Birthday flashback (2)

Xuan took the bottle and gave him a grateful smile.

"So, are you gonna tell me your name or do I call you Cinderella?" he asked, sitting down.

Xuan raised an eyebrow and Alex shrugged, "You know, beautiful girl. No one knows who she is. Mysteriously disappears leaving a shoe. Though I really hope you're not gonna leave a shoe behind."

Ying Xuan laughed. She loved how easy it was to converse with this boy. It seemed like he could almost read her mind.

She whipped out her phone and typed, "I really would like to keep my identity a mystery."

"I get that." Alex replied with a smile. "Sometimes you just need to ditch everything and be you." he spoke, leaning back.

Xuan knew what this boy was talking about.

Everywhere she went, she was 'the Ying Xuan', one of the 'twins of the Ying family', 'Mr. Ying's daughter'. She would love to just ditch all those titles somewhere.

"You do play exceedingly well. But I must say, this isn't a great choice to play sports." Alex's words brought Xuan out of her thoughts.

Ying Xuan chuckled and typed, 'I wasn't exactly planning on facing a state level basketball team when I dressed this morning.'

Alex threw back his head and laughed.

Xuan tilted her head as she looked at his side profile.

He really was very handsome. His brunette hair were messy and wet with sweat, and his brown eyes twinkled as he laughed. His sharp jaw was like the icing on the cake.

But what Xuan noticed the most was his laugh. Alex seemed to laugh like a little kid, without any worry in the whole world.

Ying Xuan blushed and dropped her gaze when Alex noticed her staring. She hurriedly typed on her phone and showed it to Alex, 'So, what are you ditching?'

It took him a minute to realise what Xuan was talking about. As he did, Alex stood up with a shrug.

"The same as you I suppose. Maybe we can talk about it sometime." he replied with a smile.

Ying Xuan nodded with a smile and got up.

The other boys were ready and were calling to them to start the game.

Ying Xuan absolutely loved teaming up with Alex.

It really was like he could read her mind. The two of them together floored the other guys and won.

Xuan was really looking forward to spending more time with Alex. Maybe he could be her first friend other than the maids at home.

But it seemed like it really wasn't fated.

Alex got a call in the middle of the game and rushed out saying he needed to do something.

Xuan had also gone home and luckily was in time enough to take a hurried shower and get dressed in the sky blue dress she had designed for her and Xi's birthday.

Their mom loved if the two of them wore matching outfits and it was the one thing she and Xi agreed on. They wanted to see their mom happy.

Xuan didn't have time to do her hair so she let them be and rushed down to dinner.

She rushed straight into the arms of Mrs. Ying, who stroked her head with a smile, "Happy Birthday Xuan."