Take My Breath Away

Debbie rolled her eyes upon hearing that voice. Gail was everywhere on campus, always following her like an annoying shadow. "What's it to you?"

Debbie retorted. She was wondering why Carlos hadn't told her he was coming here.

But then, a lightbulb came on in her head. She glanced at Gail, who was so excited to see Carlos that she was close to tears. 'No wonder Debbie keeps looking over there. It's Mr. Huo! I'm not dreaming! He's here! I'm seeing Mr. Huo again!' Gail thought, her eyes reddening.

The two men, Carlos and Curtis, were so handsome they made a magnificent sight when they stood together. More and more eyes were drawn to them.

Debbie patted Gail's shoulder. The girl was bathed in happiness now that she saw her dream man. "What?" she asked, so excited that the grin on her face didn't vanish even when she turned to face Debbie.

Standing next to Gail didn't make Debbie explode with rage this time, which was odd. She pointed at Carlos and said calmly, "Look. Carlos."

Gail rolled her eyes and snorted, "I'm not blind."

Ignoring her hostility, Debbie raised her voice and suggested, "Care to make a bet?"

"Why would I do that?" Gail intended to say "Have you lost your mind?" But she remembered she had a public image to maintain, and bit back that retort.

"Don't you always want me to make a fool of myself? I'm giving you a chance. Remember the last time you set me up and I ended up embarrassing myself at Carlos Huo's launch event? Now that he's here, are you really going to miss such an opportunity to humiliate me again?" Debbie coaxed her.

Gail moved closer to Debbie with an innocent, sweet smile on her face. But what she said was neither innocent nor sweet. "Of course not. I won't miss any opportunity to screw things up for you. It's so much fun," she whispered in Debbie's ear.

Debbie took a step back to put some distance between them. Gail was not alone. A few of her friends were with her. Debbie looked at them and said, "How about this? I'll go confess to Carlos again. If he doesn't turn me down then you'll have to apologize to me loudly ten times and sing "Bad Romance" in a public place. Your friends too. "

Gail's friends were surprised by the idea. At first, Kasie was confused about what Debbie was trying to do. But now she found the idea hilarious. To help Debbie out, she held her arm and said anxiously, "Debbie, are you crazy? Have you forgotten how he treated you last time? Don't do anything stupid!"

"Relax, Kasie. It'll go better than last time, believe me. Everyone will be watching, after all." Debbie raised her voice as she said the last sentence.

'Right, a bunch of students will be there, ' Gail thought. Everybody in Y City knew how ruthless Carlos was. If she recalled right, Debbie had even been tossed into the ocean to drown. She loved imagining how humiliating it would be for Debbie if Carlos rejected her right to her face and threw her out of university.

However, Gail didn't fall for Debbie's trick easily. She sensed that something was off. "But we aren't that close to Mr. Huo. How do we know what went on between you?"

"Easy. I'll face you. To make sure I won't cheat, you can see what I'm saying. How does that sound?" Debbie had been seeking revenge and now the chance had presented itself.

Nonetheless, Gail turned her down. Her friends, on the other hand, urged her to agree. "Gail, that's Mr. Huo. If Debbie does this, she has a death wish. What could go wrong? Don't you want to see what he does? If he kills her, we get a show," a girl said.

Debbie gasped. 'What a cold bitch! She even wants to see me die.'

"But..." Gail faltered. She recalled last time they were at the mall. She and Debbie fought over the collar pin. Judging from what happened that day, Debbie and Carlos seemed to have a special connection.

Sensing Gail's uncertainty, Debbie decided play up her gift for acting. She whispered in Kasie's ear, "I hope he forgot what he said last time. He promised to bury me alive if I ever got him mad."

It was a stage whisper, pitched perfectly so that Gail could hear it, and her friends couldn't.

Kasie acted shocked and pulled her aside. "You out of your mind, Tomboy? If he really said this, maybe he meant it. I don't want to watch you die."

As they were whispering to each other, Gail broke in, "What are you waiting for? He might leave any minute."

Debbie instantly stopped talking and pretended to be surprised. "What? You agreed to it? I was just stringing you along. No way would I do that."

Seeing how frightened Debbie was, Gail's friends gloated. "You can't back out now, Debbie." "Right. What's the matter? You chicken?"

They kept taunting her and egging her on.

Debbie took a deep breath and walked towards Carlos with a dozen girls watching.

Curtis and Carlos were talking about the incident involving Megan. Curtis told Carlos, "Wesley has taken care of everything. Just take some time to recover and come back when you're ready. I always wondered why you agreed to teach here even though you're Uber busy. Now I get it. There's someone you like here."

Carlos smiled. "I have to come. My wife is such a pain. But you--" Carlos had intended to ask, "You seem to care about Debbie a lot. Why?"

A sweet voice interrupted him. "Hi, Mr. Huo. Mr. Lu."

The familiar voice made Carlos' smile widen.

Curtis waved at the girl. "Debbie, come here." As an educator, Curtis was urbane in his every movement.

Debbie trotted over to them and stood where she could see Gail.

Carlos checked the time and asked, "Two minutes to class. Shouldn't you be on your way?"

Debbie didn't answer his question. She could sense annoyance in his tone, but she ignored it. Instead, she looked at Curtis with embarrassment and asked, "Mr. Lu, could you please give us a minute?"

"You want to talk to your husband in private?" Curtis asked.

Debbie nodded with a giggle. "Kinda. But I only need him for a minute. Or maybe you could just stand around."

Curtis looked at her lovingly and said with resignation, "Your minute starts now." Then, he turned his back to the couple.

Looking at her expressionless husband, Debbie smiled mischievously, which confuse her man. The next second, she snuggled into his arms and shouted, "Carlos Huo, I like you. I really like you."

She had shouted so loudly Gail didn't have to read her lips to know what she was saying, for her voice could be heard from tens of meters away.

The other girls watched her, their mouths agape. Even Jared and Dixon, who had arrived at the scene late, were astounded. 'When did she get so brave?'