Chapter 4
They follow the crowd into the cafeteria, grabbing trays by the entrance. "Good lunch, bad lunch?" Feng Mei asks, tilting her head at Chang'e.
"Good lunch," bets Chang'e. Feng Mei nods and looks ahead of the line. "Seems good to me. Fortune teller Chang'e strikes again!" Feng Mei's voice is a little too loud, causing the cafeteria ladies to give them unsavory stares.
Their unhappiness is made evident by an added amount of vegetables and less of the pasta, but unluckily for them, Chang'e and Feng Mei aren't picky about veggies.
"Must've woken up on the wrong side of the bed," Feng Mei comments, walking away from the line with two cupcakes squashed together in the empty space of her tray. Chang'e nods, two apple juice cartons squeezed into her tray's empty space.
They park their trays on the edge of a long table, Feng Mei taking an apple juice from Chang'e and replacing it with a cupcake.
"Any new events that could make the headline for the next newspaper?" Chang'e questions, twirling pasta with her fork. "Mm," Feng Mei muffles through the vegetables in her mouth, "Sho fwar—" She gulps. "So far, the sports competition coming up next weekend."
"What about the contest week? That could be in next week's issue as well," Chang'e suggests.
"Ooh, contest week. Yeah. That's got big potential for the headlines," agrees Feng Mei, giving in and deciding to eat the cupcake before she finishes her food.
"Hey, anyone sitting here?" Chang'e's and Feng Mei's heads lift up to see Li An.
"Nope," Feng Mei says through a mouthful of cupcake. And icing. It's smeared on her mouth. Li An smiles and sits down, tying her hair up so it doesn't get in the way of eating her food.
"Feng, you have some icing on the side of your mouth," informs Chang'e. Feng Mei puts a hand over her mouth, wiping the icing and then licking it.
"What contests are you guys joining?" asks Li An, sipping on her apple juice. Or the air inside in the juice box. There's barely anything left, and her juice box cries out in krrrrr krrrrr.
"All of them. Except math," Chang'e answers, slurping the last of her pasta.
"Aww, you're so cute," a boy's voice says, and Chang'e could recognize that voice anywhere. In a bad way.
"Hou Yi," she takes a deep breath while Feng Mei stares and Li An giggles, "I might reconsider running for the math competition."
"Oh, Chang'e, ever the shy type," Hou Yi pouts, sliding into the seat beside her.
"Go away," Chang'e sighs, looking down at her cupcake instead.
"Even if I give you my cupcake?"
"OH?" Chang'e's face lights up. She eyes Hou Yi's cupcake at once. "Perhaps.."
"I feel like a–" Li An starts. "A THIRDWHEEL," enunciates Feng Mei, eyes wide. She's hugging Li An in fake terror at which the girl laughs at, ponytail swaying as Feng Mei shakes her.
Meanwhile, Hou Yi slips his cupcake to Chang'e and just like that, he's practically secured his spot on their table.
"Ew," Feng Mei comments, pointing it out.
"Chinese folk tale…" whispers Li An to no one in particular, but they all hear it. Chang'e fake vomits, Feng Mei pretends to faint onto Li An's shoulder, and Hou Yi chokes on his pasta.
"Woah, what happened?" a new voice chimes in.
"Hua Lan!" Li An exclaims, "Come sit!" Hua Lan gives Li An a look.
"I mean, it's okay right?" Li An asks with an apologetic smile. She looks back at the rest of the table for some confirmation.
"Yup," Feng Mei replies, before looking at Chang'e and tapping her nose. Chang'e doesn't seem to get the hint just yet, but Hou Yi picks up some tissue on his tray and wipes it for her.
Hou Yi tucks the dirty tissue under his tray. "Maybe your nickname should be Rudolph."
"Only if your nickname is Garbador," Chang'e replies, continuing to stuff her mouth with cupcakes.
"Am I interrupting something here?" Hua Lan coughs into the sleeve of his shirt, looking at Feng Mei and Li An with confusion.
"We all are. Get in the boat, buddy," snorts Feng Mei. Hua Lan chuckles and smiles, shaking his head at Hou Yi and Chang'e.
"Excuse me, students," the loudspeaker blasts, "As you all know, contest week is coming up next week. In preparation, you are dismissed for the rest of the day, but please remember to sign up for at least one contest and to prepare for the contest you have signed up for."
"It's finally here," Chang'e whispers in awe, cupcakes finished and wrappers placed neatly on her tray. "Mhm," is the preoccupied reply from Feng Mei, still busy with her apple juice.
As soon as everyone on their table is done eating, Chang'e springs up to put away her tray. Hou Yi follows after her, leaving the rest in the dust.
"Calm down, Chang, You're way too hyper for this," Feng Mei says, Li An and Hua Lan in tow.
"Maybe it's the cupcakes," Li An supplies helpfully, shrugging her shoulders.
"I'm just pretty excited to sign up for the competitions—"
"Wow, so not obvious," interrupts Hua Lan, followed by the plunk of his tray.
"I know it's a lot of work, but I think it'll be fun in the end!" finishes Chang'e.
Li An laughs softly, "I think you're the only one who thinks that way." Hou Yi coughs. "And maybe Hou Yi."
"Ew, don't associate me with him," grumbles Chang'e.
"Ouch," grieves Hou Yi, "You don't have to be so cold." Chang'e waves her hand, shooing him away which he responds to by going closer, blinking at her with innocent eyes.
"Alright, we're good to go," Hua Lan remarks, dusting his hands. "Oh goodie," rejoices Feng Mei sarcastically, "Let's go. Chang'e over here can't wait."