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墨書 Inktalez
Xiao Hai:
Long time no see, I’m your most annoying classmate, Wei Ziyang.
If I’m not mistaken, you should be twenty-eight now, right?
How have you been? Have you achieved your dreams, or have you turned into the most annoying adult version of yourself?
You must be surprised to receive my letter. We were desk mates for a year but never really had a serious conversation; it’s quite a pity. I always made you look foolish and disrupted your good moments. You must have found me quite bothersome in your heart, right? You always said I was a weird girl, carefree like a boy, without any feminine modesty, but those were just my ways of protecting myself. When I encounter something I like, I can only watch from a distance, too afraid to even reach out and touch it. When it comes to someone I like, I can’t express my feelings; I fear that those people and things will disappear because of my proximity.
You are the warmest person I’ve ever met. You’re always cheerful, and being with you makes me forget all the troubles in the world.
Because of this, many times when you greeted me, I felt so happy inside but pretended to be annoyed on the outside.
When you lent me something, I meant to thank you but ended up scolding you for being too slow.
Walking beside you, I wanted to get closer, yet my feet unconsciously quickened their pace.
I’m such a coward, aren’t I?
---
After careful observation, I discovered that Wei Ziyang has a habit of morning jogging. So one fresh morning, wearing my sports pants, I sped past her like the wind while letting out a derisive snort. Wei Ziyang frowned and quickened her pace to catch up with me. It seemed she was determined to keep up; after all, my dad used to chase me around the streets when I was young, training me to be an expert at escaping.
I increased my speed again and turned my head to smile at her, saying, “Don’t push yourself too hard; it won’t look good if you end up falling and hurting yourself.”
Wei Ziyang broke into a light sweat on her forehead and retorted arrogantly, “Are you even a man? Out of breath after just a few steps?”
And so, we competed fiercely, round after round, until the bell for morning self-study rang. Wei Ziyang showed no signs of stopping, and I had no choice but to grit my teeth and keep running. To my surprise, our homeroom teacher saw us not studying but playing marathon on the playground and actually called the entire class down to watch. The scene was nothing short of a festival, with cheers and excitement filling the air. All the girls were cheering for Wei Ziyang, while my buddies, not afraid of the attention, shouted at me, "Lao Jiao, don’t embarrass us men..."
My breathing grew more labored, and my legs felt heavy. Although I hadn’t kept track, I must have run at least a dozen laps by now, while Wei Ziyang still looked light on her feet.
"Damn it, this girl is crazy," I cursed inwardly.
Finally, a winner emerged. My legs gave way, and I collapsed onto the grass. The girls erupted into cheers, and instead of helping me up, my friends kicked me in the rear. Wei Ziyang bent down to catch her breath, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and walked over to me with a disdainful snort, just like when I had provoked her earlier.
The show was over; our homeroom teacher sent us back to class for self-study. Once inside, she pointed at me and said, "Jiao Xiaohai will clean the corridor for a week."
"Why should I?" I protested.
"Because you skipped morning self-study," she replied.
I retorted indignantly, "But Wei Ziyang didn’t attend either!"
In a mocking tone, she said, "But she won the championship. Who told you to lose?"
The whole class burst into laughter, and Wei Ziyang smiled too. The morning sunlight streamed through the window as her lips curled up slightly and her eyes formed a beautiful arc. But that expression lasted only a moment; when she noticed me looking at her, she returned to her arrogant demeanor and held her head high to face the blackboard.
Eventually, one day I caught Wei Ziyang off guard. That day she acted strangely; she hadn’t stood up from morning until noon and looked a bit pale. When class ended and everyone went to the cafeteria for lunch, she remained seated stiffly.
I glanced over and noticed bloodstains on her jeans; I immediately understood what was happening. Putting on an overly enthusiastic demeanor, I called out to Wei Ziyang, "Wei Ziyang, how about I treat you to lunch at the snack bar?"
She promptly declined, saying, "No."
I chuckled inwardly and provoked her further: "I’m still not satisfied with losing that last race. I was at an internet café all night the night before; let’s race again."
Wei Ziyang replied confidently, "If you’re not satisfied, we can compete again tomorrow morning."
I said, "If we're going to compete, let's do it now. Are you scared?"
Wei Ziyang shot me a glare filled with disdain. She wanted to retort but hesitated to stand up. The look on her face, a mix of annoyance and helplessness, satisfied me.
After a few seconds, I felt it was time. I took off my school uniform and tossed it to her, lowering my voice as I said, "Tie it around your waist; there’s blood on your pants."
Her face flushed red, her expression complicated, but she still accepted my uniform. I asked again, "Did you bring any?"
As she tied the uniform around her waist, she replied, "What?"
I said, "What else could it be? Sanitary pads."
She stood up like a cat with its fur bristled. I thought she was going to hit me, but instead, her face turned even redder as she said, "It's none of your business."
I couldn't help but admire her stubbornness; a woman could be even more prideful than a man. I pushed her back down onto the chair and said, "Sit tight and wait."
I went to the convenience store and bought two packs of sanitary pads. As luck would have it, I ran into my friends who made crude jokes at my expense. After exchanging a few words with them, I hurried back to the classroom, where only Wei Ziyang remained. I handed her the items and told her to go change in the restroom. For some reason, her face seemed even redder; she pouted but didn’t thank me.
The next day, she returned my uniform, which smelled of laundry detergent—she must have washed it. That girl had reverted to her usual arrogant self and scolded me, "Your clothes are so filthy; they look like they've been in a tub of black water."
Despite her words, from that day on, we became good friends—or rather, good buddies.
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