Just fyi: Sorry for making this one boring, but I had to have a setting and extra characters in it too. I just hope the next chapter is better….
I do not own Leifang and Jann Lee and any other character in Dead or Alive. They all respectfully belong to Team Ninja.
Chapter 1: The Dance
Leifang jerked awake, sitting up in her bed, and gasping. She sighed, her shoulders sagging, feeling more tired than she had ever felt. She looked at the time, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It was 4 in the morning. She groaned and fell back.
She tried to fall back asleep and wasn't able to. Who is this man? Every time he turned around, Leifang found herself awake. She never got to see his face and because of it, it made her feel anxious.
Rubbing her temples, she warily got, knowing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. She grabbed her bag of toiletries and her school uniform, cringing as she did. Leifang slipped into her slippers and gingerly opened the door of her dorm room, and softly walked down the hallway which was lined with doors to the other girls' dorm rooms.
At the end of the hallway was a bathroom and she stepped inside; washing her face and brushing her teeth. She took a long hot bath, forgetting about her dream and soaking the stress away.
She took so long in fact, the other girls began to get up. Not wanting to get in a fight with anyone, she hastily got dressed and swept her blow-dried hair into their usual braids.
Leifang took one last look at her appearance, frowning at her uniform. All the girls were required to wear a thin white collared shirt with a navy blue v-neck sweater over it and a gold tie. They also had to wear a black skirt with golden designs on it, socks that reached midway up the calves, and black ballet shoes. The guys had to wear the same top as the girls had to, but with black pants with gold and blue designs on the back pockets, and polished shoes.
Leifang absolutely despised the uniform.
"Leifang!" someone shouted, banging on the door, causing her to jump. "You're going to make us all late!"
"Then use the other bathrooms." She grumbled to the girl, Lily.
"They're all taken!"
"Fine." She mumbled, discarding the tank top and pajamas she had worn to bed in the laundry chute. She grabbed her toiletry bag and opened the door.
Lily and a line of girls were standing outside the door, looking exasperated.
"Thanks a lot, Leifang." Cindy, one of the girls, mumbled sourly.
"Sorry." She said, blushing, putting her head down, and scurrying away to her bedroom. She put her stuff away, grabbed her tote bag that carried all her school things, and left the room, locking the door and hurrying to the courtyard.
Leifang spotted her friends who waved her over. They sat in their usual spot next to the great fountain which was in the middle of the courtyard. The intricately designed marbled floor glistened with the fresh polish as students bustled about noisily, their voices echoing throughout the courtyard.
There were circular tables everywhere which were littered with the usual breakfast condiments. Miniature fountains and trees with elegant leaves adorned the entire courtyard. Above, the great glass dome which sparkled like diamonds, shielded the students from the treacherous snow, keeping the courtyard nice and toasty warm.
"Tell me why we have to wear these hideous uniforms again?" Leifang complained as she took her seat and began eating her pancakes which her friends had so politely gotten for her while she was away. "I mean, we're college students; this is outright ridiculous."
Hay Lin snorted while eating her bagel and cream cheese. She had long glossy pigtails and wide dark eyes. "You would think that with people who have such good designing skills -" she waved her arms at the courtyard and the building. "They could at least design better outfits. But no, of course not."
All the girls laughed softly.
"Did you hear about Andy and Cho?" Lisa burst out.
"You mean the couple that's practically married?" Hay Lin said drily.
"Was." She said, waggling her eyebrows, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.
"No way!" Amber half shrieked, dropping the muffin she had been eating. Everyone knew she still liked Andy even when he began dating Cho.
Lisa looked at her with the same face.
Amber's eyes widened, her mouth opening even more. "What happened - tell me everything."
Leifang rolled her eyes when Ella interrupted them.
"Who cares what happened?" she turned to Amber who had her mouth open in shock, ready to say something, when Ella beat her to it. "Uh, hello? Since Andy's off the hook with Cho - he's up for grabs. And you know what the perfect way to go out with him? Sign up for the Annual Ballroom Dance! It'll be perfect!"
"But that's a 1 in a million chance!" Amber bit her lip, her eyebrows crinkling with worry. "Besides, what if I'm with some weirdo?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Lisa interjected, raising her voice so that all the girls turned to her. "What dance?"
"The Annual Ballroom Dance?" Ella raised her eyebrows. "Don't you ever read the school paper?"
"No." Lisa said slowly, and then panicked. "But I don't have a date!"
"No worries," Ella said. "The point of the dance is to meet new people. All you have to do is write your name on a slip of paper and turn it in the main office. The day before the dance they pair you up -"
"How do they pair you up?"
"From the survey they took when we first arrived here."
"What?!" Lisa shrieked, causing a few people around them to turn around and stare at her. She lowered her voice and continued. "I took that survey as a joke! I wrote all sorts of crap on there!"
"Chill -" Hay Lin commented.
"I will not chill!" Lisa snapped, standing up. "I have to go to this dance, I just know something good is going to happen if I don't." she grabbed her things in her hand as well as her donut. "I'm going to the main office! I'm going to demand a new survey." Then she stalked off.
"She's going in the wrong direction." Hay Lin said, watching her as the others followed her gaze. "Oh, wait…sensing us watching her…looking confused for a moment…changing direction…right direction? Yes, as a matter of fact. Oh crap, now she's glaring at me." She turned to them, raising her eyebrows. "Well, at least we know she's not completely lost."
"So," Ella said, rounding on Hay Lin. "Who do you want to go with?"
"What are you talking about?" Hay Lin snapped, although they all knew she was lying. Her face turned pink.
"You know what I mean," she chided her, but Hay Lin kept her face stone cold. She rolled her eyes. "To the dance?"
"I'm not going to the dance." Hay Lin sniffed, focusing on her orange, thus ending the conversation on her terms.
"You have to, Lin Lin!" Leifang teased, using her friend's nickname. "It's going to be fun!"
"Don't call me that!" she snapped, looking around as if someone would notice their conversation. "It's going to be stupid just like last year!"
"You weren't even technically here last year."
"My sister was! And she said she said it was stupid."
"Your sister is antisocial too, just like you, so we can't trust her input."
Hay Lin glared at her.
"C'mon Hay Lin!" Amber whined, grabbing her arm. "Just submit your name and if you don't like the person who you're going with, then just cancel!"
"No!" Hay Lin snatched her arm away from Amber, picked up her messenger bag and her muffin, and then turned to the rest of the girls. "I'll be in the study hall finishing the rest of my homework before the bell rings." She said tightly and left.
"We have like 10 minutes before the bell rings." Amber said slowly, trying to figure something out. "How is she going to get to the study hall which is like 20 minutes away -"
"Five minutes." Ella put in.
Amber ignored her as if she hadn't even spoken. "And to the gym which is like another 20 minutes away?"
Ella rolled her eyes and stood up. "Well I have to head up to the laboratory - which is like 20 minutes away." Ella swept her hair back, mocking Amber's speech.
"Hey!" Amber cried as the others laughed.
"Yeah, I have to go to. I still haven't submitted my name to the dance committee." Leifang said, laughing at them at the same time. "Come on Melody, we have to sign you up too."
Melody sighed, but got up and grabbed her things.
"Ta-ta!" Leifang sung, grabbing Melody with her as she left the two bickering girls at the table.
"There it is!" Leifang said excitedly, yanking a reluctant Melody with her.
A long table stood outside the main office with a gigantic box in the middle of 4 notepads with pens waiting to be used. There were only a couple of people there and Leifang recognized one of them as Andy.
"Hey Leifang!" he called to her, smiling. He had a friendly boyish face with spiky brown hair and was easily one of the cutest and most popular guys at school. Even Leifang had to admit that he was cute, although he wasn't exactly her type.
"Hey Andy," Leifang smiled politely, pulling Melody along with who suddenly felt like a ton.
"Wassup Melody." He grinned at her, who ducked behind Leifang - and was she blushing - Leifang thought in surprise. Melody is the shy type who could care less about guys, so what's going on now?
"Already huh?" Leifang said, smirking slightly.
"Well," Andy looked down, blushing. "Cho signed up, so I thought that if she could sign up so easily then -"
"You could too?" she finished, raising her eyebrows. "You still like her, don't you?"
"No!" he protested and she folded her arms across her chest. "Really! I honestly don't like her anymore. In fact, the reason why I dumped her was because she started acting all b***** and protective about me. It was like she was controlling my every move." He shivered slightly and then grinned. "So why are you entering?"
"To meet just the right person." Leifang simply responded while writing her name. She put her name and Melody's name who refused to move, into the box. "See you around." She said to Andy who was scratching his head in confusion.
"Yeah, you too."
And with that, she pulled Melody with her to her first class.
Hay Lin had already changed for gym when the 2 girls arrived in the locker room.
"Hey Hay Lin!" Leifang said to her friend who was tying her shoes.
Hay Lin ignored her as if she wasn't even there, but acknowledged Melody, who smothered a snicker.
Leifang rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "You can't ignore me forever. I'm very hard to ignore, and you know that Lin Lin."
She looked up. "If I be your friend, will you stop calling me that?"
"Nope!" Leifang smiled, bent over, and hugged her friend, who grudgingly smiled too. "You seriously have to go to the dance."
"Can you bother me about that later, please?" she whined.
"Fine, but I'm not letting it go." Leifang promised, changing into her white tank top and navy blue shorts.
Melody also changed into her red t-shirt and black shorts, just when other girls began to file into the locker room. The 3 girls mingled in the locker room until the bell rang and then left for class.
They pushed past the double doors that led to the huge gymnasium, which was littered with mats that day. The guys were already there with a few other girls who were talking amongst themselves. Leifang, Melody, and Hay Lin joined them, chatting until the teachers arrived.
"Alright, settle down." Mr. Chen shouted, which quieted the students. "Today we're going to learn the basics of how to fight. I've already paired you off - and I want no complaints. I've tried my best to pair you all with the same gender, but we don't have as many girls as we do guys.
"So when I call your names, I want you 2 to find a spot in the gym. I'll give you further directions when I see that everyone is ready. Understood?"
They nodded.
"First pair - Amy and Sarah!"
The 2 girls squealed in excitement as they were already friends. Leifang felt her stomach flip-flop. Please don't pair me off with someone I don't know, she silently wished.
"Jeremy and Chris!"
The 2 walked to a part in the gym.
"Melody and Hay Lin!"
They smiled happily but then shot Leifang sympathetic faces, walking off to a part of the gym, leaving her all alone. The teacher continued to call roll when finally all the girls were paired off with each other.
Leifang groaned mentally when suddenly she heard her name called.
"Leifang and Jann Lee!" the teacher, Mr. Chen boomed.
Her mouth popped open as a single thought ran through her head. No please! Anyone but him!
