“Stop daydreaming.”

  During study hall, Xiao Qing tapped my head and passed me a note.

  Xiao Qing is my best friend. But unlike the typical best friends from a traditional girls’ school, both of us are quite independent in personality.

  When we go to the restroom, we don't feel the need to go together. We don't like holding hands when we walk, and even after school, we often go our separate ways because we work in different pces. I work at a café, and Xiao Qing pretends to be older to work behind the counter at a bookstore.

  Just this alone shows how much we both long for independence and growth.

  “Xiao Qing, do you think I have a chance with Ze Yu?” I turned to Xiao Qing and grinned foolishly.

  “It’s only the second css, and you’re already daydreaming. Do you remember you′ve got the Ancient Chinese Texts and Basic Chinese Culture textbooks to study for this afternoon?” Xiao Qing looked like she couldn't handle it.

  I kept grinning, even though Xiao Qing was completely right. But Ze Yu, the guy who'd only spoken to me twice, still lingered in my mind, turning the cssical Chinese texts in my book into a chaotic mess of tadpoles.

  “No way, if I keep this up, I′ll only end up at a private university. I need to study hard; I have to get into National Chiao Tung University so I can be Ze Yu's junior.” I muttered to myself, grabbed my bottle of menthol oil, and took a deep breath, feeling more awake.

  “Opportunity is for those who are prepared.”

  "But then again, Si Ying, Jiaoda is a science and engineering school. Do you even know what majors you can apply for with a social sciences background?" Xiao Qing poked my back with her pen, reminding me.

  I thought about it for a moment—oh right, I′d never really considered that. Maybe subconsciously, I′d always thought running a café was a pretty good life choice, but I′d never stopped to think about how there was no coffee-reted major in university.

  Xiao Qing dug out a thick school department brochure from the drawer. It was the one the cram school handed out st week. I followed her lead and pulled out the same brochure from my own drawer, and we started whispering and studying it together.

  “There are more social science departments at Qing Da—economics, Chinese literature, foreign nguages…” Xiao Qing said while looking at the brochure.

  “Not interested; I want to go to Chiao Tung University,” I said bluntly.

  Especially since the gender ratio at Jiaoda is seven to one, making women quite a rare and valuable presence. One could easily become the department beauty, which, for someone as ordinary-looking as me, was a pretty good opportunity to stand out.

  “Jiaoda only has two social science departments: Management Science and Foreign Languages. Looks like you don’t have many options.”

  Xiao Qing's fingertip moved along the list of majors at Jiaoda, then she looked up and asked, “I know what Foreign Languages is about, but what exactly do they study in Management Science? Do they do a lot of math? Use a lot of computers?”

  I didn′t have anything against English, but the idea of studying it for four years straight didn′t excite me much.

  As for “Management Science,” it was a term that was both easy to understand and hard to grasp. It seemed like something I needed to look into carefully to solidify my ambitions.

  But those four words seemed somewhat familiar…

  I fell into deep thought, trying to remember where I had heard the term “management science” before.

  Meanwhile, Xiao Qing flipped through the brochure, stopping at the sections for National Taiwan University and National Chengchi University.

  Like most high school students, Xiao Qing wanted to leave her hometown for university and experience life away from home, so schools like Tsinghua, Chiao Tung University, National Chung Hsing University, and Chung Hua University weren't in her considerations.

  I had simir thoughts at first, but how many times in life can you experience moments when your heart races and you can barely get the words out?

  I haven't been in a retionship, but I know that someone who believes in love should cherish every moment of excitement and then bravely pursue the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that.

  Ze Yu.

  Ze Yu is the love I′m seeking.

  Otherwise, I wouldn′t have walked into his often-visited pce, “Waiting for Someone” café.

  And he wouldn′t have encountered the Kenyan coffee from “Waiting for Someone” before me.

  We each start from our own lives, but we're destined to meet at some point. Maybe that point is right here.

  So, I want to stay in Hsinchu, stay in the café where we met, and find a way to get into Jiaoda. Otherwise, I′ll never know the answer.

  “Hey, you’re daydreaming again!” Xiao Qing tapped my head with a bottle of correction fluid, snapping me out of my pink-colored daydream.