Chapter Text
It was the morning after the big dance at the middle school. Summer was in the air. Mei was humming away in the shower, still tingling from excitement despite a good night’s sleep. Her face burned and it wasn’t because of the steaming hot water raining down on her. All she could think about was Tyler and all the fun they had dancing to 4*Town; all the kissing they did, too. The boy had asked Mei if she wanted to meet him for lunch the next day; his treat.
“I have something to give you.” She recalled the boy telling her.
“I wonder what.” Mei thought ecstatically, grinning to herself.
After drying herself off and getting dressed in her room, Mei dashed out toward the front door.
“Bye, mom! Bye, dad!” She chimed quickly before disappearing outside. Ming and Jin sat at the kitchen table with puzzled faces. All they had seen was a red blur zip by them, yelling gibberish.
POOF! Mei became the red panda, leaping from building to building, rocketing herself over Toronto's traffic-laden streets with pink smokey clouds propelling her. Soon enough, she reached the address Tyler had provided her. POOF! Mei was human again. She stood before a noodle bar called Ramenado. Mei mused at the clever logo on the eatery’s sign, which depicted a bowl with noodles spinning out of it like a destructive tornado.
“Yo, babe!” Tyler called to the girl as he hurried across the nearby street, a backpack flopping behind him.
Mei beamed brightly at her boyfriend’s arrival. “Hey, boo!”
They hugged as if they had been apart for eternity.
“Get ready for the most epic noodles you’ll ever have.”
Mei smirked, knowing too well how amazing her father’s lo mein is. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
The couple entered Ramenado and took their seats on the bar stools, receiving some odd looks from the nearby older patrons.
“Sorry, bar seating is for adults only.” The cook behind the counter stated as he sautéed noodles in a wok.
“But … we are adults.” Tyler mumbled before eyeing Mei. “Right?”
Mei dug out her trusty bus pass and flashed it at the cook. “Yeah, according to the Toronto Transit Commission. Show yours, Ty.”
Tyler obliged and pulled his identical card out with a defiant grin. “Read it and weep!”
The cook wasn’t convinced, though. He pointed at the alternative seats close by. “Booth … NOW!”
Tyler grumbled but Mei rolled her eyes and guided the boy to their new spot.
“Booths are more comfortable anyway, Ty.” Mei said.
Upon claiming their new seats, the waitress approached the couple. “What’ll it be, you two?”
“We’ll have two shoyu ramens.” Tyler ordered. “Extra green onions, please.”
“You got it.” The waitress nodded politely and trailed off.
“So… Ty. You told me last night you have something to give me?” Mei smiled sweetly at him, like a puppy awaiting a treat.
Tyler opened his backpack, took out an old, beat-up folder and handed it to her. Intrigued, Mei flipped it open and found stacks of her old spicy notebook drawings of Devon — the Daisy Mart clerk — as a merman, and as a ripped stud embracing a sparkly-eyed Mei. A twinge of embarrassment hit her.
Tyler looked away in shame. “I felt I should give them back to you instead of throw them away and sweep that whole prank I pulled under the rug, y’know?”
“Ty …”
A lump formed in his throat. “They’re your private drawings, Mei. It wasn’t my business to plaster them all over the school. I still feel like an idiot for doing that to you.”
“Well, don’t!” Mei slapped the papers onto the table. “I've already made it clear that it’s all in the past. You’re not that lonely jerkface anymore, Ty.”
Mei gently reached her hand out across the table.
“You’re my jerkface.”
Tyler joyfully gazed at Mei and gladly took her hand.
“Thanks for giving them back, though.” Mei said softly. "I appreciate it."
“Anything for you, dork narc.” Tyler sneered lovingly at the red-haired girl. “But really, though … Devon?”
“Shut it!” Mei snapped. "It was a phase!"
Tyler snorted into uproarious laughter and Mei couldn’t help but follow suit.
The waitress returned with two piping hot bowls of shoyu ramen, artfully decked out with green onions, mushrooms, and seasoned eggs. Tyler inhaled the soup’s heavenly umami scent through his nose and smacked his lips.
“Ready to grub?”
Mei determinedly broke apart her disposable chopsticks. “Totally!”