“Let’s head down to the river,” said Lisa as we lingered in the lobby of the hotel. The other ALOHA students were congregating in their own little cliques, none of which I was a part of. However, just off to the side of us were the boys that Jisoo was trying to get in with. Jinyoung, Sehun, and of course Kai, the boy who was now one of the only people around to have an inkling of my secret. I could feel them looking over to Lisa and me and it made me wonder if Kai had told his friends what I had said to him.

“The river?” I asked absentmindedly.

“The Dragon Boat Festival,” said Lisa looking dramatically annoyed. “Focus up.”

“Sorry,” I mused. “I guess I’m still waking up or something.”

“We’ve got about two hours until we should get to the theater to see King Lear,” said Lisa. “Plenty of time to check out the Dragon Boats.”

“Did you know that Jinyoung is from Stratford?” I asked without much interest in the fact myself. It just felt like something to say.

“Do you like Jinyoung?” asked Lisa incredulously.

“Well, no,” I said.

“So you’re just reciting factoids?” she grinned, shaking her head at me, finding me ridiculous.

“Yes,” I said.

“Did you know that Shakespeare was from Stratford-upon-Avon, England?” asked Lisa in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Yes,” I said. “Do you like Shakespeare?” A bit of teasing liveliness was beginning to enter my side of the conversation.

“You’re driving me nuts,” said Lisa. She moved in closer to me and then admitted in a whisper, “And I like it.”

We left the hotel, along with most of the other ALOHA students, and walked through Stratford’s cute downtown area. The buildings were older and had charm, and they were filled with gift shops to accommodate all the tourists that the city welcomed. I was never drawn in by the usual kind of gift shops, mostly feeling like they were peddling unnecessary stuff, but Lisa was the opposite. She was excited when we passed the chocolate shop, the art store, and especially the book store. I can admit, too, that I felt drawn in by the book store but ever since I got a Kindle as a birthday gift, I found myself far more attracted to reading books digitally. I think it was just the minimalist in me coming out.

Although Lisa was eager to peruse these various stores, she was much more immediately interested in getting to the river to see the Dragon Boats. The stores, she felt, could wait until the intermission between plays. I was just happy to be along for the ride with her. If I had come here to Stratford without someone like Lisa, or Jisoo for that matter, I probably just would have ended up in the coffee shop by myself, reading to pass the time, waiting for the plays to begin. I know, deep down, that no matter who I was I would be accepted by the ALOHA students. But I also felt a weird difficulty in relating to them.

Lisa, on the other hand, was like a bright beacon for me. I didn’t feel all that anxious around her. I mean, there was still a little bit of anxiety, of course, but that was more anticipation and excitement for what was to come than some sort of social nervousness. As we made our way through town and down toward the river, the thin long boats filled with people coming into view, I so wanted to put my hand into Lisa’s and squeeze. But there were others around and I knew she would feel weird about it considering she was essentially our chaperone.

“Those are so cool,” revelled Lisa as we neared the river. “Oh my God, I want to get on one so bad.”

“Really?” I said. “What about them draws you to them?”

“I really don’t know,” said Lisa absently, staring down at the boats as we continued our stride. “They just look like fun. Maybe it’s the teamwork involved. Maybe I just want to beat the drum at the front of the boat!” she said, laughing, putting her hand over .

From what I could tell, there were four boats lining up together at a starting line in the river and as w