Eventually, Monday rolled around, and walking in the halls of school to speak to both boys was a daunting task for Mei, she plotted out everything she was going to say the night prior. She wasn't going to let a crush get to her, no matter which boy it was. She walked down the hall and by his locker she saw Brendan.
She slowly approached him.
"Ummm...hey Brendan" Mei said a bit sheepishly.
Brendan turned around and was shocked and scared, he slammed his back against the lockers out of fear and was breathing heavily.
"Stay back! You're not gonna turn into that thing that's gonna eat me?!" exclaimed Brendan scared out of his mind.
Mei took a deep breath and approached him.
Brendan was still scared out of his mind but noticed Mei put her hand on his shoulder.
"Look...we need to talk about what happened yesterday," said Mei calmly.
"Talk about what? You turned into a monster!" Brendan exclaimed.
Mei sighed.
"Look, I didn't turn into a monster...I turned into a red panda, it happens when I get over emotional and when you had me in your arm..." said Mei looking to the side, kind of embarrassed.
Brendan still with a confused look on his face wanted to learn more about what had happened.
"So what are you saying? Whenever you get emotional you turn into a red panda?" asked Brendan confused.
Mei took a deep breath.
"Yes," she replied.
"How does that happen?" asked Brendan still confused.
"It's a long story and I mean if you want to maybe hang out again or something, I could explain it to you" replied Mei.
Brendan thought about it, it was a lot for him to handle but there was still a part of him that liked Mei.
"Alright, if you explain it more to me I would be glad to hang out with you" replied Brendan.
"Then I guess it's a date?" asked Mei.
"Sure, anything you wanna do after school?" asked Mei.
"Well, we could hit up Tim's" suggested Brendan.
"Not a coffee person" replied Mei.
"Well you don't have to get coffee" chuckled Brendan.
Mei chuckled and the kids all headed off to their first-period class. The day dragged on like normal which pretty much meant five minutes felt like an eternity. As school let out, Tyler noticed Mei was about to leave and he decided to approach her since she seemed sorta distant during the day.
"Hey Mei," said Tyler.
"Oh, hey Tyler" replied Mei.
"Hey, I don't know if you're doing anything after school but maybe you'd wanna hang?" he asked.
"Oh, Ummm...actually, yeah I do have something I was gonna do and I wanna talk to you about it but, can we hang out tomorrow and I'll explain?" asked Mei.
Tyler was taken aback a little bit.
"Ummm...I guess so, I mean what is it you wanna talk about?" asked Tyler.
"Look, I'd feel much better if I got this out of the way first and then explained tomorrow...is that okay?" asked Mei.
"Ummm...okay I guess, so we'll hang out tomorrow?" asked Tyler a bit confused and concerned.
"Tomorrow, I promise" smiled Mei.
"Alright, well...I guess I'll see you tomorrow" said Tyler as he left school for the day.
Mei walked out and waited for Brendan who had to use the facilities one last time before he left school for the day when he was finished he met her outside and the two headed to Tim Horton's where Mei would explain everything.
When they got there, the two placed an order and when they got it the two walked to a booth and sat down.
"So...about what happened the other day," said Brendan.
Mei took a deep breath.
"Alright, my ancestor Sun Yee had a mystical connection with red pandas during the time of war when her husband had left to fight she had feared that her daughters would be in danger and she prayed to the gods during a red moon to turn into a giant red panda to protect them and the village and it happened, and it's something that was passed down to my grandmother, cousins, aunts, and my mother when they and myself became of age...whenever we feel a strong emotion no matter what the emotion may be, we panda...when I say panda I mean we turn into a giant red panda, that day when we were at the ice rink and I nearly tripped and you grabbed me and we stared into each other's eyes...that's what caused that to happen, I hope you can understand," said Mei as she let out a heavy sigh.
Brendan sat there mouth agape.
"Wow..." he muttered.
"Look, I can understand if you think it's weird or scary or anything and I can understand if you...never wanted to speak to me again," said Mei hanging her head.
"I mean...it's not that, I was just caught off guard...I've never seen anything like that in my life before and well if anything did happen beyond friendship I guess I would have to get used to it and I know it would take time but I'm sure down the road I would be able to" smiled Brendan.
Mei smiled.
"You mean that?" asked Mei.
"Of course I do" smiled Brendan.
Mei stared into his eyes and he stared into hers, Mei felt her heart race and Brendan felt his beat a mile a minute as well. The two closed their eyes, leaned over the table, and puckered their lips...
Mei and Brendan kissed.
But it wasn't any sorta romantical French type kiss, it was more of a five-second peck on the lips, Mei felt something...but she didn't panda, she felt ears pop up and a tail but that was it, they were a come and go.
She was breathing heavily as was Brendan.
"That was...wow," said Brendan breathing a bit heavy.
"I know...but argh there's something I need to tell you," said Mei
"What?" asked Brendan.
"There's...another guy," said Mei under her breath.
"Another what?" asked Brendan.
"Another guy who I like, I hope you don't take this the wrong way please because you are insanely cute and all..." before Mei could finish, Brendan interrupted her.
"Aaaaaaaaaaand lemme guess, this is just a trial run right?" asked Brendan confused.
"Well...no...but...kinda...ARGH I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!" exclaimed Mei as she felt her ears and tail beginning to show.
Brendan took notice but after she told him what she told him he felt a little more comfortable.
"I get it, Mei, I guess maybe you like the other guy better?" asked Brendan.
"No! I didn't say that, it's just...I like you both but I'm scared that no matter the choice I make I'm gonna lose one or both of you" said Mei feeling like she was gonna tear up.
"Well...I...I don't know how I feel about all this, it's just sudden" replied Brendan.
"I get how you feel, look if you wanna talk about this tomorrow...maybe we can?" asked Mei.
"I think that would be best" replied Brendan.
Brendan threw their garbage out and grabbed his backpack.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" said Brendan putting his hand on Mei's shoulder.
Brendan then left after saying goodbye.
"Yeah...tomorrow," said Mei fairly disappointed.
"I hope Tyler doesn't react the same way," Mei thought to herself as she got up to leave after Brendan left.
