Ahem.

The teacher cleared loudly, so as to stop the few snickers she could hear from scattered places in the room, and even went so far as to glare at the producers of the noises. She leaned back down next to Zi Tao, and squeezed his shoulders gently.

“Since you seem a bit scared, I’ll introduce you instead, alright?” she said happily, earning her a single nod of agreement from the small boy, who’s face was still towards the floor.

Mrs. Lambarte looked back up at the class, smiling. “Class 6-C, this is Zi Tao Huang, or for short, Tao, as he likes to be called, and as you can all see, he is a very special student.” She said, loudly and clearly.

Kevin just kept staring, still not believing this boy would be joining his class.

“Tao recently moved all the way from Qingdao, China, to here, our very own Vancouver, Canada, and has chosen our school, Ferndale Elementary, to study at.”

Oh...so he’s Chinese, just like me, Kevin thought curiously, that’s interesting.

“That’s not the only thing that makes him special,” she continued, “Tao has skipped three whole grades, jumping right into grade six, making him the youngest leap student in our school, at the age of 8, about three years younger than the majority of you, which means I would like you all to look out for him, and help him out as if he were your little brother.”

Kevin snorted quietly. Like I need a brother, he thought, how the hell can a dwarf like him skip three whole freaking grades? This kid is like what, a freaking modern Einstein, or something?

As if she had magically read his mind, a girl in the front of the class raised her hand to ask the same question, only in a more contextualized way.

“Mrs. Lambarte, if Tao has skipped three grades, does that mean he’s really smart?” the girl inquired, politely.

The teacher smiled and nodded her head. “Yes, that’s right, Agatha,” she replied, “ Tao here excels outstandingly in numerous fields in contrast to his very young age, especially mathematics, algebra, musical arts, and from what I hear, you are also beginning to take on Wushu, a form of martial arts, am I right?” She beamed at the small boy, and he nodded slowly.

W-wow...thought Kevin in amazement, looks I underestimated him. That’s one hell of a kid, being able to know all that at once.

Mrs. Lambarte faced the class again, but this time, with a more concerned look on her face. Kevin ruffled his eyebrows in confusion at the teacher’s sudden change in emotion.

“Yes, well, despite his prodigal skills, Tao still hasn’t got a full grasp of the English language, and still struggles greatly with it, so when you talk with him, remember to talk slowly and clearly, and try to refrain from using any slang terms he won’t understand, so he can communicate comfortably with all of you.” Mrs. Lambarte then narrowed her eyes seriously. “And keep in mind that if I catch any of you teasing him, or making fun of his accent, I guarantee you detention longer than the line for the chicken hotdogs in the cafeteria, so don’t try and test my patience, understood?”

“Yes, Mrs. Lambarte.” the class replied dully.

Kevin then took the time to look more closely at the fascinating small boy, adjusting his glasses and squinting his eyes.

As he had observed earlier, Tao had black hair, short and straight, with bangs almost covering his eyes, and above it, he wore the black, wool-knit, bear ear beanie. He was wearing circular glasses, much too big for his face, making his eyes look hilariously gigantic.

He looks like a funny little doll, with glasses like that, Kevin thought.

He was wearing a white t-shirt with the word “GIANT” written in black, blocky letters across it. Pfft, Kevin thought, Did he wear that to emphasize himself on purpose? He rolled his eyes, and continued his observation. On top of the t-shirt, Tao wore a black leather jacket, making him look like some sort of minaturized biker. His pants were also black, with some rips around the knees. He wore black Air Jordans on his feet, and had a black messenger bag on his shoulder. His view then took him to look back up at Tao's head. He was stunned to find that, when he looked closer at Tao's ears, the small boy was actually wearing an earring, a black stud! What kind of parents let a freaking eight year old boy pierce his ears?, he thought, looks like things have really changed there in China ever since I left it.

He then looked at Tao's face more closely. He had small, curved lips, and a kind of flat, yet, small nose. His eyes were very narrow, and were also slanted; Kevin thought Tao looked even more Chinese than him! He then suddenly widened his eyes when he saw what was below his eyes. Tao had gigantic, puffy, and very dark eyebags under each eye, which made Kevin realize something quite out of the ordinary.

Forget the doll, he thought, with those humongous eyebags, and the way he's dressed in black and white like that, and how he's all small and roundish, Tao...this kid...he...he looks exactly like a Panda!!

He giggled quietly at the thought, and grinned. I have never seen a more worthy human being of being called Panda, than this Zi Tao kid. It's almost...cute. He then widened his eyes horrifically, realizing what he'd just thought Wait-what?! No! No, No, No! How could I even think of something like that, what the hell is wrong with me? I'm a man! A M-A-N. I don't look at small boys in that way. I'm a man who is as straight as a thin line, both figuratively and physically speaking. I'm a man, and I've got the body hair to prove it. Kevin Li, no, Wu Yifan, is a proper, dignified man, who does not think that this tiny dwarf named Huang Zitao is a cute, adorable, roly-poly Panda....oh, .

Kevin began furiously shaking his head, scratching it, trying to get rid of the thought, and realized his cheeks had began to get slightly warm. He pinched them hard, both screaming and scolding himself mentally.

“Well, now,” Mrs. Lambarte said, “Now that we have finished introductions, let’s get you seated, Tao, alright?” She smiled at Tao. “And since Mr. Li over there in the back seems quite enthusiastic about you being here with us today,” She said, not even looking at Kevin, “I think there’s no better place to seat you than in the empty seat next to him, by the window.”

“Right, Kevin?”

Kevin suddenly became aware of his surroundings, and of what the teacher had just said, and just opened his mouth in awe, his face becoming bright red.