The Apple of My Eye

Guo groaned and rolled over on his bed, one arm flailing through the air, trying to find the annoying source of sound that had awoken him from his much-needed sleep. His hand slapped the empty nightstand surface a few times before landing on his buzzing phone. Guo squinted, staring at the caller ID on his cracked screen.

It read: pIng 😜🍎

He groaned. Guo wasn't ready for this this early in the morning.

Despite his exhaustion and annoyance protesting at him, Guo tapped the green answer button.

"Guo! You answered! Took ya long enough!" Ping's bubbly voice cheered into his eardrums.

"Ping, it's freaking 8 am. On a Saturday. I just had my exams and pulled 3 all-nighters before that. Let me sleep in peace."

"Aww," she pouted, "That kinda sucks. You said you'd come with me to pick apples for Thanksgiving, remember? And why do you already have exams? Like, it's only October?"

"I dunno... my teacher sucks. Man, I'm tired..."

Ping giggled.

"That's why you should have chosen to take home economics with me! I still don't get why you chose advanced literature. Writing takes brain cells, and I only have a limited amount of that."

Guo cracked a small smirk, rubbing his eyes and slowly rolled out of his sheets.

"Limited amount? You'd be lucky if you had one," he chuckled.

He heard Ping's jaw drop open as an offended gasping escaped through her lips.

"Ouch..." she muttered, feigning sadness, pretending to nurse her hurt ego.

Guo laughed again.

"Come pick me up in 10, and bring 3 cups of espresso."

Ping blinked.

"What? I thought you said you're too tired to come,"

"Well, I did promise, didn't I?" Guo responded.

"Okay! I'll be there!" Ping happily responded, then the call ended.

Guo sighed.

As much as he liked Ping, people like her could be exhausting and energy-draining to hang around with for introverts like him.

Guo and Ping had met in elementary, when Ping noticed how Guo was always alone and started hanging out with him. At first, Guo did not like Ping at all. In fact, he even hated her. You couldn't really blame him either. Ping and Guo were polar opposites. Ping was extremely extroverted, while Guo was the CEO of all introverts. Ping loved talking to people and going to new places, while Guo would rather stay home and be alone. Ping would watch movies and tv, while Guo preferred books and novels. Their differences didn't only stop at their personalities.

Ping's legal name was Penny, and she was born in Canada and raised on a family farm in Okanagan Valley, Kelowna. Penny simply preferred being called Ping, and she loved being raised on a farm. Her family owned a fruit farm, and Ping always loved to help out. She had a rather big family, 11 siblings in total, plus all her aunts and uncles and grandparents and grandaunts and granduncles and... you get the point. They were humble and often struggled with money-related problems, but they got through all of them. Ping was a rather short person, standing at 5' 4" even though she was already 17. She had bob length auburn hair and shining evergreen eyes. Her birthday is on December 31, 2003.

Guo's full name was Guo Ru Chao, and he was born in China and raised in a mansion in Shanghai. His parents were successful business leaders that didn't have a lot of time for him, which made him distant and isolated, the introvert he is today. They immigrated to Canada when he was 4 to expand their company. Guo was a single child, and although he came from a wealthy background, he was never spoiled. His relationship with his parents wasn't that great, as they weren't even home that often because of work. He had dark raven black hair that sometimes seemed almost blue under direct sunlight. His shaded eyes have a certain pierce to them, almost like he could tell exactly what your thoughts and intentions were. His birthday was January 1, 2003, making him almost a full year older than Ping.

In the end, they were as different as Ying and Yang. But you know what they say, right?

Opposites attract.

Guo shook out his midnight sky hair, and splashed some water across his face. He reached for his contacts, hesitated, then pulled back his hand. Nah. He was too tired to bother and put them in. Instead, Guo grabbed his glasses and returned to his bedroom. He slipped on a sap green bomber jacket over his white t-shirt, and switched out his pajama bottoms for a pair black jeans. Slipping on his low black Converse shoes, he headed out, opening the door to a gust of chilly wind and fiery leaves dancing in the breeze.

Ping was already there, sitting in her black Jeep which she probably borrowed from one of her brothers. She grinned, a sight similar to sunshine, at Guo who only made a face in return. He swung open the door and stepped inside, slamming the door behind him. Ping giggled as she watched Guo rub his hands together, and turned up the heat. Guo gave a small smile, nodding in acknowledgment. Looking around, Guo spoke.

"Where's my coffee?"

Ping rolled her eyes playfully.

"I bet you haven't had anything to eat yet. You can't have coffee on an empty stomach! Here, I brought you a bagel as well." Ping offered him a slightly warm bagel wrapped in aluminum foil.

Guo opened his mouth, about to protest, but stopped when he saw Ping's worried smile.

"Okay," he muttered under his breath, taking the bagel. Ping beamed at him.

"Your coffee's in the backseat, by the way."

"Now, it's time to hit the road!" Ping cheered, as she slammed the gas pedal.

- 3 hour later -

"Ow! That hurt!" Guo rubbed his head.

"Sorry," Ping giggled, not looking very sorry at all.

"What were you even trying to do?" Guo grumbled, leaning down and picking up the bruised apple that had whacked him in the head.

"I was trying to get it into the basket," Ping said simply, standing up on her tippy-toes and plucking another apple from the tree.

She was wearing a wool scarf the color of the red maple leaves that were roaming the grassy ground. Underneath, she had on a thick beige winter coat that reached all the way down to mid-thigh. Over her black leggings, Ping had on brown-furred boots. To top off the look, she wore a beanie the same color as her scarf, with a light gray pom-pom on top.

"Why would you even attempt to do that? You know you have terrible aim, plus the apple got bruised!"

Ping stuck out her tongue at him.

"Well, maybe it's because I don't have any braincells, according to a certain someone."

Guo narrowed his eyes at her.

They had just gotten to Ping's family farm a little while ago. Everyone was already out in the fields preparing for dinner except for Ping's grandmother. They had greeted her, then grabbed a couple of straw baskets and headed out the apple orchards.

It was a great field of green, dotted with hundreds and hundreds of big, bright red apples. It stretched out for arches and arches, before fading into a plain of blueberry bushes. The apples were big and round, the largest ones almost twice the size of a baseball. The greens and red blended together perfectly, creating a breathtaking view. It was Guo's first time on Ping's farm, and he had never seen such a beautiful autumn scenario.

"Hey, I got my basket full. You done yet?" Guo called to Ping.

"Yeah, I'm done as well. Come on, let's head back!" Ping swung the basket over her shoulder, using the straps to carry it like a backpack. She skipped ahead of Guo, humming a joyful tune while happily staring at the clouds. eager to reunite with her family.

Guo trailed after her. He had never, ever told her this, but Guo was somewhat jealous of Ping. Jealous that she had such a loving family that cared about her. Jealous that she had so many siblings she could hang out with. Jealous that she had parents that actually paid attention to her.

Guo's parents were never really there for him. They were home about once a month, if he was lucky. From a young age, his parents had just abandoned him in a giant mansion alone with a couple of maids. When they did come home, his parents barely batted an eyelash at him, seemingly to have forgotten he even existed. Even sometimes the maids and butlers forgot he was there. On the rare occasions that they did have conservations, it was only them chiding him to do well on his studies to take over their business or talking about his future, which they seemed to have already planned for him. Guo sometimes thought his parents cared more about their business and companies than their only child. He was probably right. Maybe they did. Maybe they never wanted him in the first place. Maybe he was all just a mistake, and wasn't even supposed to be alive.

Guo shook those thoughts out of his head as they stepped through the front door to Ping's family's large farmhouse.

What happened next was almost a blur to Guo. He was showered with questions and attention, being mobbed by Ping's relatives from all sides. Ping laughed from the sidelines, and soon all the attention shifted to her instead. Watching this scene of... kin unfold around him made him feel a certain... warmness he had never felt in his life.

That warmness continued to grow throughout the evening, the chatter and relaxed atmosphere around him fueling it the way kindling fuels fire.

The apples Ping and Guo had picked went through a full makeover, and got transformed into apple pies, apple strudels, apple crisps, apple tarts, apple jam, apples just as apples; you name it, they made it.

The crisp smell of apples mixed in with the heavy smell of family made Guo rather emotional, heart aching a bit. In a good way. He had never felt this way before nor expected it, to be surrounded by people he liked and people that cared about him in this warm, happy place.

Family. Home. Kin. Those were some of the things Guo had never experienced in his life. Until today. To be with that many people who treated him like he was part of their family, Guo had never been so thankful that he met Ping. It still made the introvert part of him slightly uncomfortable, but he could learn to deal with it. Guo had never realized just how many good things Ping had brought into his life. He promised to thank her sometime, and treasure her forever.

In a way, I guess you could say Ping was the apple of Guo's eye.