Jennifer walked out to the bus stop were there were already a small group of kids waiting for the bus. Their ages ranged from elementary to high school, the buses would transfer students around in the mornings, so they always had a mix of kids. Jennifer waved at a pair of girls, they were her new neighbors that had just moved in down the street from China. The oldest was Chunyu, she was actually older than Jennifer by a few months but was a junior from being a transfer student. She was about 5'4 with long straight black hair and wore fairly modest clothing, a simple button up shirt and a long skirt. Her little sister was Min, she was in elementary school. Jennifer was nice to them out of the more selfish need of wanting to learn Chinese for her language class, but she'd never tell them that of course. "Ni hao ma." Jennifer tried to pronounce. Chunyu smiled as she waved back. She replied back in strained English, she was trying to learn a language as well. "That was good, it like you been speaking from birth." she stuttered.
Jennifer smiled at the compliment, she had learned mandarin since she was a kid, practically a second language, it was just nice to have someone to talk to with it. Jennifer's vocabulary shifted, now becoming a equal mixture of Chinese and English, and she used either one to fill in gaps of words or definitions she didn't know. "Aw thank you, I've been working hard." Jennifer said in a mixture of languages. Chunyu blushed. "Of course, it's hard to learn English, I'm glad you can speak Chinese so well." she replied completely mandarin.
The bus rattled around the corner as it's doors swung open. The three continued to gossip as they climbed onto the bus. Jennifer's vocabulary shifting and more away from english as they talked. A few of the students looking over to see the kids who weren't speaking english. The bus slowly started to move again after they had taken their seats.
Jennifer ran a finger through Chunyu's hair. "You gotta tell me how you get your hair so straight." She smiled at the compliment. "I have a conditioner that mom buys, I don't know where she gets it." Jennifer shook her head, "I don't know either, I wish she would tell us."
A kid across the aisle interrupted their conversation, saying something Jennifer couldn't quite understand. Chunyu replied hastily as the kid rolled his eyes. "What did he say?" Jennifer asked. Chunyu frowned. "You would know if you actually studied your English class Ao, mom even got us that tutor." she scolded.
Ao shook her head, reality casting off her old identity. Of course she was Chunyu's little sister, she struggled with English but usually got away with it since Chunyu could speak it the best. Ao wiped her long hair behind her as she straightened out her skirt. She liked matching her sisters outfits, it made them look like a pair. "I know, I know, I'll get it eventually." Ao scoffed.