It is quiet.

The sun lightly touches the face of a small girl. She looks like she is sleeping peacefully.

The beautiful scene is shattered when the girl quickly opens her eyes. Sitting up in her bed she feels her face only to notice that it is wet.

Looking at the window, the metal bars remind her that she has yet to awaken from her nightmare.

_____________________

Lǐ Míngqín
_____________________

I bite my lower lip before slightly shaking my head. The warm feeling of the morning sun on my skin felt stale in contrast to the pasty white room that I lived in.

My feet hit the cold stone floor as I stretch my arms. Looking at the only piece of decoration on my wall in the form of a calendar, my eyes zero in on today's date.

My first day of school since the incident.

I take my uniform which was hanging on my dresser and I quickly change. The black skirt grazed the top of my knees. While the sleeves on my shirt barely hides my marks.

This won't do....

I look around my room until I found my only coat that I was given.

Walking to my bedroom's door, I gently knock on the door. The sound of the lock sliding signaled for me to open.

The guard that was stationed today gave me a nod before allowing me to walk outside.

"It's going to be unusually warm today, Miss." The guard eyed my heavy coat with concern.

The outer sides of my eyes wrinkle as I smile at him. This new guy has been treating me like his own daughter.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." I quickly assured him before I waved goodbye to him. I walk down the long hallway before I scanned my ID that would allow me to leave this government facility disguised as an apartment complex.

Patient 23664 is leaving the premise.

Sigh......only a couple more years until I can be free from this jail they call a home.

I ignore the sound of the monitor as I open the exit. The cool refreshing breeze hits my face as I take my first step outside in months.

As if I lived a life without color, the scene before me felt like a dream. The beautiful blue winter sky welcomed me as I began my walk towards my college.

Yinyue. The biggest school of Fine Arts in the country.

******

Leaning my head on my desk, I gaze through my classroom window and watch the snow gently fall to the ground.

The snow reminded me of a blank canvas that was just waiting for someone to draw on.

I wish my life was like that snow. Pure and ready for a fresh start..

I am the sole survivor of the Fènghuáng Village that was hidden inside the heart of China. My people were slaughtered in search for a mysterious person. Evidently, they were searching for something that was born from a rumor since they never found that person.

At least...that's what I was told.

Since the culprits were never caught, the government has decided to monitor me in case the same people come back to finish their job.

So many lives were thrown away...and for what?

Even I don't know the answer to that question.

All I remember is at one point of my life, I was happy. But then something happened and all the things that I saw as good seemed to fly away.

Why did people come to kill my village? Why did I survive?  Why am I still alive?

Too many questions and not enough answers.

After a couple of months of the massacre, the neighboring village noticed a pungent smell coming from the mountains and sent people to check.

This incident revealed the hidden village to the world and the news has been circulating of the sole survivor for years.

I have food, a roof over my head, and education. I should be happy, right?

So why do I feel so empty?

Continuing to stare outside through the window, the winter reminds me of death. The once white snow mixes with the pollution of the factories nearby causing the pure snow to quickly turn a metallic grey, almost black hue. I miss my mountains...and my people.

Winter is the season where I feel alone the most. The music of the world has died along with my reason to live.

Turning my head slightly at the sound of whispering voices, my eyes fall on my classmates or (同学 Tóngxué).

When our eyes met, their voices grew still. With another heavy sigh, I decided to let them off the hook as I turn my head back to the window. As I expected, the whispering continued only with greater intensity.

And here I thought college would be different than high school.

People fear what they do not know. And fear turns into hatred.

I can't help that I am different...

Just like the snow. All good things melt...

I hate it. I hate living. I should have died in that village with my people! And now I'm alive but I'm trapped inside a cage for all to watch.

While entertaining these thoughts, I hear a slight commotion coming from the front of the classroom. I ignore it since my seat is situated in the back of the classroom to avoid the attention of both teachers and classmates or (同学 Tóngxué).

Closing my eyes, I wait for the class to start. I take my music player out and pop a set of earbuds in. I was told that there was a piano in this college. The institution I live in has a broken piano that I use to relieve my pent-up emotions.

I missed the opening ceremony that YinYue hosted so I missed that golden opportunity to make friends. Since I am majoring in Song Writing, we are forced to display our talents tomorrow . Evidently our scores from the performance will determine which students are put in which homerooms.

My heart beats in tune to the music playing as I slowly drift to sleep. But only my re-occurring nightmares are there to greet me.

The sound of people screaming in agony and the crying of small helpless children suck me into the world of nightmares as they blur within the music I was listening to.

Suddenly, my cold thoughts are melted by an unknown source of warmth. And the world seems to turn a different hue.......

What's happening?

My evil tormenters in my dream start to fade as the music grows louder and I regain consciousness.

"Pretty isn't it?"

Startled, I lift my head up only to be met with a pair of the most striking eyes.

Whoa, they remind me of stars.

Taking my earbuds out, I tilt my head to look up into his face.

"What is pretty?"

"The snow of course!" He laughs as if I made a joke.

Not understanding, I just stare up at him.

"Hi, my name is Chén Tàiyáng (Tie-Young). Please take good care of me," he said as he bowed from his waist. Raising his head a little, he gives me a mischievous grin that reveals a dimple on his right cheek. His brown bangs that lay across his forehead almost covers his eyes.

Startled, I stutter out an introduction. I'm not use to people who are my age directly talking to me, let alone being friendly.

"Lǐ Míngqín (Lee-Ming-Chin). It's a pleasure to meet you." Instead of returning the bow, I just tilt my head downward and then raise it up again.

"Can you write it down for me?" Unfazed by my rudeness, he pretends to write on the palm of his hand as a sign.

Taking a piece of notebook paper, I write down my name and hold it up for him.

李鸣禽

"Songbird." He whispers.

"What?"

"Your name means Songbird in English."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Are you a foreigner?" I asked excitedly.

"I guess you could say that." He laughed as he rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "My mandarin must sound pretty bad? I still have a tough time with my grammar."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." I apologized as my face turns red. I didn't mean for it to sound insulting....

"No need to apologize. I've only been back in China for a couple of years so I'm still trying to get used to things." He said. "I was born here but I've been out of the country long enough that I've forgotten a lot of the language."

"You're doing pretty good so far." I attempted a smile.

"Thanks! The teachers are letting me hang out in this homeroom until the Performance Assessment tomorrow."

That means he doesn't know about the news that surrounds me!

"I'm somewhat of a foreigner as well."

"Really? Where are you from?"

Hearing our classroom door slide open, we both turn our heads and are greeted by our teacher. Slamming his books onto his desk, the teacher straightens his back and surveys the classroom. Adjusting his circular frames that sit precariously on the bridge of his nose, the teacher narrows his eyes at us.

"Attention class. We have an international student that has just transferred here. He was supposed to stay outside and wait for an introduction, but I shall let this incident slide since it is his first day. I hope you will refrain from breaking any more rules." Teacher Zhōu Mì said as he glared at Tàiyáng.

Looking around sheepishly, Chén Tàiyáng walked over to the front and bowed to the teacher while apologizing. All the girls started giggling causing me to roll my eyes. Taking a piece of chalk that the teacher handed him, the whole room was silent as we watched him draw his name on the board.

陈 太阳 Chén Tàiyáng。

"His name means the Sun. It fits his personality." I mused to myself as I continued to watch him. Bowing again, Tàiyáng introduced himself to the class.

"Dàjiā hǎo (D-Ah-Gee-Ah-How), my name is Chén Tàiyáng. My friends in the States called me Josiah since Tàiyáng was hard for them to pronounce. So, either name is fine with me."

All the girls were whispering about how cute he looked while the boys were excited to have another boy in the class since the girl to boy ratio was 3-1.

We have a total of 23 students in our class including Tàiyáng, making it the smallest homeroom in the college.

"There is an empty spot near Lǐ Míngqín. Please have a seat and we will begin class." The teacher instructed as he motioned towards me. I could hear the classroom erupt in whispers as they stared at the new student sympathetically.

"There's a reason why there's an empty seat next to that girl."

"She's cursed."

Rolling my eyes at the voices, my countenance falls when the hope of a friend diminishes. If I don't tell this boy about my past, he is bound to find out by someone. After they tell him, he will ignore me like all the rest of them.

Ignoring the loud whispers, Tàiyáng flashes me a huge smile as he walks over to the vacant seat on my left.

But I wasn't watching Tàiyáng.

No, I was watching the faces of all the girls in the classroom and my heart fell. I am sure to hear about their opinions after class. Their eyes burned through my body making me feel uncomfortable. I could sense their anger from my seat. The one moment in my life that I could feel happy, and they could pop it instantly with only their eyes.

I sighed. This new student is going to get me into a lot of trouble........

**************

What do you guys think of this chapter? It's my first time writing about a classroom, so if I make any mistakes, please comment below. I enjoy hearing from you and hope you have fun reading.