Chapter 2: a hungry animal diving at food...

When it was time for break, the school bells were rung and the students all rushed out of their classrooms. Lily was no exception as she left the classroom with Li Ming in tow.

Meanwhile, Dasielle also went out for recess. Strolling with his long hands and keeping his hands in his trouser pockets, he looked exceptionally dashing and instantly captured the attention of the other students around the corridors.

Soon, the moderately filled corridor became even more filled to the brim as Dasielle was immediately surrounded by the other students who were so eager to talk to him. Some fangirls even wanted him to sign on their notes with his autograph. This was the scene Song Lillian saw on her way back to the classroom, as recess was almost over. By this time, students should be entering their classrooms. Why is today an exception ? Song Lillian thought to herself. "Wow! that's the power of having exceptional looks." Seeing Dasielle at the centre of the crowd, Li Ming said as she sighed.

" Uhm Sis Li, why don't we wait till the crowd has dispersed by at least half ?" Song Lillian turned to Li Ming and asked with a fawning smile. Without saying a word, Li Ming simply grabbed Lily's arm, and walked straight into the crowd. Meanwhile,Dasielle was still signing the autographs. To be honest, he was just writing the first letter of his name on their notebooks. However, the girls were already charmed by this. Amongst them, were some girls who were even screaming

"You're so handsome!"

"You're the treasure in our hearts!" .... Weaving through the crowd while holding Song Lillian's"Gosh! What is wrong with these crazy fangirls ?" Li Ming said in anger. As more of the crowd were pushing forward to get Dasielle's autograph signed on their notebooks, Li Ming lost her grip on Lily and she was pushed forward. As her small frame was suddenly pushed in all directions,Lily closed her eyes in despair and felt that she was going to get trampled by all these people. Maybe tomorrow's headline would be :

_ Tragic Accident at a Highschool, Young Girl Mistakenly Stomped to Death._

Her eyes were so tightly closed, that she didn't even know where she was going. Someone suddenly pushed her from behind and she opened her eyes immediately. Seconds later, instead of the cold hard floor she imagined, she fell into a pair of warm and strong arms...

Her eyes widened immediately as she suddenly felt a wave of panic overcome her.

_ Dasielle Vinci ! _

Lily didn't fall to the ground. Instead, she had fallen into Dasielle's arms like a hungry animal diving at food, in such a big crowd! So embarrassing ! She thought. Now she really wanted to find somewhere to hide. She finally understood why the hallway was so full even after quite sometime. Dasielle was stuck here signing autographs! With furrowed eyebrows, Dasielle spun the marker in his other hand.

" Aren't you going to let go ?" Hearing his voice, Lily came back to her senses and realized that her face was still pressed against his chest ! Feeling embarrassed and a bit disoriented, she tried to get away from his arms but became even more flustered and fell down again. Dasielle furrowed his brows even more as he involuntarily caught her again. Before Lily got a chance to say thank you, she heard his deep voice ring beside her ear in a way that seemed to be teasing her ? She wasn't so sure. " You seem to be enjoying this, haven't you had enough ?" Lily widened her eyes as her face flushed red. " You seem to have misunderstood something. Others may enjoy bumping into you, but I don't and I'm definitely not interested in you at all !" She summoned up her courage and retorted. "Oh..." Dasielle nodded. " Alright then." As his voice trailed off, Lily felt her waist being released and she hadn't yet gained her balance from the previous fall. As a result, she fell once again to the floor which resulted to several laughs from the crowd. Dasielle glanced at her before walking away from the crowd, not signing anymore autographs which left the rest of the crowd disappointed.

" Lily, are you okay?" A worried male voice rang out as he reached out a hand to help her up. Lily instantly recognized the voice in front of her. Looking up and seeing the familiar handsome face in front of her, Lily sighed in embarrassment,as she stood up from the floor with him help. "Thanks Ames." " Can you still walk ?" Austin Ames glanced at her legs while stifling a laugh. She noticed it and glared at him before making her through the crowd. After much difficulty, she finally made it to her classroom.

For the rest of the class, Lily sat absentmindedly while chewing her pen. She couldn't hear Li Ming calling her and did not respond even when the teacher called out to her.

" Lily Song ! " Lily finally came back to her senses when Li Ming pinched her and gestured towards the angry teacher calling out to her. She quickly stood up with an embarrassed smile on her face as she noticed the gazes of everyone directed at her. " Yes..."

" I said do u understand how we arrived at this conclusion ?" The teacher repeated.

" I... I don't know when you said it" Lily replied with her head lowered. ' she looks obedient like this ... and a little dumb ' Dasielle thought to himself as he looked at the girl sitting in front of him. Thinking back to how they always seemed to cross paths, he tilted his head and the corners of his lips curled up a bit to form an arc. " Pay more attention next time." He heard the teacher say before Lily was allowed to sit, and the lessons continued.

When the bells rang for the close of the day, Lily simply carried her school bag and walked out. " Hey! Lily wait for me! " Behind her, Austin Ames shouted to her and quickly ran over while panting. " Hmph ! Stupid Ames you're so slow, I'm leaving you behind." Lily said as she walked even faster. It didn't help though as he caught up with her soon enough. " How can u bear to leave your childhood friend behind ?" He asked with an aggrieved tone of voice. Lily could not be bothered by this drama king as she simply took out her phone and played her favorite game as they walked home.

When she got home, she learnt that the house just opposite hers has been rented and the tenant will be moving in by the next week. She didn't think much of it though, buh she had a little impression of the building as her father had wanted to rent it for business, before he decided to use the ground floor of their house. Her father, Mr Song owned a tea shop where they also sold coffee. After having a little chat with her father, Lily walked upstairs to her room and slumped on her bed. Thankfully, the next day was a Saturday. She thought as she dozed off on her bed.