A New Country

It was a warm summer morning and the two people made their way to the grand mansion in the richest part of the city. The father - daughter duo were really eye - catching and caught people's attention as they were walking down the street.

The girl called out to get father and asked him "Papa who's place are we staying at?" the father looked at her and said " Shanaya, We are staying at my old friend's place. We know each other since we were in college! when he came to know we would be shifting to China he immediately called me and offered to stay at their place. We met in the US where both of us were dorm mates."

Shanaya nodded her head and smiled at her father. They finally arrived at the mansion of the biggest businessman in the whole of China...Mr. Lu Yufan. The moment they arrived the door opened with a bang and Mr. Lu immediately pulled her father in a hug. His loud voice boomed " Raj, you have finally come. My family has been waiting to meet you. Come in , come in. " Then he turned towards Shanaya and said with a warm smile "And you must be Raj's daughter Shanaya. What a beautiful young lass !" Shanaya smiled back at him and thanked him.

They made their way inside and were greeted by the rest of the family members.

It was Shanaya's first time out of India and she felt very happy. The people at the mansion were very warm and loving . That was what she thought at first...

Mr. Lu introduced his wife and children to them, Mrs. Lu Xiaoxi , the eldest son Lu Yifeng and the younger son Lu Sheng. Lu Yifeng was the same age as Shanaya and Lu Sheng was 3 years younger than them. Both the boys were very good looking and all the girls would love to get close to them. But Shanaya remained unfazed. This greatly surprised Yifeng. They all were conversing in English so Sheng thought that Shanaya would not know the basics of Mandarin and greeted her in English. He thought she was just a dumb girl. Shanaya saw through this but remained calm. She knew he did not like her and she did not want to deal with him. Little did he know that Shanaya was well versed in almost 15 languages.

They were happily chatting about the good old days and cracking jokes. Later Mrs. Lu called Shanaya to her room where she would be staying at. It was a huge mansion and there was no shortage of space. She was led into a large room decorated in black and white. Just her style.....plain and simple. She thanked her and started unpacking. It took a long time. She saw the time ...11:00 pm...it was time to sleep as she had to attend school the next day.

She was going to the same school as Yifeng. Sheng was still in middle school which was further away from them. She was 16 years old and 2 years away from graduating. She was excited about School. She wanted to know if it was any different from her school in India. Also, she was excited to make new friends. The next day when she got up, she took a shower got dressed and walked towards the dining room. She did not put any make-up. She thought it was a chore to do so. Even without it, she looked charming. She was dressed in her uniform that was a dark blue pants, a white blouse and a Blue coat with the school's emblem printed on it. Girls actually had a choice to wear skirts or pants. Shanaya did not want to wear a skirt so she decided to wear the pants.

She was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Lu , her father and the two boys. She sat at the table and ate her food in silence. After finishing up, it was time for them to leave for school. The school was a walkable distance away from the mansion. She followed behind Yifeng and kept to herself. after leaving the house, he glared at her and spoke in a bone-chilling cold tone " I'll show you the way today. Get yourself there from tomorrow. And stay away from me in school. I don't want anything to do with you. " Shanaya was a little shocked but soon gained control of her emotions. She just stood there and looked at him indifferently. She thought to herself...as if I want anything to do with you!

They reached school and Yifeng shot her another glare before walking in. Shanaya pretended she didn't notice and walked in. The grades were divided in to sections A,B,C,D,E and F based on the academic performance of the student. As Shanaya was new, She started from class C and would be promoted or demoted based on her performance. Yifeng walked to class A and sat down. He was on the top of his class with excellent grades . No one was able to beat him .... that is not until now.....

Shanaya reached her classroom and sat down at the empty seat in the middle. She could feel the gazes of the people on her. She was the most gorgeous person they had ever seen. She heard many people gasp and it surprised her. She really did not know what was going on. She wanted to get along well with everyone in class. So, she started conversing with the people around her.