"He's a girl?!" Chun said to himself.

He kept staring at the girl in front of him. For a few seconds he just stares at her s. Her chest keeps going up and down because of her heavy breathing. Suddenly he slaps himself. Literally slaps himself. Without saying anything more, he quickly pulled down her T-shirt and put her Taekwondo uniform back on. After that, he quickly grabbed her hand and laid it on his shoulder and carried her to the infirmary.

Jiro was lucky enough to be able to catch the school doctor moments before he left the school. When he took the doctor to the infirmary, Chun was already there, sitting beside Ella, who is lying on the bed, and still unconscious. She still breathes heavily. Chun just stares at her. If others saw him like this, they might think that he was actually worried for her. But the fact is he was just confused. A lot of question is on his mind right now.

'He is a girl? She is a girl!! Why is she here? How did a girl able to enter the school? Should I tell Jiro about this? What to do?' all these question were mind-bottling.

"So what happened here?" the doctor asked as he moved closer to Ella. Chun mentally slapped himself and then moved away to give the doctor some space.

"I... I accidentally knocked him unconscious. Will he be alright? I'm willing to carry all the responsibilities if anything happens to him." Jiro said. He was worried and still panicking.

The doctor examined Ella for a moment. "You don't have to worry; he's just fainted; that’s all. He should be waking up soon."

Sure enough, not long after, Ella slowly opened her eyes and saw Jiro's face in front of her.

"E! Are you alright? I'm very sorry. Very very truly sorry." Jiro said.

Ella did not say anything and still confused of what was going on. So she just stared at him. She looked around the room and she saw Chun, standing next to Jiro.

'Chun? Why is he here?' she thought.

Then she looked the other way and saw a familiar face. In an instant, her eyes went wide. She saw the doctor beside her bed. He was still young, still in his thirties. She was shocked to see him, but she was still very confused that she had nothing to say.

"Doc, why isn't he speaking? Is he alright?" Jiro asked.

"He's fine. He's just confused probably or suffocated. It's best if you let him rest for a while." the doctor answered.

"But-" Chun quickly cut off what Jiro was going to say. "Okay doctor, we'll be going now. Come Jiro, you already knocked him unconscious; at least you can let him get some rest." Chun said while grabbing his friends’ shirt and dragged him away.

It was not that Chun was being cold and unsympathetic towards his roommate; it is just that he needs some space to think. His new discovery and all the questions that followed are just suffocating him and very confusing at the same time.

After Chun and Jiro left, Ella quickly sits on her bed, still staring at the doctor.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked.

"Okay. I guess." Ella answered.

The doctor then turned around and walked to his desk. He then took a sip on his coffee that was on his desk and then turned back around to face her.

"Teacher Mei, what are you doing here?" Ella asked. She was surprised and shocked to see her old school teacher here. Everything starts to come back to her, all of her old school memories, her friends, her school, and mostly the bet.

[FLASHBACK]

It was the end of the week and the teacher had just finished with his lesson.

"Okay guys. I see that you have been very good with your assignment. And since it is already the end of the week that means that your assignment is finally over." the teacher said.

Every student in the class stood up and then bowed their heads. While their doing that they all said "And scene." After that they sat back on their sits.

"I must say you guys really impressed me. I thought that most of you are going to crack on the first day, but you guys manage to stay in character for a whole week." the teacher added, and then he gave all the students a big applause, which was followed by all the students themselves.

Ella was among those students. She was happy that the assignment was finally over and that her teacher was pleased with all of their hard work, not just with hers, but also with all of her friends' work.

The week for the assignment is 'Method Acting'. They all have to dress up and stay in whatever character they all have been assign to for a whole week. Not just in class. That includes in their dorm room and in the other classes. It was hard, especially the teacher, Teacher Tang, gave all of them such weird character to work with.

Ella for example, she has to be a guy for a whole week. And that includes using the boys' bathroom. Although it was tough, but she managed to pull it off.

It maybe sounded weird for a school assignment to be like that, but not in this school. Ella was actually studying in Shanghai School of Performing Arts, along with her two best friends Hebe and Selina.

Studying in a performing arts school might make people think that she is desperate to be an actress, but she cannot help it. She just loves performing. She loves how she is able to express herself on stage or behind the camera. It is in her blood, since her mom was also an actress before she got married to her dad. Unfortunately, she had a short life because she died in a car accident when she was thirteen. Ella felt that being an actress is a way of being closer to her mother and knowing her better.

Ella relieved a big sigh and looked around the classroom. Everyone is very glad that they are able to be themselves after a long week of being somebody else. Ella was happy too, it is just that her two best friends were not beside her when she was enjoying her 'freedom'.

Although they are in the same school, they do not attend the same classes like what other best friends do with each other. They all have different interest and respect each other’s decisions.

Ella decided that she would like to focus on acting so that she could be an actress like her mother and she also took music as her minor subject because she realized that there will be times where she wants to act in a musical and if she cannot sing then everything would be ruined.

Hebe on the other hand, took music as her major. Focusing in composition and singing. She was going to only focus on music but then her teacher advised her to take drama as her minor subject. Hebe was reluctant at first but then her teacher explained that by studying drama, she would be able to fully show her facial expression every time she performs a song and that would give her song more depth because that way her audience would be able to see the sadness or happiness she was trying to show them. "It is a way to connect to the audience", her teacher said. But because drama was only Hebe's minor subject, she did not get the same class as Ella.

Selina has a different story. She took dance as her major subject and music as her minor subject from the very beginning. She really loves dancing. In fact, she was crown as the best dancer of the whole school and that is a big tittle especially with all the amazing dancers in the school. As for music, Selina actually took music as her minor subject so that she can understand the beat and the genre of the music more so that it could help her in arranging her choreography.

The truth was, the three of them were very good at what they were doing. Ella has been the school drama queen for almost a year, being the lead actress in most of the school productions. Hebe also did great in the music department, composing many songs for some of the school productions and also writing her own songs. And Selina, just like what was written above, she was crowned the best dancer; not only that, she also helped choreograph some of the dances in the musical productions.

The three of them are amazing in their own way and their close friendship with each other made everyone in school called them 'The Dynamic Three' whenever they were spotted together. The other students initially called them 'The Dynamic Trio of Dorm Three', but because it was a mouthful they changed it. Selina, Hebe, and Ella never knew when or who started with the nickname, but they could not careless. They were just happy that everyone acknowledged their hard works.

Although, it seemed fun from the outside, it was not always fun and games. Well, not for Ella at least. It was all because of her archenemy, Angela Zhang. Ella knew that if she really wanted to be successful in this business, she would come cross a rival or two but she has not even started yet and she had already gotten herself an enemy. It was just too much but Ella just bared all the pain. She did not want to give up that easily. It was okay if she is the one who started the rivalry, but it was not. Angela was the one who started it and it was not a rivalry from the start, it was WAR!

Ella quickly snapped herself when she saw her teacher walking towards her direction.

"You did great Ella! I can't believe you managed to pull of being a guy. I even heard that Selina and Hebe even started to feel uncomfortable living with you." the teacher complimented her. He leaned closer to her and whisper to her ear "I even heard that some girls from the other schools want to confess their love to you."

Ella immediately choked upon hearing this. Yes, Selina and Hebe were starting to feel uncomfortable because she had to act like a guy, which mainly is being disgusting. But she never knew that other girls would believe her act so much that they are willing to confess their love to her.

"Teacher, you are joking la!" Ella said. The teacher retreated back and smiled to her. Then he walked to greet the other students.

Ella did not have to see it, but she knew that Angela, who was sitting as far away from her, was looking at her with fiery eyes. Angela hates the fact that Ella gets more compliments than she ever does, especially from Teacher Tang because he rarely gives compliments, to anyone.

Ella did not bother to look at her, even though she started to have goose bumps because Angela's stare was starting to get scary. Because if she did look back to her, their eyes would meet and the whole classroom could end up as a battle field.

Just as the teacher finished chatting with the other students; the bell rings. So Teacher Tang dismissed them. Ella, along with the other students quickly left the classroom.

Ella was just walking in the hallway to her dorm when Angela suddenly stood in her way. Her legs apart, arms folded across her chest, head held high. She was confident. Over confident if Ella must say.

"What do you want?" Ella said looking sharply at her with her dark eyes.

Angela smiled at her. It was not an innocent smile or a friendly smile. It was an evil smile and Ella was familiar with it. Every time Angela would come up with something to make her life miserable, she would always have that smile.

Ella never really knew when did their rivalry started but rumor says it started right after Ella got the lead part in one of the school production, which some people said was supposed to be Angela's part. Ella denied this rumor all the way of course. It is true that at the time Angela was also auditioning for the same part in the drama but she won it fair and square. Even if that was the reason, then Angela should just accept the fact that she lost and moved on.

Ella could say this because she also lost her part in a play to one of her junior once. That time, GuiGui auditioned for the same role as she did. Everyone thought that Ella will get the part, but the teacher chose GuiGui instead. But Ella did not hate her because of this, she supported her and they even became close. She even gave her tips so that she could give a wonderful performance, in which she did. Why can't Angela be like her? She should just concentrate on fighting with her in fair game, not using evil tricks.

It maybe sounded silly, using evil tricks, but it is true. And this is not a rumor because Ella experienced this first hand. She would somehow ruin her script or her dress for the play. So that everyone would blame her and cut her off from the show. Luckily, everyone knew that Ella would never do anything to ruin a play so they did not believe it when Angela told them that Ella was destroying the clothes or ruining the script.

Besides those childish games, there is one trick in particular that made Ella suffered the most.

[FLASHBACK IN A FLASHBACK]

It was the biggest school production of the year and Ella, along with the other students and school faculties, had been preparing for months. Everything was going great and Ella thought that it will be, until something happened.

She was preparing herself in the dressing room when Angela came knocking. She offered her a cake as a peace offering for her. She apologized because of how she has been behaving towards her. Being the warm and forgiving person that she is, Ella immediately accepted the cake and forgave her. Angela told her to eat the cake to fill her empty stomach so that she would have enough energy to perform throughout the night. Ella actually reluctant at first, afraid that she might ruined her make up, but Angela begged her and she gave in.

Not long after she finished eating the cake, the musical is about to start. Suddenly, Ella could feel her stomach growling. Moments later, Ella reached for the trash can in the room and threw up. She looked at Angela who was still standing beside her. She did not show any sign of sympathy towards her. Instead, she just stands there and smiles.

"I guess I'll be the main lead, since you're unable to perform Ella. I'm your understudy, remember?" Angela said. After she said that she quickly left the room, leaving Ella who was still vomiting.

'Dammit! How can I be so stupid?' Ella said to herself. 'I can't just stay here. I must perform. The show must go on!' she added.

She quickly got up and left the dressing room. Even though her vision was unclear, her face was pale, and her stomach was still growling, ordering her to throw up, she did not care. She could not just let Angela took over the part she had been rehearsing for so hard for the past months. She just simply could not.

As she walked towards to the entrance of the stage, she saw Angela talking to the production crew. She figured that Angela was trying to convince the production crews into letting her take the part, since she was in no good condition to perform.

Ella did not want to let go of this role. So she gathered all her strength and put her biggest smile.

"I'm ready!" she shouted.

Everyone, including the production crew and Angela, looked at her. Ella could see the confusion in Angela's eyes.

"Ella, Angela said you were sick. Are you sure that you were able to perform?" asked the director.

"Ella, you look so pale. Are you really alright?" asked one of the crew.

They were worried, Ella could tell. But she could not let everyone down and furthermore, let herself down.

"I'm fine, really. I just need put a bit more make-up and I would be fine. I'm not going to pass the opportunity of performing in the biggest school production of the year, especially since I had already rehearse my off for the last few months." Ella tried to convince them.

"Are you sure?" asked one of the crew.

"Yeah Ella, are you sure? You know that I can just fill in for you. I am your understudy you know." said Angela. She was acting worried in front of the others, but Ella did not believe it one bit.

"I'm fine. Now, let’s get going. The show is about to start." Ella said.

Everyone nodded. They all quickly went to their positions. Some of the make-up crew ran to Ella's side to give her a final touch up so that she did not look pale.

"Places, everybody! We start in one minute!" one of the crew said.

The backstage was hectic. Everybody was running around to their places. Some still reading the script, some were putting the finishing touches on their clothes, and some were just panicking for no reason.

After everything ready, the curtain goes up and Ella was ready to act. All she can see was the bright light and the sea of people, watching her. She did not even feel her stomach aching or her desire to vomit. When she was on stage, all she could think of was giving a wonderful performance for the audience to enjoy.

Sure enough, all of her efforts were not wasted. The play was a success and the audience even gave all the cast and crew standing ovation when they gave their final bows. Ella could not be happier. All she wanted to do now is to go to the after party and have fun with all the cast and crew.

But her body thought otherwise. After the curtain completely covered the stage, Ella collapsed to everyone's surprise. When she woke up she was already at the hospital with Selina and Hebe by her side. She did not tell them her suspicion about Angela poisoning her because she did not want to make the matter even more complicated. However, the two found out anyway because Ariel Lin, Angela's roommate and Selina's cousin, told them the whole truth when she visited her. She was very sorry to see Ella's condition and somehow felt responsible for everything that had happened because she was unable to stop Angela. She even apologized on Angela's behalf.

Ella quickly accepted the apology and said that she had already forgotten about it. Selina and Hebe on the other hand, were furious. Not at Ariel of course, but at Angela. They knew that she was Ella's rival and willing to do anything to be on top of Ella, but they never imagined her doing that kind of thing to Ella. That was low, even for her.

Ella was hospitalized for a week after that incident and never once did Angela came visit her or even apologized to her. After she was able to get back to school, Angela did not say anything to her. Instead she acted as if nothing had ever happened! What kind of person does that?!

[END OF FLASHBACK IN A FLASHBACK]

Angela walked slowly towards Ella. She is confident, Ella can tell. In her mind, Ella kept thinking of what Angela are going to do with her. But there are so many possibilities that her head beginning to get hurt.

"You know, method acting for a week is an easy task, but how about a year? I'm sure that one of The Dynamic Three of Shanghai School of Performing Arts will be able to do it, won't she?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Ella asked. She was confused.

Angela stopped walking. They are now face to face, fire in both their eyes. She leaned closer to her so that only she could hear what she was going to say to her.

"I got some prepositions for you. Meet me at the auditorium after lunch, if you dare." she whispered. After she said that she smiled to her, flipped her hair, and left Ella frozen in her spot.

After school Ella went to the auditorium just like what Angela told her too. When she opened the door, she saw Angela had already been waiting for her. She leaned her back to the stage as she watched Ella walked in to the dark room.

The stage lights were on so Ella knew where she was going. She could see Angela's face under that light. Her eyes were full with ambition. Somehow Ella felt that Angela was going to do something bad to her, and that something was going to satisfied her for a long time.

"You finally came. For a second there I thought that you were going to back out." Angela said to her after she came face to face with her.

"I never back away from a challenge." Ella said.

"Good." Angela said back.

"What do you want? Just quickly say it so we can get it done now." Ella said. She was running out of patience.

"Okay then. I just spit it out for you. I want to challenge you. If I win, then you have to leave Shanghai School of Performing Arts and in the future, I don't want to see you becoming my rival. So, you have to quit acting." Angela said.

The last sentence that she said shocked Ella. 'Quit acting? Is that even possible?' Ella asked herself. But she managed to pull herself together and act tough in front of her.

"And if I win?" Ella asked.

"If you win, I'll leave Shanghai School of Performing Arts and I will never bother you again, forever." Angela answered.

What Angela just said actually caught her interest. She could imagine it, her peaceful life without Angela. How beautiful would that be, but then again, if she loses she has to quit acting. It was too risky for her but it's worth the chance.

"So? What's your call?" Angela asked again after seeing hesitation in Ella's eyes.

"What's the challenge about?" Ella asked.

"I already said it before that method acting for a week is an easy task, but will you manage to do it for a year?" Angela answered. There were a few seconds of awkward silence. "I challenge you to be a guy for a whole year. You have to go to a boys' school, study there, and live in the dormitory. It's up to you where it is, here in Shanghai or anywhere in the country, or even out of the country would be fine. But you have to stay there and be a guy. And if in that one year you are able to get away with it, you win."

Ella stayed still. The challenge was weird but not impossible, though it was hard. Being a guy for a whole week was tough enough for her, let alone a year. But her offer was just too tempting; a life without Angela Zhang always threatening her every move.

"So are you backing away from this challenge? I knew it. I already bet with Ariel that you will not accept this challenge and even if you accept, I bet you will lose immediately." Angela is pushing all of her buttons to the limit now.

"I never back away from a challenge." Ella said. Her tone was flat.

"So? Do we have a deal?" asked Angela with a smirk on her face.

Ella can never stand that face of hers, especially with that smirk. All she wants now is to rip off that face with every last bit of her finger nails.

"Okay. I take that bet, but you must remember our terms and conditions." Ella replied, trying to hold her poise.

"Oh, sure. I'll give you my contract tomorrow. You should prepare yours if you don't believe my contract. But until we sign our contract, at least we should shake on it." said Angela.

Ella took her hand and shook it. It was a quick hand shake but somehow the two of them felt like it was taking forever. Their grips over each other’s hands were strong. Strong enough to make them able to hear their knuckles started to crack. They quickly released their hands from each other and stare at the other. Each passing seconds made the room colder and colder.

"We have a deal then." Angela said, trying to break the silence. Again she flaunts her sassy smile at her and flips her curly long dark brown hair.

Seeing that all her plan was working perfectly, Angela quickly left Ella alone in the dark auditorium. Ella just stands there like a statue. She keeps mumbling to herself. When she has enough and cannot keep the anger within her, she kneels to the ground and launches her right fist to the ground. She was lucky that the floor was carpeted, if not she would need to go to the infirmary to treat her hand.

Ella was so caught up with her anger that she did not realize that someone was watching everything from the very beginning from behind the door.

The next day, Ella and Angela met again the auditorium with their contracts in hand. It maybe weird to held a meeting in an auditorium but to them and everyone else who loves performing, the auditorium is a sacred place. For Ella in particular, this is the one place she can express herself. As some people might say it, this is where she belongs.

It maybe sounded ridiculous, having a simple bet with contracts involved, but it was not to them. Being the soon to be performers and actresses as they are, they realized from the very beginning that contracts are very important in their career. Even though, this contract that they have now is not legal because it was not made by any legal attorney, they still need to have it. As a simple prove, that the bet and everything that is going to happen, happened because of the mutual understanding between them.

It is a basic contract actually, explaining what the bet is about and also their terms and conditions. It was mentioned in Angela's contract that, in that period of time Ella can still contact all of her friends in the Shanghai School of Performing Arts, but she cannot step inside of it. While in Ella's contract, she added that Angela cannot visit her, contact her, or bother her in any kind of way during that period of time. Even though, this bet is huge and hard, but she will be able to get Angela out of her life, for a year at least.

After reading both contracts carefully, they signed it and shook their hands for the closing the bet. After they finished, Angela quickly took her contract and left the auditorium. But Ella held her back.

"Wait." Ella said.

"What?" Angela asked. Angela has no interest in her now that all of her plans are working perfectly.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Ella asked her. She cannot help wondering, what the thing she did that made Angela hate her this much.

Angela walked closer to her and then leaned her head beside Ella's face. She then whispered to her "Because you stole my spotlight."

After she said it she quickly left, with the contract in her right hand and her purse in the left.

After Angela left, Ella did not move a bit. She still stood there, inside the dark auditorium, staring at the contract in her hand. She cannot believe what she just did. There was no turning back from that point on.

She did not know what to do. All of her emotions were coming at her all at once and she could not take it. Feeling suffocated, she just walked up to the stage and then laid herself there, right in the center stage. She was lost.

After a couple of minutes just lying on the stage, she heard noises coming from the auditorium hall. Then she heard footsteps coming to her way. She was all too tired to even open her eyes and looked at the person who disturbed her. Not long after, the footsteps stopped. Ella realized that by now the person who was coming towards her was now standing beside the stage.

"I have some preposition that I want to talk to you about. And I think you will be very happy to hear it." said that person. It was a man, Ella could tell from his deep voice.

Ella slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. She was surprised to see who that person was and quickly sat and fixed herself.

"Teacher Mei? What are you doing here?" Ella asked.

"I told you, I have some preposition that I want to talk to you about." he said. Ella did not respond; she was still confused.

"I heard about your bet with Miss Zhang yesterday and it got me thinking. What do you say if I offer you the same challenge?" he continued.

"What? What do you mean?" Ella asked again, still confused.

"I challenge you to be a guy, go to a boys' school, and live in the dormitory with all the guys there. But instead of doing it for two years, you will be doing it for two years. So, are you interested?" he explained again.

"What's my prize?" Ella asked him.

"If you able to complete this challenge, I will pay for all of your school tuition fees for the rest of the school year and pay all of your expenses until your debut. I'll get you an agent, a contract deal; everything and I can guarantee that you will be successful in this business. But after you're successful you have to promise that in the future, if I ask you to star in one of my production, then you cannot say no."

Ella was tempted by the offer. But the time limit was just to absurd. She did not even think that she could manage being a guy for a year, let alone for two years. But as tempted she was with this new challenge, she kept wondering why Teacher Mei offered her this challenge.

"Why are you doing this Teacher Mei? What's the catch?" she asked him.

"I know you're a very talented actress Ella Chen and I think that it will be such a waste if you had to leave acting behind just because of some stupid bet." he answered.

"I'm not buying it." she answered back to him. Her tone was flat.

"Fine. I'll tell you the truth. I'm starting to develop my own production company and if you able to pull off being a guy then I know that you were in fact a very talented actress. What I want is that when you're famous, you'll always come back to me to be my star, to help me expand my production company."

Ella was still staring at him. Still not believing what he just said.

"Fine. It's completely up to you whether you want to believe me or not. But just to make you understand, do you know a production company called 'Tian Xin'?"

"Of course I know it! It's only the biggest production company in the country. Not only has that it also has an agent company." Ella answered.

"It was my mother's."

Ella's jaw just dropped. She could not believe what her teacher just said to her. "Really? No way. Teacher Mei, you're joking with me."

"It was my mother's, but after she became ill, I took over her position. It is big and successful but it was my mother's and I think that it is still hers. I'm now developing my own company. Something with my own name attach to it and without any of my parents' influence around it. You can say that it is a way for me to live out of their shadows. I'm starting from the bottom and I need every help I could get. And I think that you will be able to help me."

Ella was still in silence. She did not know how to respond.

"Look. I don't expect you to believe me but I just said is the truth." he said. "Here's the contract for this challenge. Read it as long as you like. You don't have to agree with it, but return this tomorrow morning. Okay? Signed or unsigned, it is all your decision." he continued while handing over a folder that contains the contract to her.

After Ella took the contract from his hand, Teacher Mei smiled at her and then left her alone in the dark auditorium.

After Teacher Mei left, Ella examined the contract carefully. The contract was very well written and it was not just a prove that the challenge was real but it was also a legal document. Ella realized how serious Teacher Mei had been the whole time.

Ella read the contract word by word. As tempted she was with the price, she kept thinking of the time limit Teacher Mei had given to her. Two years was just to long for her. Although, it was mentioned in the contract that if she was not able to complete the challenge, Teacher Mei would not do anything to her. That means she got nothing to lose.

Ella began to read the other parts of the contract, which was basically explaining the terms and conditions about the challenge. The things that she can and cannot do during the two years period of time.

There was one term that caught her attention. It was said there that Ella could not say anything about this challenge to anyone until she agrees with the contract and she will only be able to tell the people that already been approved by Teacher Mei. That means she has to make this decision herself without Selina and Hebe's input.

This was driving her crazy! She was confused. She had nobody to guide her. She was lost.

The next morning, Ella came to Teacher Mei's office to give him the contract back. She did not say a word to him and quickly left. Teacher Mei did not expect her to agree with him with the challenge and thought that she would never ever in a million years agree. So he was caught by surprise when he saw Ella's signature in the bottom of the contract.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

Now that she thinks about it, the bet, the challenge, the entire contract, the things she can really remember the most are her two best friends. She was very thankful that GOD had sent them to be by her side and being her best friend.

When she told Selina and Hebe about the challenge that Teacher Mei gave her, they were not furious like she thought they would be. Instead they just smiled at her and support her all the way.

Ella suddenly snapped herself from her day dreaming. She keeps staring at Teacher Mei who is still comfortably sipping his coffee and looking at her. She realized that he has not answered her question yet.

"Teacher Mei, I ask you again. What are you doing here?" she asked again to make sure he hears her and answered her this time.

But Teacher Mei does not move from his position or even answer her question. Instead, he just smiled at her.