Xuesong woke up before the alarm on his phone rang 6:00. It was August 16, the first day of high school. He could only hope high school would be less tiring and boring than middle school, but that chance seemed very slim.

He lay in bed for a few minutes before his alarm rang, and got up from bed, did his daily routine, except an hour earlier.

The bus waited for him expectantly, and he chose a random empty seat like he always did. He watched the windows collect fog as the bus drove on, laying his head on the cold glass, almost falling asleep.

"Xuesong!" Xuesong was awakened from his daze as a boy started shaking his shoulder vigorously. He scooted to the side so the boy could sit next to him.

"'Morning, Baihua." Baihua smiled at him cheerfully. Behind him stood a boy who matched Baihua's messy black hair and the beauty mark on the bottom left of their lips, and everything else. He sat on the empty seat across from them, scrolling indifferently through his phone. Baixiang.

"Good morning, Xuesong! Are you ready for high school?!!"

When Xuesong didn't look interested, Baihua pouted. "Xuesong, you should look mooore happy!! Otherwise, you'll start to look like the always-grumpy Baixiang."

"Baihua, stop acting like a little girl. It's embarrassing to our family name," Baixiang retorted, eyes not leaving his phone."

Baihua was uncharacteristically silent after that. At one point, Xuesong stopped looking at the fog to glance over. Baihua was hugging his bag loosely, but there was no expression on his face.

Did he not like being called a little girl? Or did he have family issues?

When Baihua noticed Xuesong staring, he gave Xuesong a calm smile. Xuesong smiled back, a little bit forced and dry. Baihua didn't like it when Xuesong pried into his family problems, so Xuesong stayed silent. The only noise was the excited chatter of the other students on the bus, and the motor as the bus stopped and started again.

Xuesong's class didn't have any of the twins. There were instructions on the board regarding where to sit. According to the formation, desks were put in a way where everybody would have a partner, the teacher called them "deskmates," sitting beside them. Xuesong's "deskmate" hadn't come yet. He laid his head in his arms, pretending to be asleep so nobody would come up and talk to him.

Soon after, his deskmate arrived. After his deskmate sat down, he instantly hurled himself into conversation.

"Hello, my deskmate! My name is Xiao Hehuan! What's your name?" Xuesong didn't respond. He pretended to be asleep. "Hellooo? Knock knock, anybody there? You can't be asleep on the first day." Xuesong sighed and looked up. They boy's hair was short and a little messy, but completely bleached into a soft yellow color. Xuesong noticed some girls glancing in Hehuan's direction and whispering.

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"Yang Xuesong," Xuesong told him. The boy was taken aback, but Xuesong didn't ask why. He simply laid his head back down.

"How dare he talk to Hehuan that way"

"How dare he mistreat Hehuan"

The girls must really like Hehuan. To Xuesong, perhaps because he wasn't attracted to men, Hehuan didn't look too out of the ordinary. Other than his blaring blonde hair, of course.

The second teacher came in. Then, the third.

The bell run, and they left. Xuesong's phone started buzzing. He started an argument with Baixiang. There were some remaining girls, looking tentatlively in Hehuan's direction. Hehuan seemed to notice, and, as Xuesong was getting up to leave, he clutched Xuesong's arm. Xuesong's phone kept buzzing.

"Xuesong-senpai? C-can I, perhaps, have lunch with this handsome Xuesong-senpai?" Xuesong looked at him in disgust, about to shake him off, when loud footsteps in the hallway inturrupted them. And everybody else, as well.

"YANG XUESONG. WHERE THE **** ** **** ***** *** *** ****" Baihua was desperately holding back a shouting and cussing Baixiang. Hehuan didn't seemed bothered by this.

"Oh, Xuesong-senpai. Please take me with you for lunch." Baihua wasn't strong enough to retain Baixiang, who came storming into the classroom, and dragged Xuesong in a chokehold to the cafeteria. Hehuan can in tow, clutching onto Xuesong's leg, and Baihua followed hesitantly behind.

In the cafeteria, while the two twins were getting food, Xuesong asked Hehuan. "Why are you so insistent on following me?" Hehuan looked confused.

"What? Don't we know each other?" Xuesong didn't remember, so he shook his head hesitantly. Hehuan's face fell into a frown. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sound that came out was more of a strained gasp as Baixiang slapped him on the back.

"Hey, what's your deal with Xuesong? You two can't be friends, since Xuesong doesn't have any."

"Ah! Baixiang, that's so mean!" Baihua gasped. He looked at Xuesong with woried eyes. "It's okay, Xuesong. We're your friends." Xuesong couldn't tell if Baihua was mocking him or not.

"No way, we go waaay back," Hehuan replied to Baixiang, wrapping his arm around Xuesong. Xuesong stabbed his broccoli with a chopstick, uninterested in the conversation.

Baihua looked at Xuesong earnestly, clutching the hand that wasn't holding his chopsticks. "Xuesong, is this mean stranger harrasing you at school? You can always let Mr. Baihua know." He was definitely mocking him now.

"Go away and eat your food," Xuesong said, pulling his hand away from Baihua and pushing Hehuan away. Baixiang had already sat down, looking at Xuesong and Hehuan suspiciously.

Hehuan seemed to get along well with Baihua, the two of them doing most of the talking. Baixiang occasionally put in a few snarky comments, and Xuesong ate in silence.

Baihua and Baixiang seemed to attract even more attention to the table. They were both somewhat popular in middle school, a partial factor because they were identical twins, but they were getting more attention in highschool. Xuesong found it suffocating, with three shining and sparkling boys sitting at his table, but at least he wasn't attractive enough to also join the tow.

The day ended after long hours. Hehuan had given them his number, so now they could exchange information. Xuesong rode the bus back home with Baihua and Baixiang. He walked up the stone steps to his house. He grabbed the key from his pocket and turned it in the keyhole. The door opened with a slight creak. He got in and closed the door.

The house was dark compared to the morning. Evenings were always sad like this. Xuesong sat down on a chair and scrolled through his phone listlessly. A note by his mom said she would be home late today. She was always late, and had been for the past three years. It seemed lonely in his dark, cold house.