Shijie sat in a bamboo chair, shame pouring in his veins. Why did I simply assume not doing my homework will help me in any way at all? He ran his hand through his hair, aware of his father and mother sitting across from him.

"Baba, Mama, I apologize for my selfish course of actions. I'm not even sure there are words to describe the shame I'm experiencing at this moment," Shijie finally announced after the incident involving his father dragging him out of the restaurant, while his friends squirmed uncomfortably, unsure if the proper thing to do was apologize or say nothing at all at that particular moment.

"Well, your selfish course of actions has brought upon shame on you and most of all, me," his father replied to -for lack of a better word- a lame attempt to lessen the punishment Shijie was sure to befall upon him. Shijie glanced from his father to his mother, wondering what she was thinking. Perhaps something along the lines of: "My son has committed an act so unexcusable, I'm not even sure I can offer my trust anymore..." However, Shijie wouldn't have blamed her for thinking such a thought. After all, he had broken one of the earliest rules in the book that day. He was supposed to respect his parents' wishes, not betray them. Another wave of shame washed over him as he grew into a deep thought of the situation at hand.

"I understand, Baba. And I'm ready to redeem whatever punishment that is to be given," Shijie announced after a minute or so, his voice quivering ever so slightly. His father straightened his back, stole a glimpse of his mother, and faced Shijie with a stern expression, hands clasped together, the way he always did when he was ready to share grave news or anything that was not in their favor. He always seemed to appear business-like when he was set in that position to Shijie.

"You are not to visit any places with your friends for the remainder of this semester. I trust I will not have to look into your backpack in suspicion that you did not complete your homework and find that my suspicion was correct?" he asked. Shijie released his breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. That's my punishment? Not hanging out with my friends for the remainder of this semester? I do that everyday..., thought Shijie, relieved.

"Correct," Shijie responded solemnly. Though he was delighted to hear that the punishment was not so harsh, he knew his father's disappointment was making up for the punishment, for he felt he did nothing more than disappoint him.

"You are dismissed." Shijie rose from his chair and turned to leave, but before he could, a bizarre occurrence happened. His father said, "I wish for only the best for you, you know that, right?" Shijie whirled around, only to see his father leaving, his mother by his side. I could've sworn I heard him say something... But his father did not talk to him for the remainder of the evening, and he was forced to believe what he had heard was merely a figment of his imagination.

***

Shijie awoke to his alarm clock ringing. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glanced at his nightstand. His fortune from the fortune cookie sat there, somewhat wrinkled from stuffing it into his pocket last minute before his father managed to drag him out of the restaurant. He hadn't a clue as to why he had taken it with him, just that he had. He gazed at it for a minute or so, examining each crease and wrinkle, but could come to no result as to what happened to be so special about this small piece of paper with miniscule print. He shrugged it off and began to initiate his daily morning routine. After he changed into the school uniform (a pair of white khakis and a collared green t-shirt), he stood in front of mirror, examining his complexion, noting for any dirt that might have sat on his skin, but all seemed ordinary. His coffee-brown eyes stared back at him in the mirror, eyeing over his appearance one last time before leaving to head down the steps. When he reached the foot of the steps, it wasn't a surprise to see the kitchen table empty, save for the lone plate left atop it. Hastily, Shijie made himself some you tiao and wolfed it down, not even pouring himself some soy sauce to enhance the taste. Finally, he headed out the door, backpack slung over her shoulder. The familiar yellow bus arrived just as Shijie arrived, racing towards it, not out of breath, due to his daily exercises he would complete every evening. He climbed onto the bus, searching for Huiyi.

"Over here!" she exclaimed, pointing to an empty seat beside her. Various people had suggested the ludicrous idea that they had some kind of romantic relationship, but in reality, they were merely close friends. Shijie spotted her almost instantaneously and trudged towards the back of the bus, sitting beside her. "Are you okay? I don't mean to bring it up, but what happened after you left the restaurant?" Huiyi asked after Shijie placed his backpack in front of him, squeezing it in between the seat in front of him and his knees.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Well, nothing really happened. I just have to focus on my priorities more. After all, life isn't about laying down. It's about getting up." Huiyi nodded, seeming to agree with Shijie's statement, but perhaps it was the aura she was radiating that suggested otherwise. Shijie wasn't sure exactly what it was that made him draw to that conclusion, yet he dismissed the queer sensation.

"Yeah, I suppose... Anyway, Zai said he's going to take a biology test today, but he says he's kind of apprehensive about it." Shijie and Huiyi was now thrust into a deep conversation throughout the bus ride. Sometimes, they would discuss matters involving school and others, would involve joking around. Towards the end of the bus ride, however, Shijie merely gazed out of the window. Skyscrapers and bustles of people ran past them as the bus drove agonizingly slow. Unfortunately, the speed was anything but unusual. Shijie's thoughts slipped back to the day before. Something had definitely happened to him when he touched that fortune cookie. It was as if energy was just thrusted into his veins, making his senses more alive, and making him feel as if there wasn't a care in the world. The thought made him shiver. There was always a care in the world, and the thought there wasn't any, unnerved him. He glanced next to him, where Huiyi was sitting with a binder open upon her lap. He stole a glimpse of the notes, which happened to be the ones for the advanced algebra class, both Huiyi and Shijie were taking. It didn't seem that one could study from mere notes for something related to algebra, or mathematics in general, but if the strategy was effective for her then so be it.

"I reckon the test will be easy," Shijie piped up after ten minutes of silence. Huiyi glanced up from her binder and met Shijie's eyes.

"Yes, I suppose so," she mumbled before gazing back into her notes. Suddenly the bus came to a halt, standing in front of the familiar story tall high school that stretched to the size of 100 meters in length. At first glance, one might think it of a mansion, but would soon come to the realization of the sign standing in front of it, reading the school's name. The bus doors swung open, and students began to scramble out the front, while Huiyi gathered her materials and stowed them away, safe in the compartments of her backpack. Shijie rose from his seat, ready to exit the bus. After the last aisle of student exited the bus, Shijie and Huiyi made their way to the front of the bus, only for Shijie to stop short when, once again, an odd occurrence arose.

"Why does he always have to be so... Shijie?" Huiyi wondered aloud. Shijie halted in his tracks, but it had seemed that Huiyi didn't realize she had said anything aloud, because she merely walked without even a misstep. However, Shijie wished to make sure it wasn't just his imagination.

"What'd you say?" Shijie asked, poking Huiyi in the shoulder. Huiyi whirled her head around.

"What? Nothing. Shijie, are you alright?" she replied, seeming to have profound concern shining in her eyes. But something else was also there. Something that Shijie didn't notice before. Was it... annoyance? No, it can't be. Stop thinking delusional thoughts, Shijie, he scolded to himself silently. Hastily, he replied "no" and resumed exiting the bus. But the idea that his best friend did not genuinely see him as a friend haunted him, making him wonder how the rest of the world saw him as.

***

Shijie sat in his chair, eating his lunch. His lunch was made up of some rice and meat,which wasn't his most favorite meal, overall, but it was something to satisfy his hunger and to get through the day. On the opposite side of the classroom, Huiyi sat sleepily in her seat, mingling amongst a few of her friends. A tinge of jealousy bubbled up inside of Shijie. It wasn't that he wasn't popular enough, it was that he was too busy to even talk to anyone, let alone become friends.

"Hey, Shijie," a familiar voice greeted from behind. He whirled around to see Zai, lunch box in hand.

"Hey," Shijie replied, some hope filling his heart. Maybe Zai would request for some friendly chatter.

"I was wondering if you still had last night's homework for biology. I wanted to check my answers," Zai replied. So much for friendly chatter, Shijie thought. Shijie replied a half-hearted "yeah" and hastily shoved his homework into his friend's hands. After a moment of Zai's eyes scanning the page, he thanked him and rushed back into his seat. Shijie swallowed another spoonful of rice which had suddenly lost its taste. He gazed into his thermos full of rice. It was interesting how one could change something so pure into something dark, like one would cover white rice with soy sauce, dousing it in a dark brown color, removing any evidence of the pure white. However tempting it was to offer retaliation towards his friend (or friends), he began to feel foolish. What evidence did he have that they were just around him most of the time as a resource, rather than a friend? And from what? A mere thought? But... was it a thought? What if it was something else...? Something supernatural...? Shijie pinched himself; now he was just thinking delusional thoughts. Out of agitation, he rubbed his eyes vigorously, at war with his thoughts. It seemed as if the sane part of himself was countering the arguments with false facts while the not-so-sane part of him was making any real sense out of the whole matter. It was like believing that the tooth fairy is real but simultaneously, not believing that the Earth was consistently spinning on an axis, not allowing the inhabitants to notice any peculiar motion. Both sides had a fair say, even though there was reason to believe that either sides were not completely true. Shijie glanced back at Huiyi, but she had left her seat. For a frantic moment, Shijie thought Huiyi had heard his thoughts and came over to tell him that their friendship was not something to be viewed as something insignificant, that it was a spot in her heart she would never let go of. But instead, she was on the other side of the room, asking the teacher a question. A slight chuckle erupted from his throat. Though Huiyi was somewhat of a close friend, she was never one for sentimentality. And overall, it just seemed so ludicrous Shijie would even think such a thought. Finally, Huiyi dismissed her conversation between the teacher and herself, heading back to her seat with her ponytail bobbing up and down with every step she took. Everything was normal for that one moment. Until suddenly, Shijie knocked the thermos onto his lap, spilling the contents over his green-collared shirt and khakis. The thermos, however, was not so fortunate as it came falling down like a bomb, cracking at the immediate impact to the floor. The entire class instantaneously snapped their attention to him. Shijie felt his cheeks burn a harsh red color, in great resemblance to a tomato. The teacher finally faced him after looking through something in her desk with a stern look brought upon her face.

"You will have detention with me tomorrow morning. And clean that up! You shall not leave until everything is as clean as you had found it," the teacher scolded. Everyone seemed to feel some sort of sympathy for him, radiating off of them in waves, but sympathy was not what he wished for. All he desired at that one moment was for a genuine friend to walk up to him and say: "I'll clean alongside you because our friendship means more to me than a mere greeting in the morning. It means making the same mistakes with your friends and fixing them all the while." Though when he waited several seconds for one of his friends to show up, none did.

***

Shijie climbed into bed, his back feeling somewhat sore from being hunched over, cleaning up not only his fallen rice but also whatever dirt was noticeable on the floor. His teacher had felt it was a much more fair punishment. However, the physical pain was nothing compared to the painful realization that his friends may not be as they had seemed. He pulled the covers over himself, shivering from the thought. His thoughts shifted to the queer circumstances, involving imagining what seemed to be people revealing their deepest thoughts. Suddenly Shijie was filled with dread. What if it was their thoughts I was hearing, not their voice... Shijie shook his head. It seemed as if all that could enter his mind were delusional thoughts, none of them facing the facts of reality. The next thing he knew, he'll assume that gravity does not exist and in fact, everyone was walking on the ceiling... Now that he thought about it, it didn't sound all that ludicrous, but he needed to face reality all the same. A sharp pain emerged from the left side of his head. Immediately, he placed his palm there, trying to cease the pounding that had began so suddenly. What am I going to do with all these grades? Shijie thought. Wait, what am I thinking? My grades are fine... Ugh! These taxes! I don't think I can pay them off soon... Shijie bolted upright. Shijie was no scientist, but he knew fairly well he did not pay anything as such. The headache that had started a moment before went into overdrive and shot searing pain through Shijie's left side of the brain. He winced, trying to numb the pain. What am I going to do? Where is my hairbrush? He can't know... He just can't! Ugh! THESE TAXES! The world began swimming around him, voices engulfing him into a black hole, until suddenly, the last thing he remembered before the black hole swallowing him, was his hand landing on his nightstand, specifically atop the fortune of the fortune cookie.