Against the Wind || LingOrm [ Under Revision ]

CHAPTER 7

Orm had been staring at her wall for about thirty minutes now. Lingling had assured her that everything was fine and her father was merely in a bad mood, but Orm knew better. The hurtful moans and the words Lingling's father had uttered were far from normal.

"What should I do? What should I do? Crap!" Orm muttered to herself. She was feeling incredibly anxious, wanting to visit Lingling but knowing she might not be welcome in the Kwong residence after hearing those words from her best friend's father.

Perhaps she should talk to Nana, she thought, and stepped out of her room. She found her Nana sewing something in the living room while watching a soft opera.

"Nana," she called out, trying to catch her attention. Nana quickly looked up, her eyebrows raising slightly, silently asking what Orm needed at this hour.

"I-I have a question," Orm stammered.

"Yes, dear?" Nana replied, pausing her sewing. She wanted to give her granddaughter her full attention, knowing that Orm rarely sought her out.

"Do you know Lingling's father?" Orm asked, her heart pounding. Nana's reaction told her that something was definitely amiss.

"Why are you asking?" Nana inquired.

"I just wanted to know. Like, how come Lingling is so close to you?" Orm replied, trying to get the answer she sought.

"It's better if you learn it from Lingling herself, but to answer your second question, Lingling is very close to me because she loves my homemade fried chicken. Once, I made a lot of homemade fried chicken and tried to give it to every student who passed by, but none of them accepted it. I realized it was a mistake because they might have thought it was poisonous. Then Lingling came to my rescue, eating one and taking another, so I decided to give her the rest and let her take it home. I was so happy with what she did. It was just a random idea because I was bored, and I almost gave up on anyone accepting it, but she came. That's when she started coming to our house, after asking people where I lived." Nana explained.

Orm couldn't help but smile at the heartwarming story. And now that she knew Lingling was a foodie, she loved to eat until she was satisfied. But remembering the sniffles from their earlier call, Orm's smile faded. Nana hadn't answered her main question.

She went back to her room and checked her phone. There were several messages from different people.

'I tried your bike earlier. It's really a good one :)' - P'Ying

'Let's have dinner sometime. - Bright' - Unknown Number

'I'll watch your game this time. I promise. - PK' - Unknown Number

'Let's bike together sometime!' - View

'Thank you, N'Orm' - Lingling Kwong

Orm smiled after seeing the last message from Lingling, sent ten minutes ago. It must have been while she was talking to her Nana. She was about to reply but decided against it, thinking that Lingling might already be resting and she didn't want to disturb her.

Lingling had been holding her phone for about fifteen minutes, waiting for Orm's reply. She wanted to text her again but stopped herself, fearing that Orm might have heard everything and their friendship was at risk. Just thinking about it made her sad. She didn't know their friendship would end so quickly, and she wished she could turn back time and end the call before everything happened.

She lay down on the floor and put her phone down. She looked at the ceiling while massaging her jaw, wincing at the sudden jolt of pain. She didn't know how she would hide it from others. A notification from her phone surprised her, momentarily distracting her from the pain.