing Chao and Xiu. I am very well aware of the fact that Jerry Yan likes me; Ken Zhu was kind enough to remind me just an hour ago, but that doesn’t make it okay for you to hang out with pure evil.”

The last school day of eighth grade had finally ended. They only had to stay at the school for two more days, and then they would get to go home on vacation. That was how all the other students felt, but Vic wanted to stay there, and wished that everyone else would too. I particular, he wished that he and Barbie could stay. Actually, he had planned to tell her how he felt about her that day, so he had a good chance of seeing her during the summer, when she got home from Rome.
“Barbie, I have something to tell you.” Vic nervously admitted, while looking her straight into her dark, warm, slanted eyes.
“About to confess your little crush, huh, Whiny?” he heard someone say behind them. Jerry Yan and his clique. Great.
“It’s none of your business!” he answered, very fiercely. He had grown a temper after hanging out with Mark Chao, and Xiu Jie Kai.
“What, Whiny? Can’t handle a little competition? Already being jealous?” Ken said, and then turned his attention towards Barbie. “I would think twice before going out with that guy; his jealousy will literally kill you!” Ken laughed.
“Everyone!” Vaness yelled, with a mean smirk playing on his mouth. “Everyone, may I have your attention?!” Everyone of course turned their attention to Vaness. “Little Whiny Zhou is about to confess his love Barbie Xu, also known as Da S! Props to Whiny!” if the fact that Vaness called Vic Whiny wasn’t enough, the irony was thick, and very easy to see through in his voice. Of course Vic felt humiliated, and his usually so sallow cheeks turned bright pink.
“Was not…” he said, in a voice so low, that he could barely even hear it himself.
“Let him alone, would you?!” Barbie stood up for her best friend, Vic. Of course she was; she was his best friend, but it still kind of annoyed him.
“Look, little Whiny needs a girl to defend him!” Ken smirked. Everyone who was watching started to laugh, though it wasn’t THAT funny. They just disliked Vic, as he hang out with Mark and Jie Kai.
“I don’t need you to defend me, filthy swot.” It just slipped out of Vic’s mouth. He was humiliated, and he had to act out on someone. Besides, calling her a swot wasn’t that bad. It was just another word for over-achiever. The filthy part wasn’t that bad either, when it was put together with something as cheesy as swot. She should easily forgive him…
“Looks like your boyfriend doesn’t want you anymore, S” Vic found the smile on Jerry’s face as he said those words disgusting. Barbie didn’t look at Jerry, though; she looked at Vic.
“If you don’t need me to defend you, then I guess that I might as well leave.” Vic had never seen such anger on her face, only for him. Nor had he ever heard her speak to him with such coldness in her voice. As she left, he walked the other way, while the crowd still laughed, and cheered for Jerry. He found a quiet place, and allowed the tears to run fiercely down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry!” he said, as he had done five-hundred times already.
“For what?! For humiliating me in front of everyone, for speaking to me as if I was trying to harm you, or for insulting the fact that I’m more clever than you?!” He spotted a wild craziness in his eyes, and he didn’t dare to say anything to her. “I won’t accept your apology, Vic. No one ever understood what I saw in you, but I kept on freaking defending you! This is really how you thank me?!”
“I didn’t mean to insult you, Barbie; you of all people should know that… It’s just that… I was so humiliated already and…”
“Humiliated that the most arrogant clique in school made up a bad joke about you? I mean, please Vic, who would’ve believed them anyways? Do you really think that they were worth ruining our friendship?” her voice didn’t have any of its usual warmth. It was cold. Freezing cold.
“I… You… Do you really think that they were joking?! They were being evil, and bullying me with what they already knew about me, Barbie! They were mocking me with the fact that I, I…” he couldn’t say the last part loudly, so he whispered it instead. “I love you…”
“Get lost.”
“Forgive me, please… Please Barbie, I’m so, so, so, so sorry!” Vic was now down on his knees, praying for her forgiveness.
“Get lost.” She just repeated.

Summer was over, and Vic was back at school. He know only had Mark and Jie Kai to accompany him, and therefore he took part in their evil, and sometimes directly violent activities. Of course he didn’t hit anyone; he was the consideration of a weakling, but he was extraordinarily clever. He just didn’t use his intelligence on school stuff.
“Hey, Whiny!” Ken Zhu one day yelled after ham.
“What is it, arrogant bastard?! Tired of your old clique? Need to serve a new king?!” Vic yelled back at him. As usual, his voice was filled with irony.
“No, not at all Whiny. I just thought that you wanted to know, that Barbie Xu is now in the arms of Jerry. You lost, Whiny, don’t you get it? She doesn’t love you. She never has, and she obviously never will. You lost this game, Whiny, and you know it already.” On Ken’s mouth, his usual evil smirk was to be seen, for everyone who cared, but Vic didn’t.
“You’ve just overlooked one minor detail, pig; Jerry didn’t win, ’cause it was never a game to me. Besides, I’m no longer old little Whiny Zhou, as you killed him, just as you killed my friendship with Barbie.” Vic got on his feet, and walked away. Bad decision; he ran into Jerry and Barbie only five minutes later. They were kissing in the place he usually was when he wanted to be alone.
“I’m sorry to disturb you.” He coldly said, before leaving.

And now, seventeen years later, his heart was still filled with love for this woman. It was unbelievable. Even worse was the fact that the newspaper said, that Barbie was pregnant with her and Jerry’s second child. Of course he already knew their first child; he was in fact teaching him, at the same boarding school he had gone to himself. Vic hadn’t even dated a girl since all those events.
“Mr. Zhou? I’m sorry that I walked into your office without your approval, but you didn’t answer when I knocked, and you told me to be here at five PM sharp for the punishment, for cheating on a test…” the scared third grader looked up at Vic with obvious fright in his eyes.
“Oh, of course, Mr. Yan. You may take place in that chair” – Vic pointed at the chair on the other side of his desk – “and sort these essays. I expect them to be in alphabetical order by the last name of the writer in two hours. You may start now.” Vic looked at the little boy with unhidden hatred in his eyes. Even if he could forgive him for who his father was, he would never be able to forgive him for who his father wasn’t.

***
Heey guys (:
Okay, first of all; I SO sorry for not updating Black Coffee in such a long time, but all my inspiration was not usable for it…
Second of all: Yay; this is my second one-shot, and honestly, I think I made it a bit better than the first one xD
At least I’m much more proud of it! xD
Please share your thoughts and comment (:
It would mean the world to me (:

Xoxo
Gril4Life