They drifted around the mall like leaves in a slow eddy, grabbed a meal steaming like a small hot spring, then flowed home with the dusk.

At first, the cool thing at Little Loli’s neck felt like an icy pebble; soon it sat there like a tame moon.

Second week, morning light spilled like milk. Joanna’s eyes caught the new shine at Little Loli’s throat, and her brown pupils widened like ripples. “This necklace looks great. Shame it’s not jade inside. Who bought it for you? Don’t tell me you got a boyfriend behind my back?”

“You nosy brat, all you think about is gossip.” Xiaoxue’s fingertip pressed Joanna’s forehead like a pebble flicking a pond, pushing her back.

“Ow, that hurts!” Joanna yelped, covering the spot like a kitten licking a paw.

A month slipped by like sand through an hourglass. Classes hummed like bees; Joanna and Xiao Qianxue chatted like sparrows on a wire. Teachers let it slide, because good grades are a banner in spring wind, pretty faces draw stares like flowers, and their popularity buzzed like a hive.

At noon, Xiaoxue tutored Wang Yan, steady as a lantern in study fog; or she’d jog to the gate to play with Xiaohua, light as a kite tugging its string.

Weekends were tea-warm and cloud-light. She stayed home, clicked through games like rain on eaves, and binged anime like a river running at night.

One dawn self-study, the homeroom teacher’s voice rang like a bell. “Midterms are coming. Afterward, the class will run a private trip. Two days of camping at Mount Xiu in City B.”

The room rustled like a forest in wind; whispers rose like sparrows at dawn.

“But there’s a condition.” Her next words were a sudden dam. “We need fifteen in the grade’s top hundred, and six in the top fifty. We’re a key class. I’ve already lowered the bar for the trip. Fair, right?”

“Sounds like another boring activity...” Little Loli propped her cheek like a wilting peony and let a yawn slip like a drifting cloud.

“This is perfect! Night on the mountain, one tent, two girls, hearts bared like moonlit water. I’m so excited!” Joanna’s eyes sparkled like a sky full of stars as she stared at the drowsy blonde.

Under that stare, Little Loli’s sleep flew off like a sparrow. “No, no, no! I’d rather die than share a tent with you!” Memory pricked like thorns; she hugged herself and edged into a corner like a startled rabbit.

“Give in to me, Xiaoxue.” Joanna bent down with a wicked grin, closing in like a cat on cream.

“Nooo!” Tears gathered like dew at the rim of Little Loli’s eyes, trembling with the light.

“So quick to cry. Not fun.” Joanna ruffled her hair like smoothing soft grass, then plopped back into her seat like a falling leaf.

Since Xiao Qianxue’s name had spread like spring fire, the gossiping girls and troublemakers quieted like cicadas at dusk. Even Ou Xiangyang went still, a stone sinking in deep water.

Days turned, and the midterms ended like a gong stroke fading. The class rep topped their chart with 21st in the whole grade, a flag planted on a ridge. Joanna and Xiao Qianxue each climbed ten spots like hikers on switchbacks, landing at 33 and 34.

The others also bloomed like a field after rain. Seven made the top fifty. Seventeen broke into the top hundred. With Xiao Qianxue’s guidance, Wang Yan rose to 82, a fish leaping the dragon gate, and earned booming praise from the homeroom teacher.

“I didn’t even want to do well. How did I score this high again?” The blonde girl stared at her perfect papers like a cat scowling at full bowls. Only the Chinese essay lost points, and she’d written it half-asleep, drool like a silver thread.

“Save it. Shouting about high scores gets you swatted,” Joanna murmured, rubbing the golden fuzzball of hair like warming a chick in her palms, the tone soft as honey.

“Tch... and why are you still one point ahead of me?” Little Loli slapped the desk like thunder over a pond, glaring at the totals a hair’s breadth apart.

“Because you’re a soft little bottom. I pin you under me, ha-ha-ha.” A queen’s triple laugh rolled out like drums.

“You—” Heat rose to her cheeks like a peach blush. “Who’s a soft bottom!”

Just then the homeroom teacher walked in, smile bright as spring sun. She was clearly pleased. “You all aced the midterms. I applied for one more day off for you. This Friday morning, we’ll head to City B for our camping trip.”

“Oh!! That’s awesome!” Voices burst like fireworks.

“Nice!!!” English cheers popped like corks.

“Willing to get us an extra day for a trip?” Little Loli side-eyed her like a cat watching a kind hand. “Not bad.”

At noon, Xiaoxue woke hazy as mist and saw Wang Yan shaking her shoulders like maracas. “Xiaoxue, I did it! I made the top hundred!”

“Stop, stop! Shake me more and I’ll die!” The blonde’s voice fluttered like a paper fan.

“Ah, sorry. I got excited...” Wang Yan stepped back, embarrassment pink as dawn.

“Finally alive again...” Little Loli’s eyes spun like spirals, and she flopped down like a felled reed.

“Xiaoxue, let’s— Xiaoxue, what happened?!” Joanna stepped through the door like a gust and saw the fainted girl. She pounced like a cat to a sun patch.

“It’s just... I was just...” Wang Yan mumbled beside them, guilt drifting like fog.

“It’s fine. Leave her to me.” Joanna didn’t care about the details; she lowered herself onto the soft, warm body like a blanket, and brought her lips in like a moth to a flame.

Right before they touched, Little Loli snapped awake. “Joanna, you—!” Her hands darted to Joanna’s waist and scratched like feathers.

“Hahahaha!” Joanna’s triumph shattered into laughter like glass in sunlight. “Xiaoxue, mercy! Hahaha!”

Seeing the tactic worked, the blonde’s legs coiled around Joanna’s like vines winding a trellis. “That’s for bullying me,” she said, a fox’s grin bright as a crescent.

They wrestled and giggled through half the noon like kittens on tatami. Luckily, only the three of them were in the room. The class rep came in once, saw the tangled pair like a bundle of lotus stems, sighed a wry smile, and backed out like a tide.

Ten minutes later, breath ran thin like spent wind. “I’m done. I’m starving.” Little Loli collapsed like a snowflake melting.

“Whew, I’m beat...” Joanna lay sprawled on the blonde, soaking in her jasmine scent like a night garden.

“Get off. You’re going to crush me,” Little Loli muttered, voice small as a bell in fog.

“Let’s get lunch.” Joanna lingered one heartbeat like a held note, then rose and scooped Little Loli up in a princess carry, light as lifting a cloud.

“What are you doing!”

“Nothing. Just scaring you.” Joanna set her down with a wicked smile like a fox slipping into bamboo.

“Villain!” Little Loli pouted, the word a pebble tossed into a clear stream.