No Thanks

[A/N: Slight warning for mentions of assault. Nothing detailed.]

***

"Guys, let's go to the county fair tonight!" Cherry shouted, her red curls dancing alongside her as she played with a pair of maracas in the middle of the cafeteria.

I sighed. If she wanted to toy with instruments so badly, she should have just joined the band or infiltrated an elementary school's music classroom to participate in the cacophony. However, I was aware the substitute noisemakers were some kind of weird sound wave project from one of her classes, and I decided to tolerate their rattling as lunch dragged on.

People shouting all around us to muffle our conversation, Zixin chimed in, "I'm down. It's better than whatever any of the clubs are doing today for fundraisers."

Cherry shook the wooden containers again as if to celebrate. "Awesome! What about you, Ari?"

With the oblong object directed towards me, I considered her request for a moment.

It was certainly a tempting prospect, but the crowds would be smelly and obnoxious—even when encapsulated in the chill of autumn. It was just like being an ice cube removed from the refrigerator; everyone would still melt eventually if left out all day until the place grew as stuffy as a locker room.

Looking down from my barren sandwich, I grimaced at the new red flannel I wore. I'd definitely have to make a pit stop home before accompanying my friends if I didn't want to get microwaved by the midday sun.

But as I was on the fence about the proposal—a quick series of possibilities and impossibilities flooding through my mind—I recalled my encounter with Melina the previous Thursday night, and a sense of determination inundated my spongy brain.

"No thanks, Cherry. I'll pass for today." I held up my hand to refuse her as I placed my meal on my tray. "It's the same five dangerous carnival rides every year. Dad always says they'll come apart."

She was always the kind of person who needed to know why, why, why. Without a logical reason for my absence, she was one hundred percent going to blow my phone up until the end of seventh period.

"You're fucking boring!" Cherry slammed her maracas down in disappointment as they made a horrendous noise on the plastic gray table, yet I was happy she accepted the bullshit excuse.

(I guessed that was a lesson on hertz—whether by ear pain or frequency.)

She continued, "It's not that dangerous! Just buy some cotton candy or play whack-a-mole!"

Zixin cleared his throat anxiously after ingesting a mandarin orange slice. "Cherry, someone died on the Ferris wheel last year." With a grin and fists smacking the counter, he added, "Which is fucking awesome! I want to meet the ghost of the fairgrounds!"

My blood ran cold as he said that.

Right. If I didn't attend tonight, I'd probably see Melina in the guest room again.

Frankly, I didn't know my exact stance on that, even though it skewed far more towards the positive end. I was so delighted to see her to the extent I was excited in *multiple* ways, but there was an inherent risk in getting closer to a ghost. It wasn't worth telling my friends and causing a complete riot among them, and Cherry, at least, would caution me about getting lost in my fantasies more than I already did.

I meant, there was a difference between me saying I saw a ghost and Zixin claiming the same thing. People found him a little eccentric, but more importantly, he actually seemed like he knew what the fuck he was doing in terms of witchcraft.

(Supposedly. If he got all his information off that music note clock app, he wouldn't hear the end of my bitching about online sources and not trusting everything he saw in the format of a short video.)

Regardless, I would probably get sent to the nurse's office if I went along with such antics. The lady would check for fever while forcing me to rest, soon finding my temperature tanked from fear as my heartbeat sped up.

And my parents? They would tell me to get off my damn phone like that was the magical solution to every problem under the sun because it was supposedly degenerating my brain by filling it with ignorance.

But gah, the thought of talking to Melina by myself when the night came was so exciting and worrying at the same time...

"Something bad happens every time you're there!" Cherry yelled while pointing at the black-haired boy in our group, the debate elongating itself around me and trapping me in like the rope tied my arms to my torso.

"Do you think I'm *trying* to make more ghosts to talk to?" Zixin asked in offense.

"Yes!"

Despite their bantering, I idly stared at the maroon walls of the room, tapping my foot distraughtly. It was troubling in a way that I had a secret that I was too nervous to share with them, but I knew they would understand my line of reasoning. And when the time came, they would probably just hug and help me as they always did.

"Seriously, what the hell's wrong with you?" Cherry asked while poking me as if I was a science class' specimen.

I flinched and waved her off while I shook my head like a wet dog. "J-Just tired, dude."

Had it been a year ago, she would have joked and asked if I was thinking about making out with Melina, but she then passively nodded as if to tell me whatever was troubling me would pass soon.

If only she had any idea about the rollercoaster that made my brain spin, trapped at that peak of excitement while the ride stalled...

***

"Hey, Ari!" Zixin yelled about an hour later, bumping into me as a greeting during our passing period. The lucky fucker had an off period, while I was stuck listening to lectures.

*Curse his tall ass!*

I nearly dropped my homework, but I was proactive enough to have shoved most of it into my backpack. To win in the face of unfortunate circumstances, it was always necessary to be prepared.

Tripping a little to the side but avoiding the creation of a chain of dominoes from hitting someone, I asked, "What's up, man?"

His cheery demeanor turned solemn, and it immediately piqued my interest.

"Zixin?"

I shook his shoulder as he quietly walked beside me, staring down the endless void of the hallway.

"...Zixin?"

Snapping out of his trance, he glanced at me, an eerie grin adorning his features before it dissipated.

"Sorry. I know you weren't doing the best earlier, but I wanted to ask you something. I just got some texts at the end of my last class. I don't know what to do about them." He pointed over his shoulder as if that brought him back in time to mere minutes ago.

"Of course." I nodded, gazing up at him. "What's wrong? Need to go somewhere? I can skip part of my last period."

In fact, I was ready to beg to play hooky for a bit. My eyelids were heavy enough without persistent white noise, and I was always more than happy to help Zixin. After everything he had done for me, the small acts accumulated into piles of gold; although I wasn't indebted to him per se, our bond and the memories we shared were far more valuable than any material items.

Not to mention, those droopy eyes of his worried me. He was completely serious, so I swallowed, aware this situation was either dire or shocking enough for him to come and bother me when school was in its dying minutes.

"I hate to encourage you to ditch… but yeah. I need a little longer than three minutes." The sound of his tongue clicking after the end of his sentence filled my ears.

"That's fine." I scanned the throngs around us as they screamed about some poor kid getting pushed down a stairwell. "We can use the crowd for cover now."

With a gentle tug on his shoulder bag, I led him along the slate corridor.

"Come on."

***

"It's about my sister. The freshie. Zijing," he said when we got outside, resting against a monument beside the flags in front of the building.

Whatever deity decided to not give the school enough sense (or funds) to install security cameras on the exterior deserved to be worshipped.

While resting under the cool shadows shaped by the canopy of brown bricks, I replied, "I've practically known you since you were ejected from the womb. I know who Zijing is."

"Just wanted to check."

"Mhm. Don't worry about it." I leaned my head against the hard wall, sipping on a cup of tea. (Yes, I *definitely* didn't steal the cinnamon-scented bag from my math teacher during the morning.)

I then inquired, "What'd she text you about? What's going on?"

He went silent again, and the way he acted out of character brought my nerves on edge.

It couldn't be that bad, right? Zixin was one to overreact, but I still wanted to reassure him.

From messy test grades to fights in the fields, I would always be beside him to support him so long as he continued doing the same for me.

Still, an icky feeling made even my drink taste like mucus while I observed his uncharacteristically reserved movements. He was clearly holding back something, and while it looked like what he experienced was akin to guilt, I couldn't fathom what someone as (relatively) pure as him would have done. Whatever it was, it rubbed off on me and dropped my mood into a somber, anxious one.

"You know she's in band."

My black ponytail being seized by the wind, I noted, "Flute player. Really good. Everyone talks about her."

As I peeked over at him, he was fixated on the ground, gaze trailing the small ants and crumbles of concrete. It felt more and more as if he maybe wasn't being dramatic, but I wanted to wait to give my verdict.

"Exactly," he replied.

He brought his knees to his chest, weakly hugging them to himself as he rested his chin on them. With his eyes scanning the grass near the rotunda around which we took refuge, he sighed lightly.

"You know band also has officers who run things. They sometimes keep people late for practice or clean up different ensembles when they sound messy."

I flicked my fingers, tearing apart a leaf as a way to alleviate my jitters. "Makes sense. It's like any other big organization here."

Going utterly silent again, Zixin nodded.

As I turned to him, I rested a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. His quietness was the equivalent of violent sobbing from most people. I hoped the motion of my palm wasn't indicative of the sheer nervousness his lack of a response elicited from me.

"So what is—"

"Keep this between us because it's not really my thing to share. I just don't know how I should help her," he said all in one courageous breath.

I was entirely puzzled, but I nodded as an expression of understanding.

"She texted me saying one of the officers…" He inhaled shakily as if the words pained him to get out. "One of the officers assaulted her during an after-school lesson last week."

My eyes bugged out.

He wasn't kidding around in the slightest.

Holy shit.

I felt awful about underestimating the severity of the issue before, but I didn't want to draw attention away from my friend.

"Zixin, I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope she's been doing okay," I cooed as I squeezed his upper arm, looking at him in sympathy.

With an exhale, he added, "She's cried almost every few hours since she realized it. Which was only like two days ago—I think—but I'm just having to guess since she didn't tell me until now what was upsetting her. Anyway, it's been bad."

"I can understand."

Though nothing of the sort ever happened to me, even thinking about the possibility evoked such a visceral reaction that it inoculated me against ever making fun of a victim.

"But the problem is: She doesn't want to tell our parents. She won't even tell the band director. Ari, I'm thinking: Do I just need to call the police at this point?"

Desperately, his voice trembled, and he gnawed on his lip as the light in his irises was extinguished. My heart wrenched at the sight. I knew he loved Zijing dearly but seeing him fall apart like this in front of me… Whoever hurt the two siblings earned a trip through fucking hell and back.

What a sick, depraved person. They didn't deserve to have power over anyone or anything except the damn handcuffs on their wrists.

But I had to be cautious to not provide him with rash or harmful advice as I glanced at the reflection of the sun against metal flagpoles.

I finally said, "Zixin, this is serious. You obviously know that by how you're reacting."

He nodded while looking at me with his once large eyes that thinned in hopelessness.

"Your sister… I know she doesn't want you to tell, but this is dangerous. That officer could keep hurting her and other people. Give her some time, and ask her again about turning them in. If she declines, you might have to do it yourself. It's probably hard for her to even think about seeking justice at this point when she's trying to pull herself together."

Complacently grinning, his face lightened up as he unfurled some of his body.

"I knew you were the right person to ask. That's all a good idea, and I'm glad to know your opinion instead of letting it stew in my head. It would have eaten away at me until I told someone. Thanks, Ari."

Stretching and standing up, he added, "Now, I gotta get home before my parents question me. Plus, I need to get ready to go with Cherry tonight. Take care."

As a line of cars formed beside us, honking and huffing away, I knew it was only a matter of time before the security officers would roam the sidewalks and bring our moments together to an abrupt end.

"See you," I said while waving him off, a heavy feeling settling over me.

I swore I saw his ebony eyes flicker a devious red for a moment as he smiled, flung his bag over his shoulder, and strolled off in the direction of his gray sedan, fiddling with a key in his hand.

Weirdo.

But I loved him (platonically).

And anyone who was dear to him was just as dear to me...

Checking my phone habitually after he exited the scene, I realized: I needed to scurry home if I wanted to talk to Melina again!

Without even putting it on properly, I grabbed the handle of my backpack and scampered across the lot to get a decent seat on the bus before the annoying freshmen crowded the vehicle. First come, first served, losers!

*My dear, I'm coming for you! Just wait! It'll only be a few minutes!*