Love To Hate Me

08. Law of Attraction

Shaking just couldn't believe summer was over. It felt like she went to bed after the tiring exams only yesterday and woke up to a whole new school year today. Shaking dragged her feet downstairs and pulled herself to the breakfast table. Her father looked up from his newspaper and raised a brow.

"Why do you look so dead in the morning?" he asked.

Shaking only held her hand up as she slumped over the kitchen table. Her father shook his head.

"Look at you. Young people like you should be radiating in youthful vigor!" Mr. Xie boomed energetically.

"Yeah, pa, I know," Shaking groaned. "My body is young, but my soul is at least a thousand and a half years old. Let me die in peace."

"The congee's ready!" said Mrs. Xie as she carried three bowls of steaming congee to the table.

"Really?" Shaking shot up from where she was supposedly dying. "Gimme! Gimme!"

"I thought you wanted to die in peace?" Mr. Xie laughed.

"Not when there's congee!" Shaking smiled as she shoved a spoonful in her mouth.

Mrs. Xie sat down beside her daughter and watched her eat. Shaking slurped down the congee happily, licking the spoon clean.

"Ma, can I have more?" she asked.

"Sure, sure."

Mrs. Xie refilled Shaking's bowl and set it down in front of her. Shaking didn't need to be told twice to dig in. The older woman smiled fondly at her daughter.

"So, Keyin," Mrs. Xie began. "Your school emailed us your exam grades-"

Before Mrs. Xie could construct a coherent sentence, Shaking choked on her congee.

"Ack!" she wheezed as she coughed. "Ack! Ahem! Ack!"

"Oh my god!" Mrs. Xie gasped as she patted Shaking on her back. "Are you okay?"

"Obviously not," Mr. Xie snickered.

"Oh - ack! - be quiet - ack! - pa!!" Shaking choked.

"Okay - ack! - kiddo - ack! - pa will be - ack! - quiet!" Mr. Xie mocked.

Shaking was choking so hard she hardly had time to retort. She could only try to compose herself and stop choking. As she finished up choking, Shaking gave her dad the stank eye and turned to her mom.

"What about my grades?" she asked, nervousness laced in her tone.

"I think you better take a look at them yourself," Mrs. Xie said pointedly.

With that, Mrs. Xie went away to get her iPad. Shaking gulped.

I'm fucked.

Mrs. Xie returned with her iPad and handed it over to Shaking. With shaky hands, Shaking took the device and began scrolling down to see her grades.

"Hold up," Shaking cocked her head to the side. "They didn't email you the wrong grades, did they?"

"Nope. I called them to confirmed."

Shaking's jaw dropped open.

"Does that mean I got straight A's?!?!?" she jumped up and down in joy.

"Duh?" Mr. Xie muttered. "You're quite slow for a girl who got straight A's.

"Says the old man who looked for his reading glasses for hours while wearing them," Shaking jokingly retorted.

"Alright, alright," Mr. Xie laughed. "I'll give that one to you. For now, just finish up your congee and get your ass to school."

"Yes sir!" Shaking beamed as she wolfed down her food.