The Boy With the Flute [Xiaoven]

3. Butterflies Galore.

Today was the day, the day I'd talk first hand to Venti.

His name haunted me, like a demon in a young child's endless nightmares. I couldn't tell if this feeling was good or bad. I couldn't get the thought of him out of my mind. Usually, it's because the person would annoy me to the point that I can't forget about them, but this was different.

It felt warm, somewhat fuzzy, which was a feeling that was very unfamiliar to me.

I tried my hardest to ignore his presence during homeroom. Thankfully, the rascal didn't talk to me, just continued working on paperwork. But, even if he wasn't talking to me, it still was hard. He sat right in front of me. Every time I had to look at the teacher, I had to look at him. It made me feel that unfamiliar fuzzy feeling each time. Like a sharp arrow was shot at my heartstrings.

After I got my school lunch, I headed over to my friend's lunch table. It felt like I was going to explode any minute from nervousness, but I kept it all in, somehow.

That's when I saw him. He was chattering with Hu Tao when I arrived. He noticed me and waved at me, a bright yet welcoming smile plastering on his face.

I can feel my face burning, like a sunburn on a hot summer day. I sat right next to Hu Tao, too shy to sit right next to Venti. Venti didn't mind, however, and continued chatting and chatting. Xingqiu told me yesterday Venti was a huge chatterbox, and he was completely right. This man could never shut up, not in a million years.

Soon, Xingqiu and Chongyun both arrived. Like usual, they had their hands intertwined together and were both smiling like goofs. Xingqiu had a book clutched in his arms and Chongyun was carrying Xingqiu's lunchbox, or should I say, their lunchbox, since they shared food. Chongyun sat down beside me, followed by Xingqiu.

"Oh, Hi Xingqiu, Hi Yunyun!" Hu Tao greeted cheerfully, a bright smile on her face.

"Do not call me that.." Chongyun replied, rolling his eyes while his face turned a more prominent shade of red.

"You let me call you that all the time, got something to tell me, Yunyun?" Xingqiu flirted. Chongyun's face turned bright crimson red and looked away. Xingqiu giggled at Chongyun's actions.

"Eheh.. your Xingqiu, right? From my science class?" Venti asked, looking up at Xingqiu. Xingqiu quickly paused, but then nodded, he hesitated about being his usual carefree and confident self towards new people. Who knows, he could be a serial killer under all that kindness. "Not much of a talker, oh well.." Venti pouted, resting his head on his hand.

"Xingqiu's just a bit shy, sorry about that." Chongyun apologized, awkwardly smiling. Xingqiu only silently chuckled and looked away. It was odd seeing him shy since he usually was a carefree and mischievous guy, at least if you got to know him well.

"Oh, that's okay! That sounded mean, my apologies!" Venti apologizes swiftly. His apology sounded somewhat genuine. When I first meet someone new, my automatic opinion on them is that their nothing but scum liars, but I guess he is one of the only exceptions.

"It's okay, I don't mind," Xingqiu answered, pushing his shyness aside. Venti softly chuckled, then continued to chit-chat with Hu Tao. Hu Tao and Venti appeared to be getting along quite easily. More than I could. I would probably embarrass myself so badly that I'd want to fall off a cliff afterwards. Maybe it's because Hu Tao is way more socially confident, while I'm just an anxious and isolated mess of a human being.

I laid my head on the table and let my head go blank. I listened to the blabbers of Chongyun and Xingqiu's not-so-obvious flirting and Hu Tao and Venti's chit chat. If only I could join into the conversation, but that would only happen in my dreams, which I don't have. I have horrific nightmares instead.

"Xiao? Hellooo? Anybody home?" I hear out of the blue. I shot a glare to see who was calling my name, but the glare immediately softened when I saw it was Venti. I felt my face get somewhat warm and looked away.

"Sorry, I got distracted," I answered, trying to hide my obvious anxiousness. Venti didn't seem to notice it and cheerfully grinned instead, which made me feel all sorts of fuzzy emotions in my gut.

"That's okay! I thought you passed out or something a moment there.." Venti added, giggling after his sentence. I felt a small, but very obvious smile tug on my face.

"Aww! Xiao-Xiao is smiling!" Hu Tao noticed. I rolled my eyes for what seemed the billionth time and made my smile go away.

"Shut up, brain dead." I respond back. Hu Tao did her usual "sad puppy pout" while Venti chuckled at my insult.

"Someone is in a bad mood today." Venti remarked, then continued the casual chit-chat. Somehow, just like that, he can start a conversation. Maybe Hu Tao was right, for once. I should learn how to talk to more people.

The rest of the lunch period was nothing special, at least to me. Venti did, however make eye contact with me a few times and before he headed off to his next class, he winked at me.He winked at me.

Out of everyone at this school you could wink at, why me? Was I really that special?