the boy on the bridge ✔️

11. cage boy

Chapter 11 — cage boy

"You look like shit," Ming greets Josh as she sits beside him.

"Is this how we're going to greet each other from now on?"

"If you continue to look like that, then yes," she shrugs nonchalantly.

"Like what?" Josh props up his elbows on the table and cups his face in his hands, turning his full attention to the girl beside him.

"Like shit," Ming has never been one to beat around the bush.

"That's not very nice," he frowns.

"It's the truth," she shrugs once again, "So, what's up?"

"Nothing,"

"Then why do you look like that one character you convinced yourself to not like but ended up liking anyway got killed out of nowhere although they were not in any way near completing their character arc?" she finishes in a single breath.

"I don't– What?"

But Ming doesn't have to tell him anything more. Only then he notices that she is wearing her glasses instead of her contact lenses — she is convinced that she looks like she has a 'beetle-head' whenever she wears her glasses, so she never really wears them minus a few occasions.

Josh is almost certain he can guess why she is wearing her glasses today if her short vent is anything to go by.

He slowly reaches out and lifts her glasses, and although Ming stops him almost immediately, Josh was able to see what she is trying to hide — her puffy, swollen eyes.

Amused, he holds a loose fist over lips to hide his oncoming smile.

"Shut up," she grumbles at him, turning away.

Josh raises both his hands in mock surrender, and then when he's sure he will not laugh out loud, he asks, "So who died now, my dear Kady?"

Her scowl deepens, "You know I don't like being called that — fuck off. And do. Not. Ask. Me,"

"Sorry. Okay," Josh nods, easily agreeing, not because out of regard of what she said, but because he knows her and also what's going to happen next.

And as he expects, she huffs beside him and grabs his arm and shakes it until he's looking at her. Josh doesn't have to ask or say anything to her for the next five minutes as she launches into her rather dramatic way of explaining about one of her shows and how her favourite got killed off and how 'it's not freaking fair in any way at all'.

She is forced to stop only when their teacher, Ms Grundy, walks in and even then, it takes an enormous amount of effort for her to keep quiet because she's not quite done with her rant just yet.

Josh can't hold in his laughter and a snort escapes him. Ms Grundy looks pointedly at the both of them and even though it is the blond who made the noise, she still only calls out Ming.

"Is there any problem over there, Kady?"

"No, Ms Grump– um, Ms Grundy," fortunately she quickly catches herself before blurting the nickname they've made for her, "We're okay," she nods in an exaggerated manner.

Even then, Ms Grundy still holds her under her gaze for a few more seconds before letting sit back down and then turns around to the board writing down the topic of discussion for the day.

"I totally call this white-people-and-their-stupid-privileges," she grumbles under her breath, "Does she ever call you out? No,"

"Yeah, I'm not going to argue against that,"