Chapter 2: Let Me Tell You A Story (pt.2)
That evening, their entire family came over carrying a cherry pie to greet us. I waved my hand a little shyly at the boy my age, and then he stuck out his tongue and called me ugly. I heard the thunder striking in my head. I wanted to become best friends, and the first thing he did was call me ugly.
You should know, I had always been the little tyrant at school. My nursery and kindergarten were combined, and it was the same batch of kids. All of us entered the same school together later, and we took up most of the grade.
When I was young, I talked with my fists before my mouth; the very first day of Grade 1, the biggest kid (boy) in the first three grades pushed Su Ming (boy)’s best friend Guan XuanHe (boy) in front of all the kids because of some issue on the playground, and I beat him until he cried. Whoops? Of course, parents were called, and snacks were taken away, but from then on no one at school dared to mess with me.
I also don’t know why I was so strong. I think it was mostly a thing of courage. For first graders, second graders were cool kids that could not be touched, nevermind third graders. For third graders, second graders were little children who didn’t know anything, nevermind first graders. So when Sun Dou pushed Guan XuanHe, while everyone was still laughing, I jumped him before they could react. And then when they got over the shock, Sun Dou was already on the ground wailing with a bloody nose, with the teachers right around the corner.
I’m not ashamed to say I was probably like a rabid dog. My hair was scruffy, I was using my teeth, etc. etc. But hey, my people could not be made fun of by anyone else, alright?
If there was a cool tree, I was the first to climb it. On the monkey bars, I was the first to reach the top. In the swimming pool, I was the first that dared to jump off the diving board. If there was a fight, I was the first to rush in. This also meant I always had a body of bruises and scrapes, my pants would always rip at the knees from wear-and-tear, and my running shoes always had holes.
What can I say, I was a legend at my school.
Now, I was in grade 3 when Ji XiuRan moved in, but I was still a legend. So how could anyone dare to stick their tongue out at me and call me ugly?
Even worse, we were right in front of our parents so I couldn’t beat him! And my parents were being polite, so no one got angry at him either. And then my parents invited them to come in and eat dinner together; so began the relationship between our families that just didn’t end.
This meant we ate together at least twice a week, and I had to share my snacks with him. When we went to the amusement park, of course their family went together as well. Same with vacations, camping, aquariums, barbeques, and so on. I saw him at every family friend gathering, saw him at our birthday parties and all holiday celebrations, saw him everywhere until his scheming face followed me into my nightmares.
Actually, I wouldn’t mind having an extra little buddy, except this guy was way too evil. He would draw on my walls, pull on my hair, beat me in sports, scored better than me on all the tests, and make fun of me all the time. I really can’t believe his mouth; how did he have so many witty things to say? And my parents loved him so I couldn’t even fight with him, otherwise he would tattle tale right away!
I kid you not, I suffered an uncountable number of losses at his hands over the years.
Even when I complained to my parents, they would only say nonsense like how boys would tease the girls they liked. What a joke; how could someone that would always steal the last pudding or the last slice of cake from me possibly like me?
