“And here we are!” Xiaolei said as she opened the door to another dorm. Jessica was more than confused as to why they had to go past a few dorm houses and enter this one just to eat dinner. Her unsaid question was answered when Xiaolei spoke up, “We usually have dinner in groups. Come in! I’ll introduce you to everyone around!”

Still apprehensive at meeting the others, Jessica hesitantly followed Xiaolei into the other dorm. There were a few people already seated at the lengthy dining table and they all looked up from their meals when Xiaolei and Jessica arrived.

“Hello, everyone!” Xiaolei greeted in English, implying to the others that she was with someone who didn’t understand their native language. Everyone at the table caught on, smiled, and cheerfully greeted back in English. Xiaolei turned to the new student, gesturing for Jessica to come forward, “This is Jessica Zheng Xiuyan. She just arrived today.”

“Hi, everyone.” Jessica shyly waved her hand in greeting.

“Hello, Jesshika.” Some of them greeted back, gesturing for her to join them for the meal.

“Hello, Xiuyan.” Others returned the greeting with her Chinese name.

Jessica noted that Jinyan was already seated among them, but the others were all unfamiliar to her. Xiaolei helped her to a seat beside Jinyan before settling down to Jessica’s right. “I’ll introduce you to the girls.” Xiaolei said once they’ve settled with plates, chopsticks, and spoons.

Pointing to a short girl with a boyish haircut from across herself, Jessica’s senior roommate said, “This is one of our current dormmate, Guo Cai Jie but she also has an English name. it’s-”

“Amber Kuo. Welcome to the academy and nice to meet you!” Cai Jie interjected in fluent English, before she passed a plate of noodles for Jessica to sample. The latter thanked her graciously before taking a portion of the noodles and passing the plate to Jinyan.

“And this is Xu Mengtao. She’s not just an artist but also an athlete!” Cai Jie said proudly of her seatmate, the one seated across from Jessica.

“Hello! You can call me Tao Tao! A pleasure to meet you!” Mengtao smiled to which Jessica bowed her head in greeting.

Xiaolei also introduced Jessica to the person seated across Jinyan, one of their best dancers. “The lovely girl across Jinyan is also our dormmate and one of the best dancers in this academy, Tang Shiyi!”

“Hello, Jess! Nice to meet you!” Shiyi smiled.

Jessica noticed that she was basically eating dinner with all her dormmates, but she found it strange that they were eating in someone else’s dorm. Her bewilderment was answered when someone came down the stairs from the upper floor.

“So, how’s the hotpot going?” asked a tall, slender lady with brown hair that was tied in a short ponytail. Despite being in her PJs and fluffy slippers, the student had an aura of elegance and authority about her. The presumed hostess of the dinner stopped short when her eyes met Jessica’s. “Oh, you must be the new transfer?”

Jessica blinked, not understanding a word that was said to her in Mandarin.

“Er Jie’s asking if you’re the new transfer.” Xiaolei translated for her.

Er Jie realized her mistake and apologized in English, “Oops. Sorry. My bad. Welcome to Phoenix Academy. I’m the host for tonight’s dinner. My name’s Zhang Xinyi but you can call me, Er Jie.”

“N-Nice to m-meet you and… t-thank you for the meal, E-Er Jie.” Jessica felt herself blush when she heard herself stutter. Her cute demeanor made Er Jie amused as the senior sat herself at the head of the table.

There was one more vacant seat at the table and Jessica wondered who the seat was reserved for. Her thoughts were distracted when Er Jie put a few pieces of dumplings on her plate.

“Eat up, Jessie,” Er Jie said, “You must have been tired and hungry from your flight.” Jessica gratefully smiled as she took a bite of the food that Er Jie had just placed on her plate. Jessica nodded in approval to Er Jie as she chewed the delicious dim sum.

“By the way, where are the others, Er Jie?” Jinyan asked after swallowing a mouthful of rice.

“Cici and Lili went out to grab some school supplies. Wenwen’s asleep in her room. The kid had been sleepless working on her music drafts.” Er Jie replied before taking a bite out of the shrimp tempura.

“But it’s already dinner time, Er Jie. Shouldn’t she get up and eat?” Xiaolei pointed out before yelling out in a loud voice, “YU WENWEN! COME OUT HERE AND EAT!” startling everyone, especially Jessica who was sitting right beside her.

Everyone anticipated someone to come to the dining room, but there seemed to have been no response. Er Jie wiped and hands with a napkin before taking a sip of her tea and standing up. “I’ll try to wake her up. You girls just continue eating. We have more food in the kitchen.”

“Okay.” The rest chorused.

Jessica watched as Er Jie went towards the foyer where one of the bedrooms were located. Xiaolei and the rest of her dormmates continued eating, prompting the new transfer to do the same. She noticed how the food was of different variety and flavors, which gave her more options on which to eat. Her dormmates and Er Jie had put a lot on her plate though.

Her thoughts were disrupted when they heard footsteps coming back to the dining area. Everyone paused in their meal to acknowledge their hosts for tonight’s dinner.

Er Jie was leading a younger lady with wavy black hair flowing down her shoulder. Er Jie’s roommate was sporting a cozy pair of pajamas, one hand holding Er Jie’s while the other clutched a large hedgehog plushie. Jessica tried to make out her face but couldn’t as Er Jie’s roommate’s face was covered with a curtain of hair.

“Wenwen!” Cai Jie and Jinyan chorused, startling the half-awake student.

“Wenwen, come on and eat! It’s late and Jessica’s here.” Xiaolei commanded.

Wenwen looked up sleepily, finally revealing her face for everyone, her eyes scanning their dorm guests at the table.

Their eyes met.

“H-Hello.” Wenwen muttered, eyes fixed on the newbie.

“H-Hi, My name’s Jessica.”

+++

A/N: The anticipated meeting has finally come! Jessica has finally met Er Jie and Wenwen! :3 See y'all on the next update!