The alphabet, A to L

A Constant Reminder

  Guang woke up just at the crack of dawn and bolted up from her makeshift bed by the school. Luckily she had changed clothes yesterday so it wasn't a hassle to get clean school clothes. The only problem would be about finding how to stay clean.
  Guang stood up and stretched. The school had several different buildings, a sports building with showers was close to the main building and because there wasn't any crime in the area, the doors were left open. Guang picked her things up and rushed towards the showers.
    After cleaning everything up and getting her bearings, Guang sighed and moved towards the main building. She never knew what time school opened so she decided to look at her phone. Only to see that it was dead.
  "That's golden. Ma, why didn't you tell me we were in debt? I could have gotten a part time job," Guang sighed to herself. Pocketing her phone in her uniform skirt, she headed towards the main building and spotted a familiar head of red hair.
    "Oh! Miss Katelynn! Good morning!" Guang called out happily towards the teacher approaching her at the front door of the school.
     "Guang? What are you doing out here so early?" Katelynn asked, giving Guang a quick side hug.
     Guang smiled nervously and scratched the back of her neck. "Well you see...Ma sent me out early because she was planning on going on a trip for a while." Guang explained.
    Katelynn eyed her student suspiciously and shook her head. Even if she had stayed with Guang for years, Guang always forgot that she could see through her. Guang was too much of a in tune person with her emotions for someone like Katelynn not to know about.
   "Well, lets go to the classroom and we can eat some breakfast I made from home." Katelynn ushered Guang inside and they made idle chatter as they went to homeroom.
    "Guang, open up the windows for me please, I'll get everything out to eat." Katelynn said, and Guang nodded. Katelynn pulled out two boxes from her lunch bag and opened them to reveal a pizza and a hamburger. She then pulled out two sodas and sat down at her desk.
    "Guang, bring up a chair and let's eat," Katelynn motioned towards the food and smiled as Guang's eyes lit up. As Guang and Katelynn began eating, prideful footsteps began to make themselves known. Mid-bite both Katelynn and Guang's eyes widened and they stared at each other and Guang hid under Katelynn's desk.
      "Ah Sir Evan Eisenwalde, is there something you need?" Katelynn asked the man, whose blond hair hung slightly in his cold blue eyes.
      "No. Just to say enjoy your breakfast. It may never be as good as mine." Thus, Eisenwalde left.
    Guang emerged cautiously from under the desk with a face twisted in confusion and was chewing her food.
     "Ugh, just finish eating and don't choke on your food Guang," Katelynn scolded and passed Guang soda. She smiled sheepishly and they ate in comfortable silence.
"Guang. I need the truth from you. What happened to your mom?" Katelynn asked gently, placing her hand on Guang's.
"I should've known you'd see past that lie earlier," Guang let out a tired sigh and rubbed her face, "Ma, died last night. I was playing piano for her and she passed."
Katelynn nodded and rubbed Guang's back comfortingly, Guang smiled bitterly and nodded.
"Yeah. It's not a great time for me right now. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell the class for me." Guang pleased putting her hands together and bowing her head. Katelynn patted her head gently and nodded.
"Okay okay, go put your things up in your locker and charge your phone." Katelynn smiled.
She watched her student go out to the hallway and smiled. Guang had been lonely at school for all the years Katelynn knew her and taught her. She would always spot Guang protecting someone with words, or standing in the front of everyone, including Lee, by a few inches or so. Katelynn worried for her. Someone strong, she knew, was someone who was hurt before, and being hurt while so strong was a big test to see what would happen. Hopefully, Guang wouldn't be one to crumble under pressure.
   Guang walked back into class humming to see that Lee was pacing by her desk and chewing on his thumb in deep thought. As soon as she noticed Lee he turned to her and rushed forward.
   "Guang! Are you okay?" Lee held her out at arms length and then hugged her tightly. Guang looped her arms around Lee and held the back of his head as he buried his face into her neck.
   "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm alright," Guang laughed softly and stroked the back of Lee's head, "Are you okay? You seem more freaked out than I am."
     Lee pulled away and stared into Guang's eyes seriously.
"Your hand keeps shaking Guang. Go get some water and by the time you come back the class will start," Lee turned Guang around and pushed her out the door. Guang blanked and shrugged on her way out.
"You act like her boyfriend, you guys are cute together." Katelynn commented as she brought her things out.
Lee blushed and cracked his knuckles out of embarrassment. He dipped his head in thanks and sat down in his seat.
Guang walked around the floor of the school, taking her time to get towards the water fountain. The halls were filled with students from all classes, and luckily they were the good casual ones who didn't care about rankings. Of course, since this was the school with an A class, someone was bound to be insulted and harassed. Right in front of the bathrooms, Hei An was leaning boredly against the doorframe. Guang blended in with the crowd around the scene and watched what happened. The boy who was standing in front of Hei An, Guang realized abruptly, was Jiangxi, one of her classmates. He was a short boy, but was a good athlete in volleyball. He was also passionate.
"I'm pointing out the fact that you have less then ten minutes to do what you need to and leave. You're too short to see so you should apologize to the guy you bumped into." Hei An stated blandly.
"Thanks genius, but I'm pointing out the fact that I don't need to because your pal knocked me off my feet. He's about as tall as me too so I really don't see the problem." Jiangxi growled at Hei An. Jiangxi squared up face to face with Hei An, Guang's tired eyes managed to catch the movement of Jiangxi's fist tightening and the beginning of his arm raising and ran in front of Hei An.
"Jiangxi don't." Guang warned.
Jiangxi's and Hei An's eyes widened at her. However, Hei An was the quicker to react.
"Ha, looks like only Guang-Zhou can take what Class A can distribute. Seems like they really can't defend themselves. Short stack has too much pride to stop himself from saying sorry once. I bet your mother was a barbarian considering that you can't even utter a word. Or maybe your mother never raised you and your father left you?" Hei An sneered from right next to Guang's ear.
That was it. Jiangxi's eyes betrayed what he didn't want shown. Anger and rage. Guang had learned about everyone's personality and their own ideals. Jiangxi's parents had died saving him from an uncle who wanted to use him as a slave.
"Hei An, watch your words." Jiagnxi seethed, and with a calm touch from Guang on his shoulder, he turned and left. Immediately, Guang turned and grabbed Hei An's collar and pushed him until his back was against the wall.
Hei An didn't say anything but raised an eyebrow.
"You say another thing to any of my classmates again and I won't hesitate to punch that big head of yours to next year for you. If you can't make arguments without bringing in someone's personal life, learn how to," Guang warned lowering her voice threateningly, with a final shove she let go of him and went back to her class. Whispering passed her and clapping sprouted from a few places, but the only thing that she could focus on was the pain in her shaking hand.