Morning sun flowed slowly over Yun City, where pale, orange colored beams enveloped the lofty buildings facing narrow streets. Li Wei hastened his pace down the sidewalk, holding his old backpack with a little more energy than he had been able to muster. His mind kept drifting back to the events of the previous day. The girl's face remained before him-the straight look of her dark eyes, the calmness of her features, so utterly out of place in the pushing street. That was odd, and perhaps was nothing, and yet he must see her again.
Entering Yun High School, Li Wei could hear the murmurs of many students talking, the now-and-then echoes of laughing up and down the hallways. He entered his homeroom with thoughts all tangled in his mind, striving to set the concentration for the whole day. A few of his friends said hello as he sat down; he replied to them, but his mind was elsewhere.
No sooner had he started to unpack his books than a hush overspread the class, with all heads turning towards the door. Li Wei looked up, interest sparkling in his eyes, to see his homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhang, come in, followed right behind by an all-too-familiar figure. There she was, that girl from yesterday, standing right in front of the classroom, every bit as poised and as elegant as he had remembered, her calm, unruffled eyes sweeping the room.
"Everybody, this is Jiang Yue. She has just transferred here, so make her welcome," announced Mr. Zhang. His voice was stern but not unkind. "Jiang Yue, you can take the empty seat at the back for the time being."
While she elegantly went to her seat, Li Wei felt himself reeling inwardly. Wasn't this amazing-she was here, in his school, and even in his classroom. What is the probability of that? Nudged from behind by his friends, he hardly felt their teases and whispers at guesses about the new girl. Li Wei tried looking at her, but she seemed too busy arranging her books and looking out of the window to even notice him.
During the class, Li Wei couldn't help but not focus on anything. Every few seconds, he would find his gaze swept toward her. He noticed things that he hadn't seen the previous day-the slight lean of her head to one side, the quick tap of the fingers across her notebook as if deep in thought, and her expression unruffled and unlined by the noises around her. Her face, framed by tresses of dark hair, was a mask of silent intensity, as if, in quiet attitude, she watched the world with depths that eluded him.
During the break, Li Wei was soon backed by his friends, Ming and Hao.
"See the new girl?" Hao asked, nudging Li Wei playfully, grinning. "I think every guy in school is staring at her."
"Yeah, but she seems… different," Ming said, furrowing his brow. "She didn't look at anyone, didn't respond to anyone's questions. Just sat there like she's got her own world going on."
Li Wei listened to their comments with half an ear; he knew his friends were interested, but in his case, he felt that much more than interest-she made him feel this strange pull, as if she had carried a story he was supposed to be a part of, the meaning of which he didn't understand.
The rest of the day was really a blur of classes, his mind constantly wandering to Jiang Yue. Finally, it was time for lunch, and he made his way to the cafeteria, hoping once more to see her. And then, he saw her, sitting alone by the large windows, a tray of untouched food before her, looking out of the window, observing the movement of the clouds with that pensive, faraway look.
Despite his inner voice telling him to stay away, Li Wei took a deep breath and approached her table. Surprisingly, he found his heart pounding as he finally reached her side.
"Hey, I am Lei Wei " he said, trying to sound totally casual.
She looked up; her eyes met his, bright with a quiet intensity. Closer up, they were even more startling-black, almost obsidian in hue, deep, dark. Li Wei saw in them a flicker of recognition, and his heart leapt; could she be remembering him from the day before?
"Hello," she said in a low tone, but firm.
Li Wei scratched the back of his neck, at a loss for words. He wasn't used to feeling this way, and he was normally much looser with people, but Jiang Yue unraveled all that composure.
"I saw you… yesterday," he blurted out, immediately wincing at how lame his words sounded.
She arched her head back, just barely, and as barely, a small smile curled lips. "On the crossing, right?"
"Yeah," he said, relieved she remembered. "I didn't expect to see you here, in my class, I mean."
"I wasn't expecting to transfer," she replied, her eyes glazing out the window. "My parents. they get transferred all the time due to work. We only moved here a few days ago."
Li Wei nodded, in that weird mixture of sympathy and curiosity. "Must be hard moving around all the time.".
She shrugged, impossible to read. "You get used to it. Places change, people change… but there's a lot that stays the same.".
In her words, there was this weight, this depth he could hardly even begin to fathom. It was as though she had stood upon more farewells and new hellos than he would ever see in his whole life; deeper, far beyond what her young face would evidence.
Well, if you want to try and get your bearings or anything, just give me a yell," he said suddenly courageous, hoping to be the one she would turn to in order to alleviate that sense of strangeness in her new city.
She turned to him then and studied his face for a moment before nodding. "Thank you, Li Wei."
The soft way she had spoken his name had sent a shiver running in his heart. There was an inexplicably soothing quality to her voice, a calm that was like standing at the edge of a dark bottomless sea. Just then, the lunch break sounded. Jiang Yue got up; her hands smoothed her dress and gathered her things with graceful ease. Her head passing over him, she walked past him, but a look of hers stayed on him for a second.
"See you in class, Li Wei," she said softly, and in the tone was a strange kind of intimacy, as though they had known each other much longer than one day. Li Wei watched her disappear up the hall, elated, baffled. Who was she, really? There was heft in the way she moved, a feeling that she came with stories, secrets he couldn't even begin to dream of, and yet, here she was at his school, in his city-a part of his life now, however unexpected.
The day slipped away haphazardly since Li Wei found it nowhere near easy to keep his concentration going; his mind kept flying to that short conversation, how she stared at him as if something in him wasn't viewed by himself. Finally, school ended, and Li Wei burst with pent-up energy, urged to unravel the mystery of Jiang Yue.
Walking home, the city around seemed a little different, almost… alive, as though holding secrets of its own. This encounter with Jiang Yue had changed something in him. For the first time, it would seem, he felt his world expand, as though he had seen something very different.
Finally, he found his apartment and tuned out his father's well-worn lecture concerning grades and responsibility; Li Wei no longer cared about his "mediocre" life or what his father thought he deserved. He was tuned to something else-or rather, someone else.
Lying in bed that night, he couldn't shake off the feeling that Jiang Yue's acquaintance was just the beginning. In her, there was something especial, something he was fated to find. For the first time, the ordinary felt a little less ordinary, and the future, once bleak, now was filled with possibilities.
Finally, Li Wei fell asleep, his heart unsettled by the misty vision of Jiang Yue hovering eerily in front of him, a single phrase repeating over and over in his mind: It's just the beginning.