Cheng
Normal- Chinese/ Mandarin
Italics- thoughts
Bold- English
It was around 10:09 pm and Cheng was sitting on the couch with his mother Jing while she read her favorite novel.
"How can you read and listen to the news at the same time?"
"It's called multitasking son. Maybe you should try it"
"Sure"
"In more tragic news, The body of a young American girl was found in a dumpster outside of a Walmart"
"That poor girl. I can't imagine how her family and friends feel"
"The young lady was identified as Haper Destiny. She was a foreign exchange student from America" the reported said. Cheng knew that the dead girl had nothing to do with Vanessa and Kiara, but he could not help the worry that was building inside of him.
What if that was Kiara?
She works late hours and walks home alone
And Leia! She may not be American but still
Shit! What if Vanessa got home late tonight
Cheng quickly pulled out his phone and pulled up his texting app.
Kiara𓅓
Hey, are you home yet?
Hello??
Kiara??
Cheng began to panic at the thought of something happening to Kiara
Is she ok?
He tried calling her, but to no avail.
Answer the phone!
I was taking a shower!
What do you want?
Nothing
Bullshit
Answer the question
Just making sure you got home safely
Am I on your mind ;)
no
I just wanted to be sure you got home
Drop it or I'm blocking you
Block me?
You're so fucking weird
Cheng then switched from texting Kiara to Vanessa.
Vanessa ☮︎︎☀︎︎
Freckles?
Are you home?
Yeah
What's wrong?
Do you need to come over?
No
Mom is home
She changed her work hours around
I just saw some news
You got spooked because of the news?
Well excuse me if I wanted to make sure you were ok
Go to bed
You're not you when you're tired
I hate you
Love you too bro
Leia✿
Leia
Are you home?
I'm always home at 8:30 sharp
Which I kind of boring
No
It's safe
You saw the news?
Yeah
Thanks for checking up on me
It's nothing
Get some rest
Will do<3
Cheng sighed and put his phone down. He sank into the couch, both relieved and tired. After thirty more minutes of talking with Jing, he went to bed.
"Hey Cheng" I heard someone say from behind me. I saw Kiara holding a broom in her hand with her brown curls in a high ponytail.
"Kiara. What are you doing here so late?" I asked her, trying not to sound worried.
"I'm standing here with gloves on and a mop in my hand. What does it look like?" Kiara said. I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm.
"Shouldn't you be getting home now?" I asked.
"I have to finish this up before I go anywhere" she said.
"But I'll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?" She said, offering a smile. That smile. Her smile does something to me every time I see it. My heart speeds up and I begin to smile. It's so beautiful and contagious.
It bothers me
But not as much as it used to
"Maybe. I might ditch to go to the mall" I smiled. She gave me an "are you serious" look.
"Your mom would skin you" she joked. I couldn't help but chuckle. She was one hundred percent right. My mom would kill me, revive me and then force me to sit in a room with my father. She can be devious.
"Very true. You'll see me tomorrow" I said before walking to the doors
"Then I have something to look forward to" Kiara said. I stopped at the door, halfway opening it. Did she really say that? I felt a tingling sensation in my body. Was I having a stroke? I decided not to address it and left. Later that night I sat on the couch in my pajamas next to my mom as she read her book.
"In more tragic news, The body of a young American girl was found in a dumpster outside of The Fighting Dragon studio" the reporter said. It must be about the Harper girl again. It really was sad what happened to her. I really hope they found her killer. All I can do is make sure my friends are ok.
"That poor girl. I can't imagine how her family and friends feel" mom said, looking up from her book.
"The young lady was identified as Kiara Parker of Detroit, Michigan." The reporter said as a picture of Kiara smiling came up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't breathe.
"What?" I managed to get out. I quickly grabbed the remote and rewound the program.
"The young lady was identified as Kiara Parker of Detroit Michigan." The reporter said again. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I only stared at her picture with tears streaming down my face. I couldn't hear anything. I felt numb. So numb that I didn't feel my mother hugging me. I felt my chest tightening. It became so tight that it was hard to breathe. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to catch my breath.
December 4, 2009 >Friday
Cheng jolted awake from his sleep. Gasping for air, he put right hand over his heart.
"Honey? Are you ok?" Jing asked from outside of the door, concern in her voice. Cheng cleared his throat.
"Yeah I'm fine. I'm getting up now" he said. He felt that his shirt was damp from sweat and rolled his eyes.
How did a nightmare have me this worked up?
"Alright" his mom said. He got ready for school, drained dog all energy from his nightmare. He met Vanessa and Emiko outside.
"Wow. You look..." Vanessa said, trying to find the words.
"Horrible?" Cheng said.
"Understatement but yeah" Emiko said. Cheng plucked her forehead before walking with Vanessa.
"I had a really screwed up dream" he said.
"What was it about?" Emiko asked, rubbing her forehead.
"Nothing that's real" Cheng said. The walk to school was painfully silent. Cheng couldn't speak. He was too worried about Kiara and what happened to her. Vanessa and Emiko only shared a look of understanding between them, knowing Cheng was different today. They met Zhuang, Song and Liang outside of school. Cheng disregarded his other friends and began looking around.
"Where's Kiara?" He asked.
"Hello to you too" Zhuang said.
"I haven't seen her" Liang said. Cheng's heart sank before he walked off to his first period class
Please be here
Please be here
Please be here
"Cheng!" Liang called out behind him, trying to keep up with his friends long strides. The reached the Geometry classroom and Cheng let out a breath of relief. He walked over to Kiara and plopped down in his seat.
"You look like shit" Kiara said. Cheng looked at her.
"That's so sweet. I might just blush" Cheng monotoned.
"I couldn't sleep" he said, rubbing his eyes.
"Thinking about me again? I know I'm hot but this obsession has to end" Kiara joked.
"Stop it." Cheng said sternly.
"I mean if you want an autograph I'd be open to it" Kiara said proudly.
"Shut up" Cheng said.
"You can't shut me up. That's impossible" Kiara said. Mrs. Liu entered the classroom and class continued as usual. Cheng kept dozing off, putting his head down and falling asleep.
I can finally get some rest
Just when he was about to slip into sleep, Kiara tapped his arm. He slowly lifted his head to face her. "Are you sure you'd be alright to train today? I meant it when I said you looked like shit"
"Are you worried about me?" He smirked.
"Absolutely not" Kiara said defensively.
"I'm not worried about you at all" Kiara said, sounding more sure in herself. Cheng smiled lightly.
"I'll be fine. Thanks for the concern" he said.
"I'm not concerned" Kiara said, becoming more defensive.
"Ok" Cheng said, letting it go.
"Alright class. We have a new student from America" Mrs. Liu said, coming back into the classroom with a boy, roughly his age, maybe a bit older, tan complexion, shoulder length light brown hair and freckles on his face his. His green eyes surveying the room until they landed on Kiara. A small gasp was heard from Kiara as she quickly tore her eyes away from the boy, looking down at her desk.
"Another one?" A kid from the back of the class called out, making a few people laugh. Cheng looked between the boy and Kiara. The boy didn't stop looking at Kiara but Kiara didn't look in his direction.
Where have I seen him before?
"This is Luca Wills"
Oh shit!
"Can you tell us a bit about yourself" Mrs. Liu asked.
"I'm Luca and I'm from Detroit, Michigan. Im a Kung-Fu student and I like playing games" Luca said in Mandarin.
"Oh! You're from Detroit! Do you know Kiara Parker? She came here two months ago" Mrs. Liu said, sounding excited.
"Yeah I know her" he said.
"Hey Kie" He smiled at her. She didn't bother looking up from her desk.
"Hi" she mumbled without looking his way. Compared to her usually big personality, she was quite small. She kept her eyes low, and refused to look up.
She seems so small now
He has to go
"So there doesn't seem to be an empty seat in middle of the back row" Mrs. Liu said.
"Can I sit next to Kiara? It would just be nicer to sit next to someone I know" Luca said.
"I'm sure that is doable" Mrs. Liu said, looking at Cheng.
"No it is not. I'm sitting here"Cheng said harshly. Mrs. Liu's face fell and she shook her head in disappointment.
"I'm sorry Mr. Wills—" Mrs. Liu began to say
"It's ok. I'll sit in the back" Luca smiled lightly. Mrs. Liu nodded. As Luca began to walk to the back of the class, Cheng put his arm on the back of Kiara's chair while looking at Luca. Luca tore his eyes from Kiara and straight to Cheng. Eventually, Luca made it to the back of the class and Cheng removed his arm from Kiara's chair. As class continued, Cheng noticed that Kiara has not looked up since Luca stepped into the class. Pulling out a piece of paper, Cheng began to write a note to her. He slid her the piece of paper and tapped it with his pen.
C:'Is he your ex boyfriend?'
He heard a light sniffle come from Kiara as she quickly wiped her eyes
Was she crying?
K:'Yeah'
C:'Are you alright?'
K'Yeah'
Cheng sighed before replying.
C:'Liar'
K:'HOW DARE YOU!!
C: Swear on your 10 cameras that's you're ok
K:'I will be fine. I just want to avoid him'
C:'I'll help"
K:'I know I said that I couldn't control what you did to him but leave him alone. I don't want him coming at me'
C:'He won't be coming at you in any kind of way while I'm alive and breathing'
K:'Haha :)'
C:'I'm not joking. He can't get away with what he did to you'
K:'Yeah he can. And he did. It's going to be bad if you pick at him'
C:'He can't beat me up"
K: Dude! Just listen. He's been practicing Kung Fu since he was five. He's skilled. But I don't want y'all fighting each other. It will be a blood bath'
C:'Fine. I'll leave him alone"
Kiara grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Cheng knew he should feel nervous or uncomfortable with this, but it felt natural. It felt like his hand was made to hold hers.
"Thank you" she said. Cheng got a good look at her eyes, which were puffy and red from tears. He has only ever been this angry once. The day his father left was the day his anger boiled over. Seeing the girl he likes crying made him angry. He interlocked his fingers with hers.
"Stop crying. He does not deserve your tears"
"I'll be fine" she said, squeezing his hand once more before letting go. Class ended and Kiara was having a more difficult time evading Luca since he has a lot of her same classes. Lunch time came and Kiara was walking with Cheng and talking.
"Yo Picasso!" They heard from behind them. Kiara immediately stopped talking and quickly walked away from Cheng.
He's really starting to piss me off
Cheng quickly turned around and saw Luca moving to walk past him. Coincidentally, Cheng was holding a lunch tray. Cheng wasted no time in walking to Luca and smashing the tray on him. Luca gasped and looked at his dirtied clothes in terror.
"Sorry" Cheng said, holding his hands up. The look of pure anger on Luca's face satisfied Cheng.
"Yo! What the fuck is your problem?!" Luca said pushing Cheng. Before things could escalate, the principal walked in between them.
"Mr. Wills! Stop it" Mrs. Po shouted.
"He threw his food on me on purpose!" Luca complained.
"I promise I didn't do it on purpose. I just wasn't looking" Cheng said.
"Both of you to my office now" Mrs. Po said. Cheng nodded and led the way to her office. They took a seat in front of her desk and she exhaled harshly.
"Cheng, this is the second time you've mysteriously spilled your food onto another student" She said.
"I wasn't paying attention" Cheng shrugged.
"I'm sorry" he said to Luca with false sincerity. Luca rolled his eyes.
"He looked dead at me" Luca said to Mrs. Po.
"I was looking at my friend, who was behind you" Cheng defended himself.
"Now, I said I was sorry" Cheng said. Luca's angry expression turned numb and he nodded.
"All good" Luca said with a smirk.
"Alright. Luca, I'll be sure to get you some new clothes. You're dismissed" Mrs. Po said.
"Cheng. I don't want to see you in my office again. Do you understand?"
"Yes" He nodded before leaving the office. Cheng began walking back to the lunch room, with Luca in tow.
"How do you know my girl?" Luca asked, following behind Cheng.
She has a name numbskull
"Who?" Cheng asked playing dumb.
"Kiara" Luca said.
"We have mutual friends" Cheng said plainly.
"So you're not her new boyfriend?" Luca asked, still walking behind Cheng.
"No"
"The way you were touching her in class says otherwise" Cheng stopped walking with these words. He turned to face Luca. He noticed how tall Luca was. They were roughly the same height but had different builds. Luca had smaller shoulders than Cheng but he was more muscular.
"Y'know...holding her hand and shit" Luca said, trying to size Cheng up.
"She was worked up and I was comforting her" Cheng said, trying to keep his cool.
"Maybe leave the comforting to me"
"What?" Cheng asked. Luca shrugged.
"I mean I have a chance to make up with her" Luca said.
"And hopefully make out with her" Cheng almost gagged at Luca's words about Kiara.
She would never in a million years lock lips with your desert dry lips
If the word "Delusional" was in human form
"Just be sure to step off. Because I'm gonna think that you're trying to steal what's mine" Luca said before walking away from Cheng.
What's his?
What is his?
Certainly not Kiara
"What if I don't step off?" Cheng asked, making Luca stop and turn back to him.
"What if I got even closer to her?" Cheng began slowly moving towards Luca.
"What if I get her before you do?"
"You want her?" Luca asked angrily. Cheng shrugged.
"What if I did?"
Come on
Give me a reason to snap you like a twig
"Then I would have to deal with you" Luca said, getting in Cheng's face. Cheng looked past Luca and saw Zhuang and Liang standing there.
'Do you want us to jump him?' Zhuang mouthed.
They can't get in trouble behind me
I won't let them
"As much as I would love to wipe the floor with you, the question was purely hypothetical. I don't want her right now" Cheng gave Luca a hefty pat on the shoulder.
"If you think you still have a shot after all of the shit you put her through, be my guest. Go for it" Cheng said faking enthusiasm.
"Just don't do anything stupid...again" Cheng moved past him and walked to his friends.
"Who's that?" Liang asked, gesturing to Luca.
"Kiara's ex boyfriend" Zhuang answered. The two older boys looked at him in confusion.
"Emiko showed me a picture" he said.
"Are you jealous?" Zhuang continued.
"No. I'm worried"Cheng said'beofrw walking back to the lunch room.
"About?" Liang asked.
"He was an asshole to her while they were together and said some really fucked up things to her after she broke up with him"Cheng explained.
"What did he say?" Liang asked as they reached the lunch room.
"It's not my place to say" Cheng said. He was looking around for Kiara but couldn't find her.
"And don't ask Kiara about it yet. She's still hurt by it"
"Do you like her?" Liang asked.
"What?"
"Do you like Kiara?" Zhuang asked.
"We just became friends. I'm not trying to date her" Cheng lied.
"That's true" Liang shrugged.
"I don't know. Before you became friends you looked at her like you wanted to kiss her" Zhuang said.
"Dude—" Cheng said.
"But now you look at her like she's the most beautiful girl in the world. Like she is the air you breathe" Zhuang said.
"You're being dramatic" Liang said to Zhuang.
"No, it's true" zhuang said defensively.
"You don't look at me like that even though I'm very pretty" he continued, sounding insulted.
"You don't look at Vanessa that way"
"Liang would kill me" Cheng smirked.
"I am just standing here! Leave me alone!" Liang fussed.
"You go soft around her" zhuang said.
"Your voice is nicer, you're gentle with her like she's fragile glass. You're always next to her like a bodyguard and you get scared whenever she's not in your line of sight" zhuang said. Cheng scoffed, still looking around for Kiara.
"Like right now. I'm talking to you. Who are you looking for?"
"You like her. You just won't admit it"
"You're delusional" Cheng said.
"And you're in love" Zhuang shouted. Cheng wasted no time in chasing Zhuang down. Liang only stood there, shaking his head.
"Help!" Zhuang shouted. They turned the corner to the stairs and saw Kiara walking up.
"Kiara!" Zhuang yelled. She turned around and Zhuang ran behind her.
"He's trying to kill me" Zhuang pointed at Cheng. Cheng flipped him off while catching his breath.
"What's wrong?" Kiara asked.
"Nothing" Cheng said through gritted teeth, looking at Zhuang. Zhunag stuck his tongue out at Cheng before speeding down the stairs. Cheng momentarily thought of chasing him, but remembered that Kiara was standing in front of him.
"I didn't get a chance to say thank you for what you did at lunch. I know I said leave him alone but I couldn't speak to him" Kiara said.
"It's no big deal" Cheng shrugged.
"I hope you didn't get into too much trouble"
"I didn't. But he's crazy"
"You're telling me?" Kiara smiled. Cheng smiled with her.
That smile is contagious
"I'll see you later" Kiara said before continuing to walk up the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Cheng asked before walking up beside her.
"I'm eating in the art room. I can't be in the lunch room. I'm not mentally prepared to talk to him" Kiara said.
"I'll come with you"
"Are you sure?" Kiara asked. Cheng only nodded.
"I think you've earned some crab soup" Kiara said to Cheng. His eyes lit up in excitement.
"YES!"
"If I beat him up, can I have the crackers? I'll do it right now" Cheng asked excitedly, making Kiara laugh.
"Let's not be delusional. The crackers are mine" Kiara said as they entered the room.
A/n: you made it this far?? Hey bae! Happy Valentines!! I know this chapter is bad but it's the best I got until I can edit it. Forgive me.
Love you!!