She slowed her pace even further to the point where she was slowly walking more than jogging. Despite this, her heart hammered wildly in her chest. Jia Li was nervous. She’d been able to finally forget about him or at least make a joke of everything that had happened, but it was easier to do those things when he wasn’t there to throw things into her face for a laugh.
Had he always been that good looking? Maybe the fact that he actually seemed happy was an improvement on his normal demeanor. He hadn’t really looked happy any of the times she’d seen him though he’d laughed at her a few times. It had all had sour undertones.
She watched him do a few clumsy back flips, mentally considering ways he could improve his form though she was impressed that he could do them at all. Then, she realized she’d stopped walking altogether to watch him. Jia Li blushed a little, and she remembered that she had intended to apologize to him about slapping him. It seemed all the more possible that it would end well now that he actually seemed to be in a good mood, but she couldn’t be sure of anything with him, could she? He was a jerk, and he would probably continue to be a jerk and call her Suzy and make fun of her. Regardless, an apology really would be the best thing she could do, and as he finished the chorus of the familiar song, she began to approach him.
“Hey.” She called out softly as she neared him. Jia Li suddenly felt incredibly awkward, and the closer she got to him, the more nervous she got. It didn’t seem quite as likely to end well the nearer she moved, but maybe he would prove her wrong. Maybe he could be nice for a change. “I just wanted to apologize about what happened. I shouldn’t have slapped you.” No, she shouldn’t have. She should have just disappeared into a tree and gone back to her dorm. It had taken an effort to actually catch up to him to slap him, and that normally would have been enough time to know better had she not had the instant access of tree-travel at her convenience. “It was wrong, and you didn’t deserve it.” Physical violence, no. Maybe some verbal anger would have made her feel better at the time.