Chapter 4: Beware the Panda

Xia's POV

As I was still sleeping, I suddenly woke up to tossing and turning beneath me. Mei must've been having a bad dream. I was worried about her.

"Mei?" I asked.

She kept shuffling around, it must be a really bad nightmare. If I couldn't wake her up, then it would soon enough go away. Also, it's still early in the morning and Auntie Ming, Uncle Jin, Mom, and Dad are still in their respective couple's bedroom themselves so I went back to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up and climbed down from my bed.

"Morning, Mei," I yawned, before heading to the bathroom to wash my face. As soon I was done, I headed over to the dining room where Mom, Dad, and Uncle Jin are already sitting while Auntie Ming is preparing breakfast.

"Good morning, Mom and Dad. Good morning, Auntie Ming and Uncle Jin," I greeted them.

"Morning, Xia." They all replied.

"Come sit, dear," Mom motioned me to an empty chair. "Your auntie is preparing breakfast."

I sat on my chair and Auntie Ming has placed my breakfast, which is porridge, complete with green onions, fried eggs, mushrooms, and toasted garlic bits.

"Enjoy," she said before heading back to the kitchen to prepare another bowl for Mei.

"Mei-Mei, are you up? Breakfast is ready." Auntie Ming called out as she placed Mei's bowl by the chair where Mei will be sitting. She even placed a box of Timbit donut balls. Uncle Jin and Mom tried to get one for themselves but Auntie Ming and Dad told them not to as I giggled softly.

"Coming!" I heard Mei groggily replying from our bedroom.

Once I started digging in with my breakfast, I unexpectedly hear my cousin screaming.

"Mei-Mei. Is everything alright in there?" Auntie Ming asked as she, Mom, and I approached the bathroom.

"Don't come in here!" We heard her yell as well some things being knocked over.

"What's going on, Mei-Mei?" Auntie Ming continued asking out of concern, "Are you sick? Is it a fever? A stomachache? Chills? Constipation?"

"No!" Mei yelled back.

"Well, if it's not a sickness, then maybe it's... that?" Mom muttered before whispering to Mei, "Mei-Mei? Did the red peony bloom?"

"No!" Mei shouted before she calmed down, "Maybe?"

This made Auntie Ming gasp.

"But it's too soon... Xia, have you got it too?" Auntie Ming asked me.

"No." I answered.

"Right. Don't worry, Mei-Mei," Auntie Ming told Mei, "We'll get everything you need! Your auntie and mommy are here! Jin! Chiang! It's happening."

Mom, Dad, Auntie Ming, and Uncle Jin all scrambled around the house to get necessary essentials for Mei as I head back to the bedroom to change out of my pajamas and grab my bag. Just then, I heard the smoke alarm beeping.

"Auntie Ming. Did you turn off the stove?" I called out to her.

"My porridge!" She gasped, running to the kitchen. "Xia, go get ready for school!"

"Okay, just tell Mei that I am waiting outside." I said as I got out of the door and stopped at the curb to wait for Mei and Auntie Ming.

Mei's POV

With everyone distracted, I ran back into my and Xia's room. I shook off some toilet paper that was stuck to my foot and accidentally knocked some of our trophies off our dresser.

"I'll just go to sleep, and when I wake up, this will all be over..." I suggested.

I laid down on the lower bunk of the bed, only for it to break under my immense red panda weight. I sighed before I breathed in and breathed out deeply.

Suddenly, I heard a poof and got up from my bed. I went to look in the mirror and saw that my red panda ears were. I continued relaxing before my tail went away.

I understood it then. Whenever I feel relaxed, I started to become human again! So I got two hairbrushes and started brushing my cheeks and then poof! I'm back to normal!

"Yes!" I exclaimed happily but then I turned back into a red panda, "No!"

But I wasn't gonna give up. This gave me the idea for a brief meditation.

"I'm calm," I inhaled. "Zen."

I continued breathing in and out deeply and upon finishing, I'm back to my old form.

"Yes," I whispered, trying not to turn into a red panda again.

That's when I noticed that something odd after I changed back: my hair. Instead of being black like it usually would, it was bright red.

"Okay. No biggie. You'll figure this out, Lee. Just be the calm, mature adult you totally are," I reassured myself as I sat on my bed. "You got this."

Soon after, I changed into my regular clothes and put on a wooly knit cap to hide my hair. After I went outside, I noticed my cousin waiting in Mom's car outside our house. I hopped inside and we head to school.

"What's with the knit cap, cous?" Xia asked me.

"It's just that some of my hair is too stubborn to stay down when I brushed them." I mumbled.

Xia took a whiff of me and recoiled in disgust.

"Whoa! When was the last time you showered?" Xia asked disgusted as I shrugged innocently.

"I know it feels strange Mei-Mei," Mom told me, "But I promise, nobody will notice a thing."

"Thank you for your concern, mother. But I'll be fine," I replied, trying to stay calm.

"Here are your lunches," Mom told us and handed us our lunch boxes, "I packed extra snacks. And herbal tea for you, Mei-Mei. For cramps. It helps relax your-"

"We understand, Auntie Ming! Thank you! Bye!" Xia replied as we got out of the car with all of our stuff.

While we were walking to the school, we saw Auntie Ming looking concerned. We both smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Me and Xia exchanged looks before walking into school.

General POV

"Are you okay to go in?" Xia asked her cousin.

"Yes," she said.

They both inhaled, exhaled, and walked inside.

The school hallways were crowded and busy like usual and the two cousins looked around until they saw Miriam, Priya, Kendra, and Abby.

"Hey, Mei. Hey, Xia," Miriam smiled.

"Hi!" Xia grinned.

"Hey, girlfriends," Mei fake-smiled awkwardly, "What is up?"

The three of them looked at her, then me, confused.

"Uh, what's with the hat?" Miriam asked.

"Bad hair day," Xia answered.

Abby sniffed the two cousins.

"Did you two like, work out this morning?" she questioned.

Xia and Mei noticed that they were getting sweaty due to how antsy they were a while ago.

"I got you, girls," Priya told them and handed Xia a roll-on deodorant.

Xia swiftly put some on her armpits and handed it to Mei. She started putting it all over her face.

"Guys, we gotta talk," Miriam told us.

"Okay," Mei replied.

"Tyler's been telling everyone about the Daisy Mart," Miriam whispered.

"What? Already?" Xia stuttered.

"Mei, he said your mum went nuts," Abby told them.

"And that you're kind of a perv," Priya mumbled.

"I am not a-" Mei started to shout before she stopped to reform her sentence more calmly.

"Tyler is an insecure jerkwad that acts out because he is unsure of himself," Mei told them. "Plus, I think that my cousin likes him."

"Wait, you like him, Xia?" the other three of them asked Xia, smirking.

"What? No! What do I even see in that guy?" Xia nervously laughed before she turned and glare. "I hope you're joking, Mei."

"No, I'm not, Xia," she responded and the other three started smiling and nudging her cousin, "Anyways, words were exchanged. Slightly uncomfortable secrets were revealed. End of story..."

Just then, Mei notices a goth boy passing by. Xia giggled as the perfect opportunity to get back at her cousin.

"Uh, Mei?" Miriam asked, waving her hand in front of her face, interrupting her little daydream, "Why are you staring at Carter Murphy-Mayhew?"

"I wasn't," Mei stammered nervously and Xia smirked at her.

That's when she turned around, gasped and her eyes widened. It was a poster of her and Devon about to kiss and swooning at each other.

"Guys, Tyler keeps putting these up!" Miriam explained before turning to him, "Knock it off, butthead!"

Mei and Xia turned around and saw Tyler putting another one up while laughing. The four of them were angrily shouting at him.

"Don't make me bring out the finger again, Baker!" Kendra angrily threatened.

"Devon, my precious manly man!" he mocked Mei before turning around and fake-smooching.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Mei growled in anger.

That's when she got her red panda fist and her tail appeared. Mei frantically his her furry arm under her jacket and her tail by pressing by the lockers.

"Mei?" Xia turned to her cousin. 'She's acting really weird. Must be all this growing up vibes.'

"See you later, dorks!" Tyler laughed while running away.

While he was running, he looked at Xia right in the eye and winked at her. Xia merely blew a raspberry at him and scoffed haughtily.

Kendra, Miriam, Priya and Abby continued shouting at him and Xia saw Mei looking stressed about her tail appearing and her furry arm.

"Gotta go, see you at lunch!" she awkwardly giggled while hiding her tail.

"Mei?" Kendra questioned, concerned.

Mei grabbed Xia's hand and ran with her into class.

Xia's POV

When Mei and I got inside the classroom, I sat next to Mei (I sat in between her and Miriam for Maths). She took out a bottle of water and took a big gulp out of it before exhaling. Miriam and Kendra came to sit next to me.

"What's with her?" we heard a girl from the back of the class ask.

"What's with your face?" Miriam and I both snapped at her at the same time.

Then Miriam and Kendra turned to Mei.

"What is with you? You're being weird," she whispered.

"I'm just really excited about Maths," Mei answered.

"You don't look excited to me. More like nervous. Probably the upcoming lesson," Kendra pointed out worriedly.

The teacher entered the room and we started writing. But then Miriam passed Mei a note.

U sure you're ok? It read.

Mei wrote back: Yup! All good!

Then she passed it back to Miriam. Soon enough, Kendra passed me one.

I saw your crush wink at you. It read.

My cheeks heated up and I saw her smirk at me so I wrote back: I do like him but I don't want anyone to know, not even him. I know he did that but he probably thinks I'm a weird dork.

I then passed it to her.

Soon enough, Kendra passed a note to Mei. Mei pushed it back but Miriam tapped it, signaling for her to read it.

Your cousin is doubting her boyfriend's advances on her and also, your mum is OUTSIDE. It said.

When I read the first half, I sighed quietly and rolled my eyes but in the second part, my eyes widened. We both slowly turned around and Auntie Ming was standing behind a tree looking at us. Mei gasped and started hiding her face.

"No, no, no," she mumbled to herself in fear.

"Mei, it's gonna be okay, just stay calm," I tried to reassure her but I'm not even sure if this is working

"This isn't happening!" she muttered.

We could hear Auntie Ming fighting the security guard outside and everyone in the class apart from me, Kendra, Mei and Miriam stood up to see.

"She'll go away soon, I bet! Don't worry, Mei! Just stay calm!" I once again tried to reassure my cousin but it didn't work again.

"Girls! Girls!" we could hear her yelling outside.

"No! Please, no!" Mei whispered.

"Mei-Mei, tell him it's me!" she shouted at us, specifically at Mei, "Tell him it's mummy!"

I could hear Mei's breathing getting faster and heavier.

"Mei-Mei! Tell him you forgot your pads!" Auntie Ming yelled, while holding up a box of pads.

The next things I knew were a thick cloud of pink smoke and the feeling of being knocked off my seat. Once I came to, I noticed something in front of me. It was a red panda, standing at 8 feet in height.

"Oh, gosh!" I gasped.

The red panda saw me freaked out and ran out of the classroom.

"Wait! Come back!" I called out to it but it didn't hear me.

I ran out of the classroom myself to find the panicking beast. I looked back and noticed Auntie Ming catching up to me.

"Auntie Ming, what was that giant red panda?!" I frantically asked.

"Xia, that red panda is your cousin!" Auntie Ming replied.

"What?!"

"I'll explain everything. Follow me to the car. Call your parents while I call your Uncle Jin."

Auntie Ming and I ran outside to notice the red panda (who is actually my cousin) ran around a corner before we hopped into Auntie Ming's car. As we drove out, I called up my mom on my phone.

"Hello, Mom. You and Dad need to get home now. It's an emergency." I called.

"Why? Does it involve the red peony again?" My mom asked on the other end.

"No, Mom! It's worse than that!" I yelled in reply.

"Jin. Jin, get home now. There's been an emergency." Auntie Ming explained, calling Uncle Jin. "No! Another one."

We kept on chasing after my cousin, only for us to meet a fallen sign and fire escape that blocked our path. Left with no choice, me and Auntie Ming decided to run after Mei on foot through the alleyways. Though once we reached home, we were sweating and out of breath.

"Mei, where are-!/Mei-Mei!" me and Auntie Ming gasped for air.

We continued our way to our house only to be met by scattered things, footprints, and scratch marks in the living room.

We rushed into her bedroom to see her crying on the floor.

"Mei, is that you?" I asked.

"Don't look at me!" Mei bawled. "Stay back!"

"Sweetie, it's okay. Your mommy and cousin are here." Aunt Ming said, hesitantly.

"What's happening to me?!" Mei cried.

Mom, Dad, and Uncle Jin ran inside to see what was happening.

"What is it, what-" Uncle Jin started asking then he noticed Mei and gasped, "It's happened already?"

Aunt Ming groaned.

"What did you say?" Mei asked.

"What happened already?" I wondered.

"I have a feeling they might find out about this." Dad sighed.

"Ming." Uncle Jin said, comforting Auntie Ming. "It's time."