Rise

“Ah!” Tang Bingyao cried out. Her eyes were round and wide and her face red as she looked over at Ouyang and the other guys. They weren’t paying attention to her. She turned back towards Ren Rou and shook her head, hushed-shouting, “N-no! No! Me liking him? No way! Don’t joke around like that! I’d never like someone like him!”

Ren Rou observed Tang Bingyao. The red tint painting her face. The fidgeting with her fingers. The constant glances towards Lin Feng. The signs were everywhere. It was so obvious that Tang Bingyao was crushing hard on Lin Feng. Ren Rou could see it from a mile away. But despite it being so obvious, Tang Bingyao was clueless. She really didn’t know what it was that she felt for Lin Feng. They were feelings unlike any she’d ever had before. She bit on her lips, looking down at her shoes, then said, “R-really… I’m telling you the truth. I don’t like him. I think…” She glanced over at Lin Feng, who was still arguing with An Xin, and whispered. “I… I don’t know…”

She likes him. Ren Rou sighed and looked at her friend, worried. Aww, Tang Tang. She knew how much Tang Bingyao and Lin Feng hung out together. The whole esports team knew, and they’d all supported the two. The two seemed like they’d make a great couple. But that was then and this was now. She looked over at An Xin, who was raging at Lin Feng, only short of getting ready to beat him to a pulp. Those two… Why did it have to turn out like this? There was a chemistry between Lin Feng and An Xin that wasn’t there between Lin Feng and Tang Bingyao. They could all see it, even Tang Bingyao. Ren Rou turned back to Tang Bingyao and asked, whispering, “Did you tell him? Does he know that you like him?”

Tang Bingyao glanced over at Lin Feng again. He was still talking with An Xin. I didn’t tell him. I wanted to tell him... She looked back down at her shoes and shook her head. “I don’t know…”

Ren Rou nodded. Tang Bingyao is quiet and Lin Feng is oblivious. Go figure. She would have to somehow get herself to spell the words out for him, or he won’t get it. He won’t get it, will he… She looked at Tang Bingyao. She looks so nervous. Ren Rou smiled and put her hand on Tang Bingyao’s shoulder. “So, what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” Tang Bingyao said. “She’s just… better.” She pursed her lips and shook her head. Bunbun is prettier, a better coach, has more of a personality… She has everything I don’t have. How can Lin Feng ever like me when she’s around? She’s so much better than me… The last few words came out of nowhere. She hadn’t thought of them before, not that bluntly anyways. But now she had. And it tore her heart apart. They hurt so much that she felt like crying, only she didn’t. She bit down hard on her lips and then said, again, “I don’t know.”

Ren Rou didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say. So she hugged her friend. She took Tang Bingyao in her embrace and pulled her as close as she could. There was nothing else she could think of to comfort Tang Bingyao. They’d been good friends for the last two years. She knew Tang Bingyao better than most. She knew how simple and pure Tang Bingyao was, and how she’d never shown more than a moment of interest in a guy. Until Lin Feng. She was different around him. A little more alive. Her first real crush. It’s going to break her… Ren Rou pulled Tang Bingyao even closer, a deep frown on her face as she glanced over at Lin Feng. Does he feel the same for her? It doesn’t look like it...

✹

Ren Rou had been worried for Tang Bingyao, but it seemed there was nothing to worry about. Tang Bingyao wasn’t suffering from a broken heart. At least, it didn’t look like that. She came to school the same as always, and she trained with the esports team, again, the same as always. In fact, she was playing with more focus than before and it was showing. She was making large strides forward and becoming a better player every next day. So much so, that An Xin lacked the superlatives for her.