The school bell soon rang to announce the start of a new school day. The students shuffled back into class. Some of them looked jubilant while others had a perpetual frown on their faces.
Pei Ling walked past Jun Yang and she was trying hard to meet his eyes, to get his attention. However, Jun Yang kept his head lowered as he stared at his table.
The young man was sweating in his seat. He did not have the courage to turn around because he could have sworn Feng Qi was boring a hole into his back with just the force in his eyes.
He had tricked Feng Qi and Jun Yang had a feeling Feng Qi was not going to take it well.
…
The first class of the day was English Language and Literature. Mr. Sam entered the classroom and the students started to settle down.
"Congratulations to those who have scored well in the exam, those that did not, please study harder next time." Mr. Sam concluded before moving onto the syllabus he had prepared for the day. "Today we're going to study some poetry from the Romantic era."
Mr. Sam went on to describe the Romanticism era was sort of a return to nature for English poetry. There was an appreciation for nature and wildlife that was the hallmark of this particular period. The renowned poets from this period included William Blake and Edgar Allan Poe.
"The first poem we would focus on for the day will be William Blake's Daffodils from the anthology." Then Mr. Sam paused to look around the room, "Is there anyone who would like to recite a few lines for us? Any volunteers?"
All of the students looked away from Mr. Sam. This was something that the teacher still had not gotten used to. Back at his home country of America, students would fight over themselves to show off in class but in this eastern culture, the students were much more reserved and cautious of taking the spotlight.
He still had not shaken the habit of asking for a volunteer even though he knew there was probably not going to be one. Mr. Sam sighed to himself and was about to call for a name when, to his surprise, a hand at the back of the room shot up into the air.
This came as quite a surprise to Mr. Sam. He did not expect any volunteer much less one from the student who was famous for missing school.
"Looks like we have a volunteer after all. Thank you, Mr. Feng Qi. Would you please turn to page 20 of the anthology?" Mr. Sam said at the front of the class.
When he said that, people in the room started to mumble and chatter. This was uncharted territory. Feng Qi never once participated in class activity before, so what was happening.
Jun Yang could feel his heart sink. Based on his understanding of Feng Qi's personality, he knew the young man would launch retaliation eventually, and this felt like it was going to be the one.
The emotions that Jun Yang felt were quite complicated. On one hand, he was afraid that he might be openly embarrassed but on the other side, he was quite anticipatory of what Feng Qi might do.
Feng Qi cleared his throat and uttered loud enough for the whole class to hear, "Mr. Sam, I would love to do so but unfortunately, I forgot to bring the book today."
Mr. Sam answered, "Then, go and borrow from one of your classmates." He turned to address the class, "Is there anyone who is willing to share with Mr. Feng Qi the poetry anthology?"
Most of the students turned away. They did not share a good relationship with Feng Qi, in fact most of them barely knew him. Either way, it would have been awkward if Feng Qi was left hanging dry like that so the student who sat closest to him was about to offer him the book when Feng Qi coughed and added, "I would like to borrow Jun Yang's book if he doesn't mind."
That was quite a surprising request. Even Mr. Sam had a slight frown on his face when he heard that. In any case, the teacher's job was to keep the class moving so he obliged and went along with it, saying, "In that case, Mr. Jun Yang, do you mind lending your book to Mr. Feng Qi. I'm sure he'll return it to you when he's done."
When Jun Yang heard Feng Qi's request, his heart skipped a beat and his mind went up with guard. He was about to say no, believing this was a ploy by Feng Qi but since Mr. Sam had given him explicit order, there was nothing he could do but abide by it.
'It's just borrowing him my book, what else could happen?' Jun Yang thought to himself as he stood up and walked over to Feng Qi to hand him the book. Feng Qi accepted it with a smirk that made Jun Yang's heart quiver. The bad feeling that he tried to suppress started to worm its way out of his heart.
Jun Yang shuffled his way back to his seat. He sat down and said a prayer for himself.
When that was done, Mr. Sam said, "Alright. Mr. Feng Qi, do you mind reading us what is on your page? Thank you."
Feng Qi stood up like a justice holding court. Mr. Sam did not technically tell him to stand up but since the young man had a flair for the theatrics, something which was permissible in recitation, the teacher did not stop him.
Feng Qi gathered the book in his hands and he started to utter in that powerful and gruffly voice of his, "Feng Qi, do you mind going with me on a date to the movies at the mall in the coming weekend afternoon?"
Then, with the class utterly confused, he put the book down and answered with a charming smile, "Of course, I would love to, Jun Yang."