Chapter 23: Budding Friendship
Sunflower Kindergarten.
The school session ended and the students were let to play in the classroom as they waited for their parents to fetch them. Because it was raining outside, none of the students were allowed to go to the playground.
Hazel Mo was sitting in the corner with a few girls with their drawing paper in front of them and crayons neatly arranged beside them. The girl had just finished drawing her favorite bunny plush going on an adventure when she saw Alex He at the side.
Unlike the other kids, Alex often played alone with his robots. Other than his best friend, Tyler Lu, Alex was not close to anyone else.
Thinking about their coincidental meeting last weekend, Hazel decided to walk over to Alex and talk to him. "Alex He."
The little guy looked up. When he saw Hazel Mo, he tilted his head sideways. "Hazel, what's wrong?"
"You," Hazel paused when she noticed that the other kids gathered around to watch them. When the others saw that Hazel was looking at them, they turned around and went back to whatever they were doing before.
Seeing that everyone had stopped staring at them, Hazel sat down next to Alex. Her gaze paused on the robot in his hand and wondered why does Alex love to play with them so much.
"You have something to tell me?" Alex spoke when the girl beside him did not say anything.
"It's not that I have something to tell… But, I'm just curious. Alex He… Why do you always play alone?"
Hearing the question, Alex paused before he looked at Hazel with a smile on his face. "What's wrong with playing alone?"
Hazel found that she could not find a way to answer to his response. However, she had seen Alex always playing by himself a few times, she thought that it was too lonely.
"I think building robots is interesting, but the others did not share the same opinion. They liked to play with robots, but not the way I like them," Alex said. A bright smile appeared on his lips as he talked about them. He pulled a part of the robot and attached it to a different part. When he looked up again, Alex could not miss the way that Hazel was staring at the robot. Alex hesitated for a few seconds and asked, "Do you want to try building a robot?"
Hazel was about to reply that she was not interested in building in the robot when she heard Alex's next words.
"Teacher Qian liked to build robots too."
Her eyes went wide upon hearing this new information.
"Sometimes, when Teacher Qian came to my house, she would help me to build the Gundam robot model with me," Alex said.
Hearing that her favorite teacher was into building robots, Hazel was suddenly interested. "But, I don't know how."
"I can teach you," Alex said. His eyes sparkled at the thought that Hazel might be interested in building a robot. "I have a lot of Gundam model at home. Later, how about I give you one and teach you how to assemble them? Of course, if we encountered a difficult part, we can always ask Teacher Qian to help. Other than my father, Teacher Qian is very good at it."
Hazel balled her hand into a fist and straightened up. "Alright." Although she was not very interested in them, Hazel thought that it would not be bad if she gave it a try.
At this time, the classroom door swung open and Teacher Qian appeared at the door with a smile on her face.
"Alex He, Hazel Mo, come. Someone is here to pick you up."
Hazel Mo stood up and went to tidy up her things. Just as she was about to head to the door, her friend, Megan Xiao tugged her on her sleeves. Hazel turned to her friend and tilted her head sideways.
"Hazel," the little girl whispered. "What did you say to Alex?"
Hazel glanced at the boy who was talking to Teacher Qian at the door. "Nothing. I was asking why he was playing alone. What's wrong?"
Her friend smiled. "I have never seen you talk to Alex before."
Hazel smiled.
She knew that the girls didn't talk to Alex that much. It was not because he was snobby or naughty, but Alex He was usually quiet.
Hazel chatted with her friends a little bit and bid them goodbye.
When she walked out with her teacher, the rain had stopped. Hazel found Grandfather Tang, her uncle's driver, stood at the entrance waiting for her. Beside him was a tall, handsome, bespectacled man. Looking at the man reminded Hazel to someone. She lowered her gaze and saw Alex He attached to the man's leg.
"Daddy!" Alex shouted.
When Alex He noticed that someone was looking at him, he immediately released his grip on his father's leg and turned around. Suddenly, there was a shy look on his face. "Hazel. You're going back too?"
"Un." Hazel Mo nodded. She glanced at the tall man again. "This is your father?"
Alex nodded. "Yes."
This was Hazel's first time seeing Alex He's father. Usually, it was Alex's mother who would pick him up.
Hazel looked at the bespectacled man again and noticed that Alex looked very much like his father. Hazel straightened her body when her gaze met with Alex's father. She nodded and said, "Hello, Alex's father."
Ethan He lowered his body and smiled at the little girl. "Hello. You must be Alex He's classmate."
"Yes. My name is Hazel Mo."
Ethan's eyes flickered upon hearing Hazel's name. He exchanged a look with Edith, saw her smile, and guessed that Hazel was Neil Mo's niece. Ethan turned around to look for that influential man, however, other than the old man beside him, he could not see anyone else.
Hazel took Grandfather Tang's hand and waved with the others. "Goodbye, Teacher Qian. Bye Alex." Then, she went along with the driver and walked over to her uncle's vehicle.
Grandpa Tang led Hazel to the back seat and opened the door for her.
Once Hazel shuffled inside, she saw her uncle was speaking to someone on the phone in a language she did not understand. He turned to her with his phone sandwiched between his ears and shoulder as he helped her with her seat belt.
As the driver began to drive, Hazel leaned on the seat and enjoyed the scenery outside the windows.
She especially loved the street just before they entered her uncle's place. There were shady trees lined up at both sides of the road and Hazel loved to look up at the sunlight peeking through the branches and leaves.
"Hazel."
The girl turned around when she heard her uncle called out her name.
"Your grandma and grandpa missed you," Neil spoke. "Let's go and visit your grandparents this weekend. What do you say?"
Hazel thought about her grandparents that she had not seen for more than a month and nodded. "Alright."
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