The Hope Kids 𓆉 // A New Beginning

ch: 6// a strange dinner

The dining room was aglow with soft lantern light, casting a warm ambiance over the large wooden table that stretched beneath delicate tapestries. The scent of freshly cooked Chinese food filled the air, and Hiro found himself in the middle of a lively, if somewhat odd, dinner.

Miguel, sitting to his right, was practically inhaling his food, devouring dumplings and spring rolls like he hadn't eaten in days. Riley, across from him, picked at her food cautiously, nibbling on a small bite of stir-fried noodles. Hiro, for his part, found the meal delicious. Every bite reminded him of dinners back home with Aunt Cass, though with a more traditional twist.

"So," Mei said between bites of char siu pork, "what brings everyone to the program? I mean, Toronto isn't exactly the most desirable place to be for summer."

"I'm not objecting to that statement," Hiro laughed. "I've heard the university has some advanced science projects—mostly in chemistry—for my program. That's why it's so appealing."

"That's so cool! I never pegged you for a science guy." Mei replied with a grin. "I've always been into music. One of my friends, Tyler, is also in the program. He's a good guy, so we don't have to worry too much about running into any jerks."

Miguel, pausing his feast, chimed in with excitement. "I'm in the music program too, so we'll probably end up working together. I mostly play guitar, but I dabble in a few other instruments. Maybe we can collaborate at some point?"

Mei smiled, clearly interested. "That'd be fun. I've always wanted to work with a live musician."

The conversation flowed easily, each of them sharing snippets of their lives and passions. Riley was still a bit reserved, but she opened up about how she got into hockey through her brother and how competitive she could be. Miguel told a story about performing at a local festival back home in Mexico, while Hiro mentioned his work on creating tiny nanobots for medical purposes.

At one point, Mei mentioned, almost offhandedly, "Oh, and the panda will probably—"

She was cut off abruptly when her mom, sitting at the head of the table, tapped her foot beneath the table, sending Mei a pointed look. Mei froze for a moment before clamping a hand over her mouth.

"Oops," she muttered, eyes wide. "Forget I said anything."

Hiro raised an eyebrow but didn't press the issue. He'd learned not to question too much too soon, though a part of him was curious what she had let slip.

As the evening went on, Miguel grew oddly quiet. Hiro noticed him sneaking glances at the clock, fidgeting more than usual. It was as if he couldn't wait for dinner to end, though Hiro wasn't sure why. He filed it away for later, but didn't bring it up just yet.

"So," Miguel said, forcing a smile. "Anyone have any fun hobbies outside of all this? I mean, other than your main thing?"

Riley perked up, speaking more than she had all evening. "I've been getting into roller skating. It's kind of a fun way to keep up my footwork for hockey."

"That's awesome," Mei replied, genuinely impressed. "I tried roller skating once. Let's just say it didn't end well."

"Yeah, I'm not much of a sports guy," Hiro added with a chuckle. "More of a nerd, honestly. Like, I'm totally that guy who spends his weekends building robots in his garage. So... pretty typical, I guess."

Mei laughed lightly, shaking her head. "Yeah, I figured. You give off those tech genius vibes."

Hiro smirked, leaning back in his chair. "And gay vibes too, apparently."

The room fell silent for a split second before chaos erupted. Riley, in the middle of taking a sip of her water, did a complete spit take, spraying the liquid across the table and right onto Mei's shirt.

"Oh my God!" Riley gasped, eyes wide as she scrambled to grab a napkin, her face turning beet red. "I'm so sorry! I didn't—Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Mei!"

Mei just blinked, dabbing at her wet shirt, completely unfazed. "It's fine. I kind of figured."

Ms. Lee, who had been calmly eating through most of the conversation, raised an eyebrow but didn't seem too affected either. "I'm not surprised."

Meanwhile, Riley was mortified. She stood up, knocking her chair back in her haste to clean the mess she made on Mei's shirt. Her hands shook as she apologized profusely, clearly overwhelmed by both the accident and Hiro's casual revelation.

"I—I didn't mean to—" Riley stammered, her eyes flicking nervously around the table, trying to apologize. "Sorry..."

Before anyone could say anything else, Riley bolted for the stairs, her anxiety taking over as she rushed to her room, leaving the rest of them stunned. Mei was the first to react, getting up quickly to follow her.

"Riley, wait!" Mei called, running after her. But by the time Mei reached her door, it was already shut firmly, leaving Mei on the other side, frustrated but understanding.

Back at the table, Hiro looked down at his half-finished meal, feeling a twinge of guilt. He glanced over at Miguel, who had gone completely silent. But when he looked toward Miguel's seat, it was empty. At some point, Miguel had slipped away from the table, leaving without a word. Suspicious, Hiro's eyes narrowed, wondering what was going on with him.

Ms. Lee rose from her seat, gathering her dishes. "Excuse me. Mei and I will handle things from here."

Hiro, still confused, offered to help. "Do you need a hand cleaning up?"

Ms. Lee gave him a small smile, about to accept when Mei ran back down, whispered something in her mother's ear, and pointed upstairs. Ms. Lee's eyes widened, and in an instant, the two of them rushed toward the staircase, leaving Hiro alone in the dining room.

Hiro sat there for a moment, unsure of what just happened. Something felt off. He sighed, standing to clear the plates himself, still mulling over the strange events of the night.

After cleaning up, he returned to his room and pulled out his books, intending to focus on his studies. But his mind kept wandering—what was up with Miguel's odd behavior? And had he really caused Riley to feel that embarrassed?

As he stared blankly at the pages of his textbook, Hiro couldn't shake the feeling that something bigger was going on.