After band practice, Niu Nai and her friends usually went out for a bite to eat. Qiu Qiu and Zi Lun often talked about girls. Cracking loud jokes or describing some new cute pop star one of them had discovered. Though Zhe Qiao was a bit more discreet, she would almost without fail, join in, loudly lending her own two cents.

Being in a girl-group, the topic of conversation ironically (or not) often swayed towards...girls.

Unfortunately, Niu Nai had become bored by the type of girls her peers liked. All made up, with their high heels and their glittery hair clips. Their taste was so one-dimensional. Though everyone in the band was currently single, there'd been times where two or three of them had been dating girls that all looked so similar, they could have passed as sisters.

Boring.

And eww, their high-pitched, whiny voices! They sounded like they were nagging even when they weren't! In general, these girly-girls lacked personality. Niu Nai was attracted to a girl with a bit more of an edge; something dark, or mysterious. A good conversationalist was always better than a girl who laughs at your jokes even when she doesn't get them.

Though Niu Nai had dated girly-girls, she'd now had her fill. Her last girlfriend - though feminine - had been into vampires and horror movies rather than shopping and Hello Kitty. She had been an improvement, but ultimately, still boring.

When her friends got into their girl-talk, Niu Nai's mind tended to wander. She would watch their mouths moving but hear mostly a dull hum. This created the perfect backdrop to Niu Nai's romanticizing. As her eyes passed from one set of lips to another, she would fall into the trap of imagining what other things these mouths could do. Every time one of the girls would use their hands to give gestural meaning to their words, she would again, find herself wondering what else those hands might be capable of.

The mini fantasies were usually halted when someone noticed Niu Nai's default zone-out face. She found it a bit difficult to un-furrow her eyebrows or to unlock her jaw, once she was in this state.

Qiao was tempting her, making her forget to eat her meal. With chopsticks poised at her fingertips, Niu Nai's eyes were fixed not on food but rather a feast. Qiao's tongue kept moistening her lips as she rambled. Her lips seemed to form the same shape over and over again as she spoke,

"Niu Nai...Niu Nai?...NIU NAI!"

Niu Nai jumped, sending her flimsily held utensils to the floor.

An Na sighed and shot the space cadet a look.

Zhe Qiao simply lifted her shoulders and bent her head into them. Leaning into the semi-shrug, she raised an eyebrow and gestured with her hand, "Uh, hello?"

Niu Nai looked down and muttered, "Sorry!" but she wasn't really sure what Qiao thought her apology was for. She appeared to only think Niu Nai's mind had wandered without noticing her glossed-over eyes. Would she shrug off Niu Nai's lack of attention if she knew she'd been appraising Qiao's tongue and lips?

Zi Lun playfully slapped Niu Nai in the shoulder and prompted, "Hello...? Jolin Tsai or Rainie Yang?"

Niu Nai was quick on her feet and replied, "Duh - Rainie Yang! Jolin is so old, come on!"

Qiu Qiu immediately came to the defense of one of her top idols. "Take that back! She's still cute, what are you saying?!"

Niu Nai huffed, "Okay, then Jolin Tsai!"

The girls laughed at Niu Nai's inability to stand up to peer pressure. Actually she didn't care one way or the other who would win in a duel of cuteness. Rainie, Jolin, whatever.

Boring!

Qiao on the other hand, with her exotic eyes and cute smile, hmm...

She bleached her hair until completely white, though lately it was a much darker blond. She had an asymmetric beauty mark on the side of her jaw where her cheek met her chin. This was usually covered by stage makeup when the girls did any public appearances. It was a shame, since the cosmetics neutralized a physical trait that gave her character! Happily, there was plenty of time to observe Qiao with no makeup at all.

Even as she enumerated all of Qiao's physical qualities, she couldn't focus long enough to keep Zi Lun's boyish charm out of her mind's eye. Such rugged features set off by feminine subtleties. Her mannerisms were masculine, but every now and then, she'd stand like such a girl. Or if she was caught off guard, she'd laugh so heartily, her inner girlishness couldn't help but seep out. When she smiled from the heart, her cheeks dimpled and laugh lines appeared. Her eyes were very intense but also full of laughter. With a romantic side just like Niu Nai, she loved to serenade innocent bystanders, either on her saxophone or with her sensuous low-tone voice. Some of the band's songs required Niu Nai and Zi Lun to duet. She loved how harmonious their voices were together. Keeping her default face was essential at these moments to avoid missing vocal cues. If she didn't use her mask, she wouldn't only mess up the song, but people would also totally catch on that she was swooning instead of singing.

But she had no audience watching her now. She was free to swoon. She pictured tiny Zi Lun absurdly plucking her up in her arms even though Niu Nai hulked her by about 20 pounds and half a foot. She imagined Zi Lun touching her shoulder and...

"Niu Nai!" Zi Lun laughed loudly. She really was touching Niu Nai's shoulder. But why the laughter?

Niu Nai came back to reality and realized Zi Lun had been trying to snap her out of her daydream. Her friends were all smirking or laughing. She wanted to hide under the table. Could they read her thoughts or were they only laughing because she was out to lunch yet again?

An Na said, "It's been a long day of practice - maybe it's time to head home. I think our baby's in serious need of naptime."

"Hey! I'm not a baby," Niu Nai protested. The pout on her face did nothing to help her case. The expression brought out the baby-fat in her cheeks and made her seem younger than she actually was. Accusatorially, she shot forth, "Zhe Qiao's the baby!"

Qiao was playful and didn't deny Niu Nai's words. She accepted that she was of course, the youngest.  However, she stuck her tongue out at Niu Nai just to tease.

"Okay babies - no fighting. Let's all go home and get some rest or some of us will be cranky tomorrow!" An Na chuckled.

"This baby," Qiu Qiu pointed to herself, "needs to have some sweeeeet dreams about lovely Jolin tonight!"

The girls snickered at their silly dance trainer and slowly made their way to the door, after paying the bills for their meal.