Sunday, October 28^th, 2018

                It read six forty five on the clock when Zitao woke up from his sleep. He fumbled over a whole mess of stuff he put on the night stand before he could get to his alarm clock and mute it. He ran his hand over his face and sprung up from the bed in a flash, realizing he was late for school. Quickly grabbed his towel and toothbrush, he zoomed into the restroom like his life depended on it. Half way into brushing his teeth, Zitao realized it was Sunday today. He slumped over the counter and let out a rather loud groan for getting out of bed early for nothing.

                Zitao’s parents all went to work since six o’clock sharp and since he was up this early on a weekend day he decided to go out for some breakfast. He stopped by a small street vendor not too far from his house and ordered his usual breakfast dish: pho and not to forget his favorite lemon ice tea. Just when he finished ordering, a tall, young boy, maybe around his age, walked past him and sat down on an empty table across from Zitao. He took a quick glance at the other boy, but turned away abruptly when their eyes met. His heart jumped; his face was getting hot as minutes went by. After awhile, the other boy took his eyes off Zitao and his body relaxed. He looked into his phone, pretending to be busy this minute, then look out into the street of Saigon and just admire its beauty.

                A moment later, the vendor owner brought out Zitao’s lemon tea, but she gave it to the other boy instead. Since Zitao glued his eyes into his phone, he didn’t notice until the other boy almost took a sip out of his cup.

                “Hey, isn’t that my tea??” He yelled

                The other boy looked confused, took him a few seconds to gather his thought and slowly looked over to Zitao’s seat, “I thought this was free…?”

                “No no no, good things in life are never free. Now give it back, I paid for that.” Zitao stood up in a flash and leaned over the table to snatch back his cup of tea, still being extra careful not to spill a drop. He happily sat back into his stool and took a sip out of it, smiling as he went. Zitao’s smile seemed very contagious to the other boy, and not long after seeing that smile, he smiled along just because.

                “Have I seen you before? You look awfully familiar.”

                “I don’t know, you tell me.” Tao answered, still sipping continuously on his drink

                “What’s your name?”

                “Zitao. I go to TDN High School, if that answered your question.”

                “Oh, I’m a transfer. My name is Kris.”