The days passed and Lin hung around with Alex and Cameron a lot more often than she usually did.  Alex and Cameron enjoyed her company.  She was great to have around.  She had the cutest laugh and the prettiest smile, but when Ken came around her laughs disappeared and those smiles evaporated.  Her face turned ice cold, and she began to pick at the remainders of her food.

“Ladies and gentlemen.  We are beginning to sell Winter Formal grams.  Send a gram to ask someone to go with you to the dance.  They are only five dollars for a small animal, balloons, and a large assortment of candy,” Ms. Tsuchi announced over the intercom.

After the announcement everyone was talking.  Girls talking about whom they wanted to ask them out, and boys talking about whom their grams would go to.  Lin just walked through all of this.  Guys always asked her out, but she denied all of them.  She had never had the guts to go to a single dance.  Nothing could change that, or so she thought.  She had no idea how much she loved Ken and how much he loved her.  How much he was willing to forfeit for her attention, beauty, talent, and love.

Ken bought 17 grams.  A total of $85.  They thought he was crazy when he told the committee, but they thought he was even crazier to send it to the same girl one each day starting 17 days before the dance.  They could tell he loved her.  Whoever the girl was should be very grateful for such a dedicated boy.

But Lin wasn’t grateful.  She was filled with sorrow.  She wished she could reply to Ken, but Sun would kill her.  She decided to do something dramatic, very drastic.  She changed the names on all of the grams to Sun.  It her so much to do it everyday, because everyday she had to give away her love.

Sun on the other hand was overjoyed.  She really thought Ken loved her.  She asked Min for five dollars to send him a response.  She had Lin right a message, because her writing was prettier.  It said, “I accept your offer, with love, your Sun.”  Whenever Sun passed Ken she blew him kisses.  Ken was confused, but when he got her gram he was even more confused.

“Uh…Sun I never asked you to go to the Winter Formal with me,” Ken said going up to her one day.

“Wha…what are you talking about?  I got them, all 17,” she said looking heartbroken.

“No, no those were all for Lin.  Not you.  I’m sorry,” he said walking away.

Sun had never been rejected before in her life.  She was a spoiled child.  Having Ken say no to her was a shock.  And it was all Lin’s fault.  She had wished she had never agreed to let Lin have extra practices.  She hated Lin even more than ever right now, because she stole Ken’s heart from her even though it was never hers.

 

 

Lin put on her cheerleading uniform in the locker room.  She grabbed a pair of pom-poms and walked out.  June was already waiting there.

“Hey Lin, I know Alex is you’re partner, but I want you to work with Cameron too.  You’re the most likely one to make it off the ground, so they’ll be able to lift you up no problem.  Okay?” June told her.

“Sure it’s not like I have a choice.  So practice three-person pyramid.  I can do that,” Lin replied.

She called Alex and Cameron over.  She squatted down and they grabbed her ankles, and lifter her off the ground.  Once she was in the air she jumped off of Alex and Cameron’s palm.  She kicked her legs up and kicked her feet together.  Alex and Cameron caught her ankles, dipped her a bit and threw her up again.  She did a coffin twirl and landed again.  She threw her arms up jubilantly.  They had done it perfectly.  She was so happy.  She jumped off of their hands for the third time and did a back flip in air.  Alex and Cameron tried to catch her, but they missed her ankles and pushed her forward.  She fell off balance, and landed on her right wrist.  A sharp pain shot through her body.

“Ooh ooh…careful,” Lin protested as Alex tried to pick her wrist up.

“Cameron, go get June.  I think she’s broke her wrist,” Alex said applying pressure to her wrist.

Cameron ran off while Alex tried to bend Lin’s wrist backwards.  Lin felt a pain shoot through her body.  She just had to do that back flip.  Lin was right-handed.  Her basketball, baseball, volleyball, and some of her cheerleading depended on it.  Her tennis game on the other hand wasn’t going to be affected.  She had learned to play tennis with both hands.

June came rushing over.  After examining Lin’s wrist for about two minutes she proclaimed it sprained.

“You’ll have to stay off it for a few weeks.  It will be better before we go to the state competition,” June said ending brightly.

With Alex and Cameron’s help Lin was able to get up.  She walked over to the locker room and put on her tennis uniform.  Even if her right hand was busted her left certainly wasn’t useless.

When Lin was about 11, Min “accidentally” slammed the door or her right wrist.  So Lin had to do things with her left hand.  She wasn’t ambidextrous or anything, but she wished she were.  Everything still looked better when she did it with her right hand.  Tennis was one of the only things she could do better with her left hand rather than her right.  If Lin used her left hand in tennis she was unstoppable, but she didn’t unless absolutely necessary.  She didn’t want any more attention than necessary, or Sun would be mad.  Which was really hard because she was so beautiful.

 

 

“You’re still going to practice?” Alex and Cameron asked incuriously.

“Of course.  My wrist is only sprained and well, I can play with my left hand,” Lin said.

“You cease to amaze me,” Alex commented.

They walked over to the tennis courts.  Coach Tran was with the rest of the team showing them the line up for Nationals.  Alex, Cameron, and Lin tried to sneak in, but Coach Tran noticed them.

“Why are you three late?” she shouted at them as they put down their bags.

“Lin sprained her wrist during cheer practice,” Alex responded.

“You must be joking Ken and Lin are our number one doubles team,” Coach Tran said.

“Don’t worry coach.  I can still play.  Even better than with my right hand watch,” Lin said taking her racquet and a sleeve of balls, “Chris get over there.  I want one quick set.  To prove myself.”

Chris ran to the other side.  Lin took a ball carefully into her right hand.  She tossed it up as high as she could.  She brought her left hand back, and jumped off the ground.  She swung, and it zoomed over the net, bounced near the alley line, but inside the service box.  It blasted off to her left.  Everyone was staring.  No one could believe that Lin had performed a twist serve so well with her left hand, because most people can barely perform the shot with their dominant hand.

“Why didn’t you tell me you could play with your left hand?” Coach Tran asked, “ Now we’re really going to win at Nationals”

The night before Winter Formal Sun was getting ready with Moon.  Lin walked in to help them.  The theme was a masquerade ball.  Sun was going to be a medieval European queen.  Moon was going to be a rich Swedish lady.  Lin was going to go, but later after Sun and Moon were already there.

Lin had chosen to go as a peasant from early China.  It was worn and a dirty color.  She would put on a shiny mask and have a hood to cover her hair.  There would be plenty of girls dressed as peasants, so Lin wouldn’t stick out and no one would recognize her, not even Sun. 

She drove Sun and Moon to the dance.  Neither of them had dates.  She bid them farewell as she helped them out of the car.  She hurried home to change into her costume.  She put on the cotton pants, and buttoned up the high collared blouse.  She tied on the hood, applied lip-gloss, and placed the mask carefully over her face.  She was ready.  She got back into the car.  Min was with some of her friends and needed to be picked up at one o’clock, which meant Sun and Moon needed to be picked up by 12 o’clock.  Until 12 she could be a mysterious maiden.

Before she got out of the car she put on a pair of golden colored slippers.  She checked to make sure the mask was covering her whole face and stepped out.  She walked into the gym.  Decorations were everywhere.  You couldn’t even tell it was a gym.  She spotted Sun and Moon, mostly Sun, flirting with some guys.  Then her eyes rested on Ken.  He was sitting alone, sipping some of the red punch.  She was entranced.  Then someone tapped her shoulder.

“May I have this dance, fair maiden?” an unknown figure asked her.

“Only if you tell me your name,” Lin replied disguising her voice.

“Then my name is Alex.  Ruler of the kingdom on which you stand,” Alex responded, “What be your name?”

“That shall remain a mystery,” she said smiling slightly.

She danced twice with Alex, and then was swept off her feet by Cameron.  She excused herself to get some punch.  While she was there she bumped into Ken.

 

 

“I’m sorry.  I really didn’t mean to hit you,” she said still disguising her voice.

“No, its okay, really its no big deal,” he replied, wiping up the punch that had spilled.

He stared at Lin until she said, “I’d…um…better get…um going.”

“No, wait.  You seem familiar.  What’s your name?” he asked taking her hand.

“You wouldn’t know me I…uh…go to a different school,” she lied, “I came with my brother.”

“May I have this dance if I can’t have your name?” he asked.

“I suppose so.”

They began to dance slowly at first.  Then everything began to speed up.  It went from one dance to ten.  She forgot about hiding her identity and watching the time, because she asked him to sit with her.  They talked until Sun came over to butt in.

“Hey Kenny.  Who’s your friend?” she asked smiling sweetly and sliding into the chair next to him.

“This is just a friend,” he replied.

“A friend whose name is?”

“Candice, my name is Candice,” Lin lied unable to take the sugarcoated voice any longer.

“Wow, that’s a beautiful name,” Ken commented.

“Oh my gosh.  I’ve got to go,” Lin said seeing the time was 11:51

“Why? The dance goes until three o’clock,” Ken asked.

“Um…right…but I have somewhere else to be besides here,” Lin said.

She stood up and started to walk out when Ken said, “ Wait!  Who’s your brother?  What’s his name?”

She ignored him and kept running.  She dropped her mask and her hood fell.  She managed to get to the car before Ken could catch up, because he had stopped to pick up the hood and mask.  She sped home and quickly took off her costume.  She put on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.  She went to the bathroom and put her hair up into a high ponytail.  She rubbed off her lip-gloss, and put on her sterling silver charm watch.  She got back into the car and left to pick up Sun and Moon.  She parked outside the gym’s door.  She waited until the clock struck 12:03 to go in.  Sun and Moon were hard to find because a lot of girls were dressed as princesses.  She saw Alex and Cameron sitting with ken.  They seemed to be comforting him.  Right his angel “Candice” just left him without saying goodbye.  If only she could tell him she was the one he fell in love with, but she couldn’t.

She headed over to the tables where they sat, and asked, “Have you guys seen Sun or Moon?”

“I saw Sun about ten minutes ago,” Ken said not looking up.

“Thanks, is…um something wrong, Ken?” she asked hesitantly.

“Ken met this girl, Candice, but she left and he doesn’t know anything else about her,” Alex explained.

“He thinks Sun scared her off,” Cameron added.

“Oh, wow, that’s harsh.  Oh got to go, Sun and Moon heading over,” she said excusing herself.

 

 

She drove Sun and Moon home, and went to pick up Min.  Her dream was almost a reality.  If only she had been an only child.  She changed into her pajamas and fell asleep.

English the next day was brutal.  She tried to console Ken, but he wasn’t going to take any pity.  All he wanted to do was find “Candice”.  He thought she was the perfect girl for him.  She let the day pass until practice.  Their last day of practice.  She and Ken played against Alex and Cameron.  Ken wasn’t in sync with her.  He was too busy about his final hour with “Candice”.

“Ken, heads up,” Lin shouted.

Ken lifted his head and darted for the zooming yellow ball.  He dove and fell on the floor.  He raised his arm and returned the ball.  He was sore and couldn’t get up.  He saw the ball coming back over.  He tried to reach it, but he couldn’t get there fast enough.

Ken and Lin lost their first game to Alex and Cameron, right before Nationals.  Sure they won the match, but it hurt Lin’s self esteem.  Seeing Ken fail so badly told her she had to tell him the truth.

“Hey, Ken, good game,” she said.

“Thanks.  You were great too,” he replied.

“I have um…something to tell you.  It’s um…very important.”

“Shoot.”

“You know that girl Candice you met last night?”
            “Yeah, what about her.  Do you know her?  Because I have her stuff,” he said pulling out her hood and mask.

“Well…” she put on the mask, “ I am Candice.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“I knew it was you.  You are the girl I fell in love with.  There just couldn’t be two girls perfect for me.”

“Yeah, I just couldn’t talk to you…be…because Sun would kill me,” she managed to get out.

“Is that why you kept ignoring me?”

“Yeah.  Sun fell in love with you, and didn’t want me to interfere.  So she threatened me.  I wasn’t sure what she would do and I was scared.  Las night I figured out we were both in love with each other, and breaking my promise to Sun is worth being with you.”

“That’s so sweet.  So that’s the only reason we were approved for extra practices?”

“Yeah.  You’re not mad, because we need to win at Nationals.”

“Nah.  I found my true love, so now I’m going to be even more pumped up.”

“Then let’s go win Nationals.”

“Ah- Ma!  I’ve got to go,” Lin shouted.

“Where?” Min asked.

“Tennis nationals,” Lin replied.

“Sun’s going with you!” Min said adding, “Be back by dinner.”