Chapter 3
As the Years Go By… (Lei's View)
Music: I Don't Wanna Fall in Love – Tonya Mitchell
Just last year I graduated from Ying De College, and now, I'm just sitting around here in Taipei, waiting for something new to happen. Ever since Jing left, I have no guidance, no sight to beautiful things anymore… I may sound hopeless… but Jing was my only happiness. "Why did you have to leave? Leaving me all alone…" Then… I'd always ask myself… why didn't I go after her? Why didn't I stop her? Another part of me said, "Let her fulfill her dream. You're only holding her back." I let the love of my life leave… I'm not a selfish person… If Jing and I are meant to be, then I will let fate choose our paths, and let Jing be happy.
Every day during school, I play my violin. From noon to three in the afternoon. My cell phone on the stand, waiting for a call or a text message from Jing. For a while, Jing and I have kept in touch. Every other day she'd call or text message me, to say hi or something interesting that happened to her that day. It helped me keep going. A reason to keep going in my life. Other times, when I didn't feel like playing my violin, I'd sit up on the school's rooftop and look out at the scenery. The light blue sky, the cotton-like clouds, the breezes that blew my hair across my face. Sometimes I would dream, dream about my life with Jing. I must admit, that I really wanted to spend my life with her. I often practiced my lines to tell her that I wanted to marry her. But my chance never came. Jing will always be a dream. I'll chase after her if I must.
Several girls have approached me and wondered if I'd date them. I'd politely turn down each one of them. Even sometimes, I'd find gifts overflowing out of my locker. I'd find every girl and give them back their gifts. A lot of them would cry as I did this, but they eventually understood my reason. Call me harsh, but I can't bring myself to look at another girl.
Listening to the teacher go on and on about how dangerous chemical acids are, I start to fall asleep. In the background, I can still hear him talking. As I finally thought that I was going to slumber land, he claps his hands loudly which jolted me awake. "Hao ah! Let's get started with this experiment. But first, let me pick your lab partners." His beady eyes scanned the classroom with focus, "Wan Pei… and Chong Zi, Yi Ping and Fu Pei… Hua Zhe Lei… and… Shan Cai." I heard my name being called, and… Shan Cai? Who was that? I looked around the room to see if I could point her out. But before I could get to that, the teacher ordered us to get started. From behind me, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw a petite woman, with long raven black hair, and almost sad eyes. "Ni shi… Shan Cai?" I asked her. She simply nodded her head. "Well, we better get started." We walked over to our table and began the experiment.
Shan Cai and I began our experiment and we would up finishing just with an A+. Neither of us smiled. I just stood at our lab station and waited for others to finish. I glanced over at Shan Cai, her head was bent low, sitting up straight on the stool and her hands folded in her lap. Her eyes were in a clouded fury, as if she was going to cry. I wanted to ask what was her, but before I could, the bell rang. Looking at the clock I saw that it was twelve-thirty. Lunch time. Looking back over at Shan Cai, I saw her gather her books and slowly get up from her seat. I watched her leave the room slowly with her head still bent low. Absent-mindedly, I followed her.
