The air that evening was cool and fresh, courtesy of the forest trees that were planted near the Home. If I took a whiff, I could catch the thick scent of smoke rising from the mini barbeque pit. With the weight of the chilled soda cans in my arms, I staggered out the open doors of the building and carried them to the long wooden table where everyone was crowding around, buzzing with excitement. A light draft rustled the ponytail I had bunched my hair up in, letting the smoke drift away.
"Let me help?" The weight of the twelve-pack soda lightened considerably all of a sudden. I turned my head to my left to see Zhuo Zhi's face beside mine, a casual smile playing on his lips as our eyes connected. My breath hitched in my throat for the briefest second as that similar electrical spark was passed between us again.
Zhuo Zhi chuckled at my reaction and turned his face away from mine. Before I could breathe properly again, he had already taken the strap of the twelve-pack away from my hand and was lugging it away. I stood rooted to the spot, my mind refusing to function normally. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I pinched the soft inner side of my elbow to let the pain drag me back down to reality and marched towards Zhuo Zhi.
"Thanks, Senior," I said politely, falling in step with him. We approached one of the foldable tables by the side of the barbeque pit to unload the drinks. On the table were dishes of raw meat and vegetables that were yet to be cooked.
Zhuo Zhi let out a soft laugh. "Anytime, Yue En," he smiled. He slipped his fingers around a soda can and handed it to me. "Let's go." He motioned towards the long wooden table where everyone was already taking their seats.
My own fingers encircled the soda can Zhuo Zhi gave me, the coldness of it seeping beneath my fingertips. I returned a small grin of my own, feeling a faint flutter in my stomach as we walked back to the table.
"Yue En, over here!" Ai Qi waved me over to sit. I was sitting opposite Xing Zi while sandwiched between Qi Ying and a Yu Feng member whom I vaguely recognised as Shi Tie Nan, the quiet boy with the white bandana adorned with patterned black dots wrapped around his skull. I exchanged a silent nod with him as I pulled my chair out and took a seat.
My eyes trailed over to Zhuo Zhi. While I was seated at a more centralised part of the long table, Zhuo Zhi was at the far end, taking a seat between Xing Long and Si Yang. Si Yang, as captain, was seated at the end of the table while Xu Zi Ping was at the other end. I averted my eyes away to avoid Zhuo Zhi catching my gaze.
There's definitely something wrong with you, Yue En. You're always acting too quiet and nervous around Zhuo Zhi.
I'm still working on un-liking him!
Looks like it isn't working well, is it?
Everyone was already taking their food from the dishes laid out, all eager to satisfy their hunger. I picked up the chopsticks of my own and clipped some pieces of chicken onto my plate.
Out of nowhere, we heard a sharp scraping of chairs on the rough ground. We turned our heads to see Qiao Chen standing up from his seat, catching our attention. "It's way too boring right now! How does a game sound to you guys?"
"Okay!" Jia Le raised his fist in the air, grinning. "I'm in!"
"Count me in too!" Ai Qi's hand shot up eagerly in the air after Jia Le's.
A game? That sounds fun.
I also lifted my hand in the air, my chopsticks still clenched in my fist. "Mm!" I said, my mouth too full of chicken to speak coherently.
"That's settled!" Qiao Chen had a wide smile on his face at our enthusiasm. "Let's play truth or dare."
"That's for elementary school kids!" One Yu Feng member yelled scornfully.
"It's a classic!" Xing Zi shouted back at him without pausing. "I vote that we start with Sima Yi Wu!"
Yi Wu's face dropped in shock at Xing Zi's bold statement and some of the Yu Feng members chortled. "I'll ask!" Chen De Sen called out. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare," Yi Wu answered confidently without hesitation.
De Sen beckoned for Yi Wu to bend down so De Sen could whisper the dare in his ear. Yi Wu's eyes widened with horror after De Sen moved away in a fit of laughter. "For Christ's sake, no!" Yi Wu protested strongly.
"No turning back, Sima Yi Wu." De Sen wiggled his eyebrows.
"Do it!" Yan Jiang thumped his fists on the table. Soon, the rest of the Yu Feng members followed suit and chanted after him, with Xu Zi Ping looking on in quiet amusement. Yi Wu, annoyed, hushed everyone with a wave of his hand and marched over to Lu Xia.
Lu Xia reeled back in disgust as Yi Wu began to pat his hair lightly. "Lu Xia..." Yi Wu drawled in a thick, honeyed accent. This alone already sent the Yu Feng team dissolving into cackles while the Yu Qing team was snorting at Lu Xia's reaction. I bit down my laughter as I watched the exchange going on.
"Lu Xia... oh, how I am terribly sorry for injuring your eye the other time," Yi Wu continued his act, painfully dragging out each word in his sentence. I could compare his voice to a woman poorly attempting to seduce her husband. His words were almost drowned out by everyone's entertained roars.
"Go away. Please." Lu Xia scooted away, his face a mask of fear as he gripped onto the armrest of his chair.
Yi Wu eyed the saucer of crimson chilli sauce that was placed near Qi Ying's plate. With Lu Xia peering at him in utter dismay, Yi Wu pointed to the chilli sauce. "Look at this chilli sauce... too bad it's not as hot as I am."
It was clear how revolted Lu Xia was by this point, as well as how we were all screaming in hysterics. I wiped a small tear that had formed at the corner of my eye, not because of Sima Yi Wu's line, but because of Lu Xia's horrified expression.
Lu Xia snatched a chopstick from his plate and held it in front of him as a weapon, pointing the stained tip of it up at Yi Wu. "Don't-- Don't come any closer. Apology accepted. I wish I had never heard that stupid line of yours."
After Lu Xia had said that, the sickly smile once plastered on Yi Wu's face dissipated into an unhappy scowl of his own. He seemed just as disgusted with himself as Lu Xia was with him. With a shudder, he shot back into his seat, but not before aiming a few vulgarities at De Sen.
"I vote for Xing Zi next!" Yi Wu yelled indignantly.
"Unfair!" Xing Zi called out, a mysterious glint in her eyes. "I did one last time. I recommend Yue En!"
My fingers had just lifted the soda can to my lips, but my eyes widened at Xing Zi smirking at me before I could even take a sip. "Xing Zi!" I hissed and kicked her legs under the table.
"Yes!" Ai Qi answered in agreement. I shot a deadly glare at her which she ignored. "Yue En! Yue En--"
I waved at her to shut up before the others began chanting my name. "Fine! Truth!"
"Wimp!" Qiao Chen cried out mockingly.
You're next, Qiao Chen. "I'm not risking my dignity," I stated calmly, brushing a strand of hair from my head.
"I'll ask!" Jia Le piped up excitedly. "Who do you have a crush on?"
Some of the team members hooted excitedly. My stomach did a flip and heat crawled up my neck in waves, so I knew I was blushing. I held the chilled soda can against the back of my palm, letting the water droplets transfer onto my skin. My eyes flickered over to Zhuo Zhi, sitting a distance away. Zhuo Zhi was now sitting straight up, his eyes conveying interest as he looked at me.
I diverted my eyes back to my plate and coughed, pretending to be nonchalant. "That's a question for middle schoolers! Ask something less boring, Senior!"
"I wanna propose a question," The low voice belonging to Bai Yang resounded out. Bai Yang was leaning back in his chair, examining a slice of dark-coloured beef. "I once saw this photograph in your wallet, Yue En. When we were queuing in the cafeteria. Who was the boy with the glasses, standing beside you in the photo?"
Slowly, the table arose in curious discussions, all pointed at me. My blood ran cold and my heart skipped a beat.
"What photo?" Zhuo Zhi questioned.
"Can we see it?" someone else asked.
The photo. I kept in my wallet a fading yellow photograph the size of a Polaroid that belonged to my elementary school days. It had been taken at an aquarium, the wavy lines of light reflected on me and Si Yang as we had stood under the terrifyingly enormous stingray behind the glass. I recalled that in the photo I had been wearing a sleeveless white cotton dress and a headband to push my long hair back, flashing a toothy grin at the camera. Si Yang had been wearing a striped tee and Bermuda shorts, his glasses slightly askew on his nose as he grinned in the photo.
How am I supposed to explain who the boy was?
Si Yang's gaze fell on me, awaiting my reply. I couldn't decipher what his emotions were. I swallowed thickly, all eyes on me as my finger traced around the rim of my soda can. "Uh, he's my... cousin. Yeah, that's my cousin in the photo," I nodded, trying to sound convincing. "What, Bai Yang, are you that interested in him?" I tilted my head to the side, teasing Bai Yang when in fact I was trying to disguise my nervousness.
"I think I've seen that photo before," Ai Qi spoke up, deep in thought. "It looks like the Beijing Aquarium. Do you still talk to your cousin?"
I opened my mouth, my throat dry like sand, but Qiao Chen beat me to it. "In fact, I've never heard Yue En speak about her family before. Do you have any siblings, Yue En?"
I felt caged, as if someone had forced me into a corner with no other solution out. My hand slipped subconsciously into the pocket of my shorts, forming a nervous fist. The only person I had ever talked about my (false) family to was Zhuo Zhi. And all he knew of it was that I had no siblings at all. I was trapped. The taste of lying was like something too sugary, too sticky caught in the back of your throat.
I can either debunk the lie, risk the rest of my high school years under the name of 'The Captain's Sister', and possibly get Zhuo Zhi to hate me forever-- I inhaled sharply at that thought. Or, I can layer the lie with more lies and continue to live as per normal.
I glanced at Zhuo Zhi once more. As usual, he had his ghost of a smile dangling on his lips, his face half-lit by the lights coming from within the building. I turned away from him.
My next words almost felt like they were coming from someone else. "Nothing is interesting about my life because I'm an only child, dumbass," I attempted at a casual scoff at Qiao Chen. Putting my soda can down, I swiftly picked a napkin up and wiped my mouth with it. "Now that's enough questions. Qiao Chen, you're next."
"Fine by me!" Qiao Chen, still standing, shoved a piece of chicken into his mouth. Chewing with his mouth full, he said, "Dare!"
While Xing Long and Zhuo Zhi were suggesting a dare to Qiao Chen, I refused to make eye contact with anyone. Not Ai Qi, not Zhuo Zhi, not Si Yang. My chest heaved up and down at the previous tension in the atmosphere. I am really dramatising the situation to be a matter of life and death, huh?
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The Yu Feng chapters have been really fun to write so far. Our poor Lu Xia was traumatised really badly, huh?
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~ Snowy ♡