Promise Under the Moonlight

Lin Yue had never believed in fate. She believed in trains that arrived on time, umbrellas that did not break at the worst moment, and homework that was finished the night before. So when the rain started pouring the instant she stepped off the bus in front of Mingyuan High School, she only sighed and pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. It was her first day as a transfer student. Her mother had taken a new job in this city, and Lin Yue had been uprooted in the middle of her junior year like a flower pulled out of familiar soil. She told herself she did not mind. She told herself that a new school was just a new room to sit quietly in. She was good at sitting quietly. The gate of Mingyuan High rose out of the rain like something out of an old painting. Grey stone walls curled around an inner courtyard full of old plum trees. The school had been built nearly a century ago, and though most of its classrooms were now modern, the central building still carried its original name carved in faded calligraphy above the entrance: Mingyuan, which meant 'bright garden.' Lin Yue hurried through the gate, shoes soaked, when something made her stop. At the far end of the courtyard, beneath the oldest plum tree, a boy was standing in the rain. He was not running. He was not even trying to stay dry. He simply stood there, staring up at the branches as if he were listening to something only he could hear. His uniform was neat, his hair dark and slightly damp, and though she could only see him from the side, Lin Yue felt that she had walked in on a scene she was not supposed to witness. She quickly looked away and hurried up the steps, pretending she had seen nothing. The principal's office smelled like old paper and jasmine tea. A tall, kind-looking woman in glasses reviewed her file and smiled. 'Welcome to Mingyuan, Lin Yue. We have put you in Class 2-B. Your homeroom teacher is Mr. Chen. He is a little strict, but fair.' She paused. 'And there is one more student in your class who was also assigned as your guide for the first week. His name is Gu Yan.' Lin Yue nodded politely. She did not yet know that the name would follow her through every strange thing that happened next. Class 2-B was at the end of a long corridor on the third floor. When Lin Yue stepped inside, a wave of chattering voices fell quiet for a moment, then started up again, only softer, as if someone had turned down a radio. She stood at the front beside Mr. Chen, who introduced her in a dry, businesslike way. 'Lin Yue, transfer from the southern district. She will be sitting by the window. Gu Yan will show her around this week. Any questions? No? Good.' Lin Yue bowed her head a little to the class and walked toward the window seat. Only when she sat down did she realize who was sitting at the desk beside hers. It was the boy from the courtyard. The boy who had been standing in the rain. His uniform was dry now, which did not make sense. His hair was dry too. He was reading a book with a worn dark blue cover, and when she sat down he did not look up. 'Um,' she said quietly. 'The teacher said you would show me around.' 'I heard,' he answered without turning his head. His voice was low and calm. 'Lunch is on the second floor. Library is on the fourth. Do not go to the back courtyard after sunset.' She blinked. 'Why not?' Finally he looked at her. His eyes were darker than any eyes she had seen before, the kind of dark that was not black but something deeper, the color of a sky that had forgotten the stars. 'Because it is not safe,' he said simply, and went back to his book. At first Lin Yue thought he was joking, in the dry way that some boys joked. But he did not smile, and he did not take back his words. She opened her notebook, pretended to care about the lesson, and told herself that Gu Yan was only a strange boy in a strange school and that she had more important things to do than wonder about him. She lasted until lunch. In the cafeteria, she sat alone at the end of a long table, picking at her rice. A group of girls at the next table were whispering and glancing at her. Lin Yue was used to this. New students were always interesting for a day or two. She just had to be patient.