No Waiting(4)

16

When I returned to the studio the next day, I told Charmaine and Leticia about the whole thing, including what happened at the Freshers' Night Gala.

After hearing that, Leticia rolled up her sleeves and yelled that she would teach Stanley and Sienna a lesson for me.

Charmaine said with a cold face, "It's time to retaliate and slap some people, but you have to find a good way." Then, she handed me an entry form.

The entry form was for the school's annual fashion exhibition.

She looked into my eyes just like she looked at Stanley and spoke to me that summer. Her tone was still as firm as before. "Jessalyn, you have to face some obstacles by yourself. Do you dare to do so?"

I finally looked her in the eye and nodded.

I had to say that Charmaine was a really ruthless person. She used my original pearl-beaded mermaid dress as a design for the competition. However, she changed the white silk to black and the graceful fishtail design to an ancient Gregan Ionic-style hem.

With her suggestions in mind, I made a second modification. I cut off the lace and other elements mercilessly and used more concise and neat lines in the design. I began making slits at the waist to ensure I could walk with style. I was both handsome and sexy.

The designers were Charmaine and me.

Of course, I was also the model.

When I came out in the dress, Leticia's exaggerated tone was even worse than before. She reached out her hand to me and said, "Jess, you are like a vampire princess walking out of a medieval castle. You are beautiful and handsome. Give me a chance!"

Charmaine and Zachariah slapped her hand away at the same time.

Soon, it was the night of the fashion exhibition.

Sienna's number was in the front row, and I sneered when she came out.

Perhaps she also knew that the pearl-beaded mermaid dress was extremely in line with her sweet temperament. She did not modify the overall layout of the dress but put a belt around her waist and a cape behind her.

However, the effect was changed from a pure little mermaid princess to a young woman in heavy clothes.

Then, it was my turn to get on stage.

I took a few deep breaths, and my fingertips trembled slightly. Charmaine and Zachariah held my hands, and I finally calmed down.

When I walked onto the stage, my heart, which had just calmed down, became restless again.

I had never been watched like that before.

There were respectful and admiring glances. No one neglected or rejected me.

The audience was silent for a few seconds, and then everyone cheered.

The classmates in the front row said, "Who is this model? Is she from our school?"

"I think so. Don't all the contestants have to be from our school?"

Some of my classmates recognized me. "Oh, my God, is this not the fool in our class?" Someone next to him poked him, and he hurriedly changed his words. "This is Jessalyn from our class!"

Sienna, sitting in the first row, suddenly turned her face. Stanley looked at me in disbelief.

I read surprise, shock, and some emotions I could not understand in his eyes.

He had never looked at me with such complicated eyes.

I walked across the room expressionlessly.

Whistles began to sound on both sides of the stage, and even my two other roommates in my dormitory came together. "Jessalyn, give us a chance."

Someone had recognized the dress. "It's like the one Sienna just wore."

Charmaine had already arranged for the crowd to start popularizing the truth.

Comprehension dawned on everyone's faces.

They looked at Sienna contemptuously and even looked down on Stanley, the original witness.

After the show, I returned backstage. Zachariah was waiting for me at the waiting place. He held me in his arms as soon as I got off the stage.

I wondered what was wrong.

Zachariah's aggrieved voice came from my shoulder. "Jess, you are so beautiful. What should I do? I don't want them to look at you at all. You are mine."

I burst into laughter. While I was coaxing Zachariah, Stanley also came backstage and said, "Jess, can we talk?"

Zachariah raised his head from my shoulder, and his gaze was instantly sharp and directed at Stanley.

Stanley did not step back. He looked straight at me and said, "I didn't understand before. Jess, I don't want to give up."

17

Stanley was missing, and no one could reach him.

Even Zayn and Nancy called me anxiously.

When I moved out of the dormitory, Sienna found me and asked, "Where is Stanley?"

I felt very helpless.

In the past, when I was around him, everyone ignored me.

Now that I would never get close to him again, everyone came to me.

Before Stanley disappeared, he only left a message for Sienna to break up with her.

After all, he was the son of Zayn and Nancy. Even my parents came to ask me what was happening, and I could not completely ignore them.

I asked everyone who knew Stanley, but there was still no news.

Presently, it was summer vacation, and the dormitory building of the school was only open to those in their junior and senior years, so I had to go home.

It was already evening when I got home. A man was sitting downstairs in the flower bed. It was a dusty Stanley.

He immediately stood up and ran to me when he saw me, spreading his right hand to me to reveal a rosary necklace.

I finally knew where he had gone.

"Jess, as you said in high school, the place you want to go most is Xandenia. You want to have a rosary necklace that lovers make for each other. I know you won't accept my invitation, so I brought you the rosary necklace. Oh, and these are snacks from Zedblick. I remembered that an uncle who went on a business trip brought them back. You seemed to like them very much."

I stopped him from rummaging through his bag to take it out.

To be honest, I realized that I had some influence on Stanley in the past few years.

All his good behaviors were copied from what I had done for him.

At that time, I still thought it was his personality. He was intermittently indifferent to me and did not respond to my goodwill gestures. Now, it seemed that it was not that he did not know how to do it but that he did not want to.

Now, he began to think about it.

However, I did not want it anymore.

"Stanley, give up," I said to him in the cold moonlight.

Just like what I once said to myself.

18

I underestimated Stanley's stubbornness.

The next morning, my mother pulled me out of my bed.

Stanley came to my house with a series of Zedblick specialties he carried back.

My parents were a little shocked. After all, in their impression, Stanley had always been a silent and arrogant young man who was not very approachable.

Zayn and Nancy also came to the door. Our neighbor's children were having a graduation celebration. The two families were going together.

I did not bother to wash my hair. I sat on my seat with my messy hair, watching the adults talk and laugh.

Stanley stared at me across the table.

During the banquet, my parents talked with Zayn and Nancy. They recalled the time when we were young. Nancy wiped tears from her eyes because she had laughed too hard. She said, "It was so fun at that time. After the two children quarreled, they stuck together. I always wanted Jess to be my daughter-in-law."

My parents laughed.

Stanley straightened his back.

I smiled awkwardly.

When we got home, another uninvited guest came.

Zachariah flashed his signature smile, waved to me, and then came to my parents to take the things in their hands very naturally. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Gaffner. My name is Zachariah. I am Jess' boyfriend."

Mom and Dad opened their mouths wide in surprise. "O-Okay, hello."

Stanley clenched his fists behind him.

My parents looked at me and seemed to realize something.

My parents were always open-minded. Even so, their hearts could not withstand the shock of their silent daughter suddenly having so many suitors.

My father talked to me alone once and respected my opinion. After all, I was an adult, and he believed that I could solve it properly.

When we came out, my mom's laughter rang out from the living room.

Zachariah was watching a primetime soap opera with her. He was not playing with his mobile phone. He also participated in the plot discussion from time to time, making my mother laugh.

My mother even asked him, "Does Jess bully you?"

Zachariah smiled shyly. "Mrs. Gaffner, what are you saying? Jess is very kind to me. Sometimes I worry that I don't deserve her."

Then, he smiled gently at me.

19

I made an appointment with Stanley to talk to him. We agreed to meet at Juset Park, where we always went when we were young.

It was the place where I handed him my favorite peach-flavored lollipop tremblingly when I was nine. He told me I was a silly person.

Later, I was rescued from the toilet by him. When we passed the place on the way home, he told me that ugly women were not qualified to cry.

I followed him for more than ten years. I could clearly understand his every expression and characteristic.

I knew that he was just unwilling to accept it at that moment.

I asked Stanley, "Do you remember when I was in middle school, a little boy waited for me there every day? You pushed him into the sand and asked if he was a pervert." I looked at Stanley standing before me while I sat on the swing and enjoyed the evening breeze. "I did not realize until later that he had a crush on me. I believe you knew it as well. You could not accept it."

Stanley wanted to hug me. I stepped back, got off the swing, and distanced myself from him.

He pursed his lips. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Jess, don't comment on my feelings at will."

He continued, "At that time, I asked you about Charmaine, but I was not trying to pursue her again. I want to settle what's left within my heart. These days, I've been thinking a lot. I've understood many things and have thought about my feelings. I'll give you back everything you've given me in the past, and I'll learn to be nice and respond to you."

He paused for a while before he continued, "I hope the person around me is still you."

I felt it did not matter anymore. I looked at the lights in the distance and said slowly, "I feel good now. For the first time, I feel I can shine brightly. I do not follow others silently and be a shadow that can never be seen."

I whispered, "And these are the things I haven't gotten in the years around you. Charmaine was right. If Charmaine treated someone nicely for no reason, she would lose herself. I'll give it back to you as well."

I walked slowly to the entrance of the park.

Stanley shouted my name behind me, vaguely choking, "Jess, can you stay?"

I turned around and smiled at him for the first time without grievance or depression.

I believed it was time for Stanley to grow up.

20

Zachariah walked around the garden downstairs anxiously. He immediately sat upright with no expression on his face when he saw me coming back.

I teased him, "Are you waiting for me?"

He did not look at me but at the night sky. "No, I'm looking... looking at the moon!" He pointed to the sky and said, "The moonlight tonight is so beautiful."

I smiled meaningfully and nodded. "Yes, the moonlight tonight is really beautiful."

He understood what I meant.

He turned his head and hugged me. "I thought..."

I touched his head. The optimistic Zachariah was an emotional person.

Zachariah turned his head and said, "Jess, um..."

He was about to speak when I kissed him without warning.

However, he immediately took control of the kiss and hugged me tighter, his hands moving around my body without hesitation.

I opened my eyes, panting, and saw him showing a provocative face toward a corner.

Stanley stood in the shadow in the distance. I was unable to see the expression on his face.

I rolled my eyes, stood up, and shouted, "Hello, Mr. Samoyed. Time's up. Do you want to go home?"

"Yes!"

I left without waiting for him. He shouted, "Jess, wait for me!"

The End.