"U-Uhm, it's fine, I promise."
Yue whirled toward me, and I flinched. Her cherry red eyes bored straight into my skull, glowing like embers. For a split second, I swore I saw flashes—nine thin lines of gold—radiating behind her like a crown of claws or tails.
I blinked. They vanished, and I rubbed my eyes.
Great.
I really was losing it…
Yue's face contorted into a snarl, and I could almost imagine a growl rising from her throat. She seemed to almost be baring fangs as her eyes narrowed into crimson slits. A strange heat radiated from her fingers—too warm, too heavy, almost as if the heat had weight to it.
I shivered.
"What are you saying, Yunhua?" Yue barked. "Lisha quite clearly—"
"She bumped into a door. She said that herself." Lisha cut in, her voice dripping with fake innocence.
Yue leaned forward, lowering herself until her forehead was nearly touching mine. Her face was… not right. There was something territorial inside it, like she was desperate to protect something she'd decided belonged to her.
...Maybe I was reading too much into it.
For a moment, looking at her almost felt like staring into a mirror from years ago.
Into that other version of me.
...The violent one.
My breath hitched. I pulled back instinctively, but Yue didn't let go; I barely managed a half-step away.
"Yunhua," she said again, her voice lower and rougher. Desperate, even. Her burning fingers dug into my skin. "Please. Say something. You can't just let this happen to you."
Can't I? I mean… I can. I always do. Maybe I should. Maybe this is what I get for Guiying. For everything.
A thin, cracked laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it.
My reflection in the scrubby window looked back. My hair was plastered to my forehead, the soaked strands clinging to my neck. My uniform was still half translucent and clung to my skin, while ice cubes clutched stubbornly to my shirt and sent sharp prickles of cold crawling across my skin. Orange soda glimmered down my skirt like I'd been dipped in sunset sludge.
The sky outside was a washed-out grey, bruised at the edges, like even the weather was tired of me, even though it had been sunny moments ago.
That pathetic girl in the glass stared back with the same dull grey eyes.
I let my hand drop from my choker. They'd already seen it—Lisha's smug grin made that very clear.
"I'm fine," I said, my voice small. "It's like Lisha said. I walked into a door. And… bumped over a cleaning bucket."
"Yunhua—"
"I'M FINE!"
The shout ripped itself out of me before I even felt it coming.
Silence.
Yue stared at me, stunned. My own breath broke apart, climbing too fast, too shallow. I couldn't stop it. Air felt like needles that stabbed at my lungs with every breath.
Tears began foaming at the corners of my eyes.
Yue's grip loosened, slowly, reluctantly like letting go physically pained her. She shrugged off her blazer and draped it around my shoulders, the weight of it warm compared to my sticky, soda-soaked shirt. She folded my ruined blazer over her arm with surprising gentleness.
"…Wear that," she murmured. "Your shirt is see-through. And let me take you to the nurse. At least. Lisha—faculty will hear about this."
Lisha scoffed a laugh, but I barely heard it over the roaring in my ears.
I'd messed up. Again. I'd yelled at the one person who didn't treat me like garbage. My stomach curled inward. I wanted to sink into the waxed floor and never come back up.
I nodded weakly and let Yue guide me. Her shoes squeaked softly on the floor, matching the dull hum of fluorescent lights overhead. Heads poked out of classroom doors. Yue shifted in front of me, blocking them from seeing my face.
And just when I thought the day couldn't get any worse—
Liu Laoshi's classroom door swung open. And Guiying stepped out.
With the boy I'd seen yesterday.
Hand in hand.
…
Something inside me cracked for the second day in a row, spilling silent coldness into my chest and up my throat. Guiying's face went through about fifteen different emotions before settling on indifference.
I froze mid-step and Yue turned immediately, almost sensing it in the way animals sense storms. My eyes stayed locked on Guiying and the way her head rested near her shoulder, the soft smile she gave him, and the way her fingers curled around his like she belonged here.
My chest hollowed out before stuttering and dropping like a stone.
I could barely register Yue's voice.
"Yunhua."
There was a pause.
"Let's go."
I let her pull me away, because I couldn't make my legs move on their own.
- - -
{Guiying's POV}
The door of Liu Laoshi's classroom slid open with a clack as Guiying stepped out, hand in hand with Wei. Yunhua was still in her mind, but… she took a deep breath.
Outside, the hallway felt… off and filled with whispers. What was going on today? Guiying glanced around.
A girl was being led down the hallway by Yue, who had a blazer draped over her arm. Yue was proud as ever and her tie swung loose in front of her.
Who was that girl behind her—
…
Guiying froze.
She recognized that hair, that silhouette, that posture. The girl was drenched, but even hunched over slightly…
It was Yunhua.
Guiying's hand tensed in Wei's, causing him to look at her, concerned.
"Are you okay?" Wei whispered to her.
Guiying didn't trust herself to answer. Instead, her mind spun.
Yunhua was soaked, but her blazer was dry, which meant Yue was holding her blazer for her. Why were they walking together, and why was Yunhua behind Yue?
Guiying swallowed and looked away.