Shengliver’s Note: Was Jack a lucky dog?

 

Ava was my deskmate in middle school. So pretty and cute was the girl that I could not help casting glances at her. Chatting with Ava was a feast.

My class director, Mr Zhang, was our Chinese language instructor as well. Expert at his art, he was able to transport us to scenes that the poems and essays in our textbook portrayed.

One day, while conducting a lesson in the classroom, Mr Zhang stopped talking suddenly. Then he sped across the room to me and demanded, “Give it to me.” I pretended not to have heard what he was saying, though his every single word had fallen upon my ears. Meanwhile, I released a slip of paper furtively from my palm onto the floor, trying not to draw his attention. So eagle-eyed was my teacher that he detected it, anyway.

The master bent over and picked the note up before he said to the class in a chirpy voice, “Boys and girls, what should I do with this note?”

“Read it! Read it out loud!” the boys and girls yelled cheekily, in chorus. Their interest built up while Ava and I were blushing out of nerves.

Mr Zhang, eyes riveted on the note in hand, went ahead, “Jack, why is your physics so good? Can you help me a bit with my homework after school?”

Hearing that, my classmates were disappointed, for they had been licking their lips in anticipation of something way juicier. Both Ava and I, however, went beetroot.

After a while, the class director said apologetically, “I have got them wrong, class. Please forgive me, Jack. There is no doubt that your classmates should learn from you two.”

From here on out, my classmates put in a lot of hard work. Of course, Ava and I were not willing to fall behind. To the credit of our effort, we both shone in the final exam and made it to YYHS in the end.

My reader, do you know what actually happened later that day, after the note episode in the classroom?

When school was over, I was summoned to the teachers’ office, where Mr Zhang, as poker-faced as ever, returned the paper slip to me. He let me go without any lecturing. At the time, there were some of his colleagues in the room.

Once outside the office, I unfolded the note.

It went, “I like you. Do you like me, Jack?”