"Ms. Duncan!"
She snaps out of her daze.
She turns back in the direction of the professor. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Please put your book away and come to the front." the teacher then signs her to move in front.
Harriet puts her book away before walking toward the front of the room.
The teacher begins writing something on a whiteboard.
"Please introduce yourself to the class." the teacher rubs the bridge of his nose.
"I'm Harriet!"
"I see."
There's a pause.
"Ugh, that's all? Go back to your seat." The teacher waves her away, and she goes back to her seat. Harriet feels quite embarrassed and very stupid as they all stare at her.
******
After classes, she's sulking around campus when she passes a bench where a group of girls is laughing together. Ah, they all look like they're having fun. This city seems peaceful... Oh well. Let's enjoy life first. After loitering around, she sees a shadow lurking around the corner. She creeps closer carefully so as not to make any noise. As she approaches the shadows, she disappears farther through the path. Without thinking twice, she follows the direction where it passes.
After a while, she finds herself in an alleyway. It's dim and cold, and there is nothing inside except a lone figure standing in the distance.
'This is getting creepy...' she thinks, even though her legs think otherwise, opting to continue to follow the figure. As she nears the figure, she hears a voice.
"Hahaha, you can't be scared, can you?" the voice sneers. "You're family's gone, your country's gone, you're in an unfamiliar place, and yet you're here frolicking without a care!" the voice jeers.
She looks for the voice, but as she looks around, the strange figure disappears.
"Hey, wait!" she calls out to no one. Then she hears it again.
"Come out, come out and find me. I can help you. But don't try anything funny with me!" it laughs.
She looks behind her, but no one is there.
The figure is still laughing. "Little girl, just follow me, and I'll make your life very easy!"
Before she knows it, the laughter stops; the only sound left is the wind blowing across buildings.
He's glaring at her from his huge wooden desk. There's a stack of papers next to his computer, and he's busy reading them.
"Miss Duncan, is everything all right?" he asks. His voice sounds deep, like the gravelly sound of a cave.
"Yes, I am fine!" she responds hastily.
He stares at her blankly. He seems to be searching her soul. Harriet doesn't want him to sense her anxiety, especially when the whole reason why she came here in the first place was to learn how to speak Chinese properly and act accordingly.
"Are you sure?" he asks. "If you need anything, call me."
He hands her a brand-new phone.
She wonders why he wants to give her this thing.
"Thank you!" She grabs it, looking at it in curiosity.
"How does it work?" she asks.
"I'll show you later if you want," he answers vaguely.
She nods and continues to look at the phone. "Why did you take me here?" she asks.
"Just do your best." he stands up and pats her head. "Don't worry about anything else. You have me to help you."
Then he leaves her alone with the phone.
******
Harriet sits alone in her room and scrolls through her phone.
She smiles as she sees that her friends have texted her.
[Minnie]: Good morning, Harri~ (๑•̀ᴗ-)✧
Harriet: Morning ^^
[Scottie]: Did you get home okay? (*^▽^*)
[Jojo]: Are you okay?
[Harriet]: Yes, I'm fine. ㅋㅋㅋ
[Minnie]: Are you coming home today? We missed you ^^
Harriet: I'm going back home today. ㅠㅡ
[Scottie]: Where?
These guys aren't exactly "friends"; they're the strangers who claim to be her family. She doesn't trust them, so she's reluctant to tell them where she's actually going.
[Harriet]: I'm in the Du place, don't worry. ^^;;
[Scottie]: Why didn't you say so sooner? ㅠㅡ
[Jojo]: You could've told us earlier.
She closes her phone and plops onto her bed. She looks around, seeing the familiar-looking room... And she's suddenly reminded of the times when she used to spend time here. In here, her mind would wander off and away into a world that wasn't hers. In this room, she'd dreamt dreams of war and grandeur.
A knock on the door snaps her from her daydream, and she opens the door to find the same guy, Mr. Du, standing outside with a bouquet of flowers.
"Hello, Miss Duncan."
Her heart leaps. 'It's just another person... just like every other person...' she tells herself.
"Here you go." He hands her the flowers.
"Hello, Miss Duncan."
Her heart leaps. 'It's just another person... just like every other person...' she tells herself.
"Here you go." He hands her the flowers.
"What's this about?" she sighs.
"It's time to eat," he says.
"But why? You've been feeding me enough already." she frowns.
"You need to eat three times a day," he says, opening the door for her to walk out.
They make their way down to the dining hall, where tables full of people are seated.
Harriet looks around, noticing the different faces. Many of them don't even look at each other. Some look bored. Others look like they have somewhere better to be.
The people sitting look like Boss Du, all slightly odd. They sit in groups and seem to talk about stuff like politics or some boring subject she doesn't understand.
Mr. Du makes her sit on one of the empty chairs with a smile. She glances at him for a second. 'Shouldn't I thank him?' she wonders. But then, she remembers what she heard yesterday. The scary voice lingers in her mind. 'No, thank you,' she thinks, and she gives him a nod. She tries to keep herself calm.
"So, how does it feel?" He smirks.
"What?"
He chuckles. "Being back here after all those years…."
Harriet's eyebrows rise as she watches him. "What do you mean?"
He shrugs in a casual manner. "Nothing. Just... you know, I've been watching you since yesterday, and I thought it'd be interesting to see what you were doing. It's kind of amusing."
"Oh," she says, almost mumbling, playing with her sleeves.
His face softens. "What's wrong?"
She shakes her head and gives him a forced grin. "Nothing! Everything's fine! Thanks for the food, Mr. Du!"
"Anytime," he says, and he returns the smile.
Mr. Du then looks at the people sitting around the table. Harriet follows his gaze. She notices everyone has stopped what they're doing, and they all turn to look at the two of them. Their faces reveal no emotion.
Some of them look surprised, others confused, but most look indifferent.
When she meets eyes with Boss Du, she averts her attention immediately.
"Enjoying the view?"
Her cheeks flush red. "Y... Yeah..."
"That's good," he flashes a warm smile.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to introduce someone to you," he says.
The few men around Ms. Du look at her curiously while the women around her watch her with interest. All the women start whispering amongst themselves.
"Everybody, this is Miss Harriet." He smiles. "I hope everybody will treat her with respect."
All of the men around her stare at her with curiosity and suspicion.