two: head start

MEI

Mei woke up and saw that she was late for her first class. Swearing, she pulled on clothes and combed her fingers through her messy hair as she ran to the building. She hadn't consumed that much alcohol, but her head still throbbed. Luckily it was a lecture and she managed to slip in and sign her name on the roster.

She sat near the door as always and pinched herself to keep from falling asleep. At one point, the girl next to her had to poke her.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

The girl grinned. Mei envied the confidence the girl had; she had dyed pink hair, neon not pastel, and wore all black as if she was going to a funeral. Her jewelry, including a choker, was studded with spikes and multicolored gems. Mei didn't like judging people for their looks, but what was this girl doing in a finance class and not on the runway?

"I'm Emily, but you can call me Em."

"Mei. Your choker is amazing."

"Thanks. I stole it from my sister."

They got lunch and discovered they were both majoring in Economics and had core classes together. Em confessed she hadn't made a lot of friends in high school and was creeped out by and creeped most of the girls in the dorm.

"The ones I've met so far are here to date and just graduate. I'm not kidding you, but the girl who was supposed to be my roommate is never there because she's traveling in Greece," Em said.

Mei shook her head. "There's definitely girls like that at my dorm too." The three girls she'd gone out with had been like that too.

She liked them, but she couldn't hang out with them frequently. They also talked nonstop about guys and had interrogated her for an hour about her dating experience. More than anything else, they were oblivious about money and spent $100 like it was $1. Her mom told her to play the game, to take advantage of them, but Mei hated owing anyone anything.

Em and Mei parted ways and made plans to get dinner. Mom would be disappointed that Mei, yet again, had made friends with someone who was middle-class but she didn't care at the moment. What mattered was that she had a new friend who she could talk to freely.

Her next class was in the art building, the only colorful building on campus. Other buildings went for classical Greek structures or ivy-covered stone, but the art building was an amalgamation of all the ideas students ever had put together in one glorious mess. The walls were covered with paintings and sculptures were placed everywhere. Mei was amazed and a little intimidated at the level of skill she saw, but also inspired to try to reach that level.

The studio her Intro class was in was spacious with a high ceiling hung with fairy lights and strings of origami. Stools and easels were placed in front of a stage where a plump Indian woman was arranging a basket of fruit and several ceramics. She smiled at Mei and the other students. There were two seats absent but the teacher didn't comment on them.

"Hello everyone," she said. "I'm Professor Parikh and I'll be your professor for Intro this semester. I also teach other classes that I encourage you to take once you pass Intro such as printmaking and sculpture." She gave them an overview of the class, then handed out the syllabus. Finally, she set them to sketching the fruit and ceramics.

"Don't worry about technique right now. Try to get the basic shape and try not to erase anything. Too many times artists are paralyzed with the brush or pencil when it's better to create something than nothing." She circled the room and paused in front of everyone, giving them advice and encouragement. "You can always start anew if you have to and find value in what you've done, but you can't find value in nothing."

The door opened and Professor Parikh greeted the visitor.

"Ah yes, I see that you're a student. I thought you were starting later, but feel free to come and join us now."

"Thank you," the student replied.

The voice was chillingly familiar. Mei didn't want to turn but she knew she had to. Professor Parikh led the new student to his seat, a couple rows behind Mei. Several students turned to look at him and the girl next to him smiled, pleased at her handsome new neighbor.

Kaizong waved at Mei and she felt like throwing the easel at him. How had he even found her? She had been so careful. Should she leave? No, that would only give him an excuse to follow her and then they'd be alone. She had to stay with other students blocking them and then she's run out of the class and drop the course. She couldn't stay with him there. Hopefully he didn't know her dorm and other classes. She couldn't transfer schools but she could try to avoid him. It was, fingers crossed, a big enough campus for that.

She turned back to her easel, knowing how much it annoyed him when she ignored him, and continued painting. Half an hour passed and Mei became so absorbed that she didn't notice the shuffling behind her. Her neighbor left his seat and returned. Except it wasn't him.

"Ignoring me again? It's like we're back in middle school. My heart's about to fall out," he added a smear of bright orange to the painting, uncaring of the objects in front of him.

Mei kept her face straight and continued adding details. She couldn't give the satisfaction.

"I hope it does. That'll save me the trouble of dealing with you."

Kaizong laughed, shoulders shaking. The girls peered around their paintings at him. His long legs were stretched and the plain white shirt he wore emphasized his broad shoulders. He ran a hand through his already messy hair and continued ruining the painting.

"You never dealt with me well. You should've stopped by before leaving to say goodbye to Mochi at least. She misses you," he said.

Mei softened at the mention of the dog she had given Kaizong. Back when things were better between them and she hadn't felt like punching his lights out.

"I miss her too. And can you even call it goodbye when you're here. If you want a proper goodbye, I can give it to you if you'll never see me again."

Kaizong kept smiling that damn smile. He rarely stopped smiling, especially during tense moments. Whenever they had had a fight or he had gotten into fights with others, he had kept smiling. It was only one of his many ways of belittling his opponents.

"I've never been good with goodbyes." His voice was softer.

Mei knew what goodbye he was thinking of and felt a pang of sympathy before it evaporated. She decided to ignore him for the rest of class, which he went along with. He began whistling a song he knew she hated and flirted with the girls around him, saying things that made Mei feel like puking.

It was a torturous hour but it was finally the end. Professor Parikh gave them their homework assignment and Mei almost cried in gratitude as she picked up her bag. Other students crowded around Kaizong, asking him whether he was that Kaizong and whether he wanted to get dinner. He accommodated their questions and requests like a true prince and just smiled as he watched Mei run. It wasn't like she was going anywhere and no matter how far she ran, she'd still be in his net.