Sunday morning rolled around and much like yesterday morning it was the same old song and dance, Mei woke up to the smell of a bowl of congee for breakfast but in addition, there was a box of Tim Horton's donuts, Ming would do this from time to time because she knew Mei liked them and also to teach Jin self-control.
"Morning Mei-Mei," said Ming as she saw Mei walk out of her room.
"Morning mom, dad" smiled Mei.
She walked into the bathroom to freshen up and she heard her cell phone ding, it was a text from Brendan that read.
Mornin Mei...Ready 2 do sum sk8n l8r?
She responded to him.
Oh yeah! Can't wait! :D
Mei finished freshening up in the bathroom and went to breakfast, there was a bowl of congee on the table but she went straight for the donuts.
"My favorite! Thanks, mom!" squealed Mei grabbing two donuts.
"You're welcome honey but easy, I still want you to eat a real breakfast" smiled Ming sipping her coffee.
"I will mom" smiled Mei.
Meanwhile, at Tyler's, he was sitting on his couch with a stack of pancakes on the table and playing his Xbox in the living room. On the occasion, his parents would let him eat in the living room as long as he didn't make a mess. He was trying to focus on his video game but there was one thing he kept thinking about...
That almost kiss in the library.
"I can't believe I almost kissed her," Tyler thought to himself.
He paused his game and ate some more of his pancakes, but he just still couldn't get it out of his mind. He picked up his phone and decided to text her, maybe she was free for the day and they could hang out again. Tyler pulled out his phone and texted Mei.
Hey Mei, wanna hang out today?
AS Mei was eating her congee she heard her phone ding, she looked at the text and tried not to show any emotion towards it because Ming would get nosey but Ming pried anyways.
"Who's texting at breakfast dear?" asked Ming.
"Oh...Ummm...just Miri, after we were at the library she was telling me Ummm...how she and the girls went to karaoke and they had a real good time and that I shoulda been there" said Mei nervously.
"Oh, well I'm glad they all had fun...hey maybe we should do that sometime" smiled Ming.
"Uhhh...sure mom," Mei said still a tad nervous.
She texted Tyler back.
Can't, busy 2day!
Tyler saw the message and was a bit bummed, but he texted her back before going back to his game.
All good, another day :)
Brendan was at home watching a DVD on his Playstation 2 and having a frozen breakfast sandwich that he nuked alongside a glass of orange juice. When his dad knocked on the door.
"Hey champ, 20 minutes we gotta go, you've got practice, and don't forget to thank Uncle Roy for pulling some string to get you on to the team," said his dad.
"Sure dad, lemme just finish this up," said Brendan.
Brendan grabbed his duffel bag and put his practice gear inside the bag, his stick and skates as well as two novels and a math activity book. Brendan loved to keep his mind sharp and he loved to read as well, since his mother is a librarian he's around books 24/7/365. He grabbed his phone and texted Mei.
Hey, I got practice...if I don' txt don't worry not ignorin'...talk l8r!
Unfortunately, Mei had gotten up to wash her dish and left her phone unattended on the kitchen table and Ming happened to see the message since her phone was wide open. She picked up the phone and read the message.
"Mei-Mei...a word if you please," said Ming visibly irritated.
"Sure Mom," said Mei.
Mei turned around and noticed Ming had her phone, her jaw hit the floor at the fact Ming saw the message that Brendan sent. She felt herself shaking and she felt ears and a tail pop up.
"Who is this Brendan character?" asked Ming looking visibly concerned and angry.
"Ohhh...mmmm...he's...he's a friend from school and he just moved here from Montreal and uhmmmm...he...he...wanted to go ice skating," said Mei feeling herself beginning to panda.
*POOF*
Mei panda'd.
Ming was visibly exasperated.
"A boy wants to take my Mei-Mei skating?! Is that slang for something?!" exclaimed Ming.
"No! Mom! NO! I swear it's just ice skating! I promise, we're only going as friends he just moved here and wants to make friends!" exclaimed Mei eyes darting and trying to explain to her mother what was going on.
"Hmmm...well then if it's just ice skating, you'll take no issue if I want to meet him then?" asked Ming raising a brow.
Mei's heart raced a mile a minute.
"Mom...why would you wanna meet him? I mean I'm sure you're busy and all and I'm sure you wouldn't wanna meet him because you're like the best mom in the world and I know for a fact that it would just be a waste of your time" said Mei frantically trying to talk her mother out of it.
"When are you two hanging out?" asked Ming visibly unfazed.
"Probably after he's done with his errands and stuff," said Mei sweating bullets, not even wanting to tell her mother he plays hockey.
"Alright, tell him to come here and I'll see if he's good enough to hang out with my Mei-Mei," said Ming sternly.
"Yes, mom" sighed Mei.
Mei closed her eyes and tried calming herself down, especially so she could text Brendan. She eventually did manage to calm herself and she grabbed her phone.
At the rink, the team was doing drills and listening to music over a speaker while they were practicing. Soon their coach blew his whistle.
"Alright guys, take a break...go sit down, you've all been working hard," said their coach.
Brendan skated over to the stands where his bag was, he decided to check his messages and he saw Mei texted him.
My mom wants to meet you arghhhhh!
Brendan texted her back though he was a little shocked.
What's wrong wit tht?
Mei texted him back.
She's a cuckoo! Anyways here's the address...
Mei sent the text and sighed with her phone pressed against her chest, she knew her mother meant well by ensuring her safety but she didn't mean for it to go down like this. Soon Brendan's practice was over and he had requested his dad drop him off at the address under the guise that he heard it was a tourist spot and wanted to see it. When he was outside he texted Mei.
I'm here
He waited all but a few minutes before Mei and Ming walked outside, Mei was nervous as all heck not just because of her mother but because of her "secret." Ming stared a death glare at Brendan.
"So you're Brendan, the one Mei-Mei texted earlier?" asked Ming.
"Ummm...yes...charmed?" stammered Brendan nervously.
Ming looked at him and noticed his duffel bag.
"What's in your bag?" asked Ming.
"Ummm...my stuff?" Brendan asked nervously.
"Let's see it," said Ming grabbing it off of his shoulder in a quick move.
"MOM!" exclaimed Mei.
Mei felt herself about to panda but she shut her eyes and thought about her friends, she thought about Miriam and Priya telling her they loved her, and she thought about Abby telling her how strong she is. It worked, Mei was able to calm herself.
"Mother, please give him his bag back," said Mei calmly.
"I just want to make sure there are no drugs in here...hmmm...let's see...ice skates...a stick...a jersey? Do you play hockey?" asked Ming perturbed.
"Ummmm...yes," said Brendan shaking nervously.
"Such a barbaric sport! Why would you even-" Ming stopped herself dead in her tracks when she noticed the two novels and math book in Brendan's duffel bag.
"Art of War? One Hundred Years of Solitude? These are classics...and...and what's this? Is this a math workbook?" asked Ming.
"Yes ma'am, my mother's a librarian and I was around books all my life and she also told me that if my professional hockey career didn't work out it was good to have a good education to fall back on! I hope to be either a math teacher or literacy teacher or sports agent if hockey doesn't work!" said Brendan cowering in fear.
Ming put his duffel bag on the ground.
"Mei-Mei...HE'S PERFECT! I APPROVE!" exclaimed Ming.
Mei and Brendan looked confused.
"Mei-Mei he's perfect to be your boyfriend! Plus if you two ever have kids they'll be so adorable!" squealed Ming.
"BOYFRIEND?!" exclaimed Mei shocked starting to feel ears protrude from her head.
She was able to calm herself and luckily for her Brendan didn't notice because he was visibly confused by what was going on.
"Well you two kids have fun now, I won't hold you up! JIN WE MIGHT HAVE TO CELEBRATE TONIGHT!" exclaimed Ming running back inside.
Brendan was still visibly confused.
"Wh-wh-what was that?" Brendan asked confused.
"I don't even know who that was" replied Mei as equally as confused as he was.
The two eventually walked to the tram where they were going to take it to the ice rink, the trip wasn't that long and they reached the rink in a good ten minutes. The two walked up to the counter where Brendan wanted to rent her a pair of skates.
"Oh...you don't have to, I can pay for it," said Mei not wanting him to do that for her.
"Nonsense, I got it" he smiled.
Mei looked over at the rink and noticed people skating to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees, the people looked like they were having fun. Brendan brought Mei over to a locker he liked to use whenever he had a game so that they could put their stuff away. Brendan helped Mei onto the ice and she stumbled around a bit.
"Woah, Woah Mei easy...here hold my arm," said Brendan.
Mei grabbed his arm and quickly a rush of emotions hit.
"Oh my goodness, he's so strong," she thought to herself as she grasped his arm.
Mei had to calm herself down though, she didn't want to panda in front of him because she didn't want him to get freaked out.
As the music played, Brendan started to show her how to skate and she seemed to have gotten the hang of it.
"There you go! See, it's easy" smiled Brendan.
Mei had pretty much gotten the hang of skating, until...
"Alright all you happy skaters, it's time for the couple's song so I'm sorry for all my single cats out there you're gonna have to just exit the rink but don't frown clowns, it's only one song!" said the DJ.
The DJ played George Michael's Careless Whisper.
"COUPLES?!" exclaimed Mei to herself.
This thought caused Mei to lose focus and stumble and nearly fall...but she was caught by Brendan, his right arm around her back. Both hers and Brendan's eyes locked on to one another's...she looked in his eyes and everything seemed to be in slow motion.
"Uhhh...you okay Mei?" asked Brendan still holding on to her.
Mei's breathing increased, she began to sweat staring into his eyes, she knew she was about to panda.
"NO PLEASE NO!"she thought to herself.
*POOF!*
Mei panda'd in front of the crowd, the cloud of purple smoke knocked back the skaters and even the DJ got knocked back.
"WHAT THE HECK?! SOMEONE OPEN THE GARAGE DOOR! *COUGH* IT SMELLS IN HERE!" exclaimed the DJ.
Brendan was knocked onto the floor and was scared when he saw Mei.
"Brendan please I can explain!" Mei exclaimed with tears running down her face.
Brendan not knowing what was going on pulled the ice skate off his left foot and held it up in self-defense!
"STAY BACK!" he exclaimed.
Mei had tears running down her face, she slipped and slid on the ice before managing to get a grip and hop the plexiglass and head to the garage door where the rink got its deliveries and she ran out in full speed in her panda form. She ran home embarrassed and scared that Brendan wouldn't even want to talk to her anymore. When she got home she managed to semi calm herself, but she still had panda ears and a tail. She sat near a tree and began to cry.
"He probably thinks I'm a freak" she sobbed.
In her sobbing state though, she had one thought cross her mind...
"Tyler wasn't afraid of the panda," she thought.
