At the school gate, a luxury coach idled by the curb like a polished whale. The homeroom teacher stood beneath the arch like a lone cedar in winter. Students who’d arrived clustered in twos and threes, chatter fizzing like soda or pecking at games like sparrows.
"Remember to load your luggage on the bus." Joanna let the words fall like a pebble into a pond, then laced fingers with Little Loli, hands twined like vine and trellis.
"Leave it to me, milady!" someone called, voice bright as a morning bell.
They walked unhurried, a cat in sunlight, and stopped before the homeroom teacher. The campus belle’s arrival drew every boy’s gaze like moths to a lantern.
"Quit staring, pighead, your game just crashed!" one yelped, panic sparking like a dropped match.
"Damn it, I had that one won!" the other howled, a kite cut from its string.
"You two finally made it," the homeroom teacher said, eyes calm as still water. "We only need Wang Yan, then we’ll roll out."
"Hey, Xiaoxue, Nana!" The class rep popped out from the side like a jack-in-the-box.
"Morning, Prez!" Little Loli squinted a crescent-moon smile. "Morning," Joanna added, warm as a hand around tea.
"Sorry, sorry, I’m late!" An Audi slid up like a silver fish, and Wang Yan hopped out, words tumbling like beads.
"At last," the homeroom teacher said, pushing up glasses that flashed like ice. "Everyone who’s coming is here. Board up, and let’s head out."
"Finally over, I almost dried out waiting," someone groaned, a lizard on hot stone.
"Yeah, my handheld’s about to die," another muttered, a candle guttering in wind.
Wang Yan spotted Xiao Qianxue and the others, eyes lighting like lanterns, and scampered over. "Morning, Xiaoxue!"
"Morning..." The memory of almost being spun dizzy surfaced like a fish, and Xiaoxue edged behind Joanna, a fawn hiding behind a cedar.
"Let’s get on first. Talk on the bus," the class rep said, voice crisp as bamboo. She swung up her bag like a banner, and the others followed like a trailing stream.
"Xiaoxue, let’s sit here." Inside the coach, Joanna drew Little Loli along and pointed mid-front near the second door, like choosing a stone by a clear brook.
"Anywhere’s fine..." her voice drifted like a feather, while the class rep and Wang Yan took the row behind, stacking bags like bricks.
By habit, Little Loli lifted her suitcase for the rack, arms stretching like willow branches. "Eh...!" The bag hovered, still a palm’s breadth away, a bird missing its perch.
"Ugh!" She rose on tiptoe, stubborn as a sprout pushing soil, but the gap held like a stubborn cloud.
"Alright, Xiaoxue, hand it here." After watching the kitten-batting-yarn scene, Joanna plucked the bag with one smooth draw and set it on the rack like a book on a shelf.
"Why is everyone taller than me..." She eyed the pink bag, lips drooping like a wilted petal, then slipped into her seat like a squirrel into its hollow.
"Drink more milk, and you’ll grow," a hand reached from behind and patted the golden head, gentle as spring rain. It was the class rep, of course.
"It’s because you keep patting my head that I won’t grow!" Little Loli wriggled free like an eel, and Joanna sat down beside her, bags settled like stones in a garden.
"The bus will reach B City by afternoon," the homeroom teacher’s voice rolled through the speakers like a temple bell. "Tonight we’ll stay at the Ritz-Carlton. Tomorrow morning we leave for Xiushan."
"Hello, everyone. I’m your guide for this trip," another woman’s voice chimed in, a wind chime in an empty hall. "I hope you all keep a cheerful mood along the way..."
They looked up. A plain-faced woman stood at the front with a mic, stiff as a reed in shallow water.
"Tch, thought the guide would be a pretty big sis," someone snickered, a stone skipping rings.
"Yeah, boring. Let’s game," another said, thumbs flicking like dragonflies.
The middle school brats fired takes without mercy, arrows in open air. The guide froze a beat, smile paper-thin like a pasted lantern, then pressed on with her hundred-times lines, tiles set one by one. She knew these families were rich as a flood, and one misstep could drop a pink slip like an autumn leaf.
"Boring," Little Loli sighed after a glance, a cat flicking its tail. She fished out phone and earbuds, quick as minnows.
Beside her, Joanna pinched a stray strand of golden silk, secret as moonlight on water, while her other hand feigned scrolling, camera tipped to catch Little Loli’s profile like a stolen sketch.
Time slipped by like sand through fingers. Little Loli nodded off and leaned onto Joanna’s shoulder, a blossom resting on moss.
Joanna looked down at the cascade of gold and that face, perfect and unbearably cute, like snow lit by dawn. Her lips curled a fraction, a spring thaw, and her breath tasted of jasmine, cool as dew.
Afternoon arrived, and the coach rolled into B City, wheels humming like bees. "We’ve reached the hotel," the homeroom teacher announced, clear as a bell. "Bring your carry-ons to the lounge. After drop-off, we eat."
The loudspeaker crackled like dry wood, and Little Loli stirred awake, a chick peeping. "Mmm~" She stretched, soft as a cat, then opened her eyes to Joanna’s bright gaze, steady as stars.
"Huh? Nana, what is it? Something on my face?" Sleep still misted her eyes like morning fog as she blinked at the brown-haired girl.
"Nothing. Xiaoxue, want this?" Joanna’s daze lifted like a veil, and she held up a piece of bread, plain as field grain.
"Of course! I slept so long I’m starving!" She snatched it like a squirrel nabbing a nut, tore the wrapper, and chomped, a sharp moonbite.
"Eat less. Dinner’s soon," Joanna said, a gentle tap like chopsticks on a bowl.
Students streamed into the Ritz-Carlton like swallows. Boys scrambled to carry the suitcases for Little Loli and Joanna, chances chased like puppies, eager but doomed. It helped; hands free, Little Loli felt light as a kite.
Guests glanced over, surprise flickering like candlelight at the parade of uniforms. At a small inn this is nothing, but this was a world-class five-star throne.
Even there, Xiao Qianxue shone brightest, not only that flawless face but the gold hair blazing like wheat in sun. Yet most here were upper-crust, bonsai-tamed; they took two sneaky looks, then drew back their eyes like curtains.
"Xiaoxue, want to share a room tonight?" Joanna sidled close, voice soft as silk.
"... " Little Loli’s face drew black lines like ink, and silence felt safest, a turtle in its shell.
"We’ve got the room cards. All doubles," the homeroom teacher came over, steps steady as a metronome. "I’ll read the assignments... Li Xiang with Cai Wenhao, Wang Li with Huang Jiawei..."
"Joanna and Xiaoxue..."
"Yes!" Joanna cheered under her breath, a hidden firework, while Little Loli’s mouth twitched like a tugged thread.
Everyone took their cards and went upstairs to drop bags. Whoosh—the door swung open like a fan catching wind.
A standard twin and plush amenities waited, neat as a scroll. Then a thorn pricked Xiaoxue’s mind: what about her eyes at night?
"Relax. I thought of that ages ago!" Joanna beamed and pulled a silver reflective pair of glasses from her bag, gleaming like fish scales. "Not sunglasses. No prescription, no color shift. I had them made."
Curious, Xiaoxue slipped them on, smooth as moonlight on water. Just as Joanna said, the world kept its colors, clear as a pond.
"Nana, you’re the best!" Her smile opened like a flower after rain.
