The Next Prince Charming

story by Janice Chen

illustrations by Fei Lin

I am sixteen.  

  I go to a girls’ senior high school, and that explains why I don’t see boys most of the time. Not even men, because there are only two ordinary-looking male teachers no one is interested in. Poor us, don’t you think? 

  So it’s perfectly normal that, my classmates and I drool over handsome boys we see whether in real life or on TV. If they are gorgeous enough, they will have our hearts. This is the true colors of girls like us. 

  Oh! I forgot to tell you I am also a swimmer on the school team. In the beginning, I was drawn to the swim team by my passion for the sport, but after a while I found unexpected gains, that is, I have many opportunities to see sexy boys in swimming trunks because I inevitably come across them in competitions or train with them.

   During this past winter vacation, we had training in National Taiwan Normal University. On the first day, my classmate, Fifi, didn’t swim with us because she felt unwell after the warm-up exercise. Therefore, she just sat on the chair by the swimming pool taking a break. Suddenly I saw her eyes fixed somewhere! Wow! I turned to the object of Fifi’s attention: there were many boys swimming. Those boys had not only beautiful faces but also sturdy muscles. You could understand how excited we were. At that moment, all of my teammates’ eyes were glued to these really glamorous male human beings. 

  After finishing the training of the first day, Fifi started telling us about a boy she had spotted in the swimming pool on our way home. She said, “He has such a beautiful body! Every time he swims, his muscles are beckoning me to look at him. I can’t even control my eyes. Moreover, he has an elegant face just like that of any idol we dream of. If I get to know him, then I will be the luckiest girl in the world.” After listening to her words, we became so interested in the boy that we couldn’t wait to see him. 

  The next day, we ran into the swimming pool as fast as we could. Fortunately, he had already arrived at the swimming pool and started his training. We squinted our eyes for a better look: he swam in the third course, wearing a swim cap with the words─The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University. Wow, it is a famous school, so he must be quite intelligent, I thought. I observed him so closely that I must have looked really strange. Hmmm ... I have to say he is so ATTRACTIVE. Now I could understand why Fifi was going crazy for him. I turned to Fifi, who was just next to me. Not surprisingly, Fifi could not see anything else except that boy. Fifi pretended she was still sick so she could stay by the pool to admire him. While she was happily feasting her eyes on the lovely boy, we had to do the tiring training. “It is not fair!” I murmured to myself. When we finished the training of the second day, we were all in a bad mood. We said angrily to Fifi, “Don’t forget what you should do now. The most important thing for you is to finish the training. Don’t fall head over heels in love and ruin your life.” Fifi just remained silent, and no one said a word on the way home. At one point I couldn’t help wondering, “Am I being too serious? Did I upset Fifi?’’ But the next second I changed my mind—I, Fifi’s best friend, blamed her for her own good. “What is the point of falling for a boy you hardly know?”

   On the third day, we took the MRT home just like yesterday. We chatted as if nothing had happened. Suddenly, Fifi stopped talking; she kept staring at someone. We turned our eyes where Fifi was looking. Now, I understood why Fifi couldn’t talk. The boy that she liked was standing there with another boy; I thought it was his teammate. They were chatting happily when we looked at them in confusion. To our surprise, Fifi walked forward and tried to get closer the boy. “Hey! Where are you going?” I said. Fifi just gave me a smile and said, “I am going to say hello to him.” Then she kept approaching the boy. The closer she got to the boy, the more nervous I felt for her. 

  But the next moment, Fifi and I saw something really shocking! Her face turned pale. Believe it or not, the two boys were so intimate with each other. In the end, their lips were stuck together. They got carried away by their passion and made out in public as if they were all alone. They hugged each other so tightly that we couldn’t bear to watch them anymore. I felt so worried about Fifi that I asked her carefully, “Are you all right?’’ Instead of saying anything, she replied with a blank stare.

  After the short crush, Fifi still loves watching cute guys, but something has changed. We never hear Fifi say she is eager to know someone. I think before her wound completely heals, she doesn’t want to take any risk for the time being.