Animals + Promises - A Z.Tao x Reader

Panda?

"Ya! (y/n)!" I whipped around to see (f/n) running after me down the hall. 

"Hey slowpoke, we're going to miss Homeroom!" I shouted back, smiling at the panting Monitor Lizard trudging along with her. 

"I'm so sorry, I missed the bus again because of (f/s/n). She was so hyper and she wouldn't slow down for anything!" (f/n) said, catching up to me. She was talking about her little sister, the Deer. Super hyper but fragile, often falling and getting hurt when bounding around outside.

 Walking into Homeroom, we sat at our seats by the window, picked by (f/n) since she loved the sun. I didn't mind it that much so I went along with her choice. As we sat down, the bell rang and the chatter died down. Our teacher, Mr. (t/n) started the weekly announcements. It was mostly things I already knew so I zoned out.

The door clicked and I snapped out of my trance. It opened and our principal, Mrs. (p/n) walked over to the front of the room. "Hello everyone, I hope you're having a good morning so far!" She paused and looked at the door, "We have a new student this morning that will be in your Homeroom for the rest of the year." 

The door pushed open again and a tall, Asian boy with scraggly black hair strolled in. He wore a black tank top and a yellow flannel with black skinny jeans and a pair of combat boots. 

At first, I couldn't stop staring at his handsome appearance, then he turned and bowed to the class, taking my thoughts away from the outside and to his animal. Blinking my eyes a few times, I tried to focus on the black and white blur inside his head. It was moving quite fast, showing that the boy was nervous. 

It was most definitely a Panda. 

I'd never seen one before though, so I wasn't absolutely sure. When he started talking, the Panda calmed down a little and I could see that it truly was one. It had started pacing around his head. I admired the little creature. The boy's soft voice suddenly broke through those thoughts as he introduced himself.

"Hello, I am Huang Zitao and I am from Qingdao, China," he bowed, scanned the room, and then continued, "In China, our last names come before our first names, so you can just call me Tao." Mrs. (p/n) nodded at him and motioned for him to find a seat. He smiled at her and took the seat next to mine.

After admiring his Panda for a little bit longer, I took out my phone and pulled up my schedule for the day. Math, Sociology, Language, Music, English, and Computers. Not too bad, just annoying. I did all my homework so no need for worrying about that. 

Turning around to (f/n), I asked her if she had managed to finish memorizing the song she wanted to sing for the talent show. She sighed, "No, I can't get it right. I always get stuck at the bridge and I can't get anywhere after that." 

I gave her a smile, "I bet you can get it, I believe in you!" 

She smiled, "Thanks. You'd be so much better though, your voice is amazing!" 

I shook my head, "No way! You know I don't sing!" 

(f/n) glared at me, "Okay fine, I guess I'm decent at rapping, but eh on the singing." 

(f/n) laughed, "Excuse me, you're so good, remember singing Lost Boy for the class last year?" 

I made a face, "Yeah, but - " 

(f/n) cut me off. "That was so good, it got you into honors choir!" 

Shrugging, I looked over at the clock, still 5 minutes left until the first class. (f/n) tapped on my shoulder and I turned back to look at her. "Can you sing it for me? I wanna hear it again!" 

Rolling my eyes, I gave her the look, "Do I really have to?" nodding, she gave me puppy dog eyes, which a bit hard for a lizard, but it worked well enough. 

"Fine," I gave in and started to sing softly, 

"I am a lost boy, from Neverland, usually hanging out with Peter Pan. 

And when we're bored we play in the woods, always on the run from Captain Hook. 

'Run, run, lost boy, ' they say to me, away from all of reality. 

Neverland is home to lost boys like me, and lost boys like me are free. 

Neverland is home to lost boys like me and lost boys like me are free."

When I stopped singing, (f/n) had had her eyes closed and she was swaying to the beat. She smiled and opened her eyes, "That was so beautiful!"

"That was extremely beautiful, actually. Where did you learn to sing like that?" A new voice came through. I turned to see Tao, staring right into my eyes. 

"I..." I trailed off, my mind melted from his gaze. 

His dark, cinnamon brown eyes turned everything around in a circle and back again. I quickly thought of the fact that I was at school still and snapped back into reality. "My family is very musical I guess," I said, stuttering a little bit. He smiled and a shiver went down my arms. I was so glad I was wearing a sweater. 

I smiled back shyly, "Thanks!"