Solar Academy

Chapter 17: Tanghulu

Iris was still infuriated, sobbing in her dorm room. She quickly wiped her tears as she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," Iris's voice cracked.

"Hi, sorry about Sophie," Damion apologized.

"It's fine, what do you want?" Iris asked.

"I brought you some tanghulu as a peace offering," Damion smiled.

"Thanks," Iris humbly took it and set it on her nightstand.

"Once agai, Sophie's intentions were not to hurt you. Well...she didn't mean what she said. You will be very successful in life," Damion assured her.

"你和那些白人," Iris muttered.

"Sorry?" Damion paused.

"Nevermind," Iris rolled her eyes.

Damion made sure Iris didn't throw away the tanghulu he had especially bought for her. He returned to his dorm, where Sophie was sitting.

"Where have you been?" Sophie glared at him.

"I just dropped something off," Damion stuttered.

"Where?" Sophie was interrogating him.

"Iris's dorm. I bought some tanghulu as a peace offering," Damion didn't make eye contact with Sophie.

"Of course you did. I bought some plane tickets to Canada so you can see your parents again. School's over," Sophie said.

"Oh, thanks," Damion smiled.

He couldn't believe he would be able to see Ashley, Aaron, Mom, and Dad. Well, not his dad. His dad left when Damion first started school. He hadn't seen them for months, which felt like forever.

"No problem," Sophie muttered.

He ran to pack his bags, since he had to wake up at four in the morning the next day to arrive on time.

"Aren't you going to pack too?" Damion asked.

"No, it's just you," Sophie said curtly.

"Oh, okay, thanks anyways," Damion sighed.

The next morning, Damion awoke to his alarm clock beeping. It read 4:05 AM.

"Shoot, I'm late!" Damion threw on his clothes and lugged his suitcase out of the school.

He called a cab and arrived at the airport just in time. As soon as he set down his luggage, the intercom was announcing Flight A was boarding. He bolted in the line and waited for fifteen minutes before actually boarding. The flight was about four and a half hours, so he listened to music and slept for the remainder of the flight. Finally, the flight attendant announced they had landed and passengers were allowed to unbuckle their seatbelts. Damion called yet another cab to take him to his home. He planned to surprise his family. The doorbell dinged, and Mom answered.

"Oh, Damion!" Mom leapt forward.

"Hi, Mom," Damion hugged her.

"It's so good to see you! How was school?" Mom led Damion inside as she wiped away the happy tears.

"Good! I tied for first in the Contract Signing competition," Damion explained everything from the phone call to the present.

"Good to hear. Ashley and Aaron are already inside," Mom said.

Damion was so glad to be with his family again. There were five seats around the circular table, and one seat was empty. Dad. Damion was still shook up that his Dad had left him. He didn't even say goodbye before he left for Austin because he was working.

"How are you holding up? You know, with Dad?" Damion asked.

"Fine. I cleared out some of his old stuff," Mom sniffed.

"And by cleared, she meant burned," Ashley pointed out.

"Ashley! Eat your dinner," Mom barked.

The rest of the dinner was filled with discussions about school. Damion eventually started to grow bored and told Mom he was going to sleep.

"This early?" Mom asked.

"Yeah. I'm exhausted from the competition," Damion said.

"Alright, good night!" Mom said.

"Night," Ashley and Aaron said. Damion crept up the stairs, and inside his room. He dropped his stuff beside his bed and sat down, looking around at his unfamiliar surroundings. Life without his friends would be a little dull, but he knew they would see each other again someday. After all, good friends are like stars. Though Damion couldn't always be with them, they are always there.