Reach

The fleeting break always ended much faster than the students could anticipate, and before they knew it, they were back in the classroom once again. When they returned, the once golden sunlight that filtered through the windows had turned silver, and the shifting of the clear gray skies seemed to signify the last dregs of autumn.

"Welcome back, students," Mr. Wen greeted them cheerfully, which the students returned with an unenthusiastic tone. "Great work on finishing your essays. Don't forget that the presentation is coming up in the next few weeks, so get to work."

The students groaned in unison. Among them, Chen An could distinctly hear Li Jun Jie's voice, a tinge of a smile in his tone that seemed like it was only meant for her, but she didn't dare turn back to look at him.

Perhaps it was their restlessness or perhaps the teachers were also reluctant to let go of their blissful interlude, but the first classes after the break always seemed to drag on forever. Finally, the bell sounded and set the students free from their temporary prisons.

Lu Xi Xi turned to leave first, and Chen An promised to catch up with her after she finished copying Mr. Wen's notes from the chalkboard.

"Hello, my little stranger," a voice whispered in her ear, and Chen An could feel its cold breath fan across her face.

Chen An turned to find Li Jun Jie leaning only centimeters away from her face. She froze, almost afraid that any movement would break the fragile air between them. Coming to her senses, Chen An whispered through gritted teeth, "Li Jun Jie, you know we have to pretend to be strangers in school. What if Xi Xi sees?"

"Don't worry." Li Jun Jie stood upright, distractedly turning in circles as he spoke. "We're partners for this project, remember? If anything, you can say you couldn't get rid of me."

Chen An slowly nodded, though her eyes still drifted nervously to the door.

Li Jun Jie leaned against his old desk and focused his attention on Chen An. "Anyway, when do you want to work on the presentation?" Li Jun Jie asked.

"How about tonight?" Chen An suggested.

Li Jun Jie hummed, leaning forward to meet her eye. He smiled faintly, and Chen An wondered if he was laughing at her. "Okay, come to my apartment after your orchestra rehearsal today."

Before Chen An could protest, Li Jun Jie walked out of the classroom, leaving her with a blank notebook page open in front of her.

After her orchestra rehearsal, Chen An stood outside of Li Jun Jie's door, clutching the handle of her violin case tightly in her hand. She raised a closed fist, hesitating for a moment, before knocking.

As if he was waiting for her on the other side, Li Jun Jie swung the door open almost immediately, and they both settled in their normal places on opposite sides of the table.

"What do you want to do for the presentation?" Li Jun Jie asked.

"How about a Powerpoint?" Chen An suggested automatically.

Li Jun Jie sighed. "What else could I expect from you, An An?"

He slid the assignment sheet across the table, the word "creative" circled many times over in blue pen.

Taking matters into his own hands, Li Jun Jie pondered aloud, "How about we play to our own strengths?"

Chen An raised a curious eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I draw an art piece, and you write a song," Li Jun Jie explained, clapping resolutely as if bringing two invisible things together. "It's a win-win."

"I don't know." Chen An hesitated. "I still have to write my piece for the winter concert. I don't know if I could write another one on top of that."

Li Jun Jie clicked his tongue, leaning his elbow on the table toward Chen An. "Have you ever heard the expression 'kill two birds with one stone'? Just use the same piece. I doubt Mr. Wen could tell the difference anyway."

"Are you sure?" Chen An felt uneasy about the devious plan, though it technically did not break any of the rules.

Li Jun Jie nodded, already decided. "I have to make a new piece for the city art competition finals, anyway. I'll follow your lead."

"Okay," Chen An finally agreed. "But, I'll need some time to work on the music. I don't even know where to start."

"I'll help you come up with ideas." Li Jun Jie tapped his head. "Whatever you need, it's all in here."

As before, the blank staff paper stared at Chen An tauntingly, the endless rows of lines building dread in her stomach. She thought hard about her essay, but her mother's world had always played like a silent movie, and no sound could replicate her mother's lost voice, no matter how hard Chen An tried.

Chen An looked at Li Jun Jie, who sketched mindlessly on the corner of the assignment sheet. "What did you write your essay about?"

Li Jun Jie furrowed his brow, but before he could deny Chen An, she explained, "I'll need to know what you wrote to write the music."

Chen An could almost see the conflict swirling in his brain when he sighed and stood from his chair, walking in the direction of his bedroom. "Come on, I'll show you."

Reluctantly, Chen An followed him, lingering in the doorway of his bedroom. It was cleaner than it had been the last time she had seen it: the canvases were propped against the wall in order by size, the scrapped paper had been swept up and discarded, the diagnosis report was nowhere in sight.

Li Jun Jie reached for something on top of his bookshelf, revealing a leather bound photo album with his name printed in gold font in its center.

When he flipped open the cover, its contents were unexpected. Each plastic sleeve held a portrait of Li Jun Jie, sometimes alone and sometimes with much older adults. He held the same expression in each photograph no matter the age, the cold face Chen An had come to know.

Even in his childhood pictures, he wore a suit that seemed much too big for his thin frame. The adults too were dressed smartly, their heavy hands resting on Li Jun Jie's shoulder. The photographs became sparser as Li Jun Jie grew older, only one in the very back that seemed recent enough to be from this year.

"From those fancy business dinners my parents go to." There was a pensive smile on Li Jun Jie's face. "Those are all of their business partners."

In this moment, Chen An was keenly aware of how different they really were. Li Jun Jie's life was one that she wouldn't admit she envied, but in reality, she could only desire his loving family, his parents that always returned for him, the comfortable life they had offered him.

Many people dreamed of coveting the luxurious position of the heir to business conglomerate presidents, but Chen An thought Li Jun Jie's parents were already too much for her to ask for.

"Every one of those people told my parents I was sure to be a successful businessman one day. The only questions they ever seemed to ask me was where I was going to study in university, what company I was going to work for." Li Jun Jie let out a bitter laugh. "I was an obedient child once. I told them everything they wanted to hear: I would go to the best business school in the country and come back to help my parents with work at their company. I was praised for being a filial son, for having my head set straight on my shoulders."

"But, they didn't mean those words. Each of them had a kid of their own that they thought was in competition with me. Every time I slipped up, they would gossip endlessly about what shame I brought to my parents. I thought I belonged to their world, but it turns out I was just a hostage."

"When I chose to became an artist, it was as if I was tossed aside as just another failure of their cruel system. I wondered every day if I should go back, live the life my parents had tried so hard to make for me." Li Jun Jie's voice went quiet. "But, I want to be my own person. I want to do all of those crazy things that kids normally do. I have never once been a child in my whole life."

In a strange way, Chen An could understand him. There was nothing that overlapped between them, like two parallel lines running forward simultaneously. But, when Chen An looked at Li Jun Jie, she finally felt as if they were seeing each other eye to eye. There was a faint aching behind Chen An's heartbeat, and she wondered if it was Li Jun Jie's.

"It seems like they only let me go when it's too late." The words seemed like they were only for himself, but Chen An heard them anyway. She bit her tongue, afraid to ask what he meant.

Instead, Chen An raised her hand to pat his head as she did with the children in the art class. Li Jun Jie looked up at her, unaccustomed to Chen An reaching out to touch him first. She didn't look back at him, her eyes trained on the copper streaks in his hair that colored in the light.

Li Jun Jie leaned into her touch, and the boy that had once towered in front of her in class seemed much smaller.

Li Jun Jie's phone rang, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. Pulling it out from his pocket, his eyes scanned the screen. "She must've heard me talking about her. It's my mother. I'll be back in second, An An."

Chen An nodded, watching his back disappear as he stepped into the hallway.

Leafing through the photo album, a picture fell from its plastic covering. The picture was grainy, as if taken on a vintage camera: the colors muted, and the lines blurring into each other. It was a photo of Chen An and Li Jun Jie on the playground as children, the only one in the album where Li Jun Jie was dressed as a normal kid. Even then, it was clear that they didn't like each other: Chen An had her arms crossed and looked away from the camera while Li Jun Jie's usual stony expression graced his face, though it looked funny on his childish features.

Chen An returned the picture carefully to its sleeve, but a note was written on the back in Mrs. Li's pretty handwriting. "Li Jun Jie and the girl next door. I hope they will become friends."

Smiling unconsciously, Chen An whispered softly, "I hope they will, too."