It was around 4 P.M. as Jamilah and Shang took a long walk outside of the school. The evening looked lovely with the sun slowly setting on the horizon and the sky had soft hues of orange and light pink, perfect for a nice evening walk. Not to mention the fact this evening gave off a nice and warm atmosphere.

Thankfully, today was Friday, and neither of the two teens had to worry about their homework or extracurricular activities for that matter.

As the teens walked into the little quaint neighborhood, there was nothing but silence between the two, well except for autumn leaves crunched under their feet.

Jamilah took a glance at her friend and noticed that his eyes were focused on the path before him, his hands casually in his sweatpants while listening to music with his earbuds.

The princess tore her eyes away from Shang and began to fiddle with the hem of her short baby blue floral dress before Shang looked at her.

She pressed her lips in a firm line and flushed ever so slightly. Why she was glancing at Shang? Wasn't she supposed to be not interested in him and only saw him as a good friend? Yes, but it's kind of difficult when you're friends with a guy who was mistaken for a popular actor or singer because of his good looks.

With that said, Jamilah quickened her pace only for Shang to frown at her for suddenly walking in front of him.

"Jamilah?" Shang asked as he took out one of his earbuds, and shoved it into his pants pocket before gently taking Jamilah's small hand in his, and she stopped immediately in her tracks with a blush dusting her cheeks.

As soon as Shang took her hand, Jamilah felt something that she couldn't quite describe.

Like what she felt was a weird, tingling sensation in her palm as if she felt a tiny spark ignited between her and Shang's hands.

So, Jamilah quickly slipped her small hand from Shang's, making the guy even more confused.

"Um, Jamie? Are you sure that you're okay?" Shang asked as he walked up to Jamilah, who this time was blushing intensely. She felt her palm sweating.

Jamilah turned to Shang and gave him a nervous smile. "Uh yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just-"

"Just what?"

She lets out a shaky sigh. "It's just I felt awkward."

Jamilah wasn't lying but she wasn't telling the truth either. She didn't want to admit that she had a tiny crush on Shang or had feelings for him, which goes against her promise that she wouldn't date or have a crush on any guy.

At the same time though, Shang was completely oblivious that Jamilah was crushing on him. Not even a hint.

Shang blinked. "Oh! I'm so sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I can distance myself if I made you feel weird."

Jamilah looked up at Shang and she could tell he was genuine with his words.

'Oh Shang…' Jamilah thought.

"Oh no!" Jamilah shook her head quickly. "You don't have to, just don't take my hand, I'll feel weirded out."

"Noted," Shang replied as he placed back his earbud in his ear and continued to listen to his music.

Jamilah gave Shang one last look before she resumed her playing music and focused on the path before her.

Jamilah wasn't so sure how much time had passed, it could be 4:30 or minutes to 5 but she felt her stomach grumbling suddenly. Jamilah hadn't been eating much at school today (for a couple of days as a matter of fact) because she and her brothers had to look for Jahir and felt stressed about her mother's declining health and because of this, she lost her appetite.

So, Jamilah gently tapped on Shang's shoulder, causing him to pause in his tracks and turn to her. When Shang turned his head, Jamilah could have sworn she heard her friend sing softly to the song he was listening to with the lines of 'Bam yang gang'.

She frowned. What kind of song Shang was listening to? She wanted to ask but food was much more important.

Shang's dark eyes widened as he took out one of his earbuds. "Yes? What is it?"

"I'm hungry," Jamilah replied. "Do you have any place that sells food around here?"

Shang smiled softly. "Yeah. There's a small cafe down this road. So it might take us like 5-10 minutes to get there."

"Sweet! Cause I'm starving right now."

Shang nodded in understanding as he and Jamilah continued their long walk until they finally stopped at a small, rustic pink cafe with vines sprawled on both sides of the cafe, making it seem more decorative and appealing. The cafe had bright, large, and cursive letters 'Bambi's Cafe' close to the roof.

Jamilah mouthed 'Wow,' as she stared at the building in awe. She'd never seen this place before but from the looks of it, it looks welcoming and cozy.

With that said, Shang pulled the door open for Jamilah to enter, like the gentleman he was and she thanked him before he entered after her.

As soon as the teens stepped inside the small cafe, Jamilah's nose was greeted by the sweet scent of roses mixed with baked goods that just come out of the oven.

Her stomach grumbled even more. Gosh, Jamilah was hungry.

The young Agrabah princess took a moment to examine the cafe; like the outside, the interior had a rustic pink color that made the inside a warm and welcoming atmosphere and a cozy touch too. Jamilah's brown eyes darted to the left and saw a bunch of different flowers on display for sale. Her eyes darted to the right and saw a small bookshelf with some books in it that caught her interest.

While Jamilah was adorning the interior designs and the aesthetics of the cafe, Shang was at the front ordering two waffle cakes for him and her.

"How are you doing, young man?" Mr. Bambi asked, sounding cheerful.

"I'm doing great!" Shang replied as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's just that I've been bombarded with schoolwork, so I didn't have much break. Thankfully, today was my lucky day."

"That's good to hear, Son."

As Shang and Mr. Bambi had their little conversation about school, Jamilah came up beside Shang and Bambi's eyes landed on her.

"Ah, who is this beautiful young lady, Shang? Your girlfriend?"

Upon hearing this question, Shang choked, and Jamilah's cheeks turned tomato red. The last thing Jamilah needed to hear was her and Shang being together as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Seeing the boy choking, Bambi became worried. "Are you alright, Son? Do you need some water?"

Fortunately, Shang composed himself and cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm alright. It's just that Princess Jamilah is my good friend, not my girlfriend."

"Princess Jamilah?" Bambi stared at the young girl and did a double take. "Ah, Princess Jamilah! The only daughter of Sultan Aladdin and Sultana Jasmine!"

Jamilah gave the cafe owner a small smile as Shang chuckled softly and patted her head. "Yup, she's the only daughter!"

"Oh, well I'm sorry if I thought this lovely princess was your girlfriend," Bambi apologized sincerely. "Anyways, here's your order!" He then took out two plates of Blueberry and Strawberry waffle cakes from the display case and gave them to Shang and Jamilah.

"Thank you," Jamilah told the man and smiled at her.

"No worries, Mr. Bambi," Shang assured the older man with a soft smile. "It's fine," then he and Jamilah left from the front and found a small, round table to sit.

"Enjoy your pastry!" Bambi called out.

Once as the teens had settled in their seats, Jamilah wasted no time in devouring her cake, which stunned Shang as he had never liked this before. He guessed that his friend was very hungry.

With that said, Shang took up his fork and dug into his waffle cake while simultaneously watching Jamilah eat her cake.

'Wow, she's really that hungry?' Shang thought.

It didn't take long for the princess to finish her dessert as she covered her mouth and let out a belch, and Shang's widened before looking down at his half-eaten cake.

"Wow Jamie," Shang began, sounding stunned. "Are you really that hungry?"

Jamilah nodded and let out another belch. "Yeah, I haven't been eating much for the past couple of days now."

Shang gasped softly. He had no idea that Jamilah wasn't eating. If he had known, he'd made sure that she ate lots of food to stay strong.

Now Shang became worried as he started to ponder if her brothers knew about it or Nina. No one knows for sure.

Shang was about to ask his friend why she was not eating, but then he thought about it and didn't bother asking. He knew why.

Instead, the older boy looked up and saw whipped cream on Jamilah's chin and above her upper lip. Without any hesitation, Shang took up a napkin and gently began to wipe off the cream from Jamilah's delicate countenance.

Jamilah stared at Shang, her brown eyes widened in surprise. Strangely enough, Jamilah felt something like a spark the moment Shang wiped her face, similar to when he held her hand earlier.

The Agrabah princess smothered a grumble as she didn't like where this was going.

While this was happening, Bambi watched the teens from afar and wondered to himself if Shang and Jamilah were truly friends or a genuine couple in a relationship as he would have the benefit of the doubt that Shang and Jamilah were friends.

"Shang...you know I can wipe my face, right?" Jamilah told him with a hint of irritation in her tone and Shang shrugged.

"Eh, I volunteered anyway," Shang said casually as he took a forkful of cake.

Jamilah shook her head in amusement and asked, "Anyways, how did you get to know about this place? I like it! The vibe, the aesthetic, everything!"

Shang leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his broad chest with a grin. He knew Jamilah was going to ask him this.

"You know Carina?" Shang asked. "Carina Potts?"

"Oh yeah, she graduated this year and works at the library, right?"

Shang nodded. "Yeah. So a couple of months back, it was an early morning, don't remember which day but I digress. I was going to do my morning jog when Carina asked me to get her some chocolate as she was on her monthly. I see no issue with it so I took my jog in this quiet neighborhood when I stopped here, and that's how I get to know about Bambi's Cafe."

Jamilah tapped her chin with her finger. "So did you get the chocolate?"

"Yeah, and I got a small bouquet of Baby's breath flowers to make her feel better."

"Aw that's sweet of you Shang," Jamilah smiled. "Though, you do realize that Carina had a crush on you, right?"

"She did? I thought she needed my help, especially in her condition."

"That too but she had a crush on you. It's just that Carina doesn't know how to tell you. Lemme guess, did she act strange after she felt better that same day?"

"Yeah, I think so," Shang replied, sounding a bit unsure. He couldn't remember if Carina showed any signs of her crushing on him or maybe she did and Shang didn't notice.

"She had a crush on you," Jamilah stated with a smirk tugging on her lips. "At least she's not like Arabella, who was stalking you at that point."

"Oh God, please don't remind me," Shang said through gritted teeth, looking uncomfortable at the mentioning of Arabella's name and Jamilah chuckled.

After Shang had eaten his waffle cake, he and Jamilah went over to the flower section of the cafe and picked out a small bouquet of Baby's breath before purchasing it. Then, Jamilah made her way over to the mini-book section to scan which book caught her interest.

She found a book titled 'My True Love,' and it was a novella with 15 chapters. Jamilah hummed, this was a perfect book for her when she had nothing to do or take off some of the stress she was having.

When Shang came and saw the book in his friend's hand, he was intrigued which took Jamilah by surprise as she had never seen Shang as the type of guy to be interested in romance novellas.

Shang later on explained to Jamilah that he was not bound by his parents, meaning he was neither like them and was his person. So as long as romance novels or shows aren't corny or cringy, that's good enough for Shang. Unlike Lonnie who was still trying to figure out what she likes. Shang can't blame her though, after all, Lonnie was his baby sister.

As soon as Jamilah bought the novella, she and Shang waved Bambi goodbye and he called out saying that the teens should come again before they left the small cafe and head back to their dorm.

At the boys' dorm….

Jamilah and Shang stood in front of Shang's dorm door after they had their long walk from the cafe to the school. If Jamilah was honest with herself, she enjoyed the walk. It was refreshing.

"Y'know Shang," Jamilah began. "I enjoyed our long walk and you were right, I felt much more relaxed."

Shang gave her a warm smile. "I know you would like it. So, are you looking forward to more?"

Jamilah nodded eagerly. "Definitely! If I had the time that is."

"Great!" Shang paused for a moment as his body shifted ever so slightly and started to swing his right foot awkwardly.

And Jamilah noticed.

To ease the awkward tension between the two, Jamilah asked, "So, see you at supper?"

"Oh, sure!" Shang replied with a nod. "See you at supper, Jamilah," he smiled at the Agrabah princess before he entered his dorm and gently closed the door.

Jamilah sighed softly and shook her head. Oh, Shang, you're such a sweet goof.

"Well, well, well, I see that you're having a good time with your boyfriend," a voice said teasingly.

Jamilah's smile was replaced with a frown as she turned around to see Jay standing a few meters away from her with his arms folded and a smirk tugging his lips.

Jamilah raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, pretty little miss," Jay said as he made a step towards the girl. "I see that you were having a good time with your boyfriend. I saw the both of you left the school for a walk."

Jamilah planted her hands on her hips and gave Jay a look. "First of all, Ew, and second, Shang is not my boyfriend, but my friend. Though, I can say the same thing with you and Mal being close."

Jay's lips were slightly agape then pressed his lips in a firm line. Jamilah got him.

Jay flushed. "Touché. Though Mal and I go way back since we were living on the Isle."

"Same with Shang and I. We've known each other for years."

"Though why are you so grossed out by boyfriends?" Jay questioned with an arched brow. "What have they done that made you feel so offended?"

Jamilah sighed. She didn't want to bring up her past as it hurt her every time she thought about it. Like how it was Jay asking, she guessed it wouldn't hurt if she told him the summary of her past relationship.

"Ok, I'll tell you," she said. "But first are you busy?"

Jay shook his head. "Nah, practice was over about an hour ago."

"Great!" Jamilah's lips curled into a tiny smile. "Meet me at the bleachers."

"Sure thing, Pretty Little Miss," Jay winked.

Jamilah rolled her eyes. "Don't call me that."

Lol Jamilah XD