Missing The Sun

Chapter XI: Moon

[the glimpse of the past]

"Wondering why can't you speak Chinese though?"

"Because I'm a Thai. I'm not a Chinese."

"Why all Asians look like Chinese? The small eyes. You too. Weird."

"Now if you're excuse me—"

Ongsa took a deep breath. In her second week of school in America, she experienced several acts of racism from her classmates, especially these three mean girls, Jess, Joey and Chelsea. She didn't respond to them, and moved to walk away, decided to eat somewhere else that lunch time when she felt her foot hit something and made her fall.

Chelsea's feet deliberately blocked her steps, and accompanied by laughter from the entire cafeteria, Ongsa stared at the food on her tray which had fallen messily onto the floor.

"Aw. Poor Ongsa." Jess mocked her.

"Don't worry, Jess. I don't think she likes American lunch menu anyway." Chelsea added. "I'm sure her mom packed some chinese food for her to cover up."

Ongsa tried to get up when someone gave her a helping hand. She looked up, staring at the girl's figure. The girl was insanely beautiful, and with a face as calm as the night sky, she smiled warmly at Ongsa.

"Okay, mai?"

Ongsa was in a great surprise. She's a Thai? I never knew there's a Thai here?

"I-I'm okay. T-Thank you ka." Ongsa stuttered.

Once Ongsa learned to stand on her own, she took a few confident steps towards the trio of startled girls. Their expressions showed curiosity and surprise, creating a sense of intrigue in the air.

"Hey, Moon. Just got back from family vacation?"

"Cut it off, Jess." She stared coldly, but smirked.

"Whoa. Why are you mad like that? She tripped off herself. It's an accident."

"Oh, I am not mad." Moon replied. "Let the CCTV do the judgement later. Some kids reported a countless bullying attempt you all did to the student council and we're reviewing it with the headmaster, along with the videos they share on TikTok." Moon sneered. "Oh, you haven't watched it? They even come with hashtag, something like #JessTheBully #MeanGirlJoey #RacistChelsea. Is that something you're proud of? Should I repost them to make it FYP now? Remember I have above 50K followers."

"W-What are you talking about, Moon?"

"You tell me?"

"Okay. We just teased her though. It wasn't that deep."

The girl, named Moon, folded her hands and smiled bitterly. Ongsa didn't understand what happen, or who's the girl, but she was sure it was their first ever encounter.

"W-We're so sorry, Moon. Can you please tell us about the video, we need to clear up—"

"You better keep your hands off of her. You listen to me?" She stared at the girls sharply. She wasn't playing. "And the fact Ongsa is actually my childhood friend, back then in Bangkok, Thailand—let me say, whoa, how dare you?"