Page 27 of Didn't See That Coming

Oh. Oh ho ho. Jonas rage-quit. I stare at the computer in disbelief for a couple of seconds. I did that. I made him so angry that he quit mid-game, which would severely slash his ranking, because if there’s one thing that’s universally unaccepted onWarfront Heroes,it’s people quitting mid-battle. It leaves your teammates seriously screwed, being one person short. With Jonas gone, I rejoin the main fight, and we defeat his team in record time. By the time the round ends, I’m breathless. I feel like I’ve come back to life.

I log off, feeling rejuvenated enough to take a shower and deal with the rest of the day’s work, i.e., the ridiculous mountain of homework that Xingfa assigns us every day. When Icomplained about it to Sourdawg last night, he said it’s something many schools do to make sure that their students don’t have any time to go out and “cause trouble.” I put on my headphones, play my “homework playlist,” and get to work. I’m only halfway done when Papi calls out for me to come down for dinner.

Dinner is— How do I say this without coming off like a complete brat? It’s awkward, because there’s someone at the table who is extremely surly and grumpy. That someone is me, by the way. I’m surly and grumpy. But hey, I’ve got good reason to be this way. Mami, Papi, and I used to chat about our day over dinner, but tonight, when they ask me how my day went, I say, “Well, it was truly awful, if you must know. How much longer do I have to stay in this school from hell?”

Papi sighs. “Sayang, you must try to fit in. Xingfa is the best school in the nation. Its reputation is sterling.”

“You know,” Mami adds, “half of Xingfa’s graduates go to Ivy Leagues or Oxbridge!”

“Right,” I mutter, “uh-huh. So you’re saying that I’m not settling in not because there’s something wrong with the school. Oh no, it must mean thatI’mthe problem.”

“That’s not what we’re saying at all,” Papi says. His eyebrows are furrowed. “What’s going on, Kiki? Why are you not settling in?”

I almost blurt out that I was, in fact, sent to the principal’s office today. But then I recall how Principal Lin sneered at me, how he kept saying I needed to learn respect and honor, and for some weird reason, shame floods me. I don’t understand it, but I feel red-hot guilt surging through me, like I’vesomehow let my parents down. Part of me is shouting:No! This isn’t at all your fault!But the other part is going:Well, actually, it is? What kind of idiot calls their classmate a twat? That’s actually really shitty.

No, I can’t possibly tell Mami and Papi. For one thing, they’d both be horrified by me calling anyone a twat, and for another, if they were to find out that the person I’d called a twat was Jonas freaking Arifin, son of the Arifin empire, I think Mami would have an actual brain aneurysm.

I eat as fast as I can before telling them—grumpily—that I have to finish my homework.

—

Finally,finally,I’m done with my homework and can log back on toWH.The second I get on, my computer chimes with a direct message from Sourdawg.

Sourdawg:Hey, you’re on later than usual

The sight of his screen name does things to my stomach. My heart lurches up, lodging itself in my throat and nearly choking me. I wonder if it’s actually possible to be strangled by your own heart.

Who is Sourdawg? Inquiring minds need to know! My fingers hover over the keyboard, aching to type out: What’s your name IRL?

But if I asked him that, he’d probably ask me the same question, and then I’d have to lie to him. Even more than I already have, that is. And also, what if he gets suspicious, like why thehell am I asking now, after over a year of online friendship? Maybe it might even get him to start wondering what could have triggered the question. Arrrgh! I shake off all the squeaking my mind is doing and make myself answer like I normally would.

Dudebro10:Oh man, you wouldn’t believe the amount of homework I just had to wade through. Brutal!

Sourdawg:Haha, you mean you’re finally getting the NORMAL amount of homework?

I can’t help smiling at that. A few months ago, Sourdawg and I compared homework, and he was scandalized to find that his school was assigning double the amount of homework that Mingyang was. Of course, now that I know he goes to Xingfa, this makes a lot more sense.

Dudebro10:Well, I don’t know how you do it

Sourdawg:You’ll get used to it. How was school? Any better today?

Dudebro10:God, if anything, it was even worse. I had to talk to the principal.

As soon as I hit Enter, my breath catches and I jolt up in my seat. Shit! I shouldn’t have said that! Everyone at Xingfa probably knows by now that I was sent to the principal’s office. Oh god, oh god, damage control:

Dudebro10:It was my own choice, I wasn’t sent there or anything.

Oh god, that’s so painfully obvious. I pinch the bridge of my nose.

Sourdawg:Wow, okay. Why?

Dudebro10:Oh, just…well, I’m noticing quite a bit of bullying at my school. IDK, that kind of thing rly bothers me

Sourdawg:Yeah. That’s rly good of you to report it. What did the principal say?

Dudebro10:That’s the thing, tho. He was basically like, “Eh, the boy was just calling the girl names because he likes her. Don’t make such a big deal out of it.”

Sourdawg:Oof. That rly sucks, but I can’t say I’m surprised

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