42 Play (3)

Pei Ling walked behind Jun Yang as they stepped into the classroom. From his vantage point, it was impossible for Jun Yang to realize Pei Ling had been watching him in an inconspicuous manner.

The first step of her plan which was to seek reconciliation with Jun Yang had gone off smoothly. If she was given more chance to interact with Jun Yang in the future, then it meant that there was still hope for her. As long as that door was not close, Pei Ling had faith she could slowly nudge it open. All she needed was persistence, patience and some sprinkling of luck.

Or at least that was what she thought until she saw Jun Yang's head turn involuntarily to the back of the class like he was working on autopilot. The young man did not seem to even realize this had become a habit of his.

Since Pei Ling was walking behind Jun Yang, she could not see his facial expression, but from the way the young man's shoulders tighten and the barely noticeable quickening of steps, it felt like he had encountered something frightening or exhilarating, something that could make the young man's heart race.

Out of curiosity, Pei Ling also turned her head down that direction. She saw Feng Qi at the back of the class. His head was turned her way but he was looking at the person in front of her with a mischievous grin on his face. He did not even seem to register Pei Ling in his view.

It did not take long for her to understand the implication that this represented, and Pei Ling's jaw tightened. In the pursuit of her goal, Pei Ling knew this was a hurdle that she had to overcome.

She shuffled quietly to her seat which was behind Jun Yang's and the shape of a plan was already slowly forming in her mind.

…

The first class for the day was English Language and Literature. Mr. Sam walked into class and he began with, "Good morning, class. Today, I have something important to announce." That rarely led to something good.

Confirming his student's dread, Mr. Sam said, "For your class assignment, we are going to have a play. You will be required to direct and act in a play."

Voices of dissent and annoyance echoed across the class like a palpable wave. Mr. Sam had expected the response because he ignored the complaint and said, "The assignment will be important because it will encompass 30 percent of your semester credit. This means that tests will be less conclusive to ensure that you pass my class." This would be good news for those had a hard time to score in the exam but majority of the class would have no issue doing that. In fact, most of them would prefer a written test than an activity, especially one that might cause them to embarrass themselves. This reaction affirmed Mr. Sam's earlier observation that Asian students were more studious than expressive.

He knew it would be difficult to convince his students to do this but his hands were tied. This was not really his decision to make. Mr. Sam explained, "This is part of the academy's initiative to train its students to be more well-rounded in other aspects other than studying. A dramatic exercise will train you to be more expressive, emotive and more comfortable with your body language."

When the academy president came to Mr. Sam with this idea, he was on board with it, but once he gave it some thought and considered the complication that this might bring, he started to have second thoughts but it was already too late.

And now he was shoving the responsibility back to the president. By telling the students openly that this was the president's idea, they would have to take it up with the president if they wished to not get themselves involved in the play.

Whether the students were able to get the president to cancel the play was out of Mr. Sam's concern, he only needed to make sure he kept his teaching plan going. Personally, he did not think the students would have the power to make the president change his mind. Unlike Mr. Sam, the president was Chinese and he had ties to the correct people within the community.

The power that had no problem moving Mr. Sam would have a harder time influencing the president. Furthermore, the educational philosophy behind the president's initiative was correct, it was not like he was purposely doing this to create trouble for the students.

With that out of the way, Mr. Sam continued to elaborate for his class the details of the assignment. "You will be separated into groups for this assignment. The size of the group is dependent on your preference but the size must be bigger than two and smaller than five. You will work on the script together to come up with the plot and the characters. Naturally, themes that are too sensitive will not be allowed. Please be reasonable. The school has borrowed us the auditorium to do the plays. After you have come up with the scripts, hand them to me and I will arrange the schedule for the performance.

"You can use the rest of this class to discuss the details of your play. The script doesn't need to be overly long because this is more of an extra-curriculum activity than an actual production.

"If you need any props, come up with a list beforehand and inform me. I will try my best to get them either with the help of the president or the academy's drama club."

After that, Mr. Sam sat down and the class started to mobilize.

Pei Ling came to Jun Yang in the company of one of her girlfriends. "Jun Yang, do you mind if we join you?" Pei Ling asked shyly.

Since Jun Yang had not attached himself to any group, he agreed. The girls pulled their chairs to sit around Jun Yang and they started to plan, "Jun Yang, what kind of plot do you think we should write?"

Suddenly, a voice broke through their discussion, "Do you mind if I join?"