(1)
It was quite an uncanny feeling to be back at school – the sense of tension made me feel like a new transfer student. I was especially worried that people would gossip about me over what had happened before. But that didn't happen. Everything was just as it had been, with no changes at all. And of course, that put me more at ease. Then again, we were all second-year high school students now, each with our own things to do. Who would really care about other people's business?
The scenes around me were just as I remembered: the diligent students squeezing in every spare minute between periods to study, while those who'd already checked out still used breaks to flirt and whisper sweet nothings. And even if someone did want to talk shit about me, they'd have to be pretty stupid to do it right in front of me.
The teaching pace in the second year of high school was really fast. I had only been away for a day, but even my strongest subject, English, felt a bit challenging when I came back. The relative clauses that hadn't been covered on the day I left had already progressed to discussions of more than a dozen special cases by the time I returned. During class, I couldn't help but observe the expressions on my classmates' faces, but I couldn't tell whether their calm demeanor meant they understood everything or had simply accepted that they didn't.
Chenhui made a point of rushing over between every period, finding some plausible excuse to plant himself beside me – whether it was needing to borrow notes or debating what to eat for lunch. It was almost amusing, like he was my personal bodyguard, always on standby to ward off any potential danger.
"So, what are we having for lunch?" After biology class, Chenhui idly tossed out the question while scribbling answers on the worksheet our teacher had handed out.
"Didn't we say we were going to the second-floor cafeteria for fried noodles?" I couldn't help laughing. "We literally just talked about this after math."
"Oh, you're right," he said.
So, during the lunch break, we did indeed go to the second-floor cafeteria for fried noodles. It would've felt wrong not to, after how seriously we'd double-checked.
After we finished eating, Chenhui went to the store to buy drinks. Since the weather was nice, I sat on the steps outside the cafeteria, soaking up the sun while waiting for him.
Suddenly, a very loud voice spoke right next to my ear, "Hey, are you spacing out?"
I was startled and turned my head to see that, at some point, Wenfei had sat down on the step behind me.
"Nothing," I replied, turning back and not wanting to engage with him.
To my surprise, he got up and plopped down right beside me, deliberately leaning against me and asking, "Waiting for your boyfriend?"
Oh, so it was still about that. Some people just never stopped to consider whether their actions might annoy others. Instead, they only cared about getting attention.
"I don't have a boyfriend," I answered as briefly as possible.
"Heh, then how about me?" He tilted his head toward me with a sleazy chuckle. "I'm pretty damn good in bed, you know."
"That's great," I said, losing my patience. "Then you should have no trouble keeping yourself entertained. After all, with the way you are, no one would probably be interested in you."
"What did you say?" He dropped his smile.
I didn't expect that my words would have such a strong reaction from him. It seemed I had hit a nerve.
Done with this conversation, I stood to leave, intending to find Chenhui at the store. But before I could, Wenfei grabbed my wrist in a bruising grip.
"Say it again. I dare you," Wenfei said, all traces of his earlier teasing were gone. I knew that tone well. He'd used it plenty of times to harass girls in class. But I'd never heard him sound this cold.
"Let go of my hand," I said, looking into his eyes.
His grip didn't loosen.
"Let go of my fucking hand," I shouted at him angrily. A few students passing by were startled and quickly moved away.
Wenfei opened his mouth, seemingly about to retort, when a voice from nearby interrupted him.
"Didn't you hear him tell you to let go?" I turned my head and saw Chenhui standing at the bottom of the steps, holding two cans of Diet Coke in one hand. He walked up the steps, yanking me behind him with his free arm.
Wenfei suddenly grinned, raising his voice theatrically, "Ohhh, so no boyfriend, huh? Then what's this guy?"
Chenhui ignored him, tugging me away.
"Chenhui, don't you have a girlfriend? Wonder if she knows about your little boyfriend here?" Wenfei's volume didn't drop.
Some people just didn't know when to quit. I felt Chenhui stiffen beside me, inhaling sharply. "Let's go," he muttered. "Ignore him."
We'd barely taken two steps when Wenfei sprang up, speaking in a tone that seemed to relish his supposed victory in this verbal battle, "I knew it! She doesn't know! Hah! Better watch out, or I'll…"
I never found out what threat he meant to make. Because before I could react and stop him, Chenhui had already dropped the Coke in his hand, took two steps forward, and punched Wenfei right in the face.
Wenfei staggered back, clutching his cheek, nearly tripping over the steps behind him. His eyes widened in shock. Neither of us had ever seen Chenhui throw a punch before. In fact, I couldn't recall him ever even arguing with anyone.
"How dare you hit me?" Wenfei regained his senses and swung his fist. "You're hitting me over this faggot?!"
Chenhui nimbly dodged the punch and then landed another one on the same spot on Wenfei's face. "Don't call him that."
"What's this faggot to you, huh? You…" Wenfei didn't finish before Chenhui kicked him square in the stomach, sending him crumpling onto the steps.
"I said. Don't. Call him. THAT!" Chenhui roared. His face had turned bright red, veins standing out on his neck.
Wenfei was also thoroughly enraged. After all, he was bigger than Chenhui. When he got up from the ground and lunged at Chenhui, Chenhui couldn't hold his ground and was knocked to the ground. Wenfei quickly straddled him, knees crushing Chenhui's wrists. Chenhui tried desperately to free his hands, but they were held too tightly. He also tried to knee Wenfei off, but the other boy's weight made it impossible.
I rushed over to try to pull Wenfei off Chenhui, but his strength was too great. After pushing me away, he punched Chenhui hard in the forehead. Just as he was about to throw another punch, I finally managed to drag him away with the help of some other students around us.
Chenhui scrambled up, swiping a hand over the back of his head. When he pulled it away, I saw blood in his palm.
Although Wenfei was now being held back by several students, he was still cursing and spewing foul language.
Then, through the chaos, a sharp "ENOUGH!" rang out. We turned to see Mr. Zhang sprinting toward us. Lili came running too, pulling me from the crowd with desperate strength. Her mouth was moving. It seemed she was shouting something, but all I could hear was a dull buzzing in my ears, like my hearing had been switched off.
(2)
That afternoon, none of the three of us attended the English class. For me, who hadn't understood relative clauses to begin with, it was just adding insult to injury. Just that morning, I'd been relieved at the thought of getting through my first day back without incident. Turns out I'd celebrated too soon.
At that moment, Chenhui and I were sitting side by side outside Mr. Zhang's office. Our moms had both been urgently called away from work by the school and were already inside. As for Wenfei, who had been raised by his grandmother since he was little, his parents were not around. And given that his grandmother had mobility issues, she was not asked to come. Instead, he had to face Mr. Zhang by himself.
Through the office door, I couldn't hear clearly what Mr. Zhang was saying to the three of them. Sometimes his voice was loud, sometimes soft. Occasionally, a woman's voice would chime in, but I couldn't tell whether it was my mom or Chenhui's. Anyway, it seemed that Wenfei had been silent all along.
Chenhui's head had already been bandaged in the infirmary, gauze wrapped around it. However, the gauze on the back of his head, where the wound was, still showed a slight trace of blood.
Chenhui looked a bit nervous, keeping his head down and his hands tightly clasped together. I wanted to comfort him, but thinking that the whole incident was my fault, I felt too guilty to say anything. So I just leaned against the wall, staring silently at the office door.
Suddenly, the door opened. First out was Wenfei, his eyes red-rimmed. He deliberately avoided looking at us and quickly ran away. Next came my mom. She walked up to me, bent down, and asked in a low voice, "Are you hurt?"
I shook my head. Then she turned to Chenhui and asked softly, "Does the wound still hurt?"
Chenhui gave a faint smile and shook his head as well.
"You're a good kid. But don't be so reckless next time. Someone like him isn't worth it, okay?" My mom lightly patted Chenhui's shoulder.
He nodded and replied softly, "Okay, thank you. Auntie."
Then she tenderly ruffled my hair and left.
A while later, the door opened again. Chenhui's mom stepped out, bidding Mr. Zhang a cheerful goodbye before shutting the door behind her. But when she turned to look at Chenhui, her expression suddenly turned cold.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" She walked over and sat down in the empty seat next to Chenhui. He didn't look at her, hands still tightly folded.
"You're just like your father. So disappointing." Her tone was calm, but her words made me involuntarily turn my head to look at her.
Chenhui didn't react. I wondered if he had heard this from his mom before.
She continued, "Is this what you've learned at school? Are you proud of yourself?"
I wanted to leave, but I didn't want to leave Chenhui alone. I also wanted to defend him, but I felt it wasn't my place to speak up.
"I've worked so hard to raise you, hoping you would become exceptional. Is this how you repay me? Do you have any idea…"
"Auntie."
She suddenly stopped, confused, turning to me, who was sitting on the other side of Chenhui. I was also surprised that the "auntie" in my mind had somehow slipped out.
"It's all my fault today, not Chenhui's. I shouldn't have provoked Wenfei," I said, my hands also clenching together unintentionally, "Chenhui was just trying to help me."
She probably hadn't expected to be interrupted by me, so she didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Then I kept going, "Chenhui may have done something impulsive today, but that doesn't change the fact that he is an exceptional person. I think this is something everyone, including Wenfei, can't deny. To be honest, I've always been jealous of him – he gets good grades, has tons of friends, and even captains the soccer team. Like him, I was also raised by my mom alone. I don't know what my dad is like. My mom never told me anything. She just complains that I look more and more like him every now and then. But I believe she does know that I am a child worth being proud of. I'm confident about that. Auntie, I'm just a friend who has known Chenhui for like two years. You have to see his worth more than I do, right?"
It was as if I had lost control over my mouth, and the words just poured out. I didn't even know if I sounded respectful anymore. So after speaking, I didn't dare to look at her, dropping my gaze instead.
After a few seconds of silence, she sighed and stood, walking away without another word.
The moment she left, the stiffness in my back, caused by excessive nervousness, also relaxed. I turned to look at Chenhui and was surprised to find that at some point, he had covered his face with his hands.
"Chenhui?" I asked tentatively.
He didn't answer. But I clearly heard him sniffing. Just now, when he was pinned to the ground and punched, he didn't cry. When he was insulted, he didn't cry either. But now, he was crying. I didn't know what to do.
"I'm sorry, Chenhui. I am really the one to blame today. I should have gone to the store with you," I said, feeling a bit choked up as well, "Don't be upset, okay?" I gave his shoulder a gentle pat, partly to comfort him, partly to make sure he heard me.
"Oh, before I forget." He suddenly said, still hiding his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
He straightened up, his eyes still a bit moist and slightly bloodshot, then he turned to me and asked, "Did you bring your umbrella today? I told you I'd make sure of it every day."
I was instantly amused by this out-of-the-blue question, "Are you insane? I did. I always carry it with me."
Chenhui smiled too.
The weather had been great all day, but at that moment, I suddenly felt as if the sky had finally cleared up.
"Thank you for… that today," I said softly.
"Thank you too," he said back.