Chapter 9

My clarity had to wait, though.

When I got home after school, after different strategies and scenarios regarding my meeting/date with Jennie had taken precedence over anything my teachers had said in my classes, there was a note on the front door of my house. When I read it, I was relieved that nothing bad had happened to any of my family members (Sorn was staying late for a club meeting and catching a ride later with another student, and my dad and mom were probably running errands before their regularly scheduled Friday date night that they said kept their marriage fresh). But something bad had happened to one of our neighbors.

Mrs. Kwon, who lived down the street and whose kids I babysat regularly, had left the hastily written message. Apparently Mr. Kwon was in the hospital and needed surgery the next day. She’d left her cell phone number and asked me to give her a call.

I took my phone out of my backpack and found a few text messages waiting for me. I usually didn’t check my phone very often during the day. A couple were from Chaeng, complaining about whatever class she had been in at the time, and one was from my mom, reminding me to keep the driveway clear so they could park in the garage when they got home later that night. The last message was from Mrs. Kwon, saying basically the same thing her note had. I also had a missed phone call from her that was a couple of hours old. No message had been left on my voicemail.

I hit reply and waited while my phone connected to hers. I was hoping that whatever had happened with Mr. Kwon had resolved itself, but I had a feeling that all my plans for tomorrow might have to be scrapped.

When Mrs. Kwon answered, I knew immediately they were in trouble. She told me what I had expected: Mr. Kwon needed surgery tomorrow, and he would be in the hospital for a few days. His mother, who was supposed to watch the kids while Mrs. Kwon was with her husband, could only come in late in the afternoon on Saturday. When she asked if I could watch the kids from five in the morning until around seven at night, I immediately agreed. The Kwons had always been good to me, and I wanted to help them out any way that I could. But that meant no workout session with Jennie, so my plans for romance would have to be put on hold. When I got off the phone with Mrs. Kwon, I texted Jennie, letting her know that an emergency had come up and I had to cancel for tomorrow. I was a little surprised when she texted back immediately, asking if there was anything she could do to help. I’d thought she would be getting ready to cheer at a game or go to some party rather than texting with me. We had a brief back-and-forth while I explained what was happening, and I was really surprised when she asked if she could join me for a couple of hours while I babysat. The Kwons had always been fine with me having Chaeng over when I was at their house, so I gave Jennie the address and we set up a time when she would come over.

I scrambled to adjust my flirting plans, which had all been based on us being in her home gym while I tried to look at least comfortable in training gear. This could actually work to my advantage, since I could step it up from comfortable to cute. I thought I always looked a little funny in sweats and a T-shirt, and I was especially awkward in shorts. I always had to pull them down when they rode too high on my thighs, and I never knew if I should wear long or short socks. Yoga pants were definitely out of the question. Some people, like Jennie with her perfect physique, could pull them off. The rest of us had to face the fact that stretch fabric could contain thigh jiggle only up to a certain point.

So gone was the gym wear, and instead I planned on wearing my best jeans and a shirt that always got me compliments when I wore it. If I looked good, I reasoned, I would feel more confident when I talked with Jennie. I already knew that we could keep a conversation going from our study session, but this time my end of the conversation would have a purpose. Actually, there would be two purposes: show that I liked Jennie, and not embarrass myself doing so. Accomplishing both of those things was not guaranteed. All the confidence in the world couldn't ensure that Jennie would find my attempts welcome. Or that I wouldn't make a fool out of myself.

Sometimes you had to take a leap of faith. But I didn't have to take that leap blindly. Instead of letting myself into the house, I turned around and got back in my car. I sent a quick text, and when I got an affirmative answer back a few minutes later, I pulled out into the street and set off for my best friend's house.

Chaeng lived on the other side of town, but since it wasn't a very big town, it didn't take me long to get to her house. We were technically just a suburb of the city, but had grown large enough to act like our own town most of the time. There was even talk about splitting away and officially incorporating as our own separate entity. I didn't care that much either way since I hoped to live in the city permanently after college. Life in the big city would be so much more fun and exciting than here, where both the houses and the people all looked the same.

When I pulled up to Chaeng’s house, she was waiting for me by the front door. I had always liked her house. It was smaller than mine, but there was this great porch that ran the length of the entire front of the house. Her mom had put out a couple of rocking chairs, and Chaeng and I would sit there for hours talking and watching Jeong Woo as he played in the yard and with the neighborhood kids. I had a lot of good memories at this house.

But now was not the time for reminiscing. I was focused solely on the future as I climbed up the steps to the porch and stood in front of Chaeng. “Tell me everything,” she said without preamble. So I did. I told her about the study date with Jennie, and what my family had said afterward, and about Jisoo Kim and her accidental intervention into my life, and finally about the plans for when I was going to meet up with Jennie the next day. We sat there on the rocking chairs talking for real about all the things we had dreamed of talking about when we were lowly freshmen in the same place. Love and when it would happen for us. Not that I was in love with Jennie. I hardly knew her, but now that I had finally opened myself up to the possibility of a romantic relationship with her, it wasn’t so farfetched to think that maybe we’d get there one day.

Or I might, at the very least, get a kiss. But I wasn’t pushing my luck too much there. Better to take things one step at a time and not get ahead of myself. I said all of this to Chaeng, who reacted just as I’d thought she would.

First: “Jisoo really came through for you. It sounds like she did it entirely by accident, and probably regrets it by now, but you have a lot to thank her for. And I never knew she and Jennie were so close. I wonder what else we don’t know about our classmates. Like, did someone have a secret baby that no one knows about, and we’ll only find out when she walks the stage at graduation with a baby strapped to her back? That would probably make the ceremony more exciting.”

Then: “So now do you get what I’ve been telling you for days? The girl likes you. She’s been trying to get your attention, and you were worried about history class. What else could she have done to get through to you? Corner you in a bathroom and take off all her clothes? Knowing you, you’d just offer to go get her a jacket to put on.”

And finally: “Your plan , this is what you should do.”

There was no way I could go through with her ideas. I had thought any sort of touch was pushing the envelope. What she was suggesting took the envelope and ran it through an industrial shredder.

“There is no way I’m going to kiss her as soon as I see her,” I said to my delusional friend. “Unless I want her to slap me and hate me forever.”

Chaeng rolled her eyes at me. “I wasn’t thinking of a French kiss or anything like that,” she clarified. “More like what Europeans do, with the cheek kisses. Just make yours linger so that your faces are pressed together extra long,” she said, bringing her palms together, supposedly mimicking Jennie’s and my faces as we European-cheek-kissed.

“How is that a good idea?” I asked. “What would I accomplish by pressing my face against hers? Do you want her to feel how oily my skin can get? Because I sure don’t want that. And I’m Thai, not European. Kissing on the cheek is reserved strictly for grandmas on this side.” I pointed out.

Before she could rebut what I had just said—because there was no way Chaeng could let something go if she thought she was right—the front door opened and Jeong Woo walked out.

He gave me a hug, which I returned, because how could I not? Little kids gave the best hugs because they used all their strength, hugging with conviction. When they got older, they’d start with one-armed hugs, and little semi hugs where they lightly placed their hands on the other person’s shoulders, nominally leaning in. But Jeong Woo was giving me a full-body hug, and I wasn’t going to waste it.

When he pulled back, he looked me right in the eye and asked, “You having girl trouble?” I gave a quick look to Chaeng, who just shrugged back. He was still looking at me when I turned back to him.

“Uh, I…I’m doing okay, Jeong Woo,” I stuttered out. “Thanks for asking