Opia (Zhu Zhixin)

4

It was lunch time, and the day felt like it was crawling. He just wanted to get home and escape this hollow full of people. Everyone was still looking at him as if he was an alien that had just climbed out of a UFO.

He stood in-line just like the rest of the students and waited for his turn to get his food. Even on the queue to get food, so many people were stealing glances at him. He wondered if they were going to stop staring by the end of the day.

Zhixin looked at his food once it had been served. It was rice with mixed vegetables of the colors green and orange, some meat and some tofu. It seemed to have been prepared with much care than the food he used to have at his previous school.

Once he had received his food, he looked around the cafeteria. Everyone was sitting with someone, and they talked wholeheartedly like all teenagers would do at lunch. They laughed and talked about subjects which Zhixin knew he would probably not be able to participate in.

Amy-Janett caught sight of Zhixin looking for a place to sit. She was excited to see him.

'Don't dare,' Lily immediately warned her friend whom she noticed almost waving Zhixin to sit with them.

'What?' Amy-Janett complained. 'He probably needs someone to sit with.'

'He's a boy, isn't he? He'll probably sit with the rest of the male 11th graders. He probably already knows Ji by now.'

Zhixin had noticed Amy-Janett, and he deftly pretended he didn't see her. He wasn't going to risk sitting with anyone at lunch.

He looked around for an empty table, and then walked over to sit there on his own, much to everyone's surprise. He kept his head down as he started to eat, knowing that everyone would probably be looking at him like they were always doing.

'He's sitting alone?' Zuo asked Ji.

'I don't know. Invite him to come sit with us, he probably just doesn't know who to sit with.' Ji suggested to his friend.

Reluctantly, Zuo nodded and got up. He didn't like the idea of having a kid from the city within their group, it would feel uncomfortable at first. But maybe he didn't have to feel that way, he thought to himself, maybe it didn't matter. Maybe a kid from the city would be a good addition after all, maybe he could tell them about things they didn't know.

'Hi,' Zuo greeted Zhixin once he had arrived at his table, standing next to it.

'Hello,' Zhixin replied with a smile after he had looked up from his tray.

'We noticed you're alone, why don't you come sit with us?' Zuo pointed at the table they were sitting on, a table that had all the 14 boys from the 11th grade. They were talking happily as they had their lunch.

Zhixin didn't want to sit with them, and he knew he shouldn't. He hesitated, before shaking his head. 'Thank you very much for the offer, but I think it's best if I sit here.'

Zuo did not expect that response. He stopped for a moment, trying to process what Zhixin had just said. Had he declined sitting with them? 'Why not?' he did not want to sound tenacious, but he was genuinely curious. What good reason could Zhixin have?

'I just...I prefer to relax and recharge during lunch time,' he explained. 'Thank you again.'

Zuo didn't believe Zhixin's explanation, but not wanting to force him, he simply nodded and walked away from the table. So many thoughts were running around in Zhixin's head as to why he declined, but he finally settled on one thought – and it was very distasteful.

'He didn't join them?' Lily asked her friend Amy-Janette in wonder.

'Yeah,' she nodded proudly, 'he really is different from the rest of the boys.