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墨書 Inktalez
After arriving at the hotel, we took off our clothes and waved them in the air. "Hmm... Hmm!" We imitated the shouts of Native Americans, spinning around the room. "Team members! This is our moment to continue pursuing our dreams as Dream Chasers. Let's relax for a bit; this afternoon we're going to watch another semifinal." Just then, Shuai Dong and Pang Hao ran in, carrying several bags of takeout and a case of beer. "Comrades, as per tradition, we should celebrate wildly!" Shuai Dong placed the beer on the table and opened each box of takeout one by one, then popped open a can of beer and shouted, "Brothers, let's drink until we drop tonight!"
That night, we drank heartily. Before we knew it, we had slowly accepted alcoholic beverages. Although we knew that drinking excessively as high school students was wrong, we discovered that the pleasure brought by alcohol was irreplaceable by other drinks; only beer could unleash all our passion. We kept drinking until everyone collapsed on the beds, fast asleep. I groggily lay on the floor, leaning against the wall, trying to stand up, but my legs felt weak and unresponsive. My brain, influenced by alcohol, began to lose control of my thoughts. Driven by intense curiosity, I stumbled over to Shuai Dong, who was sleeping soundly on the floor. I rummaged through his phone and opened it, searching carefully. I didn't know what I was looking for, but my mind was fixated on one thought: Shuai Dong's phone. After a while, I found a video; when I opened it, there was a man and a woman passionately kissing... I vaguely remembered it was an adult video. My mind suddenly felt flushed with heat, and I scolded myself for being so wicked, yet my eyes couldn't help but stay glued to the screen.
I don't know how long I slept; when I slowly opened my eyes, my head throbbed painfully. Looking at the clock, it was already five in the afternoon. I groggily sat up and slapped my head twice. Wow! That nap was truly uncomfortable; my whole body felt particularly awkward—thanks to alcohol. Yawning and turning my head, I suddenly saw Shuai Dong slowly getting up from the floor, complaining as he crawled over: "Damn, this beer is too strong; my head is killing me!" Shuai Dong suddenly looked at the floor next to me: "Hey? Jie, why is my phone with you?" He squinted as he crawled over to pick up his phone and put it back in his pocket. "How could I have taken it? You must have drunk too much and tossed it over here," I replied. I had completely forgotten about taking his phone. Shuai Dong nodded in confusion: "Oh, maybe I gave it to you when I was drunk; I don't remember."
After a while, A Fei and the others woke up too. We discussed where to go for dinner but ended up unanimously voting... not to eat at all. My whole body felt limp as I lay on the bed when suddenly I thought of Xia Ying. I hadn't shared the great news about advancing with her yet! I quickly called her; it rang for quite a while without an answer. Why wasn't Xia Ying picking up? I tried again; after ringing a dozen times, she finally answered, but a man's voice came through: "Hello? Jie? Xia Ying is in the bathroom; is there something you need?" The background noise was loud and chaotic; it sounded like there were many people around him. "How do you know my name? And who are you?" I was puzzled by his familiarity.
"Oh, her caller ID showed 'Jie.' As for me... I'm her classmate from Junior High School, Xie Zhinan." The boy replied calmly. My heart sank: "What?! You're the one who once pursued Xia Ying?!" The voice on the other end chuckled awkwardly: "Hehe, even you know that? It's between her and you; who else would know? I'm feeling pretty embarrassed about it too; back then we were just kids, and Yingying was really popular in our class..." Xie Zhinan rambled on for quite some time; he seemed like a talkative person. However, my emotions were surging; my blood pressure rose. But I couldn't let him think that I was unreasonable or impulsive, so I controlled my urge to yell at him and spoke in a very gentlemanly tone: "So you know about my relationship with Xia Ying?"
"Of course! Xia Ying, same school, same classmate sitting together," Xie Zhinan blurted out. I froze... So her definition of me was just that of a desk mate... My earlier excitement about sharing joy with Xia Ying suddenly plummeted to zero degrees; it felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over me.
"Yeah... that's right; I'm just her desk mate. You guys enjoy yourselves; I'll leave you alone." As I shakily pressed the hang-up button with my thumb, just as I hung up, I heard Xia Ying's voice on the other end: "Who called?" After hanging up quickly, I turned off my phone and stared blankly at the foot of the bed while curling up at the headboard. Memories of our past flashed rapidly before my eyes; now that I think about it, aside from shopping and playing together or occasionally talking on the phone, we really hadn't done anything beyond friendship... Perhaps... we really couldn't be considered a couple.
That night, surprisingly enough, I couldn't sleep at all. In fact, I've asked myself countless times: Should I really go cold on Xia Ying just because of one thing that Xie Zhinan said? How fragile must our feelings be? But then again, maybe feelings are inherently fragile. The next morning at five o'clock, I got up early and strolled alone down the sparsely populated streets. I'm almost eighteen years old now—soon to be an adult—and before long found myself back at that park. Walking along that country road lined with trees in the park, closing my eyes and opening my arms wide to quietly immerse myself in nature felt refreshing instantly.
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