Delinquent High

Chapter 19

Who knew how long after his adoptive mother left him, Wei Wuxian thought he saw a movement near the entrance of the school. With his head heavy, he looked up, hoping it was either a teacher coming to tell him that he could go wait inside or that he could at least let his hands down, or Madame Yu who came back to pick him up at last. By now, he had lost all feeling in them and he was also suspecting that he was getting a heat stroke.

However, he realized after straining his hurting eyes, it was only a young man in pure white uniform going inside the school building. He was walking far away enough for Wei Wuxian to not be able to see his every feature. He could nevertheless still tell that he was roughly the same age as him, had long dark hair and that he was overall very handsome. He wondered what was such a fair young man doing here. His uniform was not one of Delinquent High, he must have been a student from the Cloud Recesses High School.

Was it perhaps the same one Wei Wuxian had seen in front of the chairman's office his morning? Why would anyone else be coming here? Surely the students of the Cloud Recesses High school were avoiding this place of filth and delinquency by miles. Wei Wuxian could not imagine that any of them would come here willingly. They all seemed way too proper for that.

Just as the boy was about to enter the building, he turned around and his eyes met Wei Wuxian's. It was impossible to read his emotions from so far away, but Wei Wuxian suddenly felt extremely ashamed of his condition. He was the only student whose parents did not come to pick him up yet and he was standing here like a fool, holding his backpack high above his head and sweating profusely in the afternoon sun. He must have made a funny picture at the very least.

In the worst-case scenario, the other boy was informed about the functioning of the Delinquent High and knew perfectly well why Wei Wuxian was here. Being punished and put onto display in front of a stranger was suddenly making him feel overwhelmed. It was one thing knowing that his adoptive mother did not care enough about him to come pick him up in time, but having someone else to possibly deduce this truth, Wei Wuxian was ashamed of his situation.

He had never let his friends at school know about how much trouble he had been causing his adoptive family. And now, here was a complete stranger who knew everything. Wei Wuxian wanted to cry at his misfortune. The whole Delinquent High had already seen him being punished, so he did not expect to make any other friends aside for Mo Xuanyu. Though, he had not expected that even students from the Cloud Recesses High School would be gossiping about him and turning their heads whenever they would see him. That was too much to bear for his tired brain.

He could not take anything back anymore. The boy would surely tell his friends about him and that would be it. Wei Wuxian would not get a say in it. And perhaps that was just as well. When his entire life was going to hell, it should go with a bang. He let his head fall to his chest and ignored the boy. That was all he could do right now.

Wei Wuxian was still mourning his previous happy and carefree life when Madame Yu returned. Usually, he would have been looking for her every expression and movement, trying to judge what she would do next. Today, he was not. He was too tired and too numb to worry about her. If she decided to add a few more hits onto his bottom, or anywhere else for that matter, it would not be his problem. His body felt like it was not his anymore and his mind was drifting.

Either Madame Yu was pitying him or she had another devious plan in her head. She did not start shouting and letting her displeasure of having to go look for the teacher and losing her time known. If anything, she seemed really soft and caring. So unlike her, thought Wei Wuxian. If he had been feeling better right now, he would have perhaps marvelled at the change.

He did not though, he only watched her with empty eyes, waiting for her to say something, that he was such a failure and she did not want to deal with him anymore, to order him to wait here for longer as part of his punishment, or to let his hands down, or that they were going home. It did not matter either way, Wei Wuxian was simply waiting with his head completely blank.

After what felt like an eternity of Madame Yu giving him that strange look again – it could not be concern, not for him –, she finally half whispered, her voice still just as soft as before: "Come, you can relax now, let us go home."

With a low moan of pain, Wei Wuxian allowed his hands to fall from above his head. He simply relaxed his strained muscles, unlocked his shoulder and elbow joints and let the gravity take care of the rest. There was a sharp pang of pain when the backpack full of school books hit his left knee. It trembled and almost buckled under him without Wei Wuxian's permission. He was not even able to control his own body properly, especially not his hands.

He however did not fall to the ground immediately as he had expected. There was a hand being extended towards him and it supported him to stay upright. Madame Yu was holding him and helping him walk, realized Wei Wuxian through the haze and fog of his mind. She even took the backpack from his hands and was carrying it herself for some reason.

This was all way too much for him to process so he just let it go. He would try to find out what this sudden change of behaviour could mean another time. He leaned more into his adoptive mother's supportive hold and moved one of his legs forward. Then the other one. And repeat. Until he was being sat in a car seat and watched as a belt was being fastened for him.

Madame Yu joined him in the car and started the engine. Without anything being said, she drove out of the Delinquent High's parking lot and onto the rest of the campus. Not that Wei Wuxian was paying any more attention to where exactly she was going. He closed his eyes and let himself drift to unconsciousness. It was more merciful than reality right now.