1 1 We're Friends Right?

Rrrrring!!!

The school bell sounded as the preppy teenage students finished their meals and severed their saucy conversations, returning to their classes after the short, lunch break came to an end.

The chilly autumn air swept and swirled the golden leaves around the vast school grounds, while a young woman sat on the green painted bench, book in one hand and a small homemade sandwich in the other.

She smiled and chewed, honey-brown eyes moving excitedly over the words and leaning back into the wooden bench, getting comfortable.

She sat in the shade of a massive oak tree, the oldest in the school grounds; opposite the grand, stone building.

She continued to eat, deeply engrossed in the text covered pages, and her eyes sank into the pictures. Images of the ancient Colosseum in Rome; home to comedies and tragedies, descriptions of the never-sleeping city of New York and breath-taking landscapes of the Sahara desert.

Lina Liang spent her busy days as a Humanties teacher in Chaoyang International School, Beijing and whilst the school was one of the most high-ranking and well-established highschools in the city, she couldn't help but dream of escaping to the places she saw in these books.

"Miss Liang? Miss Liang?" peeped a small voice.

Lina looked up to see one of her students from Grade 10.

"Oh? Roxy, what's wrong?" Lina asked, putting her food away in her brown leather cross-body bag.

"Miss.." the girl stuttered, "You said that ... you... would h--help me practice, my .. my.."

"Your presentation!" Lina interrupted, remembering that she had promised to assist the young girl with her speaking skills and help her get over her speech impediment.

"Sure, let's go!" Lina said cheerfully, standing up and closing her book with a snap!

Lina pulled her bag over her shoulder, and clutched her textbooks close to her chest as she walked the young student up the stairs and into the main-building.

Lina was an average height, slim figured woman of twenty-five; naturally beautiful but always hidden behind her slightly wavy, long brown hair and round glasses.

She was dressed in a check knee-length gray skirt with a plain white button-down shirt, and an emerald green cardigan draped across her ample chest.

A self-confessed 'geek' she had spent her university years with her nose stuck in a book, and quickly got a job as a teacher in order to help support her family.

However she enjoyed teaching; she found pleasure helping others, and shaping the young minds.

"We can use this classroom," Lina said ushering the young girl inside an empty room.

Lina Liang checked her watch as she listened to the young girl read aloud from her index cards, tripping over her words and starting to redden with embarrassment.

"Just speak slowly, imagine that no-one is watching you.." Lina said with an encouraging smile.

"Oh? Excuse me Miss Liang," said a young male teacher opening the classroom door.

Lina jumped up from her seat, "Mr. Wen.. We were just finished, sorry to bother you, but we needed an empty classroom."

The charming man entered and smiled, casually leaning on a desk. He wore a smart blue shirt, tucked into brown slacks; complimenting his fit body. His dark hair, short and slightly messy, with a short scruffy beard on his sharp jaw.

"That's fine Miss Liang... however, I do have a literature class starting in ten minutes." he said glancing at his watch.

Lina blushed and turned to the student who stood between them. Roxy stood frozen, looking between the two.

"Umm... yes! Roxy... let's continue tomorrow."

The girl nodded and promptly left, leaving them alone in the room full of desks, chairs and sexual tension.

"Sorry... Mr.Wen.." Lina apologized as she gathered her belongings.

"Lina... you don't have to call me Mr.Wen," he smiled, stepping closer.

Lina laughed awkwardly,

"Right... Wen ShaoQing..."

He was a colleague of hers for the last three years, only two years older but very charismatic. Wen ShaoQing taught English Literature at the school and he was adored by both the female students and female teachers alike.

Lina admittedly had a thing for him.

Who wouldn't? He was smart, well spoken and extremely hot!

"Lina, we are friends right?" he said with a twinkle in his dark eyes.

Lina blushed and nodded, "Of course..."

"Good, because I wanted to know if we could get something to eat after work? Would you be interested?"

Lina couldn't believe her ears, was Wen ShaoQing asking her out on a date?

Her lips parted, unable to speak an answer. "Oh..." she finally said, "But I have to go home and sort some things out first..."

He smiled, and scratched his stubbled beard, "Fine... I'll meet you at six at Village Café, agreed?"

Lina bit her lip and pushed her round glasses up the bridge of her nose, "Uh huh..." she agreed with shy eyes.

....