TGCF Alternative Universe - OS book

Prom ball

The scene takes place in an alternative universe where you and Hua Cheng are mere students at a fictional school named Meilings.
You are Xie Lian, the crown prince of XianLe, a faraway kingdom. You travelled the world and this is your last year of high school.

 
You were quietly talking with your two best friends, Feng Xin and Mu Qing,  when you heard shouts. Mu Qing rolled his eyes, as always.
 
“What’s all this noise?”
 
He started to jostle to make you three a way through the crowd.
 
“What is happening for God’s sake?”, shouted Mu Qing.
 
You were close enough to understand what was happening. Shi Qingxuan,  the most popular girl in the school, had arrived. She smiled when she passed before you and everyone glanced at you with a dark look. Then the crowd turned again. It was now the arrival of the literal ‘King of the school’: Hua Cheng. You couldn’t take your eyes off him. He noticed your stare and smiled, his eye slightly closed. You didn’t know what happened to him but he had only his left eye. The right was always hidden between a black eye patch.
 
“Did you notice it?”, said a girl right behind you, “he looked at me and smiled!”
 
His friend shrieked and started to jump, waving her hand to make him turn his head. Feng Xin prevented you from being hit by one of her movements but putting his arm over your head.
 
“Let’s go, there's nothing interesting there. Just the popular ones and their little show to impress everyone...”
 
You wanted to protest but he probably didn’t hear you with all the noise. You liked watching the entrance of the King and the Queen of Meilings. They were so pretty, and formed such a handsome couple! You were a bit jealous of their popularity. You were quite unpopular, even as a real life prince. In fact, no one really liked you, except for Mu Qing and Feng Xin. They were your only friends, the others either despised you, or just ignored you. You were seen since the past two years as a failure, since you made all your classmates lose the annual tournament of the best class of Meilings. This tournament included having the best grades at all the school subjects, being the best team during sports day, and having the best behaviour during all year. And you had failed everywhere. You could have win, though you were good at almost every subject including PE, and you were a good student in general, always nice with the teachers. But you were always late. And that fact made the teachers hate you. The fact that your class hadn’t win the cup for two years straight made people to genuinely dislike you. You sighed.
 
“You’re right, let's go.”
 
Once you were away from the crowd, you started chatting again. They didn’t recognised it in front of the others but Feng Xin and Mu Qing really liked to see the parade as well. They were both commenting the outfit of Shi Qingxuan, and asked you your opinion.
 
“Err, I don’t know, she was... cute?”
 
They both laughed out loud.
 
“Where were you during their arrival your Highness? She was terribly sexy! Don’t tell me you didn’t like how she looked!”
 
You lowered your eyes. You hadn’t tell them, and you never would. So you just raised your head and smiled.
 
“I liked it.”
 
They smiled in turn.
 
“Hopefully you liked it! Listen, this is your last chance to shine at the prom. We will do our best to make you dance with her!
-         But... Hua Cheng...
-         You're far more handsome than him!
-         I...
-         Stop protesting. You will dance with your heart’s desire, I promise.”
 
He didn’t know and it wasn’t his fault, but you wished he knew that your ‘heart’s desire’ was in fact a boy. And that it was the King of Meilings in person... You had even less chance of dancing with him than to go on a date with the Queen of England!
 
You noticed a bit late that your friends were gone. You were looking around when someone grabbed your shoulder.
 
“Excuse me?”, said a deep voice.
 
You turned around. You could have recognise this voice among a thousand.
 
“Hua Cheng?”
 
He smiled.
 
“You seem a bit lost, are you ok?
-         Y-yeah... I'm fine. I- I've just... lost... my friends...”
 
He chortled.
 
“What?!
-         Oh, nothing. You're just really cute gege.”
 
You couldn’t help but blushing. You looked around to avoid him noticing.
 
“I- I should go find my friends. B-bye!”
 
You tried to run away but he was too quick. He grabbed your wrist.
 
“Wait. I'm not finished.
-         W-what do you want?
-         Just talking. Isn’t it a good thing to do with someone?
-         I- I guess so...
-         So let's just chat!”
 
He smiled so genuinely that your heart melt for the second time. The first time was when you had seen him for the first time and that you thought he had smiled at you.
 
You chatted for a while, discovering that he preferred to be called San Lang, as Hua Cheng wasn’t his real name, when you suddenly heard the bell.
 
“I really need to come back to my friends...
-         Let me search them with you.
-         I don’t think...
-         You don’t think what?
-         Err... nothing. That's really nice of you.”
 
You walked side by side and you noticed that his hand was moving slightly, slowly, towards yours. Or maybe it was you who got closer to him.
 He broke the silence again as you crossed a locker with a sign on it. It was an ad for the prom ball. You read it and suddenly remembered it was tonight!
 
“Tell me gege, do you have a partner for the prom?
-         Not yet... but...
-         But?
-         I don’t know if I can say that in front of you...
-         Say it, don’t worry.
-         My friends want me to dance with Shi Qingxuan.”
 
He frowned.
 
“That will not be possible.”
 
You knew it. He was going with her, obviously.
 
“Why?”
 
The question had passed your lips before you could even think about it. He chuckled.
 
“Is gege always so bold?”
 
You knew he would react like that. You had been too presumptuous.
 
“I'm really sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you!!”
 
This time he laughed out loud.
 
“Don’t apologise! I just thought it was funny that you especially have this kind of reaction.
-         Why ‘me especially’?
-         Because you hate being the centre of attention, you are the kind of person who stay quiet even when he's feeling bad. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying you don’t allow yourself to be fully yourself because you’ve been hurt and mocked in the past.”
 
He looked away.
 
“Forget what I just said, it was silly. I don’t really know you, it's just... that I like assuming other people’s personalities. I know it's weird... please forget it.”
 
You smiled and put a hand on his wrist. You didn’t dare touching the red-clothed King’s hand, but the least you could do was to reassure him a little. He rose his head.
 
“To answer your question, she already goes with someone.”
 
“You”, you thought.
 
“You probably wonder “who”?
-         Hum... yeah...
-         I’m not sure I can tell you, though it’s not really a secret, but she goes with her boyfriend.
-         Her boyfriend?
-         Ming Yi.
-         Mmh..., I reckon I know him... He's a bit androgynous nah?
-         Exactly.
-         And who- And you, with who do you go to the prom?
-         I still haven’t a partner yet.
-         Oh... Don’t you have thousands of demands?
-         I rejected them all.
-         Why?
-         Because my dearest one didn’t ask me out yet.”
 
You felt your heart tighten. It was probably one of Shi Qingxuan’s friends, or maybe even your friend Ling Wen. She was a bit too serious but she was such a beauty. But it was a hundred percent sure that it wasn’t you.
 
Someone called his name in the corridor. It was one of his friends. He turned back to you after checking who it was.
 
“I gotta go, see you later gege.”
 
He close his eye while beaming. Was it a wink? You waved back at him shyly.
 
“Good bye...”
 
He left. You stayed alone for a while when you heard voices from behind a post. You put your hands on your hips and frowned.
 
“Feng Xin, Mu Qing, I know you are here. Get out. NOW.”
 
You heard whispers, and two heads emerged from behind the post.
 
“What are you doing here?”
 
They didn’t answer your question, instead they shouted, all excited:
 
“Are you kidding us?? What was that?!
-         What?
-         You. Being friend with him? Jeez!
-         Feng Xin, watch you language please. The fact that I start a- to befriend Hua Cheng isn’t a reason for you spying around. And for that, I don’t forgive you.
-         Ooh, come on! We did nothing wrong!”
 
You turned away, your arms crossed on your chest.
 
“I said: I don’t forgive you.
-         Your Highness, please... we thought no harm...
-         That's not nice your Highness!”
 
You sighed.
 
“It's ok this time but don't do it again. Understood?”
 
They both nodded. Someone called your name.
 
“Xie Lian!”
 
You turned in the direction of the shout. Shi Qingxuan was waving at you with a beam on the face. She came closer. She was followed by Ming Yi, as always.
 
“Hello, your Highness, how are you?
-         Don’t call me ‘your Highness’ please, I don’t want people to call me like that here.”
 
She raised an eyebrow.
 
“But... I thought it was your title...
-         It is. But I prefer being called Xie Lian.”
 
No one actually called you by your name. It was always “your Highness this”, “your Highness that”. Some of your bullies even called you “Scrap Prince”. But you had never been called by your name. Even less by a cute nickname like Hua Cheng did. You blushed at this thought. The youth had been really kind and charming. He wasn’t at all how people imagine him, cold and haughty.
 
“Hua Cheng told me that you wanted to dance with me at the prom?
-         Err...
-         Ming-Xiong is ok for sharing.”
 
She winked.
 
“Err...”
 
You looked at Feng Xin and Mu Qing and you looked back at Shi Qingxuan and back at your friends and you did so for at least thirty seconds before Mu Qing spoke.
 
“He agrees. He's just a bit overwhelmed by the situation, don’t worry.”
 
Shi Qingxuan smiled and she left in a swirl of light green silk and rose scent, Ming Yi on her heels.
 
“What a girl!”, sighed Feng Xin.
 
He was as red as the clothes of Hua Cheng. Mu Qing laughed at him. Feng Xin wasn’t really comfortable with girls and Mu Qing always jumped at the chance to rib him on that. You didn’t laughed with him because you didn’t want your closest friend to feel uncomfortable. Besides, this time you too couldn’t say anything, so it would have been really mean to laugh at him for a thing you couldn’t do as well.
 
Mu Qing came back to you.
 
“Also, what happened to you your Highness? You got flustered in front of her, you must be really in love!”
 
You sighed.
 
“Please let’s not talk about this again.”
 
You felt the tears coming up, thinking back at your conversation with Hua Cheng and the fact he already had a special someone that wasn’t you.
 
“I need to be alone, can you leave me now?”
 
They looked confused but didn’t say anything, they just followed your order.
 
You were now alone, and feeling lonely. You couldn’t find a way to tell your friends that you liked Hua Cheng. It was never the right time. And how could you tell them after they built castles in the sky on you being Shi Qingxuan's partner? It was impossible. You just had to wait for the prom and see what would happen.
 
And see who he goes with...
 
You were crying silently now. You had confined yourself in a toilet cabin, so no one could see you crying. You had enough being called the Scrap Prince, it was not necessary being the ‘Cry-baby’ too. You heard someone entering the bathroom, coming closer to the cabin you were in, and stepping right in front of the door. You stopped breathing.
 
“Are you ok?”
 
Hua Cheng? What was he doing here?
 
“I’m perfectly fine!
-         Are you sure?
-         Yes.
-         What takes you so long?
-         I'm pooing.”
 
He laughed.
 
“Don't gege have shame?
-         Leave me alone!”
 
He stopped laughing.
 
“I know you're not "pooing" gege. I heard you crying. So now will you tell me what happened?”
 
You slowly opened the door.
 
“I wasn’t... crying...”
 
You looked in the mirrors, you had swollen eyes. It was obvious you had cried.
 
“Right, ok, I cried. So what? Are you gonna tell everyone in that school that the Scrap Prince is a Cry-baby too? It will be a very long nickname don’t you think? ‘Cry-baby Scrap Prince’...
-         I won’t allow anyone calling you that. I didn’t even know you had such a nickname.”
 
He looked so angry and sad at the same time that you repressed the urge to hold him tight in your arms, even if you were the one who cried. But of course you didn’t do it. It wasn’t something you had the right to do.
 
“So, what bothers you gege?
-         Nothing. It's... really it's nothing, just something silly.
-         Nothing is silly when it makes you cry.”
 
And this time you didn’t know if he was talking generally or just about you.
 
“I can’t say it. I won’t. I'm sorry San Lang.”
 
He smiled softly.
 
“You remembered.”
 
You smiled back, sweeping the remaining tears off your cheeks.
 
“Of course I remember, how could I not?
-         Gege is so nice to me...”
 
You suddenly felt your cheeks getting hotter.
 
“Are you ok gege?
-         I'm fine...
-         Gege, can you help me?
-         Of course San Lang, what do you need?
-         Practising.
-         For what?
-         I want my proposal for the prom to be perfect. Would you mind helping me practising?”
 
Your heart imploded in your chest.
 
Why does it hurt so much?
 
The tears were about to come out again. You swallowed back your tears and took a deep breathing. You rose your head and smiled.
 
“Ok!
-         Are you sure? If you don’t want to do it I can ask someone else.
-         No, no, I can do it, though I'm not really sure to help you a lot...
-         It'll help. Don’t worry.”
 
He took your hand and knelt to the ground. Then he looked up at you, straight in you eyes.
 
“W-what are you doing?
-         Isn’t it a good way to ask someone out?
-         I don’t know...
-         Now what should I say? No: how would you like someone to ask you out?
-         I... don’t know... maybe something... simple. If I was your one true love, I'd like to be called by my name.
-         Xie Lian...
-         No, you have to say her name.
-         Her? When did I say ‘her’?
-         Err... I don’t know, I just... I guessed that you...
-         I said I had to find a partner for the prom, I've never said it was a girl.
-         But...
-         Gege...”
 
He raised his head towards you, his hand still behind yours.
 
“Your Highness...”
 
This time, hearing your title wasn’t the same as always. This time it was full of respect. This time it was Hua Cheng saying it.
 
“Your Highness, would you like to dance with me at the prom?”
 
You dropped his hand and applauded.
 
“It was perfect, you can ask the person you like now.”
 
He stood up and took your hands again.
 
“I just did it”, he whispered in your ear.
 
Your heart beat at full speed.
 
You couldn’t think properly.
 
He. Had. Just. Asked. You. Out.
Hua Cheng asked you out.
 
You wanted to scream, cry and hold him in your arms at the same time. You've never felt happier in your life.
 
“So, your Highness, do you want to go out with me? I mean... not only for the ball... but forever.
-         I...
-         If you don’t want to that's ok, you're probably not into me after all.
-         No... I...
-         Didn’t you want to dance with Shi Qingxuan?
-         No, that was Mu Qing and Feng Xin’s idea. In fact... I'd really want to dance with you.”
 
You whispered.
 
“And more...”
 
He softly took your cheeks in his hands and brought his face closer to yours. Your lips touched. This was your first kiss ever and you wished it to never end. But all good banquets in the world had an end.
 
He gently severed from you and you saw a crowd all around you. The entire high school was gathering at the spot you were with Hua Cheng. Some of them were pointing a finger at you, laughing, others had taken pictures...
 
You ran away, blubbering. They stood back to let you go and you didn’t notice the crimson flash trying to go through the mob at your pursuit.
 
“Wait! Gege! Gege!!”
 
You didn’t stop. You wanted to go away. The furthest you could go. Far away from this school, from these people, from their phones and their laughs.
 
“Gege! Wait for me!!”
 
You kept running. You were now in the streets, not knowing where you were going. You crossed a road. You heard a scream behind you.
 
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
 
The tires of the car screeched. It stopped right in front of you. You were safe. You came back to the sidewalk, wavering, and Hua Cheng ran up to you and took you in his arms. You felt the warmness of his body while he held you tight. You noticed only at the moment something wet touched your hair that he was silently crying.
 
You started to sob frantically.
 
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry San Lang, I'm sorry...”
 
He lifted your chin and you stopped crying for a second. His eye reflected intense anger.
 
“I don’t want to see anymore tears on this pretty face. I won’t allow it. I won’t allow anyone to make you cry. I'm the one who is sorry your Highness.”
 
He knelt again.
 
“Don’t kneel there San Lang, it's dirty!”
 
He smiled softly.
 
“I want to give you my most sincere apologises.
-         Why for? You did nothing wrong...
-         For not having seen that there was people watching us and filming.
-         No, it's entirely my fault San Lang. You did nothing wrong, really. I'm not angry at you. Not at all. It wasn’t you who made me cry, I promise.”
 
You started to kneel before him.
 
“What are you doing gege?! It’s dirty! Don’t touch the ground.”
 
He caught you before you even could put a knee on the ground and carried you gently in his arms. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he chuckled.
 
“Did I hurt you? I’m really so-
-         No you didn’t.”
 
He walked a bit to go on the grass and put you down on the ground with care, paying attention so you don’t get dirty.
 
“That wasn’t necessary San Lang, really!
-         I don’t want to have my special one getting dirty because of me.
-         That’s not a big deal, I get dirty very often and...
-         Let me just care for you for once!”
 
You wide-opened your eyes. It was so unexpected!
 
“I let you care for me, it's just that I don’t want to be treated like a baby...”
 
He bowed.
 
“Your wish is my command. I'd do anything for gege.
-         You don’t have to act like this with me... After all, you are the King of the school, so I have to pay you even more respect, your Majesty.”
 
You bowed at your turn. He was definitely blushing. He took your hand and said:
 
“Let’s go back to Meilings. They must be waiting for us.”
 
You tried to protest but he didn’t listen to you. He was now running with your hand in his.
 
“Wait, San Lang! I don’t want to come back.
-         Why? Don’t you want to dance with me?
-         In fact... yes, I want to, but I don’t have proper clothes on...
-         Just wear what you're wearing now, you look gorgeous.
-         You are really nice San Lang but that's not appropriate for a ball.
-         Is your home far from the school?
-         Not really, five minutes on foot I'd say...
-         Let's go there then. You change  and boom! Back to Meilings.
-         ‘Boom’?”
 
You laughed.
 
“What?!
-         That’s so cute! You're adorable San Lang!
-         Stop kidding me, we’re gonna be late for the prom if we don’t hurry a bit.”
 
You ran to your home, you changed, and ran the way back to school. Right on time! You entered the ball room and immediately felt all the looks on you. Someone whistled. It was Shi Qingxuan. She came to you, waving her hand.
 
“I see you found a dance partner after all”, she said with a wink.
 
You smiled as Hua Cheng wrapped your hip with his left arm and brought you closer to him.
 
“Let's dance gege. You're mine for the evening.”
 
This time, you perceived a change in the way people were looking at you. You were not the ‘Scrap Prince’ anymore, you were dancing with the Crimson King of Meilings!
 
He noticed your gaze on him and lifted your chin to kiss you. When he put his lips on yours, everyone applauded. Your kiss lasted for a long time, Hua Cheng was definitely not decided to let you go and that suited you well. You wished to stay like this, embracing and kissing him till the world explodes.