Chapter 10

Peacefully. It certainly was sitting there peacefully, but instead of a beautiful honey-dipped roadside scene, it looks like the paint had melted into each other, creating a hazy effect.

And upon closer inspection, that's exactly what happened. A half-empty bottle stands on the ledge of her easel, something that hadn't been there before.

"Paint thinner," forces its way of out Chang'e's mouth.

"Oh my gosh.." Yu Ran whispers with a hand over her mouth. "Who would do such a thing?"

Yi Xin and Kai Lan mumble theories to each other on the side, while Xia Ling and Ming Li step forward carefully.

"Chang'e?" Ming Li calls out. 'Now is it just me or is everything getting blurry?' she thinks, staring into her tarnished canvas. 'And who is sniffing so much?'

"Chang'e, it's alright." Xia Ling tries to console, but that's only when Chang'e realizes that tears are rolling down her face and those sniffles were actually hers.

"I'm not crying," she tries to protest, furiously wiping away tears from her face. 'It's just a painting. Nothing more.' "I'm really not."

"It's okay to cry, Chang'e Jie. It was your painting," Yu Ran hugs her tight. Her shirt catches Chang'e's tears, leaving dark patches.

"It was just that I put my feelings in there," she inhales slowly, trying to calm herself. "But it's okay. Maybe it's salvageable."

"There, that's good thinking. No paint thinner can stop you from getting first place," Ming Li agrees, helping her get up.

"We still have 15 minutes," reminds Yi Xin, "I think we can make it. Right, Kai Lan?"

"Duh," Kai Lan fist bumps with Yi Xin, "Let's get painting!" The whole team stares at her. "I mean, Chang'e, get painting!"

Chang'e laughs at that, wiping away the last of her tears. "Sorry about your shirt, Yu Ran."

"It's no problem, Chang'e Jie," Yu Ran helps her up, "It'll dry anyway."

"Thanks guys," Chang'e says, "You can go ahead. No need to wait for me here."

"You sure?" Ming Li asks.

"Yeah. Wouldn't want to be pressured by five pairs of eyes, anyway," smiles Chang'e, picking up her paintbrush.

"Aye, aye, captain," Kai Lan salutes, "Goodluck!"

They trail out the door, leaving Chang'e alone with her ruined canvas. 'No, not ruined. Just tampered with a bit. It can still be fixed,' Chang'e squeezes some paint onto her palette, 'Art is never definite.'

She paints away, taking something that no one would ever consider to be usable into something new, and maybe, turning the original one into something even better using this challenge.

Chang'e steps back, scrutinizing her new painting. The clock ticks, 'tik-tok tik-tok.' Five minutes left. She removes all of the items on her easel's ledge, placing them on the ground. Then, Chang'e runs. She runs as fast as she can to the classroom-turned-showroom whilst carrying a canvas and an easel in her arms.

She bursts through the door and the room erupts into cheers. "Wha—" But then she spots her volleyball team wooping for her in the corner, and she gives them a big grin and a thumbs-up.

"You made it," Feng Mei remarks with a hint of question in her tone.

"Yeah! Couldn't miss this for the world," Chang'e winks as she sets her easel down, "But it was a pretty close miss. Someone tampered with my painting."

Feng Mei makes a sound of shock, dropping her camera. Chang'e nearly panics until she realizes the camera's strap is around Feng Mei's neck. "Who would do that?" Feng Mei asks, eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't know either," Chang'e sighs, thinking back to the ugly surprise that unfolded in front of her eyes back at the classroom.

"Hou Yi?" Feng Mei whispers slowly. Chang'e gives Feng Mei a look.

"Feng Mei, I get that he's my enemy, but I don't think he would go so far as to do that. He handed me a water bottle earlier! And the water was cold, imagine that."

"Chang'e, what if he was just trying to avoid suspicion by being nice?" conspires Feng Mei, bewilderment written all over her face.

"Plus," Chang'e tries to defend Hou Yi, "He doesn't even know where the painting is!"

"You showed him. On Saturday, remember?" Feng Mei triggers her memory back in place, and the recollection of events makes her shiver. She did show him where she put the painting. He knows where it was. 'But why?'

"But why?" she echoes out loud. Feng Mei shakes her head, "I don't know. Maybe.." Feng Mei trails off, causing Chang'e's eyebrow to rise up. "Maybe..?"

"OH!" Feng Mei says so suddenly that Chang'e jumps and nearly hits her canvas down, "Maybe because he knows how important art is to you, and that you could potentially take an academic fall from it?"

"But," Chang'e mutters, before thinking, 'it makes sense. Feng Mei makes sense, but how could Hou Yi do this to me? Would he really?'

"Alright, the judges are here," a teacher announces, snapping her fingers and signalling to everyone to quiet down. Competing students take their places beside their works, and the spectators sit down in the chairs behind.

The judges file into the room, taking their time critiquing the contestants's works.

"What's yours, dear?" an old lady approaches her, pointing to her piece.

It's the same as it was when paint thinner was spread all over it. Blurry orange hues and a melted tanghulu shop. Except this time, there's two people standing in the middle of the scene.

It's Hou Yi and herself. Their faces are so close, almost as if they were kissing, but a careful observer would see the tiniest sliver of space between them. And instead of a kiss, the girl has her lips pursed, blowing wind on the boy's cheek, made evident by the strands of his hair that sway backwards in the painting.

"It's entitled One Honey Afternoon," Chang'e stuffs her hands into her pockets to hide her nervousness. Judges don't usually like those. "Frankly, it's my own experience with romance. You might be thinking, 'Hey, what's with the blurred background? Why is everything orange-tinted, save for the boy and girl? Is this girl obsessed with the color orange?'"

Some judges laugh at that, while others maintain their poker face. 'Intimidating,' Chang'e thinks, but proceeds either way. She can't give up now.

"To tell you the truth, this encounter happened under blue skies. Shocking, I know." That seems to garner more smiles. "The reason why everything looks like it's been dipped with honey is because at that time, everything did look like they were dipped with honey. When I was that close to.. his face, it felt like everything around me was melting. And now, that explains the melting effect, doesn't it?"

Chang'e isn't the best at presentations. 'Bare with me here, guys,' she tries to tell the judges telepathically.

"And that tanghulu shop in the back is where my best friend, him and I sat down and ate together. Nothing special, but I think it's in the little details." She feels slightly dejected when she sees that the desserts on the table have melted away into the white of the table. "This painting is very precious to me because it helped me realize that I like him. That's it, thank you." Chang'e can't help but laugh. A little nervous and a lot awkward, but the judges seem pleased nonetheless and head onto the next piece.

She brisk-walks to Feng Mei and her volleyball team, vibrating with anxiety. "Oh gosh, guys. I thought I was going to die. Was that okay? I feel like my explanation was so sloppy. I didn't have a script," she rambles.

Feng Mei shushes her, "You did great! If I was the judge, you would've been the winner right then and there."

"Yeah, I agree with Feng Mei Jie," Yu Ran says, giving Chang'e two thumbs-ups.

"Five stars!" Kai Lan beams, "Out of five, obviously."

"Too bad Hou Yi's still playing basketball, he would've kissed you after hearing all that," Yi Xin pouts, "Lame late basketball team."

"I think Chang'e wouldn't want him to find out that way—" Ming Li protests as Xia Ling nods her head.

"Wait," Feng Mei stops the conversation, looking down at her shoes gravely, "I think Hou Yi might've done this." And even if it hasn't been confirmed, Chang'e's heart drops at the mention of this.

"What?" Xia Ling asks, "But there's no way—"

"He knew where the painting was. He knew how much art mattered to Chang'e and how much she wanted to win this competition," Feng Mei lays out the cards for them, "What's to say he wasn't staging this so that she could have an academic plummet?"

Her volleyball teammates remain silent, looking at each other with doubt. "I don't think so," Yu Ran says quietly, "The boy's in love."

"He went in the room," Feng Mei lays the final card in front of them, "I saw it with my own two eyes when I was going to retrieve my English essay. He went inside the room with a jar and then came back out with nothing. I thought you asked him to do something, Chang'e."

"No," is the only word that leaves her lips. Chang'e sits down, collecting her thoughts, "But.."

"I didn't like him anyway," Kai Lan suddenly scoffs, patting Chang'e's back, "You deserve a better man."

"Yeah. Maybe one that you're not enemies with this time?" Ming Li tries to make the atmosphere more light-hearted, and bless her for that, but Chang'e can't seem to find it in her to smile.

"Chang Chang," Feng Mei whispers, "It's okay."

"And the winner is.." Chang'e perks up, a slow, rising hope in her heart that her name will be called. That it'll be her, despite the sabotage.

"Feng Mei!" Chang'e whips her head around to see her best friend screaming in joy, jumping in place with her camera bouncing up and down.

"You ran?" she asks with a hint of shock.

"Yeah!" Feng Mei answers, going up to the stage, "I can't believe I won!"

"Oh, congratulations, Feng!" she rushes to shout, wiping the surprise from her face. Chang'e stands up with excitement, rapidly clapping her hands for her best friend.

"Thank you for that lovely piece of art, Feng Mei. Who knew that a bench surrounded by trees and flowers could hold so much meaning to a young girl like you? Expertly painted as well, but it's such a shame it's on sketchbook paper and not an actual canvas," the main judge comments, handing her a trophy and a certificate.

"Thank you, sir." Feng Mei says. "You're welcome," the judge replies, giving her a warm smile.

"And for second place, Chang'e with her One Honey Afternoon!"

Ironic, isn't it? Just a moment ago, Chang'e couldn't bring herself to smile, but now here she is, standing on the stage with a wide grin on her face. A shiny trophy is cradled in her arms. Her volleyball team cheers for her louder, engulfing the room in claps and whoops of joy, as if she had gotten first place, not second place.

Betrayal still stings and sabotage still sabotages, but Chang'e thinks it might be alright. What a day.