"Come on, Xuan jiejie. You deserve a break after spending twenty hours studying in finals week. It will be fun." Qingxuan said effusively.
He Xuan smiled. Qing Xuan had been telling her for a week to go to an off-campus party that day, but she was too tired. She had studied for immense hours for three weeks and the last thing she wanted was to stay awake. She wanted to curl up like sushi and sleep for twenty-four hours straight.
"I want to sleep like a bear, meimei. Besides, you're literally the only friend I have besides Hua Cheng. Who will I talk to during the whole party, what will I do? You'll be out there dancing and flirting with any living thing that comes across you."
Shi Qingxuan let out a shy laugh and sat down on He Xuan's desk. Her feet didn't touch the desk, she played with her brown hair and smiled like a child who had just received a piece of candy. He Xuan didn't pay much attention to her, she was writing some absurd school thing while adjusting her glasses on her nose.
Shi Qingxuan lifted He Xuan's chin with her pale, icy hands. He Xuan smiled shyly, her cheeks flushed. "I am inviting you to this party. We'll go together and I'll be with you all the time, we'll be together all night and we'll get drunk with no worries."
He Xuan rolled her eyes and looked into Shi Qingxuan's blue eyes, who was she kidding? She couldn't say no.
"Alright, I'll go. But if you leave me alone for a single minute, I won't talk to you for a month."
Shi Qingxuan widened her smile and let out a shout. Her hands landed on He Xuan's cheeks. "Thank you, jiejie. I won't be with anyone else."
Shi Qingxuan went to her own room and He Xuan decided to take a shower to get ready.
She didn't have proper party clothes. She had hideous Christmas sweaters and warm jackets. It was December so she thought she wouldn't be as out of place as when she wore a gingerbread sweater in the spring.
She didn't comb her hair, or do anything different. She sat on the bed to wait for Qing Xuan.
At last someone knocked the door. He Xuan jumped out of her bed and walked hurriedly to the door of her room. She opened the door and met Shi Qingxuan's huge smile.
"You look very pretty, jiejie. Your sweater is nice. Maybe you'll catch some prey tonight." She said, winking.
He Xuan rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Yes, of course. Anyone will want to date the girl in the Christmas tree sweater." Shi Qingxuan laughed and smiled. "You look pretty too, meimei."
She wore her hair straightened and green earrings that shone as bright as her eyes. She wore a black jacket and shorts with tights. He Xuan thought she looked like something out of a dream; perhaps one of her own.
"Thank you, jiejie. Shall we go?"
He Xuan nodded and they both left the room. They walked amidst laughter and jostling to the car park, where they got into Shi Qingxuan's car.
"I always listen to the playlist you make on my mobile phone for driving, Xuan jiejie. It's like a reminder to drive with caution."
He Xuan laughed and they traveled in a warm, not uncomfortable silence.
They came to a spot in the city that He Xuan did not know, it was pretty and the streets were brightly lit. It was a pretty place, a place where Shi Qingxuan's pretty face fit. He Xuan blushed at the thought. Without noticing, Qingxuan had parked the car outside a giant, noisy house, people were coming in and out non-stop.
"We've arrived, jiejie. Let's go."
They both got out of the car and walked to the house. They entered and He Xuan was immediately overwhelmed. There were hundreds of people she had never seen before, drunk and staggering people moving around senselessly, people on top of each other, people touching and kissing each other as if they were in a private room.
"Wow." He Xuan sighed.
Shi Qingxuan laughed and took her hand. "Come on, Xuan jiejie. Drink a little tonight, wake up."
He Xuan rolled her eyes and nodded. She didn't usually drink much so she would get drunk with just one gulp. She knew she had to be careful but she also knew she had to relax a little.
She followed Shi Qingxuan to the drinks table. Qing Xuan poured a strange liquid into He Xuan's glass, but He Xuan drank it without giving it much thought. It burned her throat and stomach instantly but she let it pass. She wanted to not think and be a carefree girl for a few hours.
Shi Qingxuan watched her carefully. "Be careful with that, jiejie." she laughed teasingly. "Come, let's dance."
They approached a group of wobbling bodies pretending to dance. They tried to move to the strange music playing and He Xuan continued to drink alone, as Qing Xuan had to drive. He Xuan was becoming more and more relaxed and felt on a cloud. There were no dangling in her thoughts, nor her mother's voice reminding her to be careful if she drank. There were no insecurities, she didn't mind wearing braces and a hideous sweater. She only saw Shi Qingxuan.
She only saw Qing Xuan's shiny brown hair, her blue eyes and her too-big-to-be-normal smile. She saw her legs as she danced, and how her cheeks looked rosier than normal. He Xuan knew that everyone was looking at Shi Qingxuan, it was impossible not to see her. It was impossible not to gaze at her movements, at her face, at her hands, at everything she was. He Xuan kept repeating to herself, she looks like something out of a dream. And yes, perhaps from one of her own.
He Xuan kept drinking and dancing. The more she drank, the more she danced. And the more she danced, the more people watched her and Shi Qingxuan clapped louder.
She was dizzy, but she felt excited dancing. Dancing in front of Shi Qingxuan, standing out in front of her. "Look at me, Qing Xuan meimei! I'm dancing."
"I'm looking at you, jiejie. You're doing great!" Shi Qingxuan shouted in rapt attention, watching with sparkling eyes as He Xuan swayed in front of everyone in that room.
He Xuan danced while looking at Shi Qingxuan, she kept looking at her. "Don't stop looking at me." He said to her when she had her close.
"Never." Shi Qingxuan replied with a laugh.
A boy approached He Xuan, intending to dance with her. They danced side by side for a couple of minutes, with all of the eyes on them, with Shi Qingxuan shouting in delight and clapping euphorically. Everyone was shouting He Xuan's name, like she was some kind of pop star driving the masses wild.
But from one moment to the next, He Xuan collapsed to the ground. She laughed but could not get up; the boy she was dancing with tried to help her but she pushed him away with one hand.
"Qing Xuan meimei, lift me up" she tried to shout.
She heard noises that made no sense in her head and felt a cold hand on his face. "I have come to save you, princess."
It was Shi Qingxuan. With a magical and enchanting power, she lifted her off the ground and carried her to a couch doused with alcohol. "You drank too much, jiejie. Are you alright?" She asked, brushing the strands of hair away from He Xuan's face.
He Xuan nodded. "Thank you for rescuing me, meimei."
Shi Qingxuan smiled and nodded. "Why didn't you let the boy you were dancing with rescue you? He's cute. He seemed very interested in the girl with the horrible Christmas tree sweater."
"Because I'm not interested." He Xuan babbled. "I wanted to..." She approached Shi Qingxuan's face and touched her nose tenderly, she laughed. "I wanted to be rescued by you."
Shi Qingxuan laughed low. "Yes, why?"
He Xuan rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? Because I like having your attention, I like you seeing me, talking to me, laughing and picking me up off the ground."
Qingxuan smiled tenderly and shook his head softly. "Oh? Why is that?"
He Xuan straightened up and frowned. "You don't know? Maybe because..." She slurred the words "Maybe because I've wanted your attention since the day I met you, when I saw you in that pink skirt and tangled hair in the bathroom." He Xuan smiled and wrapped her arms around Shi Qingxuan's neck, Qing Xuan remained static. "I want you to look at me, to lift me off the ground because I've been in love with you for two years. But you're perfect and you're part of the council and you're amazing and everyone loves you and your silly smile and I wear gingerbread biscuit sweaters."
He Xuan laughed and let go of Shi Qingxuan. She didn't seem to be aware of what she had just said.
"Are you in love with me?"
He Xuan nodded, not being in the real world.
Shi Qingxuan walked up to her and lifted her chin, forcing He Xuan to look at her. "I like gingerbread biscuits. I like your sweaters, and I like your face. I like the way you move when you're drunk, and I like that you want me to look at you. I've always looked at you, jiejie. Since before you looked at me."
He Xuan was suddenly sober. She was flushed and frozen. But she smiled.
She brought her face close to Shi Qingxuan's and suddenly, her lips were already on her best friend's lips. It was soft, it was warm and it tasted like orange. He Xuan felt a heat in her stomach. Qing Xuan was unreal.
"I love you, jiejie."
"And I love you, meimei."