A/N: Muhahahaha. I think you'll like this chapter.

I think maybe one or two more chapters plus an epilogue? =)


Chapter 8: In Which All Hell Officially Breaks Loose

Jing Mei's first and second periods went somewhat smoothly, although some of the girls in those two classes weren't very happy with her anyways. They continuously shot her glowers, scowling whenever she dared to peek at them. Whispers were rampant before and after classes. At the very least, no one directly confronted her like Eliisabet did, and for that, Jing Mei was extremely thankful.

By the time third period rolled around, Jing Mei was beginning to feel slightly better. Tina could probably talk Eliisabet into letting Jing Mei go, and Tina could probably explain to Eliisabet that Jing Mei was not interested in Anders at all. Anders was a nice enough guy, even if he was super annoying. Jing Mei realized that she didn't really mind being English partners with him. As long as all of the other girls just left her alone, everything would be fine, right? She hoped it would be. Never in her life had she been the center of such negative attention. She hoped that she would never be again.

The moment Jing Mei walked into English, all of the preppy girls with crushes on Anders immediately started to glare at her. Jing Mei really wanted to quail under the intensity of their accusatory stares, but she put on a brave face. She couldn't afford to have another bawling fit, not now. Jing Mei refused to cry in front of Eliisabet, of all people, because it was the blonde girl who was causing her the most misery at the moment. The best she could do was to stay strong in front of the girl

The moment class started, the teacher asked for everyone's opinion on the project.

"We should be able to choose our own partners," replied Eliisabet stiffly, shooting a glare at Jing Mei. "At the very least, we need to switch up some of the partner pairings."

The teacher shook her head. "It's impossible, I'm afraid. We set up the partnerships for specific reasons, and we believe that they are the best possible pairings we could have come up with. Switching partners is out of the question."

Jing Mei's heart plummeted into her stomach at the realization of these words. Perhaps she had been hoping for some small miracle in this case. Now, it seemed hopeless.

On their way to the Juniors' classroom, Eliisabet sidled up to Jing Mei and hissed, "Meet me in the library after school."

Dread filled Jing Mei's stomach like the sand of an hourglass as she began to worry about what Eliisabet had in store. Was the blonde going to apologize? Would she agree to leave her alone? Did Tina talk Eliisabet into leaving Jing Mei alone? Jing Mei was frightened by the prospects of what Eliisabet might do, and she began to dread the end of the day.

English went by in a blur, although Jing Mei had to admit that she had been slightly amused by some of Anders's jokes. Unfortunately, the jokes did not take the edge off her incessant worrying. Anders noticed this, and commented on it.

"Hej, you see a little worried. Everything ok?"

"Yeah…I'm fine. What should we write about for this theme?"

"'Night?' Dunno. Day's way more awesome than night though."

"Why do you say that?"

Anders stared. "Are you kidding? Nothing happens at night! All everyone does is sleep, and that's so boring!"

Jing Mei was confused. "Why is sleeping so boring? Don't you even have interesting dreams?"

Anders blushed. "No. But I sleep-talk, which is totally unawesome."

"Hey! You once said that you thought my butt was awesome in your sleep!" yelled Gillian from halfway across the room.

"I did not!" Anders yelled back. "Totally unawesome!"

"You so did," supplied Lars. "I was there."

"Liars!" protested Anders. "Why would I say that about Gil?"

"You dated her for a week during freshman year, you numbskull," replied Chiara curtly.

The two teachers were conversing quietly in the corner, but at the sounds of off-task behavior, they quickly told the rowdy Juniors to be quiet.

"Anyways, what can we write about?" continued Jing Mei.

"Owls!"

"Owls?"

"Yeah! Like the ones that go 'hoot!' They're awesome!"

Jing Mei shrugged. "What about them?"

"An awesome adventure story about owls rescuing a mouse."

"Uh, you know that owls eat mice, right?"

"Exactly!"

Jing Mei did not understand how Anders' logic worked, but she did feel a little better.


After school, Jing Mei made some excuses to her brothers and cousin and headed towards the library. Tiina had joyfully told Jing Mei at lunch that Eliisabet had promised to leave her alone, and everyone had thought the matter was resolved. Jing Mei had plastered a smile onto her face and pretended like the encounter with Eliisabet during third period hadn't happened.

She had realized then that she couldn't rely on her friends to fight this battle for her. She would have to be the one who confronted Eliisabet on the matter. It was her own battle now, and she couldn't ask for help anymore.

Eliisabet was in the library already, typing placidly at an empty table near the entrance. No one else was in the library, so Jing Mei assumed that Eliisabet must have managed to bribe them into going away for a little bit.

"You're here," remarked Eliisabet, peering at Jing Mei over her laptop.

Jing Mei nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Good. Did you get the partner switch?"

Jing Mei shook her head, fear clenching her gut. "You know what the teachers said. It's impossible."

"You are such a bitch," scoffed Eliisabet. "Did you or did you not prank text Anders Densen?"

Jing Mei's palms started sweating. She could deny having done any such thing. She could get of scoot-free! She could convince Eliisabet to leave her alone. She could finally end this large mess with one last, little lie. Everything could turn out fine.

Instead, she nodded slowly, and lowered her eyes. "Yes…But…Look, it was a dare. My cousin and my brother blackmailed me into doing it. I didn't want to!"

"How quaint. Did they insist that you creeper text him as well? How crude."

"No…They just told me to be creative." She paused to pick at a finger to stop her overactive brain from exploding. "What will it take for you to leave me alone? What have I done to you?"

"Jing Mei?"

Jing Mei turned around to see a confused Anders Densen at the library door. Her jaw dropped as she realized that he must have heard the entire conversation.

Eliisabet smirked. "I just want my boyfriend back."


A/N: Was that a cliffhanger I ended you on? Why yes, indeed. =D

Trust me, it'll be worth the wait. I'm weighing two options of how to continue the story. =)