To String Together ( Huaze Lei )

History

Faye Calinao

"This... is something we should talk about," Lei spoke softly after coming to the current room I slept in. Once arriving in Paris, Lei made sure to call a taxi to bring us to our rented apartment for the week. Lei allowed me to settle in first. I sat on the bed looking over my music piece waiting for when Lei and I would meet Jing for dinner.

Before boarding our flight, I received a call from Daoming Si from Ximen's phone. Thinking it was my best friend, I did not hesitate to answer. I shook my head slightly thinking back to what he said. I let out a shaky sigh and Lei took a seat beside me showing concern.

"Faye..."

"What if Ximen chooses Doaming Si over me?" I spoke lightly. The heartache thought of Daoming Si turning him against me has always been something I've feared the most. My self conscious was beginning to nag at the back of my mind of what was starting to happen towards the middle of our freshman year.

Wiping my tears away, I shakily reached for the knob towards the outside where I knew Ximen would be waiting for me. I hurriedly tried to make my way over to where Ximen, who usually lean against the wall by the gates. It was quite a distance away and I was on the other side of the school. It was our usual spot to meet when we were heading home together.

A hand grasped my wrist and pulled me back. I'm spun around to face an angry Doaming Si. I bit the side of my lip nervously, because I knew what this talk would be about. I noticed his other hand was balled into a fist as he heavily huffed out of breath since he was hunting me down after what I had done.

"You're always up to no good!" He shouted at me and I flinched backing against the wall of the building. We were in a part of the school where most of the students did not exit. It wasn't a main entrance. "You think you're brave telling Mei the type of person I am? You think I'm going to let you off the hook for this?"

"I-I had t-to b-be honest with her," I spoke quietly. I felt intimidated and small. I always felt this way around him. I couldn't keep quiet to Mei, because I couldn't lie to her. Mei, was a girl who was in the same class as Doaming Si. He has a crush on her and I couldn't stand the thought of anyone else getting hurt by Doaming Si.

"I barely tolerate you for Ximen's sake," he snapped at me. "You ruined my chances with Mei, because you couldn't keep your mouth shut!" I don't regret it, but that did not mean I feared for what was to come. "I can easily turn Ximen against you."

"Pl-please d-don't," my eyes watered once more from my tiredness of living in fear like this. I've had a difficult day like most days since we've entered senior high school. "Y-you s-see Ximen more th-than I do these days." Over the summer when Ximen came back with Doaming Si and his friends from a vacation trip, he seemed almost like a different person.

Ximen seemed like the person I knew, but at the same time he seemed... different. I noticed immediately and especially since summer break ended Ximen wasn't interested in doing our usual sleepovers or would frequently instead go to Daoming Si house to study there where I would never go. Ximen seemed more interested in hanging around Daoming Si more when he knew I wasn't comfortable around him.

When I did have the chance to be with just Ximen, I cherished those moments. Ximen would always ask about school or if anything new has happened since he last saw me. I never asked him why he decided to be around me less frequently, because I did not want to seem selfish in his eyes or cause a sour mood with the small time we had together. I always wanted to avoid bringing up problems.

"At least I did not tell him to forget about you. You're such an ungrateful girl. What would he think if I told him the lies you tell girls about me?"