Evanescent Dreams

7. Garden of dandelions

After eating dinner, Lin Xingren shut her door and sat cross-legged on her bed. Her bed sheets and pillows were bright pink with white polka-dots. Around her, a collection of biology diagrams and Kdrama posters were taped on the walls, surrounding the lazily filled room of colorful books, stationary, and stuffed animals. The room was so disorganized to the extent that she only knew the whereabouts of half of the things that were placed in her room. Across from her, where she was staring at, was a huge picture of Agatha Christie stuck on her door.

Three hours ago, when Lin Xingren just came back home from the milk tea shop, she messaged Liu Gujing. The conversation between them went like this:

Lin Xingren: Hii

Liu Gujing: Heyy, what's up??

Lin Xingren: I heard that u're going to Miaomiao's tmr. I was wondering if I could come along. 

Liu Gujing: Sure! ofc why not.

Lin Xingren: Nice, can you give me the address? 

Lin Xingren: Hi?

People are always in the process of waiting. What did I wait for today? I waited for the conductor-like minute hand to finally reach the starting beat of the end of day school bell. I waited for my awkwardness in class to get lost within the plastic neural synapses of my classmates. I waited for my mom to stop yelling and ranting like a lion over long-distance voice call. I am currently waiting for a digestion of the current scenario...and the digestion of that huge cup of milk tea. It all started with a hormone called ghrelin...

Lin Xingren could not continue her writing. She closed her phone and plopped down on the bed. She was not surprised that Liu Gujing would ghost her, but she was not prepared for this scenario when she accepted Ye Zhen's request...

Lin Xingren closed her eyes and tried to recall everything she heard and saw since the night at the library. Chen Siyun, Ye Zhen, Liu Gujing, Zhao Zihai, the bb cream girl...

The bb cream girl who sat on her desk this morning was Liu Gujing's good friend...so was also close with Xuan Miaomiao...If so, she likely went to the funeral yesterday...Her bb cream looked familiar...it was a newly opened one...

---

"Xing Xing!"

Lin Xingren turned around. She was standing in the middle of a school hallway. It wasn't X High's grey concrete, but X elementary school's green carpet. 

The little girl ran pass her. 

"Xing Xing! Xing Xing! Where are you going?" the little girl's pig tails bounced up and down as she twirled around, desperately looking for someone inexistent.

"Can't you just stop that?"

The girl frowned at Lin Xingren, then brightened as she saw her buddy coming out of the classroom next to the hallway. 

"I'm looking for Xing Xing. Did you see her?" the girl went over to her excitedly. 

"We should go back to class," her buddy whispered, "Ms. Lu is asking where you are, and people can hear you out here. Gujing is trying very hard to find an excuse for you. " 

"Hmph!" the little girl crossed her arms and immediately changed expression, "you don't care about Xing Xing, all you care about is that suspicious Liu Gujing! I don't like you!"

The girl stomped away. Lin Xingren did not care where she went. The little girl only pretended to be infuriated, but she didn't know that her careless, arrogant acts hurt the person that actually cared about her. 

Narcissist. 

The buddy sighed alone in the empty hallway. Lin Xingren wanted to go up to her, but she knew it would be too late to do anything.