Jealousy, jealously (1)

Soon it was Monday and it was time to go back to school.

Hao Sheng begrudgingly made his way out of his apartment and took a taxi to school. As the taxi arrived outside the gates, he felt deep envy when he saw other students arriving with either their personal drivers or in their own cars.

He hadn't really noticed it before, but having a car was really an inconvenience. He has so much money now, so he should probably make some time to go find one, at some point, but for now he has to settle for public transportation.

He huffed and made his way into the school building, sipping on his coffee in a flask. As he approached his locker, he discovered Luxia was waiting there for him.

As soon as she noticed him, she gave him a bright smile and waved at him energetically.

"Hey!", she exclaimed, as he got closer.

Hao Sheng scrunches up his eyebrows. "How are you this energetic on a Monday morning?", he asked, opening his locker.

She laughed. "Well, I guess I'm just like that. Ever since I was a kid, I've always been glad to wake up every morning, so it kind of stuck", she said, leaning against a nearby locker.

"Anyway, enough about me", she looked around and then continued in a low voice, "What were you up to this weekend?", she asked. Her eyes twinkled, as if she knew something.

Hao Sheng didn't give much up. "Oh nothing. I just went out for a bit on Saturday and hung out at home for the rest of the weekend", he replied nonchalantly.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Oh really?", she said, her eyes calculating.

"Where you alone or with company?", she asked, seeming like she was pushing for a specific answer.

Hai Sheng rolled his eyes and closed his locker. He knew exactly what she wanted to hear, but he refused to tell her. Or at least not just yet.

He sighed and flicked her forehead.

"Get whatever thoughts you're having, out of your head. It's nothing like you're thinking", said as he started walking away.

She hurried to catch up.

"Well, what else am I supposed to think?", she asked with a sly smile. "You were MIA all Saturday and all you said when you decided to text me back was that you were out! What else could keep you so busy except a date?"

Hai Sheng rolled his eyes and climbed the stairs ti the second floor.

"I could have been out with family or something.", he threw out, turning at the top of the stairwell in the direction of their first class.

Luxia smiled sweetly.

"But that would be impossible, as you told me you live alone, and your parents are still in the States.", she throws back at him, looking smug.

Hao Sheng looks at her before sighing. He checked to see if the door to the class was unlocked, and luckily it was. He walks in and goes to sit in his seat, and Luxia sits right beside him, not letting him go.

"Why do you even want to know?", he asks, taking a sip of his, now cooling coffee, as he turns to face her.

"Cause it's interesting. You're the new kid, everything about you is interesting", she said, leaning her head on her hand. "So why don't you tell me, who's the lucky girl?", she asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Hao Sheng laughs.

"Well, if you want to talk about something interesting, then why don't you tell me why you suddenly want to go to the party, this Saturday? You don't strike me as the party type", he says, a mischievous smile in place.

Luxia pauses and looks away. "Maybe I just wanted to go to the party...", she said, not quite meeting his eye.

Hao Sheng hummed. "Yeah right. And I was just out seeing the city last Saturday.", he said with a cheeky grin.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. After a few seconds, she just sighed in defeat. "Touché", she said, sounding a bit impressed.

"But I'm going to get it out of you someday", she said, determined, pointing a finger at him playfully.

He just laughed lightly. "I shall wait for the day.

As they were talking, the classroom had slowly filled up, and soon the bell rang and the teacher came in.

Just before the teacher could begin the lesson, Hao Sheng leaned closer to Luxia and whispered to her, "By the way, I went out with an old friend , Saturday. Since you wanted to know so bad". Luxia turned to him, and he just flashed her a smile.

She couldn't even say anything, as just then, the teacher called them to attention and started the lesson. It looked like she would just have to wait for lunch to grill him some more.

****

It was lunch time, and Malakai hung in the area around Hao Sheng's locker. He didn't really know where he went during lunch, so this was the best he could do. It's not like he missed him or anything, he just wanted to see him again...

Forget it. It's not like what he was doing was illegal, he was just casually loitering in the hallways. He could be wherever he wanted to be. He didn't know why he felt the need to justify his actions, and he didn't really want to think too deeply about it.

Luckily, he didn't have to because just then, he spotted Hao Sheng from across the hall.

At that exact moment, he seemed to notice him as well, as he looked right in his direction and smiled.

Malakai felt warmth bubble inside of him at the sight of that smile, and his heart sped up a bit. He pushed down the feeling, not even wanting to think about what it could mean.

Malakai smiled back, waving, and approached him.

"Hey, how are you?", Hao Sheng asked as soon as he was close enough.

The warm feeling came back, and Malakai continued to ignore it, choosing to instead lean on the lockers as Hai Sheng changed his books.

"I'm good, thank you for asking", he replied, as he found himself smiling. "What about you?", he asked back.

"Oh I'm good, just a bit hungry. I was running a bit late so I skipped breakfast", Hao Sheng replied from inside his locker. He placed the last book in his bag and closed the locker.

"Oh, that's cool. Well, not cool, but we'll you know.", Malakai stammered out. He felt like such an idiot.

For some reason, he was feeling nervous, but he didn't know why. That was such a stupid thing to say. What if Hao Sheng thought of him as an idiot now?

Hao Sheng replied, smiling reassuringly. "Yeah I know what you mean. Don't worry about it."

Malakai paused and took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Anyway. Want to go grab lunch together?", Malakai asked, pointing in the general direction of the cafeteria.

Hao Sheng held up his lunch bag and shook his head. "I already have lunch, but I can accompany you of you want?", he offered.

Malakai shook his head. "It's okay, I don't really eat much at lunch anyway. Let's go find a table and sit down", he said.

Hai Sheng looked regretful. "I actually have a table I already sit at. I met this other girl, Luxia, and we've become friends. I kind of sat with her at lunch. If you don't mind the extra company, you could come sit with us. I'm sure she wouldn't mind", he offers.

Malakai froze a bit when he heard about his new friend, 'Luxia', and his smile was a bit strained when he replied, "Sure, I don't mind".

For some reason, he didn't like the idea of this new friend of his. And it wasn't even because he made a new friend, it was because it was a girl. A very pretty one. The image from a few days ago of Hao Sheng and Luxia looking so comfortable around each other flashed in his mind.

He could feel a suffocating feeling growing within him at the thought of that girl alone with Hai Sheng every day.

He pushed down the feeling and told himself to calm down as he followed Hao Sheng to the table. He didn't even know who she was. He had no reason to hold such resentment towards her.

Soon they arrived at a secluded little area in the garden. Malakai didn't even know this place existed. With nothing but the foliage and flowers around, not even the sound of chattering students, it was sort of peaceful. It even soothed him a bit. That is, until he noticed the girl, no Luxia, sitting at the table and waving them over.Then he was in a bad mood again, just not as volatile.

"Hey!", she exclaimed as soon as she saw them.

"What's this? A new friend?", she asks, just then noticing him next to Hao Sheng.

Hao Sheng nodded as he sat down.

"Sort of. I ran into him and invited him to sit with us. That okay with you?", Hao Sheng asked, unpacking his lunch.

"Of course! The more the merrier", she said, smiling and motioning for Malakai to sit down.

Malakai could not help but take her in and judge her in his heart. Why was she being so nice? Did they know each other? No-one is that nice! She must have had ulterior motives. Maybe she's trying to get in with Hao Sheng. Bringing him to such a secluded corner of the school, just the two of them, alone. It was too suspicious. Not that he minded if she dated Hao Sheng, as long as he was happy and it was his choice. It didn't matter to him. Really. He just wanted to make sure she had good intentions. He could date whoever he wanted, for God's sake.

Of course, Malakai didn't say any of this. He just sat down with a smile in her direction and held out a hand.

"Malakai, nice to meet you.", he said.

Luxia smiled back, all civil. "Oh, I know who you are. You're kind of popular, you know. I'm Luxia, and the pleasures are all mine. ", she said, smiling brightly at him.

Why was she being so nice again? She was probably faking it. Malakai was determined to get to the bottom of her mystery. He wouldn't be so easily fooled like his sweet and gullible Hao Sheng.

He will definitely not fall for her schemes.