____two months later____
I look over my shoulder at Hui, seeing her wait for me to pass the ball. Except as I looked at it I found myself taken aback. The motion of the fast pace movements was...putting me off.
Clearing my throat, I throw the ball up and hit it. She hits it and rush for it, hitting it back. Right when the ball hit my racket I found myself taken aback by that again. Hui ran for the ball and I followed still, but I didn't feel right.
It was weird because I would hit the ball and run just fine, but something was off about it. When I hit it once more I see Hui stop it.
"Mimi what's wrong with you?"
I stood still, resting my hand on my heart. I could feel it beating kinda fast and that was weird. Usually that warm-up would never...get me like this.
"I don't know...I-I'm fine." I inhale deeply, grinning at her. "It's okay. Let's just g-get back into it."
She raises her eyebrow, and I nod insistently. Only for her to shrug as she set her racket down.
"I'm going to go the restroom real quick, I'll be right back." She tells me. I watch her walk off and once she was gone I rush towards my phone.
I found myself smiling excitedly as I searched something up. As I did I found my eyes widening.
I was hungry.
Except another thing is that I look in my shirt. I saw my nipples were erect and they were extra sensitive. Every time they rubbed against my shirt it felt...off. It never did this before.
That's three things on the list.
I'm easily hungry, motion sickness, and my nipples are highly sensitive.
I call Travis, and when he answered immediately I sigh dramatically.
"What's with the deep sigh baby?"
"I'm feeling a little c-crazy. I might be being d-dramatic, but..." I drift, biting my lip as I look over my shoulder to see Hui coming back.
That's when I walk away from the area, sitting on a bench quite a distance away.
"But what?" I hear Travis question me curiously. I don't say anything because I might be being dramatic. Clearing my throat, I just smile.
"But I am very hungry. Y-You know what I've been wanting...craving recently? Could you s-send me something from America?" I ask him, and he snorts.
"Send something to China? Can I even do that? Is that...even possible?"
"Yeah!" I exclaim, finding myself annoyed by his question oddly enough. I don't know why...it wasn't even a dumb question. I keep my annoyance to myself as I lean back. "I want y-you to make me those peppermint, chocolate chip c-cookies. Send them to me, p-please."
I hear him chuckle, but I knew he wasn't going to say no. I don't know why I want them now. I didn't want them when he was here, but I suddenly want them now.
"Okay, I'll send you some; but don't be upset with me if I can't send them-."
"You can and y-you will. I really want them." I beg practically at this point. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Hui waiting. "I feel really bad, I a-am practicing with Hui, but as I move I get a little...off when I move too much. Because you know how I am in tennis. You have to b-be fast, quick on your feet!"
"Yes, yes, I understand. What do you mean by off? Does it make you sick?" He asks, and I hum. "That's weird. Why would it begin to make you sick? Is it because you never really practiced when I was there?"
I shook my head, smiling.
"Want to know something e-else? My nipples have been very-."
"Mimi!" Travis exclaims, and I could hear how shocked he was. Until he started to snicker. "Oh...Mimi~. I didn't know you wanted to talk about sexy stuff-."
"This is s-serious. My nipples are really sensitive, and they feel w-weird all the time. They changed...like they are just different." I tell him, and I hear him chuckle.
"Well, if you want to send me a picture, just let me see and I can help you out-."
"Travis, seriously." I say very seriously, and he goes silent. "I don't know why they're d-doing this..."
I could hear Travis thinking, and I wondered if he'd raise any type of questions. I want him to think on it...I want him to guess and be excited.
Guess...
"I know why." He says abruptly, and I smile.
"Why are they d-doing that Travis?" I murmur him a question.
"Because you...are thinking about me too often." He says, and I felt like...never mind.
"Travis I'd you're not going to t-take this seriously-!"
"Okay, okay! I didn't know it was...that serious. Um...I don't know what to say. My nipples...have never done that. I most of the time forget I have nipples to be honest. I really don't know what to say on this one." He explains honestly, and I stay silent.
If he was the one with the sensitive nipples I'd look it up. I told him all of my symptoms...and he's not questioning anything?
"Maybe you're just nervous about your upcoming games." He says, and I found myself looking plainly forward. "Those are stressful times. You're probably feeling motion sickness because you need a little break, you don't need to be running around all the time anyway. You're hungry? Probably from working out so much! The nipples...I'm at a loss for words with that one, but everything else has to lead to there."
"What i-is that 'there', Travis?" I ask him plainly at this point.
"You're just tired. Chill out."
I found myself snickering, getting up as I set him on against my bag. I put it to FaceTime so that he could see me playing.
"If you fall a-asleep while I'm practicing, then I'll understand. At least I'll get to see your h-handsome face." I state, and he smirks as he seemed to be laying in bed. "Enjoy."
"I will definitely enjoy. I'll cheer you on even!" He shouts as I walk to the court. I see Hui sigh as if she was waiting for forever.
I see her pass me a ball now and as I bounce it some she gets into position.
"You and your boyfriend-."
"Fiancé!" Travis shouts, and I see her eyes widen. I just smile as I throw up the ball and hit it towards her.
"You and your 'fiancé' are interesting. The way you'll stop everything for one another, that's weird to me." She tells me as we kept hitting the ball while running.
"I think that's j-just a standard. I-I have heard that some Asian couples don't really say 'I love you', they show their l-love through actions. My parents certainly do th-that." I state, seeing Hui nod in agreement as she misses the ball I hit at her. "Fifteen-love."
I see her nod, glancing over at my phone that had Travis cheering excitedly.
"Are you feeling better?" She asks me as I toss her the ball to start.
"K-Kind of. I still have motion sickness, but I'm just dealing with it at this p-point." I strike the ball as she runs for it. "I'm doing b-better now that Travis is watching me."
"Is that so?" She continues to try and keep my pace, but it was much harder. I usually would do this with Liu...but after what he said I don't consider him a friend anymore.
He might happen to be around occasionally, but it's not because I invited him. He'll come just because he's close friends with Hui, he'll just happen to be there, like I said.
"Thirty-love. When do you have your n-next game?" I ask her.
"In two days. Based on how they're going currently...I think it won't go that well. You on the other hand, you'll do just fine." She begins to groan as she bounces the ball. "You're just better than me in general. I can't compete."
"You can compete, a-and you will. Don't let this get you d-down!" I nod fast, looking over at Travis who nodded enthusiastically. "Look, I'll let Travis give you advice. From college-professional to college-professional."
I grab my phone, letting Hui stand beside me as we look down at him. He looked at us both in confusion until I nodded at her.
"Oh! What I can say is that when you down in the dumps on your sport, that usually means you either need to take a break; or find that one reason as to why you were so devoted into it in the first place." She tells her, and she sighs.
"I started tennis to follow my family legacy, but I can't even live up to it. I've only won five games - never made it to Nationals might I add. Mimi was an ace instantly when he started. It was as if he always had a reason to play. There was a drive, a hunger...some anger - I want that!" She pumps her fist in front of her chest, and I smile awkwardly. "What was your drive?"
I glance at Travis who looked off awkwardly.
"My drive was anger, sadness, and pain. It was a great distraction that turned into a love for the sport. I like the adrenaline rush, getting my blood pumping." I bite my lip, soon grinning. "Now I have another drive."
"What's that?"
"To win Nationals, so that I can go to Travis in America on a K-1 Visa...and marry him." I murmur to her, seeing her eyes widen. "We're already engaged."
I saw her look at him as he smirked proudly.
"So...to find motivation...is to almost find that one reason to keep going. The drive to be not only greater than my parents, but my youngest sister...she's even better than me! I can't have that...my drive!" She cries out, rushing around me as she starts to gather her stuff. "Sorry Mimi, I'm going to call my sister and tell her everything. Tell her to get prepared for me, because I'm about to be the family favorite. She'll see!"
Travis and I watch her run off, and I look back down at him now.
"That was nice." He nods proudly like he was the reason she found her drive...which it kinda was. "Now one person knows you're engaged, how does it feel?"
"A-Actually..."
I smile as he doesn't know that I tell as many people when I can. If they look at my ring, I say I'm engaged. If I'm at a press conference and they ask if I am single, instantly say I am engaged.
"Let's just say I a-am now bèi Dàizǒu de Wǎng Qiú Wáng Zi." ( the Taken Prince of Tennis ) I smile as he raises his eyebrow.
"I remember the last four words standing for 'Prince of Tennis'. What's the new three words?"
"They call me 'the Taken Prince of Tennis'." I say, seeing him gasp as he rests his hand on his mouth. He looked at me in awe and began to smirk. "I take it by your f-facial expression that you're impressed?"
Travis began to grip his chin, looking at me deeply. He narrowed his eyes on me until his eyes widened.
"You look very lively right now, like there's a glow to you. Maybe it's because I haven't seen you in some time, but over the phone you seem to be glowing." He murmurs, and I look up at the sun blaring on me.
"It might just b-be the sun." I chuckle, moving out of the sun's rays. "There, how about now?"
"Nope, it wasn't the sun. You should look at yourself in the mirror, you are glowing baby. Not to mention you are stuttering way less. Only stutter once in a sentence - if even that! Hmm...what's going on, what is going on...?" He wiggles his eyebrows at me.
I just shrug, wanting him to guess.
He just looked at me, soon shrugging. He doesn't say anything and just stares at me. I wait with a bright smile until I hear a knock on his door.
I see him look, and he tells whoever it is that they can come in. When they do I could hear Diane's voice.
"Travis who are you talking to? I heard you and I just wanted to know because I can." She says, and I hear her plop onto his bed.
I gasp because isn't she...sixteen now?
"Diane it's me!" I exclaim, and I hear Travis gasp. Only for her to snatch the phone from him and she looks. "Hi! You're s-sixteen now, right?"
"Why do you care?" She questions me rudely, and I frown.
"Why w-w-wouldn't I c-care?" I ask nervously, seeing her roll her eyes. "Diane?"
"Travis I'm telling Zoe." Diane tells him snappily, and she hands the phone back to him. He looked annoyed by that as he looked down at me.
I didn't know what to say because I could tell she was upset with me...I think.
"Travis what d-did...she mean by th-that?" I ask him, and before he could respond his door flew open again.
"Zoe stop!" He shouts at her, standing up and I saw myself be raised up high as if he was raising his arm up. I could see her trying to reach for it and the anger within her eyes. "I told you already! Stop!"
"Why are you talking to him?! You know what he did-!"
"I know what his family did! He didn't do anything! Why are you holding hatred towards him still when you already know his circumstances-?"
"His circumstances are invalid at this point! He could've said something! If he was slightly aware that he'd be going somewhere, he should've said something-!"
"That's the thing, he wasn't aware- wait! I don't need to explain my relationship to you!" He snaps at her, and I see him pull his arm down. "I am with Mimi, I am engaged to Mimi...I am in love with Mimi. I've moved on from that incident, the least you can do is do the same if you really care at all."
I began to feel bad because I didn't know...she felt that way. He never told me that they had bad will towards me. It seems that way...right now.
"I do care." Zoe mumbles, and I hear him snort. "I care enough to be the one that still cares even if you don't! You suffered, a lot."
"He did too-."
"Did he really?" She snaps, and that's when I hear his door slam close.
I now see his face appear on the screen as he looked irritated.
"Sorry...about them. They tend to hold grudges."
"Like y-you did against Louis b-back then?" I remind him.
"That's way different, I don't know what you mean by that." Travis sits on his bed, leaning back. "I already know it's going to be a great spectacle tomorrow morning with them. Do you mind if I lay down, tomorrow I have-."
"You don't need to a-ask, go ahead." I interrupt, nodding. "You can just stay on t-the call until your phone dies...if y-you want."
"I'll do that, and sorry about them." He apologized, making me smile.
I walk to my room now, setting my things down. Going to my bathroom as I look down, instantly smiling bigger.
"It's f-fine. When your phone d-dies and you're going to school, y-you'll call me right?" I make sure, and he nods as he lays down.
That's when I see him begin to lay down. I set my phone down, looking at the thing on my counter. I found myself blushing as my hand slowly went to my mouth.
"Goodnight Mimi."
I flinch, looking at him. See him look up at me as his phone laid propped up against a pillow.
"Goodnight, Travis." I murmur, stepping to the side as I look again.
Now I really was getting giddy.
____Travis____*
"What are you doing?"
I look over my shoulder, seeing my mom behind me as I made the cookies Mimi wanted. My phone didn't die, but Mimi had to go.
This is a good time to surprise him.
"Making Mimi some cookies that I'm sending over." I tell her, and she raises her eyebrow. "You have a problem with him too still?"
"No. I am just confused as to why he wants them. Christmas is over, those cookies are more...for Christmas." She says, and I snort.
"The first time I made him these it was in a September. I don't think the holiday spirit of the cookies is on his mind, besides, he said he was craving them." I chuckle, and out of nowhere I feel my mom grab my arm hard.
She twists me around, and I look down at her in confusion. I didn't know what her deal was...
"He was craving?"
"Yeah?" I shrug, about to face the counter again until she has me face her again. "What's the big deal?"
"Travis...I taught you better than this. Has he been...nauseous?" She asks, and I frown.
I shook my head because he didn't take about nausea, he spoke about-."
"Motion sickness." I state, and she just looks at me. "Oh, yeah. Since you're my mom and all I'll ask you. He said his nipples are changing and they feel weird. I couldn't answer that question because...I forget they're even there! Also, he was quite snappy, but it was cute. Not to mention he was practically glowing. Looked very beautiful."
Biting my lip, I look at the cookies and see that they need to be left for a few more minutes. When I close the oven I feel my mom grab my arm hard.
When I look at her she looked at me wildly.
"Did I do something?" I ask her nervously, and I smile shyly. "Is it weird asking your parents about your partner's nipples-?"
"Ask Mimi more questions next time, okay?" She tells me, and I nod. I don't know why she was being dramatic.
She could just tell me why he's like that...but she's not.
I left China two months ago. It's March now and I've been doing good now that I know we're engaged. We talk like how he said to, and the day I left...honestly wasn't that bad.
I think it's because we both were content because we had a plan. We were even engaged! What's to be uncertain about? I know I was certain.
____couple months ago____
"I will...m-miss you."
I cradle his face, smiling down at him as his eyes welled up with tears.
"Yes, but don't forget, May." I remind him, and he smiles.
"May j-just seems so f-far. I want you to s-stay." He pouts, grabbing my hand. I bring him into my arms again as we both hug.
As I hugged him I found my eyes watering too. I didn't want to cry though because I'm trying to be strong for him this time.
"Once May comes and you win you're Nationals, come to America. You already know what our plan is. Nothing will get in the middle of that." I breathe, pulling back as he wiped his face. "Isn't that right, baby?"
"R-Right-!"
____present____
"Travis!"
I sigh in annoyance, seeing some guy from my school rush at me. He stands beside me as we walk forward and I still don't understand how some people can just be so confident to do such a thing.
"What is it?"
"We're both going to do the same thing, major wise. Don't act like you don't know!" He smirks, and I just look at him. "No?"
"Sorry, but I still don't even know your name. I forget it all the time." I state, hoping that'd get him to back off.
"Oh! It's just Pete! It's very easy to remember. Remember it like this. Four letters, or like Peter Parker from Spider Man; but easier, Pete." He keeps chirping so early in the afternoon.
It was kind of impressive.
"Well, Peter-."
"No, Pete." He chuckles, and I sigh.
"Pete, I-."
"Is that a ring on your ring finger? Are you married?!" He exclaims, grabbing my hand as he looked at it. I snatch it away as I still didn't understand his chirpy...ways.
He always does and waits for me, even though he knows I like to do my own thing. No one dares to cling or follow me, but Mimi...and now Pete.
Maybe if I say something...I'll really be left alone.
Now I stop, seeing Pete stop two paces in front. He backs up beside me as he waits.
"I'm engaged." I just tell him, hearing him gasp.
"You're engaged?!" He cries out so loud. Eyes going onto us and I sigh in irritation.
Never mind.
__________________💀
hope you like time skips. 🥴
so fun. 😌
but Mimi though... 👀
what's going on with that? 🤭
*cough cough* 😶🌫️
- yolo✨