Turning Red

Chapter 3: Humiliation

The notebook ripped and Ming held some of the pages.

"They obviously came from somewhere! Was it (Y/n)? Did she give you these wild ideas?! I knew she was a bad influence on you! You should stop seeing her!"

"No! It wasn't her!" Mei said immediately.

"Then who was it?!" Ming demanded.

"I-It...it was... Devon!" Mei blurted out the first name he could think of, but immediately placed his hands over his mouth, but it was too late.

"Devon? Is that....the sketchy clerk from the Daisy Mart?!" Ming realized in anger, and stormed out of the room.

"Mom, no!" Mei called after her.

...

Ming sped into the Daisy Mart parking lot and parked right in front of the door, Mei sitting in the passengers seat.

"What are you doing?" Mei asked nervously

Ming made her way out of the car and stormed toward the entrance.

"No, no, no!" Mei repeated in horror.

Ming swung the door open aggressively and marched in with a furious look on her face.

"Oh, snap!" Tyler chuckled, watching the scene unfold.

"Mom, no!" Mei begged, as Ming walked up to the counter.

Devon was working the register and as he turned around Ming pointed a finger in his face.

"You!" She fumed.

"Whoa!" Devon gasped in shock, falling into his seat.

"What have you done to my Mei-Mei?!" She demanded.

"Uh...who?" He asked.

"Mei-Shan Lee, right here!" Tyler called, pointing at Mei, and everyone turned to him.

"I should report you to the police. How old are you? Thirty?" She asked, slamming her hands in the counter.

"I'm...seventeen." He answered.

"Oh, see, see? This is what happens when you don't wear sunblock and do drugs all day! He's just a sweet, innocent child. How dare you take advantage of him! Look at what your terrible influence has done!" Ming reached into her jacket and pulled out the drawings she ripped out of the notebook and raised them into the air.

"Mom, nooooooo!!!" Mei screamed and tried to rush forward and stop her, but it was too late.

She slammed the drawings down onto the counter for everyone to see. The top page was a drawing of (Y/n) as a mermaid, and smaller sketches of her face around it.

"What?" Devon squeaked, and everyone gathered around to look at the drawings.

"Is that (Y/n)?" Tyler laughed and pointed at him "What a weirdo!"

Mei looked around and saw people whispering and looking at him, while Tyler made kissy faces. Everyone else laughed and pointed at him.

Mei could hear his heartbeat going a mile a minute and he started sweating and his face burned in humiliation.

Ming pushed her son behind her. "The Daisy Mart has lost a loyal customer today." She announced and she turned around and guided Mei out of the store while everyone laughed louder.

His mother's hand stayed on his shoulder as they walked out and Mei's expression was one of pure horror.

They got back in the car and Ming let out a sigh. "Thank goodness I was here. That degenerate won't be filling your head with any more inappropriate thoughts."

She tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.

"Now, is there anything else I should know about, Mei-Mei?" She asked softly.

Mei's hands dug into his jeans.

"Nope. All good." He responded with a fake smile and gritted teeth.

...

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Mei's muffled voice sounded through the room as he screamed into his pillow. He sat up and panted heavily.

"You sicko! What were you thinking? Why would you draw those things? Those horrible, awful, sexy things?" He yelled at himself.

...

"It's fine. You'll move to another city, change your identity." He said positively as he paced around his room.

...

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Mei's muffled screams came from under his bed now, as he kicked his legs in frustration.

...

"Mommy, I'm so sorry." He sobbed, laying in his bed and looking at a family photo.

...

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Mei sat in his desk chair and screamed into his pillow again. The chair rolled along the floor and bumped into his nightstand.

...

"You are her pride and joy, so act like it!" He yelled at his reflection in the mirror, before slapping himself.

...

He tore out all the drawings he had done and threw them in the trash can, before he threw the whole notebook in there.

"This will never happen again." He scolded his reflection.

He took his glasses off, placed them on his nightstand, turned off his light and crawled into bed.

...

That night, raindrops pelted against Mei's window and thunder boomed throughout the night.

Mei's brows furrowed and he tossed and turned in his bed. He was having a nightmare.

The temple doors swung open aggressively, everything was a deep red hue.

Mei whimpered.

Inside the courtyard, the eyes of the Red Panda statues glowed, before they cracked and broke open. Suddenly, hundreds of Red Pandas climbed over the temple, bathed in the light of a red moon.

Mei tossed and turned and whimpered some more.

Devon was laying on the ground with a fish tail and flopping around, before he suddenly became sushi.

Mei gasped even louder and hugged his stuffed animal closer to him.

Flowers bloomed with the faces of 4-Town in them that shook aggressively in his face.

Thunder boomed louder and Mei tossed and turned again.

The picture of Sun Yee that hung in the temple appeared and the two Red Pandas in the painting came to life and flew right at Mei.

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