Ling laid awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was the only thing she could do to curb her excitement and semi-embarrassment. 

Xiaoxiao really confessed to ME, Ling thought to herself, To me of all people! The smartest girl in school and she likes ME!

Ling squealed in excitement, “Ohh, I can’t wait for tomorrow to see Xiaoxiao,” She murmured into her pillow, “It’ll be great…”

“What?! You’ve got a fever?!” Ling exclaimed, talking to Xiao over the phone, “How’d you get sick?!”

“Mm, well I took a bath last night and stayed outside on the patio for a little while…” Xiao said, “Maybe that’s why…”

“What?! What’d you do that for?” Ling exclaimed.

“You insisted on me staying on the phone with you last night… I decided to go outside to not annoy my family,”

“Awww man, well whatever, I’ll talk to you later, Xiaoxiao! I’m almost at school now!” Ling said, “I’ll come by after school!”

“Mm, okay,” Xiao said, and then hung up.

Ling heaved a sigh, “Jeez… Though, I guess it’s probably better that she wasn’t able to come today, I might not have been able to keep cool today…” She said.

Reaching the school gates, Ling was interrupted by Bai Shan, who yelled out, “Yue!” From behind her.

Ling twirled on her heel, “Oh, hey, Classmate Bai Shan!” Ling exclaimed, “Good morning!”

“Mm? Where’s Classmate Xiao Lin? Is she skipping school?” Bai joked.

“Nah, she’s home sick, she probably didn’t want to stay home, but her parents are always worrying about everything she does, so they probably forced her to stay home,”

“Ohh? Is that so?” Bai asked, “Well, that’s unfortunate… Oh! Are you coming to the get-together after school? It’ll be fun!”

“Oh, no, I’m gonna go give Xiaoxiao some medicine and hang out with her for a bit,” Ling replied, “She did the same when I was sick the other month, so I might as well return the favor,”

“Ohhh, is that so?” Bai said, “Sounds like you’re just making an excuse to get out of it,” She teased.

Ling snickered, “Next time I’ll go!” She said before saying her goodbyes and walking into the school building.

Ling knocked on Xiao’s door, “Xiaoxiao! It’s me!” She yelled out, “I brought medicine and some juice!”

Xiao opened the door. Ling stared for a moment, Oh no, she’s cute! She thought to herself, before clearing her throat, “Hey, Xiaoxiao!” She giggled.

“Hey, Yue,” She murmured, letting Ling into her house, “Mom’s out of the house, and dad’s at work,”

Xiao led Ling to her room, “Mm, I’m still a bit cold…” Xiao murmured, shivering, “I’ll stay in bed for a bit longer…”

Xiao promptly covered herself in her blankets on her bed, “Mm, thanks for coming by, Yue…” She said, “You can put the medicine and juice on the table there,”

Ling did so, then sitting on the edge of Xiao’s bed, her face was about as red as Xiao’s was.

“Xiaoxiao,” Ling reached over and grabbed Xiao’s hand, “Err, do you need anything? I can stay here for a while- just so you have everything you need!”

“That’s a bad excuse,” Xiao said, “But you can stay here for a while, mom likes it when you’re here, anyway,”

Ling snickered, “I should come over more often then!”

“That’d interrupt my studies, so no thank you…” Xiao said in a near whisper.

“Ah- I see…” Ling murmured, “Wait- What?! Interrupt your studies? Jeez, Xiaoxiao, that’s a big ego booster,” She snickered.

“It shouldn’t be, you’re a distraction,” Xiao murmured, “Now let me rest a moment,”

Ling watched Xiao fall to sleep for a while before snapping out of her trance and deciding it was creepier to watch her than anything else. She took Xiao’s hand and held it. Ling, in the absolute silence of Xiao’s bedroom, soon gave in and laid down, falling right to sleep.

“Good night, Yue…” Xiao murmured.

“Alright, Xiaoxiao!” Ling started, “I’m headed off now, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Goodbye for now, Yue, I’ll see you tomorrow, get home safe and message me when you get home,” Xiao replied, then closing her door.

Ling wandered off, playing on her phone. She was soon bombarded with text messages from Xiao.

How are you? Xiao texted, Have you gotten home yet? Are you close to home? How far away do you think you are from home?

Ling snickered, I’m almost home, probably five minutes away now. She texted back.

Alright, I’ll set a timer then, can you actually call me when you get home? If you aren’t busy, that is.

Ling beamed, Of course I can! I’m not super busy, plus I’ll always make time for you, Xiaoxiao! Ling replied, sending a few emoticons along with her text.

Ling powered off her phone and continued her walk home. It was a nice day out, sunshines and birds chirping. The sun filled Ling with so much energy she could probably lift a building! Or an above average sized rock…

Finally, after just about five minutes, she returned home. She wasted no time in running to her room and calling Xiao. 

Xiao answered the phone almost instantly, “Wei,” She said.

“Hey Xiaoxiao!” Ling replied, “What’s up, did you need anything? I’m home!”

“No, not really… I just wanted to hear your voice…”

Ling giggled, “I just saw you, you know… Missing me so soon?”

“Mmm… A little bit… It’s just that I’ve never dated anyone before, so I don’t know how or what to do, you know?” Xiao said.

“Yeah, I get it… Mmm, well, if I do anything to make you uncomfortable, let me know! Relationships are built upon good communication! And money!” Ling teased.

Xiao was silent for a few moments before speaking again, “The same goes for me, don’t be afraid to speak up,”

“Did you have anything you really wanted to talk about? Or just wanted to hear my voice?” Ling teased again.

“Mm, just wanted to hear your voice, it’s soothing… I like hearing your voice, texting you a lot, all that stuff… Even when you don’t respond, it still feels like you’re there, I guess,” Xiao responded.

“Xiaoxiao, you’re so sweet, I love you,” Ling said.

Xiao was again silent for a few moments, “... I love you too,” She said, then immediately hanging up.