Immature Mistakes | mj.q✓

Thirty

The next day at school, Jiaqi didn't talk to Ava as it had been going the past week. She did not sit with him at lunch time, and it was a clear sign that she had probably not asked her father for permission yet. Or perhaps she had asked him and he said no, either way, he didn't see any reason to take chances.

But he was curious as well, because even his father had not explained why he had reacted like that. There must have been some kind of enmity which none of the children knew about.

During lunch, Jiaqi checked his phone and went to his messaging app. He was relieved when he saw that Ava had unblocked him. He didn't know if it was appropriate to message her with what her father had told her, but he chose to do it anyway.

Jiaqi: hey, did you ask your dad? What did he say? Did he explain more?

Jiaqi looked around the cafeteria and spotted Ava grabbing her cellphone at the table she was sitting at. He was curious to read her response, so it was luck to him that he had seen her grabbing her cellphone almost as soon as the message arrived. She read the message then started typing, before a response showed up on Jiaqi's cellphone:

Ava: well I didn't ask him yet but I'll ask him today.

Jiaqi: you really should. Because something's really going on. He's my father's enemy or something but I really want to know what happened, I'm curious.

When Ava read the message, she was also more curious than before. But her main objective wasn't exactly finding out why her father hated Jiaqi, it was to get permission to be friends with Jiaqi again.

...

Evelyn put the dish of supper in front of Michael then put another one in front of Ava reluctantly. She then grabbed her own plate from the kitchen and joined the table.

'The rice is a bit overcooked.' Michael commented bitterly after taking a forkful of the rice.

'Oh sorry.' Evelyn apologized and looked down at her own plate. She, for one, didn't see any problem with the rice.

'Dad I need to ask you something.' Ava suddenly said.

Michael looked at her, already getting an idea what she was about to ask him about. 'If it's anything about that boy, you're not getting a response from me.'

'Oh it's not about that boy, it's about you.' She continued.

Michael looked at her curiously but didn't say anything, and Ava interpreted it as a "go ahead".

'Why are you enemies with...Mr. Ma?' she asked with a falter of confidence.

'Mr. Ma? And how do you know that?'

Evelyn looked between the two with interest, but she was more surprised with Ava's confidence in front of her father. Evelyn would have never thought of asking Michael something like that.

'I heard. Just answer dad, it's no big deal. But I think I have the right to know why I shouldn't be friends with Jiaqi...'

'You're stepping out of line Ava. I don't have to explain anything to you, you're my child. I'll tell you what to do and it should be law to you, without any questions.'

Ava felt like giving up for a moment before she continued to speak. 'Well if you don't tell me I'll continue to be friends with Jiaqi, and irritate you with it and...'

'Shut up!' Michael suddenly exploded. He got up from the dining chair and threw the plate against the wall, smashing it at impact. Evelyn and Ava both flinched at the sudden action and sound. 'You want to push me to do what I didn't even plan to do Ava!?'