Sweet Like Honey

Chapter 1

"Kong Xueer! Breakfast is ready!" A voice yelled from downstairs.

At the word "breakfast" my eyes shot open immediately. "Okay, down in a sec!" I quickly brushed my teeth, taking a bit more time to prepare my clothing for today. It was my first day of senior year, and at a new school as well, Youth High School. I had to wear something classy and impressionable.

Finally, after some shuffling through my wardrobe, I settled on some jeans and denim jacket with a white top. I suppose we could go with simple and cool today.

Grabbing my backpack, I began heading downstairs. I could smell fried bacon and eggs and smiled. I was so, so grateful for the life I have now.

As soon as I got downstairs, I was immediately put in a playful headlock. "Zhao Xiaotang, do you have to do this every morning?" I complained.

Xiaotang was my cousin, and despite how much she annoyed me to bits sometimes, I loved her very much.

"Always has been, always will be," Xiaotang replied. "You want a glass of orange juice? I'm going to pour some." I nodded.

The person who had been frying the bacon and eggs was Xiaotang's mother, and hence, my aunt. Despite having a busy schedule as an accountant, she still had time to cook breakfast for me and Xiaotang even though we were older now.

Xiaotang's father, meanwhile, was an engineer and it was likely he had gone to the office early today.

I had been living with Xiaotang's family ever since my parents passed away, and recently they had moved houses so I had come with them.

Xiaotang and I scarfed down our eggs and bacon, making sure to thank Auntie as we placed the dishes in the dishwasher.

We got on our bikes, preparing to head to school. I tried to avoid cars at all costs after the accident.

"Mom and Dad, I miss you," I whispered, but not loud enough for Xiaotang to hear. I hope today will go by smoothly.

~~~~~

Xiaotang and I parked our bikes at the bike rack, securing them with locks. I looked at my schedule, which I had saved on my phone. Xiaotang has Calculus first, while I had Biology.

I looked for my classroom number on while walking to class, and I guess I hadn't been paying my surroundings much attention because I crashed into someone.

"Shit!" They exclaimed, holding their head in pain. The stranger lifted their head and my heart nearly stopped when I saw her face.

She was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. Her black hair was cut short, with a white streak through it. Her facial features were perfectly proportionate, her lips outlined with red lipstick. I didn't realise I was staring until I heard a cough.

"Next time, look where you're going," she said grumpily, raising an eyebrow menacingly and for a second I was fearful for my life. Had I messed with the wrong person?

"I-I'm sorry." I didn't realise how nervous I was until I heard my voice shaking.

The girl scoffed. "Whatever." She turned on her heel, heading in the other direction as I let out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding. She walked with a sway of confidence, as if she owned this school. Who was she?

~~~~~

I found Biology much more pleasant than I had expected. At my old school, I had excelled in the sciences and arts, so the content we were being taught now wasn't too difficult.

I had chosen to sit next to a short haired girl wearing glasses. She was quiet, and her hair and clothing made her look kind of boyish.

Now that we had reached the end of the lesson, I heard a quiet "hello" behind me and turned around to realise it was my desk buddy.

"Hi," I replied back. I was excited at the prospect of making new friends at this school, especially after pretty much keeping to myself at my old one.

The girl scratched the hair at the back of her head nervously. "Sorry I didn't say anything before? I'm kind of shy..."

I shook my head. "It's fine, I'm shy too. I'm Kong Xueer. And you are?"

The girl let out a small smile. "I'm Liu Yuxin."

We shook hands. "So, I heard you're new to this school?"

I nodded.

"How do you like it so far?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I mean, I've only had one class so far."

Yuxin winced. "Right, I forgot." She had an embarrassed look on her face, one that was quite cute and made her look like a puppy. "Would you want to grab lunch with me this afternoon?"

"Of course," I said. I was hoping to introduce Yuxin to Xiaotang, and see if my cousin had made new friends as well.

~~~~~

"This is Esther," Xiaotang said, introducing me to a girl with curly hair and a bright, beaming smile. She shook my hand excitedly, making me wonder how she still had so much energy at this time.

"WOooOoOw!" She said loudly while still shaking my hand. "You're so pretty!"

I immediately blushed. I had never, ever had anyone compliment me so blatantly before. Xiaotang rolled her eyes. "Don't mind Esther, she's like this bubbly with everyone she meets."

"And that's how we became instant friends," Esther said, elbowing Xiaotang. It made me internally laugh, thinking about how these two very different girls became friends so quickly. Esther is like, the polar opposite of Xiaotang.

"Anyway, this is Yuxin," I said, introducing Yuxin to them both.

Esther shook her hand, as enthusiastic as she was with me. Xiaotang was rolling her eyes again, but my eyes had already drifted elsewhere. There, on the other side of the cafeteria was the girl I had crashed into this morning. She was having what seemed like a heated argument with another girl.

"Ooooh, who are you looking at?" Esther asked inquisitively. She followed my line of sight and gasped. "No way. You have a crush on Xu Jiaqi?"

I'm not sure why but those words made my face heat up. "I haven't even actually met her. Of course I don't have a crush on her!"

Esther nodded slowly. "Okay. You should stay away from her."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Esther continued, "she did get suspended once for breaking a boy's arm in the tenth grade."

I winced. Okay, Kiki looked kind of scary. But she didn't seem like a breaking bones kind of person. I turned to Yuxin for confirmation and she nodded.

"It's true. And no one knows exactly why."

"Okay. Then I will try to avoid her." And I told myself I would, because I had already had enough things happen to me in my lifetime that I didn't need a troublemaker like Xu Jiaqi to add to that too.

~~~~~

I was five minutes early to my Calculus class in the afternoon. At about 1:30 PM, students started slowly filing in followed by the teacher.

I found myself once again immersing myself in my studies, taking thorough notes during the lesson when about halfway through, there was a knock on the door.

The teacher sighed. "Xu Jiaqi, I know it's you. Come in."

Xu Jiaqi? My ears perked up hearing that name before I remembered I said I'd stay away from her.

"Nice of you to finally join us Miss Xu," the teacher said sarcastically. "I'd normally say pick a seat but there's only one." Of course, it was my luck that that seat was next to me.

Xu Jiaqi silently walked her way over to my side of the room, sitting in the seat and to my surprise, started laying her head down to take a nap.

Surely this wasn't tolerated?

But it seemed the teacher didn't even care. I frowned in confusion. How was Xu Jiaqi simply allowed to sleep in class? Who exactly was she?

We made eye contact for about 2 seconds before it promptly dropped. I told myself I had to focus on my lesson and not to think about the mysteries of the girl sitting next to me.