Breaking Down the Wall

Holding On

Yo's POV

Ming and I were having lunch, and I told him all about my night. It was like a nightmare, starting with Pha seeing me in my face mask to P'Joss screaming at Pha over the phone and Pha's hateful behavior. I had cried like a baby at the end, and I still felt like an idiot.

I was up so late last night that my eyes were starting to hurt, not to mention that I'd spent an hour after Pha left crying. If I didn't start getting more sleep, I'd definitely have to wear glasses for a day to give my eyes a rest.

"Do you think P'Pha's single?" I asked, remembering the way Joss had yelled at Pha for making me wait for his girlfriend.

"I've heard a lot of things about P'Pha," Ming said. "He's probably had hundreds of girls. The thing I have heard the most from the Stars' gossiping is that P'Pha is dating a girl from his faculty."

Pring. I knew it, he always spoke to her in a kind, soft voice. He was giving her study notes and coming to her dorm at all hours. Of course she was his girlfriend. He said it himself. He liked girls. Guys like me gave him the creeps.

"I'm not going to practice today," I said, walking away. I needed some time to get my thoughts together.

"Where are you going?" Ming yelled after me, "Are you sick?"

"Don't worry," I yelled back, "I'll see you later."

Forth's POV

N'Yo was sitting in my quiet spot, throwing rocks into the water. He looked upset again. I had only talked to him once, but I already hated seeing his face like that. His big, brown eyes were turned down, almost like his eyes could frown. The frown continued all the way down to his beautiful mouth. His face was so expressive, I felt sad just seeing him like that.

"You shouldn't throw rocks in the water," I said, sitting down next to him on the grass. "It scares the fish."

"Oh, P'Forth!" Yo said, putting his hand on his heart. I guess I scared him. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sad?" I asked, hoping there was something I could do to make him feel better.

"How can you tell I'm sad?"

"I've been watching you sitting here for awhile," I admitted. "And your face is kind of like an open book."

"I hope that isn't true," he said, smiling a little. "Everybody needs to have some secrets."

"So are you going to tell me?" I asked. "Why you're sad?"

"There's just a lot on my mind right now," he said, keeping his eyes on the ground.

I took a piece of candy and offered it to him.

"I don't smoke," he said, without looking up.

"It's chocolate," I replied, so he took the offered candy. "I'm trying to stop smoking."

"Why?" he asked.

"Actually, I've wanted to quit for a long time," I said. "I just never had a reason before."

"You've found a reason to quit then?"

"I might have," I said, looking over at Yo. It's a good thing I'm not prone to blushing or I would probably be bright red. I'd decided to quit after this cute nong had coughed while smelling my cigarettes on the rooftop.

"Yum," Yo said, licking the chocolate. "If you're going to quit, I'm happy for you. Smoking can ruin your health. Besides, kissing someone who smokes might be like licking an ashtray. So you'll taste better for sure."

"I've never thought of that before," I said. "Does that mean if I quit smoking, you'd be willing to kiss me?"

Yo's face went bright red and he looked surprised. I didn't want to make him too nervous, so I went back to our previous conversation, "So is Ai'Pha the problem that's on your mind right now?"

Yo's blush spread to his ears. So cute. He turned his eyes to the water in front of us, "Is it really that obvious?"

"No," I answered, trying to make him feel better. "The last time we talked, Pha was being really rude to you, so I thought it might have something to do with him. Is he that bad?"

"To me, he really is," Yo responded, a frown back on his face.

"He's really not a bad guy," I said. "I was actually surprised he was so rude to you, usually he's kind, too kind sometimes."

"What do you mean?" Yo asked. "He's never been too kind to me."

"When he was in the Moon and Star Competition last year, he was such a nice guy that two girls thought he had crushes on them," I explained. "It ended up being a pretty embarrassing situation for all of them. Ai'Pha didn't want to stay in the competition, but he finally had to, because his faculty wanted him to do it."

"Of course, he became the Campus Moon," Yo said. "I guess he won by a landslide?"

"Hey, it was actually pretty close!" I said, pretending to be hurt.

"Were you in the competition, P'Forth?" Yo looked at me, surprised. "Why didn't you win? You're much cooler than he is."

"Yeah, sure," I said, feeling my face getting hot. Even I can blush when faced with such an adorable boy complimenting me. "So aren't you supposed to be at practice?"

"Do you think I should go?" Yo asked, looking at me with a grin.

"Think of it as something you can do for your faculty," I answered. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."

He looked at my motorcycle with a mixture of what appeared to be fear and excitement. I handed him my spare helmet and told him to hold on.