Ling, Xue, Rae Part 1

"Why don't you stand up and introduce yourself?"

"Ni hao! Wo shi Ling."

"Ling in English please."

"Oh. Please forgive my Chinese. I meant to say hello my name is Ling."

"Thank you.  Now everyone Ling has just moved from Singapore so could someone get her a book please?"

 The Nice Girl raises her hand.  The teacher simply nods in her direction and moves to the lesson he's written on the board.  Ling has repeated the same dumb Chinese girl act in all her classes so far today and she's growing tired of it.  But she knows that it's the best way to get people to forget about her.  Well that is after the initial bout of name calling and ching chang chonging.  But she's has been doing this all day so she's found that most of them are pretty unoriginal.  Like you Jeremiah, you are officially the seventh person to yell slanty eyes today. Ling has noted this and is planning your punishment now.

"Hey!" the overly peppy voice of Nice Girl or Rachel pierces Ling's ears.

"Ni... I mean hello."

"Do you remember me? I'm Rachel from first hour."

"Oh yes " insert false smile here, "Thanks for pointing me to my math class"

"Well we have a few extra books back here."

"Thanks again" and another fake smile grips Ling's face.

"Hey can I ask why you chose Spanish.  I mean you could have taken the ESL class."

"Spanish is a typical American elective, yes?"

"Well yeah."

"Then that is why."

With this Ling wades through the close packed aisle of the Spanish room, nimbly dodging the outstretched legs trying to trip her.  After reaching her seat--the only one left it is broken, grafittied, and situated in the far back of the classroom-- Ling sits down and pulls out her typical American black notebook.  Though this is a normal occurrence for every student Ling's is a little different.  Perhaps it is the slight grayish tint of the pages. Or the careful way she handles it.  But perhaps the biggest difference is the words DEATH NOTE written on the cover.  The students pay no mind to Ling or the teacher, instead choosing to text on brand new iPhones or simply pass notes on pages of paper.

"Rae?"

"Aye Ling."

"Jeremiah Hall."

"I don't recommend it.  He has too many friends."

"He needs to be taught a lesson.  They all do."

"What happened to blending in? To adapting to your surroundings?"

"I. Can't. Help. It.  There's too much blood lust."

"Is it Xue?"

"No. It’s me.  Ling."

"Aye, Ling.  Kill him if you want, I can't stop you."

"Good"