Meliora - Extricate - 01

[lady_mab]

Jun Zhou

I’ve been at this school for a month, and I still have a hard time navigating its halls. The overhead lights hum beneath the chaos of students, trapped inside on a summer day, and the bare walls reflect the sound of their chatter.

“‘Ey, Jun! It is Jun, right?”

I clutch my lunchbox to my chest, and try to find just who it is singling me out.

The student appears almost out of nowhere, which is frightening considering his height. He towers over me by several inches. His dark skin stands out against the painfully white backdrop. He grins at me. "On your way to lunch?"

"I... yes."

His smile flickers a bit and he shoves his hands into his pockets. "You didn't forget me already, did you?"

"No, of course not. It is a little hard to." I force a smile onto my face, though I am quite certain it wobbles around the edges. "Zoné, the one who likes spam and corned beef in tacos." It is also hard to forget one of the first few people that you meet in a new place.

I remember the way he had offered me his jacket without a second thought because it was raining. I remember how much I had to stop and consider what I could do in return. What seemed to effortless a gesture to him became a thousand questions on how I should react.

The expression brightens a few watts and he laughs. "Yeah! Oh good. I was beginning to get a little worried because I haven't seen you in the dining hall."

I hold out my little box, as if it explains everything. "I normally eat outside."

His nose wrinkles. "Why?"

"It is less stuffy."

This is apparently strange to him, because he glances at the front doors that I had just been debating heading towards. Only instead of sitting outside to eat, I had been contemplating just walking all the way down the stairs and out onto the empty streets to enjoy a quiet summer afternoon not in school. "It's kind of humid outside...."

This time, my smile is a bit more honest. "It is not as humid as home. And it is not as stuffy as it is inside this school."

"There are a lot of other summer session students," he admits. Zoné adjusts his posture, angling back into the depths of the school and waves a hand. At first, I think that he's going to say goodbye and leave me be, but then he says. "You want to join us for lunch?"

"What?" The word trips out of my mouth before I can fully process what he's saying. "Oh, no, I do not want to intrude."

He dismisses my concern with a shake of his head. "No way, man. Girl. Uh. Jun." His pale green eyes never stop holding the smile, even when the rest of his face shifts through several expressions. "The others aren't even certain you exist. They think I made you up to explain why I suddenly had a reasonable lunch one day."

In return for letting me borrow his jacket when I had none, I had made him lunch. It seemed a fair trade, after a considerable amount of thought. I knew nothing about him other than that he thought spam and corned beef were acceptable on tacos.

My phone buzzes in the pocket of my uniform blazer, and I have to resist the urge to check the message. It's probably just my brother, sending another of his daily dinner time text messages. It's almost eight back home in Chongqing. Feng and Father would be settling down to eat. Meanwhile, I'm halfway across the world, getting ready for lunch.

Zoné waits politely, but not patiently. "C'mon, you'll love them. I promise."

I can’t say no. The thought of my family sends a pang of homesickness through me and the idea of being alone no longer sounds appealing. So I follow after, sticking as close as I can.

It's easier to follow after him than I thought it would be. Despite his long legs, he doesn't dart around other students so much as they part for him. Zoné holds his head high, ignoring the curious glances of other students as I trail in his wake. Instead, he talks about the group of friends that are gathered and waiting inside the dining hall.

"There's Beat, who looks like he would be a troublemaker, but he's really just sort of a puppy, you know? Mal and Robbie have been friends since they were babies or some super long time but don't get them started on science because they won't stop talking. Glen is pretty quiet, but I guess you could say he's the most normal?"

I count my steps against his. Two and a half for every one.

We reach the cafeteria, and he makes another grand wave of his hand. "Tadaa! The food paradise!" Zoné laughs, and it takes a moment before I realize that I must have pulled some kind of face because he mimics it back to me. "C'mon," he repeats, and strikes off without a second glance.

A chorus of voices rise up from a table when he approaches, and I figure that this must be his group of friends. My pace slows, and I watch them curiously for any sort of lead on how to act around them as the new person and apparently only girl.

But then Zoné turns back towards me and places a hand on my shoulder to gently guide me forward. "Boys, this is Jun! She's from China!"

I don't bother correcting him, because China is a big place and I'm from a very specific region. It seems easier than having to explain every time. And I've learned that most people outside of China itself don't really seem to know all that much about the country.

I smile and lift a hand in a nervous wave. "Hello."

Four pairs of eyes meet mine and make a silent study.

Slightly behind me, hand not quite the comforting weight on my shoulder I’m sure he means it to be, Zoné waves a hand at the small cluster before us. “Jun, these are my friends. Beat, Mal, Robbie, and Glen.” He points out each of them in turn. “There’s also Ayumu, but he doesn’t have to take summer courses.”

The one named Beat, a tall and gangly boy who has his pale hair cropped close to his skull, jumps to his feet and reaches for my hands without hesitation. His own are large, the tips of his fingers calloused, knuckles scraped and bruised and dry. Still, he wears a smile as easily as Zoné does. “Hello, my name is Beat. Will you go out with me?”

This is enough to break the other boys out of their stupor as they react in a chorus of laughter and teasing shouts.

I can only stare in stunned silence, and he hasn’t released my hands just yet. “Um. Well…” I start, trying to find a viable exit.

Zoné offers one by lightly karate chopping Beat’s wrists to get his attention. “Try to play it cool for like five minutes before you scare her off, okay?” He makes a shooing gesture, and the boys obey by shifting around on the chairs at the end of the table they have claimed as their own.

Soon, there is enough space for Zoné and myself to sit comfortably in their company. He pulls out a chair for me and waits for me to sit before dropping into his own.

I set my lunchbox on the table before me, hesitating and watching to see how the rest react. There’s a scattered number of school lunch trays, though I can’t really tell who they belong to because all of them seem to eat from each tray. Glen has a bag of crisps propped open before him, and he casually munches on those as he listens to Mal talk.

Beside me, Zoné has nothing. Instead, he’s staring curiously down at his phone and it reminds me of the message that I’ve received.

I reach for my own mobile when Robbie throws a carrot stick down the table at Zoné. “Oi, you’re skipping lunch again?”

He shrugs, and the smile is slow to follow. His thumb flicks over the screen and closes the message on it. “All my money had to go to rent this week.”

They respond with groans and Glen offers the bag of crisps across my field of vision.

I study Zoné, ignoring my phone. Father would scold Feng for answering texts during dinner anyway. I open my mouth, and a faint sound trickles out of it. It’s such a soft sound, that I’m barely even aware that I make it until Zoné’s pale gaze turns to focus on me.

He arcs an eyebrow, and for a moment, the chaos of the lunch room boils away until it’s just the two of us and I can hear myself say, “I will make you lunch tomorrow, if you like.”

This catches him by surprise, which is an interesting expression on his face. His eyes turn to tea saucers and both eyebrows shoot up.

My embarrassment takes over a second later. I don’t want to have to explain myself if he asks ‘why’ or ‘what’. I said it without thinking, even though I know I wouldn’t take it back. Even if he said no, I would probably still feel inclined to bring him food.

Instead, I raise my voice to catch the attention of the others around the table. “I don’t mind making food for everyone to share.”

Mal freezes with a green bean en route to his open mouth; Glen pauses mid-crumpling of the crisp bag, and Beat misses his macaroni altogether. Robbie glances at my lacquer box curiously.

“You don’t have to,” Zoné starts to say into the silence, even though the idea clearly appeals to him. I remember how excited he was to receive the small container from my uncle’s restaurant when I handed him the food and jacket.

“I am certain I do not have to, but I would like to.” I pull the top off of my lunch box, because my stomach is rumbling in a persistent reminder. Five pairs of eyes drop to the contents of my box, and it becomes very clear how much the idea appeals to the other boys as well.

“Well… I guess it would be a nice treat for the middle of summer school….” he concedes as the others practically vibrate with excitement.

How strange that he would be considered their ringleader. From what I can tell from the brief interaction, the other four look up to Zoné as the head of their group. He sits in the middle, now with me at his side. They wait for him to make a decision before reacting.

And just like that, I know that I will be in good hands if I decide to stay in the heart of their little group.

“I think I’m in love,” Beat says with a wistful sigh, clutching a hand to his chest.

I blush, and Glen throws the balled up crisp bag across the table at Beat’s face with a snort of laughter. They absorb me as easily as breathing, and I let a delighted smile tickle the corners of my mouth as Zoné’s laughter melds with the rest of the sounds in the cafeteria.

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