Breaking Down the Wall

Wall of Shame

Author's Note: This is Wayo's original Wall of Shame (okay, stalker pictures of Pha). I put it in here, even though in my story only some of the pictures are still framed. This image is what gave me the idea for the changes in the story.

Yo's POV

After Forth dropped me at home with my new teddy bear, I looked at the picture we had taken at the carnival. We were smiling and laughing together. The camera caught us just at that moment with Forth's arm over my shoulders and my face turned up to him. It reminded me of all the fun we had today. I was so happy. I want to put the picture up in my room, but I'm not sure where to put it. I have a lot of frames out on my bureau, but they're all filled.

I have six framed pictures. Joss called it my Wall of Shame, because they were all stalker pictures I had bought from Pha's fan club in high school. Over the last year, I had been able to give up a few of my pictures of Pha, but only to the most important people in my life. I have a picture of me with my parents, one with Ming, and one with Joss. There were only three pictures of Pha left. Even though Pha has been nothing but a bully since I came to this university and even though I know he doesn't care about me at all, the idea of getting rid of any of his last three pictures made my heart hurt.

I looked hard at the picture of Forth and then the pictures of Pha before I finally made a choice. I pulled one of the frames toward me and took the back off. I pulled out the picture of Pha with his back to me, he's pouring some water on his head and you can't really see his face at all. I flipped the picture of Pha into my garbage and put the picture of Forth and me at the carnival in its place.

I reminded myself that this is for the best and decided to take the garbage out before I changed my mind about throwing away the picture of Pha. Grabbing an umbrella, I tie the bag of garbage and take it out to the parking lot to throw away. Just as I finished putting my garbage into the proper container, I turned to find Pha getting out of his car. It was pouring rain, and he didn't have an umbrella, so I ran over to cover his head with mine. He pulled me slightly toward him, trying to get us both out of the rain.

"Were you waiting for me?" He asked, his face screwed up in a confused frown.

Phana's POV

"Were you waiting for me?" I can't help the frown on my face as I see the boy who reminded me so much of my Wayo. He's always in front of me, with his cute smile and soft, white skin. Why does he have to be so adorable?

I automatically pulled him closer to me to keep him out of the rain, until I remembered what happened today. I felt guilty for going to sushi with Pring and leaving Shorty standing there. But my guilt swiftly turned to jealousy when I saw him walking with Forth just as I was getting into my car with Pring. I felt bile in the back of my throat as I watched Forth pull Shorty's arms around his waist. The excited smile on my Shorty's face when they pulled away was both breathtaking and heartbreaking.

Stop it! He's not mine. He's just an annoying kid. I pushed him away from me, I needed more distance from this boy.

"I was just putting out some garbage," he said, nearly falling, he stabilized himself and started to walk away. I guess I pushed him harder than I thought. "It's my own fault for trying to be nice to a jerk."

"What did you say?" No one talks to me that way. But instead of being angry at him, I find myself smiling.

"I said, you're a jerk, but that isn't anything new. Geez, I was trying to be nice, since you didn't have an umbrella." He looked down at his feet, sadness and anger on his face, "I'm going back inside."

Why am I such a jerk? I hurried to catch up to him and took the umbrella from his hand so we could both stay under it. We're just about to the front steps when Shorty slipped on the wet ground. Without even thinking, I pulled him into my arms to stop his fall and held him close to me. He looked up at me with startled eyes and his arms went around my neck, holding himself up.

This is the first time I have seen his face so close to mine. He looked like a little puppy that needs to be cared for. Those eyes, his rosy cheeks, and those small pink lips that are just meant to be kissed. I want to wrap him up and keep him in my arms. He looks like an angel.

"Sorry," Shorty said to me, pulling himself to a standing position. He looked at me awkwardly as he rubbed his eyes, "My eyes are starting to hurt, I need to take my contacts out."

He needs glasses? I'm starting to feel confused about this Nong. First, Shorty is nearsighted, just like my Wayo. Second, he definitely has a strong resemblance to my baby. He's much more handsome, with clear skin and no braces, but it's so close. And third is the way I feel whenever I see him. It's the same feeling I had for that boy in high school, my Wayo. The boy I never saw after that one awful day. No, it's impossible. I tried to push those crazy thoughts away as I continued to follow him into our dorm.