Hello!

Over the course of several weeks, Tao opened up more and more, and finally adapted to the new ambience, in school and Vancouver, in general. Not only that, his English improved greatly and quickly, and before he even noticed, he could speak as fluently as any other child his age; he rarely ever stuttered or felt that he didn’t understand something, anymore. It was the help of Mrs. Lambarte’s daily English Comprehension sessions she held with him for an hour at the end of each day, and also his communication with the children and teachers in the classroom, and outside of school.

And of course, another thing that improved, was Kevin and Tao’s relationship. They grew closer than ever to each other in the weeks that passed, and were officially the best of friends. Kevin would always wait the extra hour after school for Tao to finish his EC sessions with the teacher, so they could walk home together. Sometimes, Mrs. Lambarte invited Kevin to sit with them, so they could both benefit from it, and Kevin could help Tao if he didn’t get something. Kevin used this as a another chance to be around Tao as much as he could. One day, their hands touched while they were both reaching for a pencil.

“O-oh, sorry.” Tao said, smiling. “You can take it.”

Kevin had blushed, but didn’t lift his hand. He kept holding Tao’s hand, and it didn’t hit him until Tao had spoken up.

“Um, Kevin?” He asked, quietly. “Is there something wrong?”

“Uh, what?” He snapped back to reality, and looked down at their hands. “Oh, !” he exclaimed, ripping his hand away, embarrassed.

Mrs. Lambarte cleared loudly from the front of the room, where she was getting some question sheets for Tao. “Language, Mr. Li.” she pressed, which made Kevin laugh sheepishly, covering his mouth. “Oops. Sorry, Mrs. Lambarte.” Tao would begin to laugh along with Kevin, and it was times like this that made Kevin feel glad to be at school.

But before any of the students even noticed, Winter Break rolled around, and with it came the feeling of refreshment and freedom from the prison-like bars of school. On the day before Christmas Eve, the last day of school before the break started, Kevin came up to Tao at the end of the day. Tao was just gathering his things. They had a small Christmas party earlier in the class, and there were some snacks that were given out, and even some gifts exchanged. But neither Kevin nor Tao had received any gifts.

“Ahem.”

Tao turned around and saw Kevin standing with his hands behind his back. He had a frowny kind of smile on his face, and his cheeks were pink. Tao blinked and smiled at him.

“What’s up, Kevin?” he said.

Kevin pulled out a panda plushie keychain from behind his back and held it in front of Tao. It took Tao a few moments to realize that it was for him.

“Oh, is this for me?” Tao asked, quietly. Kevin nodded and smiled.

“It’s my, um, Christmas present to you.” He said, shyly. “I saw that none of the other bastards in the class gave you anything, and that pissed me off, so I decided to be the first and only one to give you a gift. I hope you like it.”

Tao took the keychain from Kevin’s hand and giggled, rubbing the plushie against his cheek. “I love it! But how did you know I liked pandas? I don’t remember saying so.”

Kevin coughed and raised his eyebrows. “Lucky guess.” he smiled.

It’s because you ARE a Panda.

Tao then quickly looked back at Kevin, a look of sadness on his face. “Oh, but, I never got you anything!”

Kevin then widened his eyes and began quickly shaking his head. “Oh, that’s okay.” he said. “Gifts aren’t really my style.”

Tao pouted. “Nuh-uh! It isn’t fair to you! I have to give you something in return!”

Kevin laughed slightly. “Well, if you really want to give me something,” Kevin said, smiling. “Why don’t you give me your number?”

Kevin then widened his eyes, realizing what he’d blurted out. He blushed even more when he saw Tao’s jaw drop as well. Tao had begun to understand these kind of terms, and their many interpretations. Kevin shook his head a few times, waving his hands at him with wide eyes.

“Oh, I-I don’t mean it that way!” Kevin exclaimed.” I just, you know, wanted it so we can talk to each other over the break, if we ever get bored!”

Tao blinked and began to giggle at the sight of the embarrassed dragon. He nodded and took out a note book from his bag. He scribbled something down on it, ripped the paper, and handed it to Kevin.

XXX-432-8742

in case you get bored :)

Kevin smiled and looked at Tao. Tao smirked at him, hauling his bag onto his shoulders. The keychain was now dangling from his zipper. “Right?” Tao asked, walking out of the classroom.

Kevin smiled as he walked out next to him, nudging him slightly in the arm.

“Right.”

***

“Hi, um, Tao? It’s me, Kevin. I was just calling to, you know, check on you and stuff. But it looks like you’re not there, so...yeah. Call me back.

______________

“Hey, Tao. I just wanted to see if you were doing okay again. Have you gone outside yet? It’s amazing! There’s so much snow, like, everywhere. I think I’m going to build a snowman. Or, maybe an igloo? I don’t really know. What do you think? It’s me, Kevin.”

______________

“Tao, Tao, you know what, screw the snowmen and the igloos, I have an even better idea! I say I make a giant, super steep hill out of snow, and then actually slide down it. Eh? Eh? Awesome, right? Call me, it’s Kevin.”

______________

“Hey, Kevin! Yeah, I think you should definitely make a steep hill. That’s way awesome-er than a snowman. Snowmen aren’t really your style, like you always say. Oh, and, it’s me, Tao.”

______________

“Oh, and, don’t forget to be careful. I slipped on some ice the other day, and it hurt my really bad. I think it’s bruised; I’m not sure, wait, let me check.”

______________

“Hey, Kevin? Yeah, it’s bruised.”

______________

Click.

“Hello, Tao?”

“Hi, Kevin! Uh, it is Kevin, right?”

“Yeah. What’s up with you? How are you spending your break?”

“Oh, I’m pretty good. I haven’t really done much, my parents are still messing around the house.”

“Oh. Well, how was your Christmas?”

“Pretty much the same. I didn’t do anything because my parents were too busy to actually do anything.”

“That .”

“Yeah. Did you get anything for Christmas?”

“I got an encyclopedia.”

“...Is that even a gift?”

“In my parent’s eyes? Hell yes. ‘There is no gift better than the gift of knowledge, Yifan.’ Their exact words.”

“Huh. That makes my gift from my parents look like a million bucks.”

“What was it?”

“A customized glasses case.”

“Pfft. Consider yourself lucky. I’d choose that over a stupid book filled with information about dead people I don’t even care about, any day. Besides, I’m always misplacing my glasses.”

“Heh, I know, right? One time, I found them inside my sneakers. After I wore the shoes.”

“Let me guess. Your glasses turned into homemade kaleidoscopes.”

“Exactly. How’d you know?”

“Been there, done that, trust me.”

“Oh, I do.”

“Hey, um, Tao?”

“Yeah, Kevin?”

“I know this might be random, but I got this crazy idea just now.”

“What is it? It can’t be crazier than what I just thought of.”

“Oh, yeah? What did you think of?”

“You go first.”

“No, you.”

“No, you said you had the crazy thing to say first, so, you go first.”

“Fine. Sigh.”

“So?”

“...Do you, um, maybe want to meet up with me? I mean, like, here, at my house?”

“...”

“...Tao?”

“Would you be a little surprised if I told you that that was the crazy thing I was thinking about?”

“...Not really, no.”

“Well, okay then.”

“As in, okay about me being surprised, or okay about coming over?”

“Okay about both.”

“Okay. Do you know where I live?”

“...Yes.”

“Oh, okay, then-wait...How do you know, when I never even told you, or showed you?”

“...”

“Tao...”

“...”

“Do you follow me home?”

“...Maybe.”

“What? For how long? Why? Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“I only did it twice, I swear! And I was worried you would get freaked out if I asked you!”

“Sigh...Honestly, Tao? We’re best friends, you’re supposed to ask me! And I’d be actually be freaked if I actually caught you following me.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Just, promise me you won’t keep important stuff like this to yourself anymore. Ask me whatever you like. Okay?”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Good. See you in fifteen minutes then?”

“See you in fifteen minutes.”

“Cool.”

Beeeep.

***

Kevin raced down the stairs when he heard the door knock. He skidded in front of the door, and swung it open with all his force. He smiled when he saw the black bear ears turn to his direction.

“Hi, Kevin!” chirped Tao, who was wrapped in a large black jacket, making him look like a walking burnt marshmallow.

“Hey! You got here really fast.” Kevin replied, putting on his jacket and boots.

“Yeah, I was running.” Tao said. “But not really running, ‘cause then I would fall down and hurt my again.” Tao slowly rubbed his behind, sheepishly giggling.

Kevin cringed and laughed as well. “Yeah, I know what that feels like.” He wrapped his scarf around his neck and stepped outside, beside the smaller boy. “So, let’s play in the snow until our fingers freeze up, and then we’ll go inside and watch T.V. or something.”

Tao grinned and made a thumbs-up gesture. “Okay!” Kevin smiled and pulled Tao with him down the stairs, running over to a large hill of snow, just outside of his front yard. “What are we waiting for, then?” Kevin exclaimed.

They instantly began mowing through the snow, building it up and stacking it. They kicked at it with their boot