MDZS Modern High School AU - The Uniform Room

No Point Pretending

Jiang Cheng ran up to Wei Wuxian from behind, and grabbed his shoulder, catching his breath. Wei Wuxian eyed him as he caught his breath. Once he had, Jiang Cheng said, "What the fuck was that?"

Wei Wuxian shrugged as nonchalantly as he could muster. The truth was, he was still shaking from the exchange. "I dunno. I was just mad. Everyone was so tense... and I kind of just blew my lid." That was part of the truth, anyway. The tension during that car ride was so tangible that Wei Wuxian could practically taste it.

But also, he'd been wanting to say that to Madame Yu for a while. In his opinion, she had it coming. And Wei Wuxian didn't regret it.

"Anyway," Wei Wuxian said, quickly changing the subject. "We're supposed to go to the gymnasium, right? That's where the freshman and the new kids are going to be shown to their dorms, and then I guess we get a tour around the school."

Jiang Cheng nodded. "We need to wait for A-Li though. She's still trying to console Mom."

Wei Wuxian huffed. If anything, he should be the one being consoled after years of having to deal with Madame Yu. And maybe... He loathed to admit it, but maybe he'd dodged a bullet by going to this school. He wouldn't have to be in Madame Yu's vicinity for the next two months, until fall break.

Jiang Yanli had joined them a few minutes later. "Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. Mom was... angry." From the way she said that, "angry" must have been an understatement.

"I noticed," Wei Wuxian said. He could still feel traces of Madame Yu's anger, even from across the parking lot. The car pulled out of the parking lot and drove away, so there went most of his problems. For now, at least. "Now, to the gym!"

After about five minutes of walking around campus, they found the sports center. This school was definitely more prestigious than the Lotus Pier Public High School, because as they walked Wei Wuxian started to think that maybe they weren't even on a high school campus at that point. A college one, maybe.

But seriously, there was an entire sports complex. Not just a gymnasium, although he assumed that the gym was located inside the complex.

He was right. They walked in the sports center, greeted by a lobby with the Gusu Lan District symbol printed on the shiny tile floor. There, behind the lobby, were double doors leading to where Wei Wuxian could hear the echoing voices of what he guessed were a lot of frenzied freshmen.

"Jeez," muttered Jiang Cheng. "We're gonna have to go in there? You sure you can handle all that?" He looked over at Wei Wuxian.

He scowled. He understood why Jiang Cheng was a bit concerned. Big crowds, especially angry ones, always got under Wei Wuxian's skin. Not an anxious sort of thing, just... it was too much. He could feel other people's resentment or underlying anger. It made him jittery, and if it was bad enough, it drove him to the point of mania.

But this, a crowd of annoying freshman, wouldn't be too bad. He inhaled. "I'll be fine. It's just freshmen."

"Alright."

They stepped inside, the cacophony of freshman amplified by the echoing acoustics of the gym. The waxy wooden floors and the blue and white bleachers weren't much different from Lotus Pier's. Maybe a little newer. This school, from what Wei Wuxian had seen, probably had an endless budget.

They found their seats towards the front of the bleachers and waited for the student coordinator to show up. From what he recalled, Wei Wuxian knew they'd be seeing the coordinator a lot, because he was also the student-band teacher.

After a couple minutes, and more freshman had filed in and sat, the doors from across the gym opened and in walked the supposed Lan Xichen. He was tall, and his long hair, tied back with a white headband, swayed behind him lazily as he walked. He was obviously a freshly admitted college student, and Wei Wuxian could already tell he liked him. He didn't have any sort of negative energy floating around him. In fact...

Suddenly Wei Wuxian was hit with realization. Lan Xichen was one of the twin Jades, who were known around for being almost annoyingly talented in literally everything, but also strong empaths who exuded calming energy.

Wei Wuxian was an empath too, but his energy seemed to have the opposite effect. It riled people up, made them tense. Sometimes it was good, it would help people stay focused in competitions and such. Other times... it spun out of his control.

Wei Wuxian could tell, also, that the effects of Lan Xichen's were subtly being put into play when he walked into the gym. He was in awe as the freshman began to quiet down and become more subdued, and Wei Wuxian felt himself relax slightly, the pressure lifting off of his temples from everyone else in the gym calming down.

Jiang Cheng leaned over to Wei Wuxian, an awed look on his face. "That's our assistant band director? He looks like he's almost our age," he hissed.

"Well, yeah. He's a student-teacher, probably a freshman in college... I guess he's getting a degree in music education, so he's going to be helping teach the band class."

Lan Xichen walked up to a podium that was set up in front of the bleachers. "Good morning!" he said cheerily. He was met with a couple of responses and some whoops and cheers. He really must've been popular when he attended, if even the new students know of him, Wei Wuxian thought. Either that, or he's got some serious charisma.

"Welcome to Cloud Recesses High School," he continued. "My name is Lan Xichen, and I'm the student-coordinator and student-teacher of this school's band class. I hope you all are ready for a good year. Congratulations to all of you for getting admitted, as well! I know from personal experience that it's hard to get in this school."

Wei Wuxian scoffed slightly. It's easy enough if your parents pretty much bribe the school principal.

Lan Xichen continued to talk about the school, what to expect, about the tour, etc. Wei Wuxian wasn't listening a whole lot. He looked over at Jiang Cheng, who seemed to be pretty invested. Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow at that, then turned over to Jiang Yanli. "Hey sis," he snickered. "Look at Jiang Cheng. He's eating this up."

His sister looked over at Jiang Cheng, then at Lan Xichen. "Hm... I don't think he's really paying much attention to what's being said. Maybe just who is saying it."

"Precisely." Wei Wuxian waved a hand in front of Jiang Cheng's face. "Hellooo! Earth to Jiang Cheng!"

Jiang Cheng swatted his hand away. "Shut up, I'm trying to listen."

"No you're not."

Jiang Cheng glared at him. "Yeah, I am."

"Whatever you say..." Wei Wuxian smirked. He turned his attention back to what Lan Xichen was saying. "... The dorms are where we'll be heading first, where you guys are going to meet your roommates and get all your things situated. All the guys, I'm going to ask you all now to stand up and follow me, we'll be walking across campus. Girls, you'll be following Luo Qingyang to your dorms." He gestured to a girl in pink, who waved. She was kind of cute, with her space buns and all that. She was obviously still a student. Sophomore, maybe?

Wei Wuxian stood and turned toward Jiang Yanli. "Well," he sighed. "I guess this is where we part ways."

His sister stood up and hugged him hard, slightly surprising Wei Wuxian. "Good luck, A-Xian," she said. "Don't get expelled."

He chuckled. "I'll try not to. No promises, though."