Hands In The Stars

23. A Drink Or A Flame

Loud ringing echoed from the tremendous speakers. Way too many hung down from the plastered ceilings all over the corridor, and in each overcrowded classroom lining the way. You could hear the ringing through the bleak walls. Zen quickly gathered up her things and slithered her way out of the cramped classroom. The lecture in language and modern dialects she had just attended still occupied her mind fully. She made her way out to the school yard, lightly powdered with freshly fallen snow. Over the moonlit night, a thin, white blanket had laid itself over Changchun, beautiful and glistening in the morning light. By now, however, most of it had gotten stepped away, painted brown and dull gray by cars, trains and shoes alike. The city never stayed calm for long, not even in the outskirts where the Changchun school for late teenagers were placed. There, just as planned, she promptly met her older cousin waiting for her, ready to pick her up. Zen and Chen wandered slowly across the massive yard, their footprints mixing together with the countless thousands of others in the gleaming snow below.

A gentle smile plastered across Chen's kind face as he glanced thoughtfully at his dear cousin.
"How's your extra job going for you? Are you gaining any money, sugar cube?" He asked, looking keenly around the impressive yard to see if anyone familiar happened to be nearby. Zen kicked the fluffy snow with her boots as they walked.
"Indeed I am, the people I live at right now know so many others, it's impressive. I help out a lot there, and also get smaller jobs and projects from time to time, and they actually pay up so it's really boosting my experience. I think it's going forwards really well." She confessed.
"Don't forget to make some friends while you're out there, as well." Chen chuckled delightedly, and Zen nodded at that. "I'm really happy for you. You're doing great."
"Hm, if you think so, maybe." Zen's gaze strained to the snow below. She had never been one good at making friends, but she knew Chen was merely trying to cheer her on. It was likely Zen was one of the friendliest people in her year, but the social anxiety and the sinister rumours other girls had spun up put a wall between her and the rest of the world. For now, those excessive worries didn't bother her. Chen's cheerful mood lit up the entire school yard in a welcome gleam. 

Through the oversized windows lining the walls of the school, she could see other people from her year running around and chatting merrily over the warm hallway on the other side. Zen suddenly came to a stop as she noticed Chen wasn't besides her anymore. She turned around to see him staring at something in the distance and followed his gaze, noting Ethan coming towards them in a light jog. She couldn't help but to smile, today was undoubtedly going to be a good day after all.
"Oh, hi Ethan! You look cute today." She greeted their mutual close friend once Ethan had managed to catch up. It looked as if his flowing hair had been curled this morning, but the weather and wind had disrupted it. Only a few gentle waves and swirls remained, bobbing gently as he walked.
"Hey honey, you look cuter." Ethan threw back at her with a wink, and as a small blush appeared on her cheeks Ethan giggled a bit. "I'm glad to see you're doing better, I was searching for you some day ago but couldn't detect you anywhere in the entire school ground! Aren't you freezing wearing nothing but your uniform in the snow?" He suddenly asked, a slightly troubled expression over his face. Those thick, downward eyebrows of his frequently made his face look worried or bothered, it was quite a typical look.

"Yeah, sorry mom, I left my jacket in the car." Chen chuckled, eyeing Ethan's thick winter jacket. "It's not that cold yet. The sun is still warming through the clouds! We're on our way to grab a drink at the restaurant. Are you tagging along or are you too busy hanging out with Mr. Stick?" He asked with a modest smile.
"Hey!" Edwin's familiar voice made Chen jump back in a startle.
"Oh christ!" Chen turned around to look at Edwin, who had just manifested behind them out of thin air. Ethan gave his boyfriend a small glare as a peculiar way to advise him to stop messing with his friends, but Edwin just grinned back.
"Mr. Stick? That's a new one." Edwin smugly invited himself into the conversation. "And yes, Ethan is in fact busy so no he will not follow you. He's going to eat with me so buzz off." He hissed.

Without hesitation Chen swiftly pushed Edwin back, forcibly making the scrawly, blonde teen stumble a bit, though he managed to not fall over completely.
"First of all, take a step back. You stink of old men. Furthermore, you don't own him so shut up and stop acting like the king of the world, Dongcock. He decides where he goes." Chen aggressively defended his childhood friend, a small hiss underlying his tone. Not wanting to be stuck in the middle of yet another famous Jung versus Dongcock fight, Zen withdrew a few nervous steps back.
"Will you two just stop it already? This is ridiculous." Ethan sighed impatiently in grave disappointment. He walked around Chen, behind Edwin, put a hand on Edwin's frail shoulder and gently but firmly moved Edwin back a few steps. "Calm down for a second now. We're just talking, you don't need to be so moody, I didn't even know we had plans?" Ethan gave Edwin a mildly annoyed stare, withholding a hand gently placed on his chest, preventing him from closing in the distance gap between him and Chen.

"What the hell?" Edwin mumbled, clearly irritated. He flipped Chen off, but when Chen gained a hasty step forwards he quickly backed in sync. He scoffed and devoted his attention back to Ethan. "It goes without saying we had plans, when do we not? What did you think? You dumb- Ugh, you know what, never mind." He grunted, lowering his eyebrows.
"Dumb what?!" Chen suddenly snapped. Concerned people in the yard were starting to take note of the dreadful suspense between the two, known for their mutual disliking. With light steps, Zen walked up besides Chen and covered his mouth with her hand.
"No, don't. We could all just go together? We want to get a drink, those are going to eat together, we're going to the restaurant?" She spoke softly in her flawed speech, gradually lowering her hand from Chen's mouth again. "We don't have to fight, nobody thinks so. If you two are just going to fight, I will leave, and I'm sure Ethan will too!" She continued, taking a step back again.

Zen crossed her arms, Ethan nodded in cooperative agreement, and Chen eventually sighed in defeat.
"God, fine." Chen seemed displeased, but he didn't want to upset neither Ethan nor Zen. Reluctantly, he gave Edwin a small glare, then fished up a cigarette and a lighter from his pants pocket and withdrew a few steps away from their compact group. Chen looked around at the students that had stopped in disappointed hopes of witnessing a brutal fight, and they all scattered away. Unexpectedly for all, Zen didn't follow behind him. Instead, she turned to look at Ethan, who was too busy looking back and forth between Chen and Edwin to spare her a glance. She gave them a few necessary seconds, then slowly took a handful of steps towards the parking lot area. The only one who reacted was Ethan, who, by the notice of her movements, mirrored her movements.
"Well, are you two coming along or no?" Zen asked in a low voice, still maintaining her eyes onto Ethan. The two older boys reluctantly turned to stare at her. Edwin made his up to Ethan and bound an arm around his shoulder.
"Alright. Let's go then." He smirked.
"Well who's car are we taking then? I am not leaving mine on this parking lot. Or, actually, I assume you got dropped off by your personal taxi slave, Dongcock?" Chen tread a step behind them, on the opposing side of Zen, as far away from Edwin as possible.
"Thinking about it, the three-hour walk seems tempting. It might be more pleasant than sharing a car with these two together." Ethan whispered in a joking tone to Zen, who giggled a bit in response.