Previously...
As the excitement from the fight dulled down, Cheng and his friends left the courtyard as well.
"Well, if we had any doubt before, it's gone now," Jiayi chirped as they all made their way back to Liang's house.
"Yeah, she definitely hates us," Xiang said. Everyone turned and stared at Cheng, who was staring moodily ahead.
When he noticed their stares, he blinked. "Why are you all staring at me?"
The other six exchanged glances before Jiayi finally spoke up for them.
"Don't worry about today, Cheng," she said reassuringly, slinging her arm over her best friend's shoulders. "I'm sure Meiying will get over it eventually. I mean, all you gave that kid was a black eye, right?"
The others joined in, throwing in their own two cents.
Cheng smiled at his friends' attempts at cheering him up. "Thanks guys."
Chapter 3: Lunchtime Quarrel
Dre Parker had been in China for less than a whole day, and he already hated the country. First, he was beaten up within hours of his arrival in the foreign nation; then his mother failed to receive the notice that students only wore their uniforms on uniform day—and to top it all off, Beijing High School was huge.
Schedule in hand, Dre wandered silently through the halls, eyes flashing from door to door in search of his first class. Noticing from the clock on the wall that he only had a few minutes to get to his class, he slapped a hand to his forehead in frustration, muttering, "Argh! I hate new schools!"
"Don't you know we only wear our uniforms on uniform day?" A giggle suddenly echoed from behind him and a slim wrist popped over his shoulder, snatching his schedule out of his hand deftly. Whirling around, Dre came face to face with a petite girl clad in cozy sweatpants and a t-shirt. Her long raven hair was swept back in a loose bun with spiky, feathery bangs hanging just before her eyes. Her dark eyes glittered playfully as she looked over his schedule with a sly smirk on her lips.
Dre tensed, a snappy remark frozen on his tongue. He recognized the girl and her impish looks.
She glanced up at him, amused with his silence. "Lost, Parker?"
"My name's Dre!" Dre snapped, balling up his fists defensively. "Why're you even talking to me? You're friends with that guy who gave me this!" Angrily, he gestured to his eye, which was badly covered up with his mother's concealer.
The girl chuckled and handed his schedule back. "Yeah, Cheng has a mean hook." She held out a hand and smiled innocently—almost too innocently. "I am Jiayi. Nice to meet you."
Cautiously, Dre took her hand and shook it.
She didn't flip him over her shoulder or suddenly put him in a headlock or anything, and as soon as she released his hand, he snatched it back, still eyeing her suspiciously.
"I saw you have Miss Li's class," Jiayi said cheerfully, her eyes crinkling into crescents when she grinned. "Go down this hall, turn right, and three doors down."
Dre narrowed his eyes. "Why are you helping me?"
"Cheng was mean yesterday. I be nice to make up," she replied innocently. Her eyes flickered to the clock in the hall. "Better go if you don't want to be late. See you later, Parker." Without another word, she turned and flitted down the hall and through a door on the left.
Deciding he didn't really have any other choices, Dre tightened his fist on his paper and dashed down the hall in the direction Jiayi had told him to go.
Meanwhile, Cheng looked up when Jiayi slipped into her seat beside him just as the late bell rang in the hall. There was a proud, smug smirk on her face and her eyes danced with laughter.
"Where'd you run off to?" he asked curiously as they took out their textbooks and paper.
Jiayi turned and met his gaze squarely, a wide grin stretching his face. "Let's just say the new kid, Dre Parker, will be pretty pissed off when he realizes that the room I told him was Miss Li's is actually Mr. Shu's."
Cheng blinked before an equally nasty grin emerged on his face. "You didn't."
"I did," Jiayi confirmed happily.
"You," Cheng laughed, knocking his fist against hers, "are pretty awesome."
"Don't you forget it," she replied, turning away to face the board.
"He isn't a bad person. He's sweet, nice, funny, and probably wants nothing more than to make some friends. I mean, think about it. He's all alone in a strange country with customs and traditions completely foreign to him. Can't you guys just be a little more sensitive and try to understand how he might see things? Jiayi? Jiayi, are you even listening to me?"
"Yes, I'm listening," Jiayi replied, rolling her eyes at the annoyed look Meiying was giving her. She had been defending Dre Parker the entire walk from their classroom to the cafeteria. "Why are you telling me this anyway?"
Meiying sighed. "Can you please talk to Cheng and try to get him to be nicer?"
"I can't control Cheng."
"You're his best friend! I know he'll listen if you talk to him."
"You don't understand, Meiying—"
"What don't I understand?" Meiying suddenly snapped, her patience gone. Her brown eyes glittered with anger. "Why is it so hard to do something nice for someone who doesn't have any friends or understandings of our culture?"
"First of all, Parker isn't friendless," Jiayi snapped back. "He's got you and Harry. Maybe he'll make more. Second of all, keep your nose out of other people's business. If you want Cheng to stop, then talk to him yourself. Don't talk about things like you know both sides of the story." From the corner of her eye, she spotted Qing also making his way toward the lunchroom. "I'll see you later, Meiying."
Without another word, she stormed off, feeling her frustration ebb away as she approached her friend.
"What's wrong?" Qing asked curiously when she caught up with him.
Breathing out her negative energies, Jiayi smiled with her usual sunny disposition. "Nothing. Meiying was just trying to get me to talk to Cheng about being nicer to Parker."
Qing quirked an eyebrow. "Who's Parker?"
"Dre Parker," Jiayi said. "That's the new kid."
"Dre Parker," Qing repeated, testing the foreign name out. The sounds fell over his tongue clumsily.
Jiayi laughed sympathetically. "Yeah, I can't pronounce his first name either. 'Parker' is easier to say though."
Pushing through the cafeteria doors, the two stepped into the lunch line, moving through it swiftly. With their trays in hand, they turned, immediately spotting Liang already sitting at their table. He was eating absently, eyes never leaving the book he had laid out on the table.
He didn't bother glancing up when they sat down and merely grunted in response to their greetings.
"What class is that for?" Qing asked, tilting his head in an effort to read Liang's book.
"Not for a class," Liang muttered back. "You should read this; it's really good."
"Must be good if you're this distracted," Jiayi remarked, picking a bit of food off of Liang's nearly forgotten tray.
He brushed her away absentmindedly. "Go eat your own lunch."
"Speaking of lunches," Qing said through a mouth full of rice, "did you guys know that—"
Before he could finish, someone suddenly slammed their hands down on the table, causing all three teenagers to jump. Dre stood there, hands still planted firmly on the table. Liang, Qing, and Jiayi stared at him oddly, dumbstruck that he actually had the nerve to go up to them and slam his hands down on their table like that. Then they realized he wasn't just glaring at them in general—he was glaring at Jiayi.
Snapping out of her surprise, she grinned widely. "Ah, Parker! Did you find Miss Li's class?"
Cheng must have already told the others about her little prank on the new kid, because none of them looked the slightest bit confused at her words. Qing stifled his snickers while Liang just smirked at his book.
"You jerk!" Dre growled, narrowing his eyes at her, trying and failing to look threatening. "You sent me to the wrong room! Her room was on the left!"
"Oh," Jiayi said, frowning. She shrugged and smiled sheepishly, but the devilish gleam in her laughing eyes betrayed her amusement. "I probably mix up right and left. Sorry."
It was a blatant lie and they both knew it. Other than the heavy accent in her voice, Jiayi's English was more than proficient. Dre's expression darkened.
"Liar!" he yelled. Silence fell in the lunchroom and everyone turned to stare at their table.
At his yell, the amused grins on Qing and Liang's faces fell.
"Hey," Qing growled. "Watch who you're yelling at."
At that, Dre seemed to finally realize that Jiayi wasn't sitting alone. His face paled slightly when he recognized Qing and Liang, who had finally tore his gaze away from his book. Dre, recovering his composure, glared back at Qing, probably feeling less threatened due to Qing's innocently childish looks.
"Walk away while you can, Parker," Liang added in a warning tone.
Clenching his fists, Dre turned and walked away stiffly, fully aware of how the table of three burst out laughing as he did.
"Did you see how scared he was?" Jiayi asked.
"Gosh, who does he think he is?" Qing grumbled, rolling his eyes. "After Cheng beat him up, you'd think he'd be wary of crossing his friends."
"Who cares about him," Liang muttered, turning back to his book. Just then, Cheng appeared at the cafeteria doorway, flanked by Zhuang, Xiang, and Feng; parting ways with the other three—all of whom were a grade above and didn't have the same lunch period—Cheng strode into the room, took note of the silence in the room that was only just starting to disappear, and quickly made his way towards their table, completely forgoing lunch for the moment.
"What happened?" Cheng asked in amusement, claiming a seat beside Jiayi, snatching her chopsticks out of her hand. Deftly, he shoveled some rice into his mouth before she snatched the chopsticks back.
"Dre Parker, the new kid, just tried to intimidate Jiayi," Qing responded.
Cheng raised his eyebrows.
"He what?" he asked, irritation starting to leak into his voice. Not only was the American boy hitting on Meiying, he was also picking fights with his friends? He had some nerve.
"He came over here, slammed his hands down, and shouted at Jiayi for her little prank this morning," Liang explained.
Cheng's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "That little punk…"
"Speaking of that little punk," Jiayi suddenly said. "Don't look now, but he's talking to Meiying again."
They all turned to look at the lunch line, where Meiying stood beside Dre, helping him load up his bowl. Cheng's jaw tightened.
"Where is Feng when you need him?" he grumbled, staring at the pair intensely. "I don't suppose any of you suddenly improved your skills of reading lips."
"That's usually Feng's department," Qing said ruefully. He and Jiayi looked up and stared at the pair as well, brows furrowed as they tried to discern what the two were talking about.
"I think Meiying's apologizing for your actions at the park," Jiayi said, grinning in amusement.
Qing nodded, squinting his eyes. "Uh, Parker just asked if you and Meiying were...what does dating mean?"
"It means dating," Jiayi replied.
Qing nodded. "Okay, Meiying said no...I think Parker told Meiying he thinks you like her."
"I don't think she believes him though," Jiayi added when she caught the slightly mortified look in Cheng's dark eyes.
"She's leaving," Liang suddenly stated.
Jiayi nodded. "Yeah, I think she has violin practice today. Now's your chance, Cheng."
"Perfect," Cheng purred, standing up. Quite confident even without his friends flanking him, he walked towards Dre, who was still staring after Meiying with a dazed expression. Annoyance surging through Cheng, he casually strode up from behind the American. In one swift motion, Cheng's hand slipped under the American's tray and slammed it up, managing to splatter everything on it onto Dre's orange uniform shirt and make it look like an accident at the same time. The cafeteria fell silent as the metal tray and bowls clashed to the floor.
"Oh," Cheng said, starting to grin. "Sorry."
"Dude, what's your problem?" Dre snapped, surging forward to shove Cheng back a step. He tried to make a follow-up attack, but Mrs. Po grabbed him before he could.
"Mr. Parker, stop it!" she exclaimed, looking disappointed in the new student. Cheng swiftly hid his smirk when Dre pointed at him accusingly.
"He slammed my tray all over me!" he yelled, glaring at Cheng.
"I already apologized for the accident, and he still attacked me!" Cheng argued, looking offended by the American's accusation. In the background, Cheng's table of friends was doubled over in silent laughter.
"Whatever he's saying, he's lying!" Dre interrupted sharply, pointing an accusing finger at him again. Cheng mentally rolled his eyes at that; what if he had actually taken the blame? The stupid American wouldn't even realize he was denying the truth until it was too late. What an idiot.
"Mr. Parker, go. Mr. Cheng, go," Mrs. Po said sternly, pushing the two in opposite directions. Smirking triumphantly, Cheng sauntered back to his table as Dre stormed out of the cafeteria, yelling, "I hate this place!"
"Nicely done," Jiayi remarked when the three returned to the table. "Unfortunately, I think Meiying saw."
At that, Cheng tensed, and his eyes flickered to the door. Sure enough, Meiying stood in the doorway, her sad eyes turning angry when they made contact with his; with a huff, she turned and stormed out of the cafeteria.
With a groan, Cheng turned back to his table, banging his head down onto the table. Jiayi reached over patted his shoulder sympathetically.
MHJ: Hope you all enjoyed that :D I'm off to run the marathon tomorrow! Wish me luck! xD