Picture Us [discontinued]

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Lu Nam winces as the tennis racket comes dangerously close to another girl's head. She and her twin brother, Lu Xia, recently moved back to China after living abroad in the States for a decade. They were currently riding the bus so they could go to Xia's tennis match. After Xia dominated the American Teen Tennis League, the twins moved back to China so he could play a real, fair match with their father, Lu Xiangqian. No matter how excellent Lu Xia is, he has never been able to beat their dad, who's a former world-class tennis champion. But for his father to play Lu Xia seriously in the first place, Xia needs to dominate the same Chinese league his father did in high school.

Unlike her twin, Nam isn't a tennis prodigy. In her youth, she had learned tennis along with her brother, but took to photography as her preferred hobby. Nevertheless, Nam had taken it upon herself to always show up to cheer her brother on in matches. She's been fond of just taking photos and posting them on her own blog, namtakespics, which contains a hefty amount of Lu Xia action shots. Nam's not quite sure what he thinks of her hobby, but the never-ending paparazzi treatment from her sure goes to his head. Even if he doesn't show it, Nam knows she's slightly sparking the older twin's ego with each click of her camera. And he's only older by 73 minutes, the arrogant prick.

Nam is taken out of her thoughts with another swing of the racket. The other girl on the bus is appearing increasingly uncomfortable as well. The one swinging the racket, Huang Jing, is way too loud for such an enclosed space, and it's obvious her brother thinks so, too. Huang Jing's friend, Ma Xiuwen, just seems in awe of his boasting as he declares how good he is at tennis. With another swing of the racket, Nam clutches her camera protectively. Sure, her and Xia are sitting across from the other three, but her camera is her prized possession, and it's always been her nervous habit to hold whatever is dangling off of her neck. It used to be necklaces, and now it's her precious camera.

Xia notices his baby twin' nervousness and decides to teach the loud fool a lesson. He squeezes Nam's hand so she can face him and see his eyes. Just watch, he communicates through to her. Nam gives him a subtle nod.

"So noisy," Xia states nonchalantly.

Huang Jing, obviously startled, retorts after a tense moment. "Who are you? Is this your bus?" he says. And then he directs his attention to Nam. "Why are you with someone so arrogant like him?" She chooses to stay silent. Instead, Nam favors looking at the bright sky outside the window as her brother verbally wins against the two boys.

Finally, she thinks as the bus comes to a stop, we're at the tennis park.

The Lu twins have yet to even start school in China, and the quick confrontation already starts to unnerve Nam. What else does this year have in store for us?