At school on the next day, Anna showed her friends the lyrics for Country Road.
     "You've finished it!" one of her friends asked.
 Anna nodded.
     "It's very good," Beth added.
     "No, it isn't," Anna said stubbornly, "it needs to be revised."
     Beth shook her head annoyingly.
     Her friends began to sing the song.  As they were singing, Anna looked around her and saw a familiar figure standing within a group of boys.  It was the same boy she had seen at the library, and the one who had made fun of her lyrics!  She made a disgusted face and turned her back to him so she did not have to see his face.
     A finger tapped on Beth's shoulder.  Beth turned around and was surprised to see Johnny.
     "I want to have a word with you, Beth," Johnny said.
     "Oh....sure," Beth said, feeling very uncertain.
     Anna gave her friend an encouraging smile.
     Johnny led Beth to a quiet place and said to her, "Um, you know my friend, Brian?"
 Beth slowly nodded.
     "Well, he...he wants to ask you out," Johnny began, "um...are you free tonight?  I have to tell him what you've said."
     Beth was shocked.  "Is this all you have to say to me?" she asked tearfully.
     "Yeah," Johnny answered, stepping backwards, "I mean, you can say no if you want to.  I'm just delivering a message for him."
     Beth tried to stop herself from crying.
     "Well, the answer is no!" she cried, "And I never want to speak to you again!"
     "Wha...," Johnny exclaimed in shock.
     Beth ran away from him and headed home in tears.

     After school, Anna went to visit Grandpa Lee at his antique shop.  She tried to open the shop door but saw the ‘CLOSED' sign on the shop window.  She felt discouraged and sat in front of the door to wait for Grandpa Lee.
     Anna waited for a long time and apparently fell asleep.  She was awaken by the sound of a bike.  She slowly opened her eyes and saw a boy in front of her.  It was that same annoying boy she had seen at the bench, and library, and at school!
     "What are you doing here?" the boy asked.
     Anna stood up from the floor and patted the dust off her clothes.
     "I'm waiting for the owner of this shop," she said boldly, "What are you doing here?"
     The boy smiled.  "Why shouldn't I be here?" he shot back, "It's my shop."
     "This is your shop?" Anna asked with her eyes wide opened.
     "Yeah," he answered, "it belongs to my Grandpa."
     "Oh, Grandpa Lee is your grandfather?" Anna said.
     "Yup," the boy said as he stepped off his bike to open the door with his key, "what are you doing here anyways?"
     "I...I just passed by this area and I wanted to visit Grandpa Lee," she said, "and the glass cat."
     "Come in, then," the boy welcomed her as he turned the key in the door knob.
     Anna and the boy stepped inside.  She went straight to the glass cat and stared at its eyes again.
     "You can look all you want," the boy said to her, "I'll be upstairs.  Call me when you leave."
 Anna nodded, for she was too fascinated with the glass cat.  She began to imagine the cat with his female partner.  What would they say when they see each other at their meeting place?  How would they react to one another?
     Time went by and the sky blackened as the evening came.  Anna woke herself from her cloud of imagination and walked upstairs to tell the boy she was leaving.
     "Hey," she called out.  She saw him at a desk, holding an unfinished wooden violin in one hand and a carving knife in the other.  She spotted more violins hanging from the ceiling, and walked closer to see what he was doing.
     "Did you make all those?" she asked incrediously.
     "Yeah," the boy answered without looking up from his carving, "I made all those."
     "Wow," she exclaimed, "I never knew you were so talented."
     The boy stopped carving and stared at the wall.
     "I'm not so talented," he said quietly, "there are so many others who are better than me." He continued with his work.
     "But I think you're very good," Anna explained, "I can never do that."
     The boy gave a short laugh.  Anna immediately wanted to say something back, but she stopped herself and looked at his violins again.
     "No, you're very good," Anna said in a serious tone, "At least you have something important to do.  I don't even have a goal in life."
     The boy looked up at her.
     "That's not true," he said, encouraging Anna, "everyone has a goal.  You just haven't found it, yet."
     Anna smiled at him.
     "What's your goal, then?" she asked.
     The boy sighed.  "I'm going to be a violin maker," he said dreamily, "I hope to go to Italy one day and learn to make violins with the great masters."
     "Wow," Anna said with admiration, "that's a big dream."
     "It is," the boy said, "I've asked my parents about it, but they did not let me go, since I would not be able to attend university if I go to Italy.  Only Grandpa supports me."  He continued to carve.
     "Can you play the violin?" Anna asked, feeling very ridiculous.
     "Of course I can," he laughed, "I made them!"
     He kneeled under his desk and got out a large wooden violin box.  He opened it and took out a shining new violin.
     "Play something," Anna begged.
     "I play, you sing," the boy smiled.
     "No way, I'm tone-deaf!  I can't sing at all!" Anna exclaimed and kept shaking her head.
     "But you know this song," the boy said, and began to play the music for Country Road.
 Anna listened to his beautiful playing and began to sing with her new lyrics.  She had a beautiful voice, but she was too shy to perform. They smiled at each other as they played music together.
     Grandpa Lee returned to his shop with his old friends.  They heard the music, too, and quickly went upstairs and gathered their instruments.  They accompanied with the boy's violin and Anna's voice.  Anna heard the new instruments and felt the music alive in her.  She began to dance around the room as she sang.  Grandpa Lee and his pals laughed.  When the song ended, everyone clapped.
     "You have a great voice," the boy said with admiration.
     "Thank you," Anna smiled, and took a bow.
     "Don, I didn't know you and Anna knew each other!" Grandpa Lee said.
     "We're from the same school," the boy said.
     "Wait a minute," Anna cut in and turned to the boy, "what's your name again?"
 "Don," the boy said, "Don Lee."
     "Don Lee?" Anna cried in horror, "You're Don Lee?  The same Don Lee who read all those books at the library?"
     "I didn't know you read so much, Don," Grandpa Lee said in surprise.
     "Well, I...," Don said with his face turning red.
     Anna was burning with anger and feeling disappointed at the same time.  The ‘Don Lee' she imaged was not like this boy at all.  ‘Don Lee' was supposed to be tall, handsome, incredibly smart...he was not supposed to be a violin maker!
     "The ‘Don Lee' I've imaged isn't like you at all," Anna said horrifyingly.
     "Well," Don said plainly, "you read too many fictional books.  I'm the only Don Lee around."
     "How come you never told me your name?" Anna cried.
     "You never asked!" Don yelled back.
     They continued to argue for the rest of the hour.  Grandpa Lee and his pals signed and covered their ears.
     Finally, they stopped arguing.  Don accompanied Anna home. They were silent on the way to     Anna's house.
     "Well," Anna said quietly as they reached her house, "thanks for bringing me home."
     "No problem," Don replied causally.
     He began to walk away.  Anna looked after him for a moment and headed for the door.  Suddenly, Don turned around and said to Anna, "You know, Country Road was quite good."
     Anna looked at him in surprise and gave him a bright smile, "Thanks, Don Lee."
     Don laughed, "You're welcome, Anna Yan."
     Anna gave a laugh and went inside the house.

     At night, Anna was doing her homework while listening to her discman.  She hummed along with the music as her feet tapped along with the beat.  Amy came in and grabbed the headphones away from Anna's ears.
     "I called you many times already," Amy said impatiently, "I can't believe you're doing homework and listening to music at the same time!"
     "What is it?" Anna asked tiredly.
     "Beth is on the phone," Amy answered in a plain voice.
 Anna went downstairs to answer the phone in the kitchen. Her mother was drinking coffee on the table.  She saw Anna and told her, "There's a call for you."
     "I know, Mom," Anna said.  She took the receiver and talked into it, "Beth?  Is that you?"
     "Oh, Anna!" Beth sobbed on the phone.
     "What's wrong?" Anna asked in a worried voice.
     "I'm outside your house on a pay phone," Beth said quietly, "I want to see you."
     "I'll be right there!" Anna said, and put the receiver down.
     She ran out the door, hearing her mother calling after her, "Where are you going, Anna?  It's late!"  But she did not have time to answer her mother.
     Anna saw Beth behind one of the tall trees in the front yard.  She ran over to her.
     "Oh, Beth, what's wrong?" Anna quickly asked.
     "Oh, Anna!  It's terrible!  He said it to me this morning!" Beth cried.
     "Who?" Anna said.
     "Johnny," Beth explained as she sobbed even more, "he said his friend wanted to go out with me.  His friend!"
     "How dare he!" Anna said angrily, "How did you respond?"
     "I just cried and left," Beth said sadly, "I didn't know what else to say to him."
     Anna thought for a moment.
     "But Beth," she began, "does he know you like him?"
     Beth stopped crying.
     "No," she stuttered.
     Anna sighed, "Maybe that's why he asked you out for his friend.  If he only knew."
     Beth nodded in agreement and slowly smiled.  "Thanks, Anna," she said, "I'm better now."
     "Do you want to come in?" Anna offered gently, "we can chat some more."
     "That's okay," Beth said, "it's late anyways."
     They said goodbyes and Anna returned into the house.  She walked slowly upstairs and fell     tiredly onto her bed.  Why is love so complicated, she asked herself, why can't two people live happily ever after, just like in the storybooks?  She shook her head to erase those silly thoughts in her mind and went to sleep.