Silent and lonely world (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Book 1)

Chapter 1

A-Yuan was excited, almost jumping up and down with happiness. It would be his birthday tomorrow and his parents had promised him a great party to which he could invite all his friends. There would also be presents and music and cake and a jumping castle and a lot of games. It would be awesome and he could not wait. He would turn ten years old tomorrow and his parents had said that it was an important day for him so they had to celebrate properly.

He had already invited all his friends from other classrooms and he had finished the round of his own as well. He had also told some of A-Yi's friends to come so his little brother would not feel too out of place during his party.

Satisfied, he headed back to his seat, hoping that the classes would end already for the day and he would be able to go home and start preparing everything, his parents agreed to let him help and he was looking forward to that almost as much as to the party itself. The last lesson, the one his dad was teaching, was just about to start, surely it would not be boring and the time would pass quickly and they would be able to go home soon.

Just before sitting down, he saw from a corner of his eye Mo Xuanyu sitting in the corner, all by himself and looking fairly lost and somewhat sad. He had never gotten close to the boy, he could not say they were friends, classmates at best. Mo Xuanyu never joined in on any of the games, he only used to sit at his table in the corner with his head lowered and startled from time to time whenever anyone approached him too much or addressed him.

A-Yuan's dad always told him that he should try to make friends with the boy, that it could perhaps help both of them. And A-Yuan tried, do not get him wrong, but it was very hard because whenever he approached the boy, greeting him first to let him know that he was coming closer, Mo Xuanyu seemed frightened and was watching him with wary and scared eyes. A-Yuan thought that perhaps he just wanted to be left alone, maybe because of his stutter that others were sometimes making fun of him for when he had to answer teachers' questions. Otherwise, he did not speak to anyone, never. He was also sitting by himself even during lunch breaks which all his other classmates enjoyed in a cheerful chatter.

A-Yuan was about to sit down and just ignore the boy as per usual. If Mo Xuanyu did not want to be disturbed, he would not do that. He looked over his shoulder one more time. He had already invited all his classmates to his birthday party, all but this particular one. He tried to imagine how he himself would feel if someone disregarded him just like that. It would surely be awful and it would hurt, even if he would now want to come and would refuse the invitation. If was one thing to not want to come and another to not be invited altogether.

So A-Yuan took a small breath and turned around, heading towards Mo Xuanyu's desk. He slowed his steps so the boy would have enough time to react to his approach and gently called: "Mo Xuanyu?"

Despite his best efforts, his classmate's head shot up immediately. Mo Xuanyu's eyes were wide open, startled, his hands were clenched into tight fists and his breathing which had been just fine a moment ago was now picking up. He glanced all around, probably trying to understand who could have called him out of the blue like this.

A-Yuan waved his hand, slowly, and smiled to reassure the boy: "Hello there, Mo Xuanyu."

There was a long moment of silence, his classmate only continued to stare at him with apparent wariness in his eyes. A-Yuan felt uncomfortable at once. The boy did not even give him a greeting and it already looked like he wanted him to turn around and leave. However, he was still determined to complete what he had set himself up for.

He made sure the smile stayed on his face and continued gently, almost whispering. For some reason, he had a distinct feeling that if he as much as spoke in a louder voice, Mo Xuanyu would be even more upset with him. It was almost certain that he would either refuse or ignore his invitation, but he would still try, he wanted to make his dad proud of him.

"You know, my birthday is tomorrow and I was wondering if you would like to come to the party as well. I have already invited all of our classmates, it will be fun..."

A-Yuan was now getting more and more awkward feeling. Mo Xuanyu had yet to make a single movement. It seemed like aside for his erratic breathing, he was frozen in place. Something in that image reminded A-Yuan of the new rabbit they had at home, he had been so frightened in the beginning that he would not move even when they approached him, he only looked completely terrified and trembled all over.

No, this was not right, Mo Xuanyu was not a rabbit. He was his classmate and they had, albeit one-sidedly on his part, talked a few times. They were no strangers and A-Yuan surely was not so scary to be watched with this much fear and caution. He was now doing his best to not take any offence. Mo Xuanyu certainly had his reasons for behaving in this way, dad told him so.

Still very awkward, A-Yuan scratched the back of his head and said unsurely: "It is fine if you do not want to come. I just wanted to invite you."

His mouth almost fell open when at last, there was finally a reaction from Mo Xuanyu's part. The boy slowly shook his head and then immediately tugged it between his shoulders, looking like he wanted to hide. The fearful look in his eyes was replaced by a disbelieving expression, as if he himself had been startled by what he had just done.

It only took A-Yuan a second to shook off his surprise and pull himself together. He grinned widely: "So you want to come?"

This time, it did not take as long for Mo Xuanyu to look up, something akin to hope in his eyes.

"That is great! I will be looking forward to it. You can have your parents to drop you off after classes or if you want, you can walk to my house together with a few other people. It is close to school."

Suddenly, the bell rang and it was time for the class to start. A-Yuan only waved to Mo Xuanyu, reminding him: "I will see you tomorrow."

Then he all but skipped back to his seat, excited and surprised that Mo Xuanyu had accepted his invitation. He had not expected it to happened, but he was glad it did.