-Huang & Chang-
Its a beautiful day at Flow Academy high School, where the sun rests just above the top of the school. The summer air breezes in from every direction, providing a cool air in the harsh warmth. Bird are chirping their steady melody, resting atop the newly blossomed cherry blossom trees. Kids hustle in from every direction, stepping out of cars and buses, riding in on bikes, or walking to school from their houses. Their small and large feet clump against the pavement and sidewalks, and sounds of new conversations fill the air. The first day of school, and the last day of summer break. Friends are bunching up once again, and teachers are preparing all new lessons. As everyone is gathering up, first year Chang Yangtze hurries through the crosswalk and towards the schoolyard. His hazelnut-brown hair is blown back in the wind and his sapphire-blue eyes squinted in the direction of the sun. Chang is about 5'4" and a moderate body type. He's wearing a yellow shirt with flashy colors, that he likes to wear. He dashes across the field and jumps up high, arms open for a hug. "HUUUAAANG!" He yells while in the midst of jumping. Huang looks at him steadily and moves a foot to the side. Slam! Chang falls face first into the ground, hugging the grass, instead of Huang. Huang Yellow, a fellow first year, looks at Chang with his dark-brown, almost black, eyes. His blond hair is not easily moved because of the amount of gel he put in it. His dark, black clothes attracts heat in the hot-summer sun, but he doesn't mind, he likes the heat. He has a face that looked like it was neutral all the time, but it could be nice if he tried.
"What are you doing, you numskull?" asks Huang, resisting a smile. Chang shoots up from his grass nap and stares Huang in the eyes, his own eyes sparkling with determination.
"We're in high school now, Huang! Aren't you so exited? Maybe you can finally make new friends!"
"Y'know the problem is that I don't want friends" Huang says. Then much quieter, in a hush whisper says "Besides.. The only friend I'll ever really need is you.."
"What was that?" Chang asks.
"Huh? Nothing! I don't know what you mean!" Huang stutters frantically, defending himself. He looks around for a second then reconnects with Chang's eyes. Their eyes are locked on and they both look at each other with a certain stare. After a minute of this, they both realize that they're staring into each others eyes and both their eyes widen. Their faces get red from chin to hair and they both turn away in a frantic hurry. "Uh, well. I should get going, school's starting." Stampers Huang, still eyeing away from Chang.
"Oh, Uh, Yeah! Me too. Well. Hope we see each other later!" Chang recovers quickly. Chang runs off in an excitable hurry off to his first class. He catches a whiff of air on his way inside the school. As he walks to his homeroom class, he gets lost in his though. Oh, shit. That was way too close, but man, so amazing! Huang is the best! Ah, but I doubt he feels the same way I feel about him! I mean, he just has that same-old expression on his face, all the time! There's no way he could like me! He then stops thinking for a second and takes a look around him. "Fuck, where am I?"
Huang takes his time to walk back to the school, to give him time to cool down, homeroom doesn't start for another eight minutes. He, as well, gets lost in his mind. AAAAHHH! Goddammit! That was close! We were staring at each other for a whole minute. I mean, is that what normal friends do? Do they get this feeling in their chest, this burning feeling, and this pressure that just builds up and up and up? What the hell is this? Does Chang feel the same way when we meet? No. Calm down. Just be normal and get through the school year. All you need is to get through school, get a good job, and a family. Maybe if I can just sever connections with Chang... This feeling will go away?
BBRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGG" The school bell's blaring sound rings about the school, marking the official start of school. Huang sits in his assigned homeroom, positioned in the far back of the class, where nobody can bother him. The teacher is ranting on, Huang didn't even get a chance to look at her, and doesn't care now. He's lost in his thoughts, He's an old friend yeah, but plenty of people can be old friends and then separate. I could just do the same thing with Chang, just cut him out, like you do everyone else. They're all just useless. I don't really need anyone, so why should I even bother to make friends? Why do I even need Chang?! His heart skips a beat and an immense pressure arises in his chest. OW! It's that goddamn feeling again. Why? Whenever I think about Chang? Is he really... That important to me?
"Alright children. You may now go to your first period class. Have a nice day." The teacher exclaims. Huang looks up, but all he sees is is blank faces. Faces that have been shredded out, and now all that remains is an empty silhouette. The world is sucked from it's color, leaving just a black and white school. Huang is used to this by now, it's how he sees the world basically every day. Huang slowly stands up, grabbing his books from the desk and walks out the door like an undead corpse, trying to get through the day. First Period, Art. Second Period, Gym. Third Period, Math. Fourth Period, History. All breezing by the day. Just do work. Get an A. go to the next class. Huang has been thinking this way for as long as he could remember. But Chang... Chang added a spice to his everyday life. They used to play together and have all sorts of fun, but now... Huang doesn't know what to think anymore. He walks into his fourth period class, history, and looks up at the crowd of blank canvas faces. But one face stands out... Chang. Chang's face lights up looking at Huang, and Huang just stares at Chang for a moment. Light and color returns to the world that Huang sees and for a moment, Huang is happy that he's with Chang. And he gets a feeling, but not like before, one that hurts, but one that feels good inside his chest. Like butterflies dancing around in a festival inside his body, lighting up his world again.
Huang starts feeling queasy again. Another feeling comes up, stronger than before, a feeling of nervousness and worry. Huang has never felt this fear before around Chang. It's a cold, creeping fear that's like a centipede crawling up his spine. No. NO. Help. Help! HELP ME! Waves of fear and anxiety and flashes of hot and cold sweep over him. Huang starts loosing feeling in is hands, and gets tingly in his legs. His face is showing worry, and shock, and fear all at once. What? Why? NO. His breathing gets rapid and he leans against a chair, at this point people start gathering around him, making it worse than before. He can hear his breathing, but nothing else, and spots are appearing in his eyes, clouding up his vision. Pushing through the crowds of people and purple blots in his eyes, Chang pops his head into Huang's view. His mouth is moving, but no words are coming out. He's shaking Huang, but he doesn't feel a thing. Everything blurs, and in a fearful, deranged line of thought, Huang thinks to himself. This is all his fault isn't it? He's the reason I'm having these feelings. He's the reason all of this is happening. It's HIM, isn't it? Why me though? WHY COULDN'T MY LIFE JUST BE NORMAL?! I JUST WANT A SIMPLE LIFE! IS THAT TOO HARD TO ASK?! AND I DON'T NEED HIM FOR THAT! The color and light drains out of Huang's eyes, and all becomes black. Fear. Anger. Anxiety. All worry just disappears as the consciousness is drained from Huang.
The dark void that Huang is engulfed in slowly lightens as he regains consciousness. He looks around himself as he slowly opens his eyes. A white ceiling, white walls, and an old lady standing above him. As his eyes adjust to the light, his mind becomes less fuzzy, and sounds of air conditioning and people talking outside become clearer. He blinks a couple times and tries to sit up. Propelling himself with his arms, he hoists himself into a sitting position. "You had a very severe panic attack, young man. Never seen one so intense in a high schooler before." Says the old lady sitting besides him. Huang now realizes that she's the school nurse. "Probably just first day jitters" As Huang regains full connection to the world of the conscious, he takes a better look around the room, and realizes Chang sitting in a chair next to him. He is looking at Huang worriedly.
"We were all worried about you. Suddenly you collapsed, and we didn't know what was happening or what to do." He says in a saddened voice. Huang looks at him with the same blank expression. "your mother is coming to pick you up. If you want, I can come-"
"No" Huang says sturdily. "I'm sorry Chang. I know this is sudden... But we can't be friends anymore. I need space." Chang looks at him with eyes, filled of surprise, heart, break, confusion, and disappointment.
"Did I do something? If I did just-"
"No Chang. There's nothing you could do to prevent this" Huang struggles to stand up and grab his things from a nearby table. He grabs his coat and walk out the door of the nurse's office, giving Chang one last look of goodbye.
Huang looks at the clock, Seventh period, huh. Guess I slept through most of the school day he thinks to himself. He walks to the front of the school, trying to avoid any social interaction. Huang opens the doors of the school and the sun scolds his eyes with it's intense rays of light. Just as he walks out, his mother arrives at the school. Tch. This'll probably go on record. That'll be great for my future. And so ends the first day of school for Huang Yellow, and the end of a friendship with Chang Yangtze.
Three days pass since the first day of school, its the fourth school day, and Huang treats it like any other day. Go to school, ignore everyone but the teacher, learn, get an A+, go home, repeat. This is his schedule for everyday life. He blocks out everyone as he walks the halls from class to class, just useless, faceless mutts, roaming the halls of school. It's useless to even acknowledge them. This aura that he creates around himself usually makes other people move out of his way, or at least make it so nobody wants to be his friend. Huang goes to the first period of his day, Art class. He draws a portrait of himself, and everyone huddle around, impressed by his artwork above everyone else's. He scowls "Back off!" And rushes out of the room to the bathroom. He goes to the bathroom and slams the door shut. Huang rushes to the sink and washes his face, slapping it I the process "Just ignore them... Maybe if you act nice, you'll get better influence on the teachers." So Huang calmly walks back to the classroom and greats everyone with a smile, holding back pure hatred and annoyance. They compliment his and he accepts, taking glances at the teacher to make sure she is watching. Once the period ends for that class, he scurries on to his next, Gym. Since he doesn't particularly need a good grade in this class, Huang doesn't try as hard. But they do things like volleyball and football, so he just stands where he is technically playing the game, but not doing much. That class goes by as he does nothing, and the next class comes by, Math. This period, he pays complete attention to the teacher and the studies, paying no attention, what so ever, about anything else.
"Can anyone tell me the answer to question 1?" Asks the teacher, scanning the audience. Huang's hand shoots up, and the teacher picks on him.
"1,433in" responds Huang, The more I participate in the questions, the better my grade is, so I'll have to talk in these classes. He thinks to himself. As the math work goes by, so does the period, and on to the next, History. Huang walks into the classroom, stops for a second at Chang's lit up face, and continues to walk to the back of the room. I don't need him. I don't need him! Huang convinced himself. Luckily, this lass period, we're doing outlines, so that means no social interaction. He thinks, a he sinks his head into his book, while simultaneously, typing on his computer. This class goes by in a breeze and on to his next, Spanish. Huang uses 110% of his brain power for Spanish, considering it's the hardest for him, as all world languages are, he thinks. They take notes all day, and sadly for Huang, the seats are paired in groups. Great. Thinks Huang I have to sit with a bunch of numskulls. The period flies by, and on to lunch. Huang walks mellowly to his locker, and grabs his lunch, and heads to math. He sits in one of the front desks and opens up his lunch.
"Why do you even come here?" Asks the teacher. "You already have an A+."
"That can always change. I must keep my skills sharp." He replies, with respect in his voice. The teacher lets out a sigh, and continues to work with him. After lunch ends, he moves on to his seventh period class, science. As he sits down, the teacher explains what they're doing today, and he listens with full attention. He opens up his computer and starts his work as elegantly as an eagle, ignoring all the kids making trouble behind him. He works diligently, with haste and caution to complete his work. Afterwards, eighth period shows itself, English, or Language Arts. He sits at his seat in the corner of the classroom and prepares to do work. The teacher goes over a slide presentation for an upcoming project, one that looks small, but still good for Huang's grade, so h keeps attention. The school bell rings and the students disperse from room after room, flooding the hallways. Huang walks out last, watching all the students like animals as they topple onto each other and what not. He gathers his things from his locker, ordering his books into his backpack and walks out the back door, trying not to be noticed by many people, and goes home for another day of repeat...
On the fourth day of school, a Friday, Chang, however, is trying to mask his break up with Huang in his best way possible. With a smile. He comes dashing into school with a big ol' smile on his face. He greats everyone with a great big hello, and walks diligently into his homeroom. Waits his way patiently through homeroom and continues onto his day. His first period class is music, and his music radiates with pleasure and joy. The kids gather around and dance swiftly with the tunes. After that class is over, he heads upstairs for Spanish. Chang walks into the classroom with excitement, and jumps into his group table. Chang and his table buddies (as he calls them) chat about fun things quietly, while they take notes. Third period comes around and Chang heads off to the science room. After saying hello to the teacher, Chang opens up his computer and works on his assignment. He watches a video on gravity and answers some questions, but takes some shortcuts. Chang gets one or two questions wrong, but he doesn't mind, "It's the effort that counts" Chan always says. He goes to his next class with darting speed and sits in his seat. He rockets his head to the door, and waits for Huang to enter. When he does, Chang's face lights up, and Huang freezes for a second. Chang realizes that the attempts are futile, but still takes glances at him every now and then in class, watching his head bobble up and down as he does research. He heads on down to gym and gives it his all, getting the whole sweaty mess look, while playing football. He catches the ball and runs down the field, Yeah! He missed me!... Nice! Got around him!... Damn! He thinks as he gets pummeled down on the grass by an opposing player. Gym ends, and their team lost in the end. Chang gets down to lunch and sits down at his group of friends. He eagerly waits for Huang, even though he knows he won't come, while eating his lunch. All the chatter from his table fades away as he focuses on the door. The smile he worked so hard to put up starts failing, but he stops himself and brings it back up, turns his head away from the door, and becomes reaquanted in the chat. He leaves the lunch room and goes on to English, LA. Chang watches the presentation that the teacher made, but looses interest somewhere along the way. He quietly takes out a pencil from his pencil bag and doodles on the desk. The period nears ending, and he erases the doodles from the desks, picks up his things, and moves on. Last period of the day, math. Maybe if I was in a higher math class, I'd be in one with Huang. Thinks Chang. He watches as the teacher writes things on the board, goes over homework and so on. The last period flies by, just doing equations in a packet, which he doesn't mind much. The bell rings for the last period and Chang hurries out to the buses. He gets on the first seat and looks out the window of the worn down bus. Cherry blossoms are starting to die now... And what a shame. They are really beautiful. Chang watches trees and clouds pass by on his way home, and when the bus stops at his spot he farewells the bus driver, and hops off. He walks two houses away from the stop and arrives at his home. No cars in the driveway. Nobody home. Perfect Chang thinks to himself.
He unlocks the front door and enters his home. "Hellooo?" Chang checks, to make sure nobody's there. He throws his backpack down, slopes upstairs and heaves himself into his bedroom. He reaches the bed, and just like the sun being swallowed up by a cloud, his bright, bright smile fades. It fades away into a frown. Not just a frown, a devastating mouth curved by pain. Tears flooded his eyes, as he held his heart tight. Why? What did I do? I just want him back. He was the only actual friend I had, and he just left, like that! Please. Please. WHY? Chang wonders to himself with only sorrow in his frail heart. The festival is coming up tomorrow, and all I wanted was to go with him.
The first Saturday of a new school day. The sun shines it's bright rays, seeping it's ways into Huangs room. The light hits Huangs eyes, and he slowly awakes from his deep slumber. As he regains vision of his room around him, he checks his clock. 8:46. ... The festival's today, isn't it? Hm.. He propels himself up from the bed and rubs his eyes.
I suppose I'll go. There's good food and a nice view from the Ferris wheel. Huang thinks to himself as he struggles on his clothes and walks downstairs for breakfast. He makes toast and butter and slugs upstairs to brush his teeth. He does his hair, and grabs a jacket from his mahogany coat rack. "Bye guys! I'm going to the Bloom Festival for a bit, I should be back soon!" Huang shouts as he exits the door of their moderate house. He rushes through his front yard, cutting through the grass. The Festival's pretty close, so I should be able to walk. Huang thinks, as he crosses the street. He jumps onto the sidewalk and continues to progressively walk to the festival place, an old parking space that nobody really uses anymore. The breeze shifts the trees around him, and causes the grass to sway sideways. As he walks, Huang thinks about the view from the Ferris Wheel, but he thinks that's the reason he's going there. He doesn't know yet that the real reason he's going. Is for Chang.
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP" "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP" "BEEEEEEEEEE-" Chang slams his hand down on the alarm clock, causing it a sudden end. He gets up and looks at the clock, as usual when his alarm wakes him up, it's 7:00. He then looks out the window, the sun is rearing its head behind the trees in the horizon. He rears his head back into the room and takes time to think. Is it even worth it? What purpose do I even have for going?...
"Bzzzt" A screen light up in the corner of Chang's eye. A text message. He leans to the side and picks up his phone, unlocks it and reads the text. "Hey Chang, you seemed a bit out of it yesterday, are you still coming to the festival?" Chang starts a bit of a smile. I guess I do have friends... He jumps up , off his bed, with a new ray of sunshine. Yeah! Just don't think of You-Know-Who today! Just enjoy yourself Chang! He claps his face and grabs his phone off his end table. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it! See you soon!" He responds. Chang bolts downstairs and consumes his cereal in a flash. Chang dashes upstairs to get changed into his weekend outfit, and brush his teeth. Chang looks in the mirror, his eyes are still red from crying the night before. He splashes a cold current of water in his face and continues. He hops down a series of stairs and grabs a coat. "Bye everyone! Going out to the festival early! I'll just be out with some friends!" Chang runs out his house and down the street, the sun glaring in his eyes. Nothing will ruin this! It'll be a day of joy! Chang thinks as he runs off to be with new friends. The wind blows through his hair and put into the open sky.
So this is the festival, huh? Sheets of red and gold fill the parking lot. Games of balloons and water fill the empty space. Kids bustle around the food carts and game tents. Small rides stand tall, with a line of children waiting at the bottom. Fully bloomed Cherry Blossom trees surround the area of the circus-like place. Huang walks slowly to the first food stand. He orders some food and sits at a local table. He pulls out a powdered treat and slowly eats as he stares into the cherry blossoms. When he finishes the snack, he reaches the Ferris Wheel, supposedly having a good view. He waits on the line, looking down the line of strangers, mismatches of colored shirts and pants. After what feels like ten minutes of waiting, his turn finally arrives. "Do you have a partner?" Asks the old man boarding the people.
"What?" Huang is startled by the question.
"For safety reasons, you must be accompanied by another person." He looks at Huang for a moment of silence, then turns to the line, "Is there any single rider guests?" After a moment of two, one hand raises.
"Me!" A voice says from the back of the line. After some shuffling about, Huang is able to recognize the face that the hand belongs to. Chang. Huang thinks, in a shuffle of emotions.
Huang. Chang thinks in despair. The old man shoves them together to the ride and buckles them in, as to not hold up the line.
"Uh. My group had an uneven amount of people, so I had to go with you." Chang stated shyly, as if not to upset Huang. Huang just looked at the cherry blossoms, a mix of emotions overwhelmed Huang. I was able to push away these thoughts, but now... Why now? I was getting better! Why Now?! His eyes were now empty, staring at the trees.
"Y'know," Chang started to speak and took Huang by surprise. His eyes lifted back to life, and his eyes turned to Chang. He spoke in a calm and soothing voice. "The cherry blossoms really are beautiful this time of the month, aren't they?" Chang's eyes drifted into the sea of cherry blossoms below. With such sadness and despair, all caused by Huangs mistakes. A breeze shakes the Ferris Wheel, and breezes through Chang's hair, but he's all too distracted. The sun hides its face behind a cloud, leaving a single ray of sun on the entire Ferris Wheel. When they near the ground, a breeze picks up cherry blossom buds and brings them through the air. The buds flow through the wind, flying in every which direction through Huangs vision. A late cherry blossom finally opens up its pedals and blooms out of its shell, revealing a nice pink inside. Oh... So this... This is why... Chang looks up at Huang. A single tear drops from Huangs eye, more on their way. He just looks at Chang, with a broke look in his eyes. Chang is startled and surprised.
"I... I. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry, Chang." His speech breaks as he rubs his eyes. "I never should have..." Chang is frozen in his place, not knowing what to think. "I miss you!"
Oh. That's what this feeling is. Right. Happiness. Chang smiles, tears in his eyes as well, "I'm glad. You really are a numskull." He says, smiling and crying at the same time. They embrace each other in a long awaited hug. As the Ferris Wheel comes to a stop, they both get out, laughing, eyes still red from crying.
"Lets enjoy the Festival, Together!" Huang says.
"Yeah!" Chang exclaims. The sun, high in the sky is released of the cloud covering it. Rays of sunshine fill the air, and all things touching it. Animals arouse in excitement. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and the day continues as fate has planned it.
Friend A: "Wait.. They were only away for three days..."
Friend B: "Seriously!? I though they were like, long lost brothers that finally found each other!"
Friend C: "Nope, they stopped being friends like four day ago."
Friend B: "OK, That's Just Weird!"