A/N: Sorry everyone! I promised that this chapter will be light hearted but after what had happened in the previous chapter, it's a bit difficult for this chapter to be completely lighthearted. So, there's a bit of fun loving time & there's a bit of reflecting time, ok? =) Thank you very much to the people who support my story. Thank you very very much! =)

Jack woke up with a groan. The bright sun was hurting his eyes. He had spent a good chunk of the night awake & recounting Chin's face. He felt like dying. 'She looked so hurt, so vulnerable. But she doesn't like me, isn't it? Why did she look so hurt?' he wondered aloud to himself. He turned to his side & glanced at his clock. It read 9 in the morning. '9….' thought Jack absentmindedly, then… '9?! God damn it! I'm late!'

He leaped out of his bed & ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth. 'Why didn't mum wake me this morning?' he thought angrily. "Mum! I'm running late. Please prepare my lunch!" shouted Jack to his mother in between dressing himself. However, there was no answer.

Jack scrambled down the staircase to find an empty kitchen & no lunch bag. "Mum?" shouted Jack impatiently. A quick glance around the kitchen revealed a note tapped to the refrigerator's door. Apparently, his parents did not even return yesterday night. They were over at his uncle's place to help him with the birth of his new baby boy.

"Shoots!" muttered Jack impatiently. He grabbed his backpack & left his house, not bothering to pack lunch for himself. He had already missed the first two periods & had no intention of skipping the third period in which he had shared with Chin.

When Jack stepped into the school hall, the first bell for the third period rang. "Damn!" muttered Jack. He ran all the way to his History class. When he entered the class, Chin was already seated between Sam & Florence. There were no seats near her. He was frustrated, as he wanted to talk to her.

The class commenced when the History teacher Mr. Lankins entered the room. Mr. Lankins was one of the discipline masters in GESS so Jack didn't dare to pass a long distance note to Chin. Usually, he was seated next to her & had no problems just gesturing to her to indicate what he wanted to say. However, she wasn't even looking at his way today. She was studiously studying the black board. Jack's frustration mounted.

When History class ended, he made his way quickly to Chin's table. Briefly he could hear her talking about some bazaar thing. 'She looks all right today. Perhaps I was too sensitive. She doesn't look upset at all,' thought Jack while he slowly closed the gap between them. Still, he wanted to talk to her desperately.

Before Chin could leave, Jack shot out his arm & restrained her from behind.

Chin gave a shout & turned around to face Jack. "Jack! For Christ's sake! You nearly gave me a heart attack back there. What's wrong with you? My God, don't your shoes squeak or something? You scared the hell out of me!" said Chin who was in a fluster.

Jack was embarrassed. It wasn't his intention to scare her. He was just desperate that she would walk away before he had a chance to talk to her. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to catch you since I was late this morning," said Jack apologetically.

Chin smiled & said, "apologies accepted. Now quit scaring other people by making some noise when you walk!"

Jack proceeded to imitate an ape & jumped around Chin. Chin laughed gaily. She was a happy girl & was often laughing or giggling at something. Some people disliked her for that - they felt that she was a hypocrite or was a Pollyanna. They couldn't stand her being so happy most of the time. However, Chin didn't give a damn. She felt that if they wanted to be unhappy most of their lives, they were welcomed to it.

She laughed & applauded Jack's imitation. "Pretty good little ape one. You are forgiven for sneaking up to me just now."

"Pardon me?" said Jack in mock indignation. "I wasn't sneaking up to you. You weren't listening for my foot steps."

"Oh? So now I'm supposed to be listening for your footsteps. Oh I'm so sorry, My Lord, I wasn't listening, " said Chin sarcastically. She bowed to Jack in an exaggerated manner, drawing giggles from Sam & Florence. Jack laughed & Chin joined in.

"What were you guys talking about just now?" asked Jack curiously. He was so intent on Chin that he didn't catch a word of their earlier conversation.

Florence answered Jack impatiently, "the annual school bazaar. You forgot about it? You are on the committee with us!"

Jack slapped the back of his head with his hand. "Oh my… I'm so sorry. I totally forgot about it. When is it?" asked Jack guiltily.

"This Saturday," answered Sam, "we are going to have a meeting later this afternoon, after school & band practice. You gonna make it?"

Sam, Florence & Chin belonged to the school band whereas Jack belonged to the track & field team.

"Yeah… I'll be there. I don't have practice today. Mm… I remember I have something on but I don't remember what," mumbled Jack to himself.

"Yo!" shouted a voice. They turned towards the source of the voice & Chin rolled her eyes. 'Great. Just who I need to see - Malcolm,' she thought.

The rest smiled at Malcolm. Malcolm swaggered over to Jack & gave him a hi-five. "Yo man! You are ready for your date with Shannon later?"

"Shoots!" said Jack with a groan. He slapped his forehead with his hand & exclaimed, "I forgot about it! Oh shoots, I have this committee meeting later. I can't go out with her."

Chin rolled her eyes & said, "it's ok. We can survive without your Almighty's touch. You can go for your date."

Jack looked at Chin & back at Malcolm. He was torn between going for his date & spending more time with Chin.

Chin looked at Jack with amusement. Finally, she said, "hey, it's really all right Jack. Today is just Wednesday & today's the first discussion. I don't think we can get anything concrete up. We have some good ideas so I don't think there's any problem." She looked over at Florence & Sam. Both of them nodded with approval. "See? We are fine without your oh so important input. Go ahead & enjoy yourself. But do turn up when we set up the tents & everything on Friday," warned Chin.

Jack nodded, relieved that Chin didn't seemed put out by his date. Despite being attracted to Shannon, he still had strong feelings for his best friend. "Anyway, it's our lunch period now. Let's get some food. I'm starved," said Jack.

With warm smiles & lots of sarcasm dripping from Chin & Jack's mock argument, they left for the canteen.

Reaching the canteen, Chin noticed that Jack did not bring any lunch bag with him. "Hey, what happened to your lunch bag? You forgot to bring it today?" she asked in between mouthfuls of her sandwich.

Jack shook his head & explained, "my parents went over to my uncle's place to help him out with the arrival of the new baby. Mum didn't pack any lunch & I was running late this morning."

"Oh you would have prepared your own lunch. Here, share mine," said Sam generously. Jack took half of Sam's lunch gratefully. Jack would only accept such offers from William or Sam since they were friends for over a decade.

"So, since you have declared that you have no romantic feelings for me, are you interested in Shannon?" asked Chin nonchalantly. Jack choked on his sandwich & looked at Chin. Florence & Sam looked at them curiously. They looked at each other, looked back at Jack & asked at the same time, "who is Shannon?"

Jack sighed, looked away from Chin's face & explained to his friends who Shannon was. So far, only Malcolm & William knew about her. He didn't have the chance to introduce her to his friends. Both Florence & Sam nodded.

Sam was pretty puzzled with Jack's explanation. Like William, he knew that Jack had liked Chin. 'This new girl is complicating the whole picture,' he thought to himself. He studied Chin's reaction. She was studiously looking at her food & chewing her food. 'She didn't look put off but she didn't seem happy either. I wonder what is going on in his mind & her mind.' Sam shrugged & let his train of thoughts go. 'It's none of my business anyway. I'll ask Jack about this later.'

In the mean time, Florence was astonished with this turn of events. She sneaked a peek at Chin's face. She noticed that her friend was trying to concentrate on her sandwich. She sighed inwardly for her friend. 'What a pity. Just when Chin is starting to notice Jack, he goes off to date some new girl in town. I bet that she's pretty heart broken judging from her stiff back & the machine like way she is chewing her sandwich.' Florence shook her head slightly. She decided to echo Chin's earlier question. 'Well, she deserves to know if he is going to start asking this Shannon girl out. If he is, she can jolly well forget about him.'

"So," asked Florence tensely, "you like Shannon? Are you going to ask her out?"

Jack looked at Florence in annoyance. He felt cornered - just like yesterday. 'Yes, I do like Shannon. Does that mean that I can't like Chin at the same time?' he thought angrily to himself.

Just then, Malcolm shot in & replied on Jack's behalf, "of course he likes her. They have been out for a couple of dates now. I just went out with them a couple of days ago." Florence stared at Malcolm.

At this moment, Chin spoke out, "yeah, we have been out with them. They are definitely meant for each other. You should see them together Flo, they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle." Florence looked at Chin sympathetically. She understood that this wasn't easy on her friend.

Jack gritted his teeth in anger. He was trying to control his anger. He was mad with Malcolm for being such a big mouth. He was mad with himself for being a coward. He was also mad with Florence for asking him such a tough question. However, most of all, he was upset with Chin's indifferent & cold answer. 'She doesn't care about who I am dating. She doesn't care at all,' he thought despondently to himself.

The bell for the 5th period rang. Both the girls stood up quickly. They had lessons after their lunch break, unlike the boys. When Chin & Florence left the canteen, Jack turned to Malcolm & exclaimed angrily, "how could you do that to me? She's there for Christ's sake!"

Malcolm looked at Jack calmly, faked a yawn & replied, "it's for your own good Jack. You need to decide soon who you want to be with."

Jack closed his eyes in annoyance. He understood that he had to make a choice. However, he felt that he just knew Shannon. Though he was attracted to her, he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask her out. Technically, they have been out on dates. However, it would be a different matter to see her exclusively. He was really frustrated with the turn of events.

Sam stared at Jack. He understood the dilemma that his friend was in. He was just as besotted with a friend of his. However, he did not have Jack's guts to flirt with his friend. Jack had been flirting with Chin rather outrageously for the past couple of months. She had responded to all his flirting attempts. However, now a new girl had gone into his life. He knew that Jack was still attracted to Chin. But he could see that his friend was interested in Shannon as well.

'So, who would he choose?' thought Sam as he looked at Jack.