“What do you mean Sun Ce likes a boy?” Wen Chou laughs. “She’s known to be the biggest woman supremacist on this side of the planet!”

  Yan Liang nods. “Yeah, with all my memories back, I remember thinking she swung the other way.”

  “Memories back?” Wen Chou and Qu Yi turn to Yan Liang, both wearing identical confused expressions.

  “Ah! I just meant, like as far as I can remember!” Yan Liang nods, sweating slightly as she averts her eyes. She thinks to herself that she needs to be more careful now that she has a secret to keep.

  Zhou Yu sighs. “I know. I know. It sounds silly to say out loud, but I can assure you that is the only explanation.”

  Qu Yi frowns. “Well, I don’t know if I’d be that useful in crushes and love.” She blushes and averts her eyes. “But I do know a lot about boys, I suppose?” She thinks about how she used to be one and is still one on the inside.

  “Well perhaps if I explain what transpired, that may help.”

  At that moment, the world around them suddenly grows wobbly as a flashback begins. Zhou Yu clears her throat. Oh? Wait, Zhou Yu is going to be narrating this flashback? Sweet, I get to take some time off. Enjoy this student speaking to you.

  Due to the wrestling match that had transpired in the class a week prior, we had taken the week to fix up the classroom; however, all our tennis supplies had been completely destroyed. Thanks to Mr. Lei, we were given funding to replace them, so that was what Sun Ce and my task on Saturday. The two of us had walked out of the schoolyard bright and early. We had a lot of tennis racquets that we needed to replace, and there’s a local store out in town we get a discount, courtesy of Sister Ce’s mom who is friends with the owner.

  I was wearing a T-Shirt that matched my hair and some shorts. Sun Ce wore the same outfit she always does.

  As the two of us headed out, Sun Ce suddenly perked up, she took notice of a guitar that was playing.

  “Huh! Hey, Yu! That’s a lot of people in this direction!” Sun Ce pointed towards a park where there happened to be quite a large conglomerate of people. I figured it was a street performance.

  “But, Ce, we really need to grab this stuff. None of our classmates can practice today since you already procrastinated it-” As I turn back towards her, she was already walking away! “Ce!?” I pursued quickly after. As I catch up with her, I began to try to talk some sense into her. “Ce, you cannot act so recklessly! As president you need to make sure your class is in order firs-”

  Sun Ce turns to me, I was thankful to get an acknowledgement of my words. However… “This guitar is really fire, Zhou Yu!”

  “WHA?!” She ignored me! “Sun Ce! I ask you to be serious-”

  Next thing I saw is she began sneaking in-between the thick crowd of people! “WHAGH! SUN CE!” Someone from the crowd shushes me. I looked to my hands at the plastic bucket I had brought to take our newly bought supplies home, I couldn’t fit into the crowd with it. I quickly looked around and noticed a nice looking woman sitting on a bench with her dog. I approached and pleaded with her to watch our bucket for a few moments. She thankfully agreed. Without wasting another second I sprinted back to retrieve Sun Ce.

  Sun Ce was sneaking through the crowd, her flexibility making it easier for her to sneak through than I. As she approached the front, she noticed who was playing the music. It was two boys, one taller with black-raven hair, the other was shorter with light brown neck length hair, both playing guitars. Once Sun Ce set her eyes on the taller one. It seemed she was paralyzed! I had finally snuck through the crowd and grabbed her arm.

  “Ce, we need to focus on the task at hand.” I pulled her out of the crowd. Surprisingly she put up no resistance. As I went back to the lady with the dog, I thanked her profusely for watching our bucket. I led Sun Ce back down on the route we were going. I made sure that she held the bucket this time.

  As we walked though, Sun Ce was out of it. She wasn’t talking in the slightest. She didn’t show any interest, and any attempt I tried to talk was met with grunts. We had finally arrived at our destination. We purchased all the new tennis racquets and because of the discount, we managed to grab a few grips and strings and some bags! As we were heading back, Sun Ce still hadn’t said anything!

  “Ce? Are you feeling, okay?” I put my hand to her forehead to feel for a fever. But she was perfectly healthy. She silently walked back with me.

  As we headed back the way we came Sun Ce noticed the same two people walking with a full guitar case on their back. Instantly I saw life return to her eyes, she drops our bucket which made a loud sound on the ground due to all our new equipment.

  “Ce?! What’s the matter-” I started to say, but she stormed up to the tall boy!

  “You he-devil!” She yelled loudly to the surprised boy. “Foul Incubus! What foul sorcery did you pull on me?! You are trying to confuse me with your magic, evil warlock!” She then pointed dramatically to herself. “I challenge you to a race! If I win, you will explain what curse you laid on me!”

  Back in reality, Zhou Yu finishes her story, prompting Sun Ce to groan and cover her face in shame.

  Qu Yi stares at Zhou Yu, mouth agape and with raised eyebrows. She slowly shifts her gaze to Sun Ce. “Well, my solution would be to do everything possible to prevent her from seeing that poor guy again.”

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  Sun Ce sets her face on the desk in despair at Qu Yi’s response.

  Zhou Yu jumps back in shock. “Miss Qu! I had the very same thought as you; however, ever since then Sun Ce has been beside herself in despair!” She points to Sun Ce whose face is still on the desk. Sun Ce wordlessly reaches up, grabs a red folder, and props it up in front of her face as a shield.

  Zhou Yu looks to both Wen Chou and Yan Liang. “Surely, we can’t just have her give up on him, right?”

  Wen Chou rubs her neck awkwardly and shrugs. “I liked the parts with the dog.”

  Yan Liang scratches the side of her cheek. She never exactly had a crush in her previous life since she was so isolated. In her current life she has never had a crush as she has only gone to all girls’ schools and hasn’t exactly met any boys that she’s comfortable around. “I wouldn’t know… I never had a crush on anyone.”

  Zhou Yu turns back to Qu Yi, eyes pleading, silently begging her for help.

  Qu Yi looks at the pleading eyes of Zhou Yu and the red folder still hiding Sun Ce’s face. “L-Look,” she stammers, “any crush I’ve had on someone was always unrequited. Besides, I wasn’t the most popular kid at my last school.”

  “Yes, but you at least know how to communicate with boys,” Zhou Yu insists. “And you just admitted you have had crushes on boys before. You’re the best lead we have!”

  Qu Yi’s eyes widen as a huge blush spreads on her face. Most of her wants to correct Zhou Yu, to explain that she completely misunderstood. Qu Yi’s crushes have always been on girls. But that’s a conversation for another time. She figures it’s best to keep that piece of information secret. Right now she doesn’t want to discuss that part of her past or arouse suspicion. Qu Yi’s mind races. “Well, I mean, I am a boy. Well, not physically right now, but, after this is all over, I’ll be back to being a guy again. So, I suppose I could try explaining how I’d want to be treated if a girl likes me? I don’t know how effective that is in this situation, though. I’m not the boy she called a ‘he-devil.’” She brings her hand to her chin, mulling it over. “Although, I’m sure I’ve spouted stupid stuff before when I’ve talked with a girl I found cute. If a girl admitted she was just flustered, perhaps I would understand…”

  Qu Yi folds her arms and grunts to herself. “I-I suppose I can try to help…”

  Zhou Yu’s face shifts from despair to a warm, relieved smile. “Thank you so much, Miss Qu! We will do anything we can to help you.”

  Suddenly Sun Ce sits up slamming her hands on the desk. “Zhou Yu! What makes you think I even actually like this boy?! It has to be a curse he put on me, right?! Boys are gross!”

  Wen Chou snickers to herself. “You sound straight out of elementary school.”

  Sun Ce folds her arms blushing, as she glares out the window. “I don’t even know why you brought these people here! This is between me and that boy! I need to make him give up this curse he put on me!” She suddenly jumps up from her seat. “You know what? In fact, I don’t even need to have him give it up! I’m strong enough to use sheer willpower to overcome this! I don’t even have to see him again for the rest of my life! We don’t need to be hung up on this!”

  Zhou Yu sighs. “Well, I’m happy you finally said something, Ce. However, this is the first time you’ve spoken in over forty-eight hours. It seems that you of all people are the most hung up.”

  “Bah!” Sun Ce stomps to the door. “Look, we already got their advice! The short one says I just need to never see him again! I’ll do just that!” She flings open the office door, instantly drawing the attention of every student in the classroom. Without missing a beat, she shouts “I’m gonna go wrestle something!” Marching towards the classroom exit she slams her hands against the door frame. “WHERE’S TAISHI CI?!” With that she storms out, slamming the door behind her.

  “Oh dear…” Zhou Yu sighs, pressing two fingers against her temples. “She’s in denial.”

  “Denial is putting it lightly.” Wen Chou mutters as she folds her arms.

  “Delusion is probably the better word for it…” Yan Liang sighs.

  “We come all this way just to have her stomp out wanting to fight somebody.” Wen Chou frowns.

  A small girl with long red hair wearing the same uniform as the rest of Sun Ce’s class rushes into the office. She avoids the three roommates and only approaches Zhou Yu. “Sister Yu?” She mutters trying to avoid being heard by the other three. “Is big sis Ce all right?”

  Zhou Yu looks to her side. “Oh, Sun Quan.” She pats her head instinctively. “Um, your older sister is just… going through some troubles right now.” She offers a reassuring smile. “We’ll be working on it. Don’t worry.”

  Qu Yi sneaks a peak at the girl. The moment their eyes meet, Sun Quan quickly hides behind Zhou Yu, clearly uncomfortable around strangers. Qu Yi recognizes her, she had met this girl on her first day, but she never heard her speak louder than a mutter. Qu Yi can’t blame her for being shy. After all, she knows how that feels.

  Wen Chou shrugs, snapping Qu Yi out her thoughts. “Well, not much we can do if Sun Ce refuses help.”

  “I suppose you can’t help those who don’t want to be helped,” Zhou Yu agrees. “I’ll see to it the next time we need you; she’ll be more ready to talk.”

  Qu Yi stands up, rubbing her right arm with her left awkwardly. “And next time, please just send a note.”

  “Right.” Zhou Yu sighs, stepping out of her office as she rubs her temples. “We will make sure you are not kidnapped.”

  “Abducted,” Qu Yi corrects, still hung up over being referred to as a kid.

  Wen Chou and Yan Liang walk out of the classroom with her.

  “Anyway, we sort of explained where we went in the classroom group chat.” Yan Liang chuckles to Qu Yi. “So, I suppose we should head to baseball practice.”

  Qu Yi blushes. “I hope you didn’t tell them I was picked up with a single hand and carried off.”

  Yan Liang averts her eyes, as nervous sweat streams down her face. “W-Well…”

  “Great.” Qu Yi pouts, folding her arms. “But I suppose that’s better than having them think I just ditched or got cold feet.”

  “You know, school has gotten a lot more interesting since you showed up Newbie.” Wen Chou laughs, casually resting her hands behind her head, elbows sticking out.

  Qu Yi shrugs, chuckling. “Well, my life sure got a lot more interesting since I showed up also. I wasn’t expecting this when I woke up today.”

  “I don’t think any of us were expecting the morning to be like this.”

  "But it did have some interesting developments!" Yan Liang smirks. She suddenly turns to Qu Yi, dragging out her name with a teasing lilt. “Qu Yiiiiii!~”

  Qu Yi, in response, raises an eyebrow at her. “Yeah?”

  “You never told me you had a crush on a guy!” Her eyes sparkle as she clasps her hands together excitedly. “What’s his name? What was his hair color? What was the type of guy? Is it the name you mentioned at dinner last week?”

  Qu Yi’s eyes widen. “E-Eh?!”

  Wen Chou perks up, grinning. “Oh! That is a neat development! I wonder if it was a sports star.”

  “No, with a girl as sensitive as Qu Yi, maybe it was someone like a pianist or a poet!”

  “But Qu Yi is too short and nice for someone like that! She would need someone to protect her!” Wen Chou gives an approving thumbs-up.

  Yan Liang folds her arms. “You can’t be too nice for someone! This is a boyfriend, not some bodyguard!” She suddenly gasps. “What if Qu Yi is into pretty boys?!”

  “Bah! She’d probably be into someone stronger!”

  The two continue debating back and forth, completely ignoring the fact that Qu Yi is standing right next to them.

  Qu Yi lets out a long sigh. It is too late to correct the misunderstanding. Maybe she should have said something sooner. She slumps slightly. “Well, I guess I have to get used to this for the next while.”