Crunch!

Kevin took a large bite out of the shiny, red apple in his hand, and began to chew, his cheeks filling up and resembling the cheeks of a chipmunk. He looked across the table at Tao, who was just sitting with his head down and hands on his lap. He tilted his head slightly, still chewing, then pushed the paper bag over to Tao.

“Go ahead and take something, Tao,” Kevin said with his mouth full, “You’ve gotta be starving.”

Tao shifted uneasily in his seat, and didn’t look up at Kevin. “I-I can’t do that...it is your food...” he said in a small voice.

Kevin stopped chewing and stared at Tao for a few moments. Then, out of the blue, he let out a thunderous sigh and flung his arms up, startling Tao to the point of almost jumping off the table’s bench.

“Oh, my God, Tao!” he grunted, “I said that I wanted to share my lunch with you, so don’t be such a chicken, and eat something!” He pulled out a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich from the bag, peeled off the plastic wrap, and set the sandwich in front of Tao.

“There, now eat.” Kevin ordered, sitting back. “Don’t make me get up and force it into you.” He pointed a firm finger at Tao to emphasize his reasoning, and bit into his apple again, still watching Tao.

Tao just sat, nonplussed, and looked at the sandwich. Letting out a small sigh, he reached for it, took it, and bit into it. After the first bite, Tao widened his eyes and smiled slightly, he thought it tasted amazing! It was his first time eating Western food, so it was an entirely new sensation to him. He took another bite, and another, and then another, getting almost 3/4 ways through the sandwich in under just a minute.

Kevin stared in amazement, never before seeing Tao make such exaggerated emotions, and giggled slightly at the funny sight of the small boy devouring the sandwich.

“Hey, hey, hey, slow down, little Panda!” Kevin exclaimed, smiling, “I know PB&J tastes great, but if you keep mowing down the sandwich like that, you’re going to get a tummy-ache!”

Tao gasped in the middle of his chewing, and put the sandwich down quickly, along with his head, blushing from embarrassment at what Kevin had told him.

Kevin laughed louder, and reached for the paper bag again. “Oh, come on, Tao, it’s okay, you can finish your sandwich, I just don’t want you to regret eating it afterwards.” Kevin soothed, pulling something out of the bag. “And this’ll probably help make scoffing it down more easier.”

Tao looked up and found a grape juice box in front of him. He looked up at Kevin. “B-but you don’t...have any...” he squeaked. Kevin shrugged and waved his hand in direction of the juice box, gesturing to Tao to just drink it.

“It’s okay. I want you to drink it.” Kevin said nonchalantly, “Grape juice is not really my style.”

Tao looked at Kevin and gave him a single nod of agreement, and looked back down, taking the juice box in his hand, opening it, and sticking the straw in his mouth, taking small sips. Kevin nodded back, and finished his apple. He looked down and began playing with his fingers.

Looks like Tao still hasn’t opened up completely yet, he thought. I mean, I know he just got here and everything, and it’s obviously going to take a while for him to get used to this new atmosphere, just like me when I first came to Canada, but...

Maybe I can help speed up the process a bit...

Kevin snapped back to reality when he suddenly felt a small poke on his cheek. He glanced up quickly, and found the grape juice box stuck directly in front of his face. He arched an eyebrow and tilted his head sideways, to see behind the juice box.

Tao was holding it up, standing up on the bench and leaning all the way over the table to do it. He had a somewhat serious look on his face, and Kevin could only stare back in confusion, not understanding what Tao wanted.

“You want more?” Kevin inquired.

“Drink some.” Tao said, quietly.

Kevin raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised by his request. “But I told you before, I don’t want-”

Tao then changed his expression to that of a small pout, frowning his eyebrows and pursing his bottom lip out.

“Drink some...d-don’t make me...force it...to you...” Tao said firmly, making his voice a bit more audible.

Kevin just stared back at the small boy in awe, stunned first by his drastic change in expression and tone, and second by the rigid order he had given him. He couldn’t believe how Tao had managed to use the same trick against him this time