-Chi-ya Zhou-

 

     My heart was racing as I entered the unfamiliar part of Hong Kong. Although it still looked modern and

skyscrapers prevailed, I rarely travel to this part of town.

 

In fact, I shouldn't be traveling to this part of town.

 

Bright lights from the buildings' windows cast the faintest glow on everything. But it was almost 10 P.M., so

it was dark and I only saw the outlines of people, their silhouettes rushing by in streaks as the Flexi-Tube

zoomed past.

 

My stomach felt queasy and I knew that I should be at home studying and getting ready for bed, enjoying a

hot cup of tea and listening to my sister's pounding music thump a few doors down or my parents talking.

 

Instead I'm off to meet a boy for real this time, not just going to slap him or tell him off.

 

When I got home, I barely had time to drink a cup of coffee and change out of my work clothes to a comfy

sweater and yoga pants before I left. I shut off my bedroom lights to hopefully show that I was tired and

fell asleep. My parents never really check on me at night, anyway, so I'll be fine. Still, I hope I don't get

caught sneaking back into the apartment at midnight or whenever I'm getting back. I had to make sure my

parents were out of the living room when I quietly snuck out my apartment door and out of the apartment.

 

What am I doing? I don't know. All I know is that I want to talk to Ky-Tsung, and screw sleeping at 11.

 

Tonight, I was going to meet him at the roof of the Sun apartment, the highest apartment in Hong Kong,

and he was going to show me something.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I walked into the Sun apartment, trying to look nonchalant. It didn't even matter. None of the hotel front-

door managers even looked at me. It was cool but also depressing; I could basically be anyone. Just another

Asian girl walking in kind of late at night in comfy clothes, probably from working out or coming home from

work or a friend's house.

 

The glass elevator freaked me out a little. I could see the city pulling away from under me as I went up, up,

up to the 118th floor. The doors opened and I walked down the hall quietly, listening to sounds of

people going to sleep behind closed doors; showers, talking on the phone, soft music.

 

I climb the empty and slightly creepy dark staircase up to the roof. Again, I wonder why I'm doing this. For

a moment I pause right outside the doors leading out to the roof and see no one. Did Ky-Tsung flake on me?

For a moment I turn around and was about to go down the stairs, through the hall, down the elevator, out

the Sun apartment, and get a ride home on the Flexi-Tube, but I realized I wanted to see him more than I

wanted sleep and comfort.

 

I push open the doors.

 

The wind blew my hair back, and the view was nothing short of stunning. I walk up to the side of the

building, carefully leaning over the side while keeping my hands on the thick railings.

 

For a moment, I lose myself in the beauty of Hong Kong, realizing how I took the loud noise and towering

skyscrapers for granted. A web of lights, white, pink, green, silver, blue, yellow, spread before me for miles

and miles, a rainbow-hued pattern of beautiful dots gently winking. The wind smelled fresh like the fine

layer of snow that coated everything. I hear the door behind me open quietly and I fought the urge to smile

and turn around. He didn't ditch.

 

I felt him stop right behind me. "It's beautiful up here," I blurt. "Is this your secret spot?"

 

He walks up and stands to the right of me. The familiar faint scent of pine and oak washes over me lightly.

I hear the smile in his voice as he says, "You think? Hong Kong is stunning at night.. I like the view from up

here."

 

As he turns to look at me, I realize that it was just light enough up here so that I could see enough of his

face to know that his eyes are trained on me.

 

"What're you going to do?" I ask him. I still can't take my eyes off the interconnected web of Hong Kong

sprawled out below me. Incredible.

 

"Come here," he says as he moves farther away from me.

 

I follow him across the roof to the other side with no railing. I pull back and shake my head. "Not a big fan

of falling, sorry," I say. Heights didn't bother me, but being so close to the edge of a 118-story building

with nothing stopping you from falling did. I liked my trusty railing.

 

"No, I promise I'm not going to do anything crazy."

 

"We already kind of are," I whisper under my breath as I move forward. I can't tell if he hears or not.

 

He sits a foot back from the edge of the building and pats the spot next to him. "Sit," he says.

 

"You're freaking crazy," I say, but I make my way forward until I'm a few feet away from him and sit down.

 

"I can only show you if you're sitting right here next to me," he replies.

 

I'm tense but manage to scoot myself forward a few inches. I have to admit that from this point, the maze

of lights below us look even more surreal, like if I were to extend my feet I would be springing onto the

rainbow dots.

 

Just kidding, I'd be springing to my death.

 

He leans closer to me and I want to move away, but my muscles are clenched tight. Our elbows touch and

I scoot my arm a bit back even though he's warm up here on this cold roof.

 

He scootches forward until his fingers curl over the side of the building. "Here, this is it." His voice holds

awe and he tilts his head back.

 

I stare at the back of his head, wondering what was going on in that head of his. Was he this used to being

out of his comfort zone and teetering on the edge, literally? Did he even have a comfort zone?

 

Unintentionally, I scoot forward until my toes hang off the edge, then my feet, and lean back on my arms.

"Okay, so other than wasting my night making me hang off of the highest building, what're we going to-"

 

"Lean forward and close your eyes. Make sure you scoot a bit forward like me," he says as he dangles his

legs off the side of the building.

 

"You have got to be kidding me. I could push you over right now-"

 

"Of course you wouldn't. You'd miss our secret meetings too much," he says back, giving a small laugh. He

looks back at me and I roll my eyes because it's obvious.

 

"It's obvious that what we're doing is wrong," I say.

 

"Of course! You're not following the rules of this experience. Scoot closer," he says.

 

I inch forward until I'm sitting like him, leaning back so I wouldn't get blown off.

 

"Relaaax, Chi-ya. I can almost feel your tenseness."

 

I try to unclench my muscles and realized it was better this way. I didn't feel as scared as I was before,

but I sure as heck wasn't ready to lean forward.

 

"Okay, close your eyes and concentrate on the city life and life up here," he says.

 

I sneak a glance over at him and realize he's already closed his eyes. He takes a deep breath.

 

For a second I wonder why I am trusting this boy I've only known for a short while with basically my life,

because I could die up here. What was he getting at with this nonsense? I close my eyes and am

immediately drawn into a swoon of vertigo. For a moment I think I fell off and want to open my eyes but in

a flash its gone.

 

I realize that I'm hearing what's going on below me now; thumping music from a nightclub, faint and

low, the faint roar of the Flexi-Tubes, and the occasional honking of cars. With a start I realize I can hear

the faint breathing of Ky-Tsung and I notice just how acute my hearing is; my senses are heightened and

focused. His warmth and pine and oak seem to envelope me. My heart is pounding because I can't see the

drop in front of me and every breeze makes me nervous, but I have to admit that this is the only place that

makes my adrenaline rush.

 

I open my eyes and laugh. "Wow. That was really something."

 

"Closest thing I can think of to how amor deliria nervosa feels," he says without looking at me. "You're

constantly at edge with everything; the real possibility of being found out, the possibility of them

completely leaving you and you ending up falling to death in despair, and the heightening of senses whenever

you're with them. Yet you can't just leave because the feeling that comes along with it is better than all

those constant dangers. So you stay."

 

I try to grasp the connection between the very two different things. Sitting at an edge of a skyscraper and

love. "Sounds like you really know what you're talking about." I hope I don't sound envious

of his experiences with amor deliria nervosa. 

 

Not that I should. I shouldn't be jealous of anything. Amor deliria nervosa isn't anything to be jealous of.

Right?

 

"I guess," he says. He shifts and his arm is touching mine again. "Have you seen shooting stars?"

 

"Uhm, I don't think so," I reply. It confuses me when he brings up the random things.

 

He points up at the dark, inky-blue night sky, and I realize that the faint blinking of white and golden stars

above us is almost like a reflection of the myraid of dots of lights spread across Hong Kong.

 

"You have to wait," his voice drops to a low murmur and he reclines on his elbows. Once again, he's showing

me another thing that I've never experienced before.

 

"I'm pretty sure it's the skyscrapers blocking my view of the sky. But up here, the sky and the city are all

open and I can see everything," I try to defend myself from my complete inexperience with shooting stars.

 

"Yeah, its really something cool. Almost like you're watching the world from a different perspective," he

sounds slightly sarcastic and I think he's making fun of me but I look over and he's grinning at me. Heat

crawls up my cheeks and I have to smile.

 

"You know, Chi-ya, you really should get out more. Stop being cooped up in school and work and home. Its

really no fun," he says. "Stepping out of your comfort zone really gives you something to take away. You feel

the exhilaration of heights and what Hong Kong really looks like and making a wish on a shooting

star."

 

I feel slightly annoyed like, hey, what do you expect out of a city girl in high school?

 

"Well, what do you think I'm doing here?" I ask.

 

"Other than missing sleep just to see a guy who you'd be caught dead out in public with? Oh, I don't know.

Tell me," He's laughing now and I should be offended, but I catch myself smiling too.

 

I look over at him and see that he's looking at me with a content expression. "What're you looking at me like that for?" I ask. I look away and pretend to examine the sky for constellations.

 

"Nothing much. I can almost see your city-girl awkwardness."

 

"Oh please," I reply, shaking my head.

 

"No, it's true. I bet I know more about you than you know about me."

 

I open my mouth to retaliate but realize I can't say the same back. I virtually know nothing about Ky-Tsung

other than that he's easy to talk to, nice, and comes from California. And... he's an Uncured. But he's

an Invalid. I try not to think of the last two things on my list.

 

"Okay. You've probably got a sibling you're protective of. You play varsity volleyball. You've got a great

smile and an indignant personality when you're with me. You've never been kissed or hugged. You're a good

child who doesn't disobey her parents. You like hanging out with me but would never tell your friends

because you'd get judged hard and probably get ditched. You're scared of amor deliria nervosa but you're

starting to doubt what the government says. You-"

 

"Stop, you're basically summing up the life of all teen girls everywhere," I say, but my heart is pounding.

He's invading my personal life.

 

"What can you say about me?" he asks.

 

I take a deep breath and start off with "You're an Invalid and an Uncured. You're from California. You've

fallen in love. You like the outdoors and you're adventurous. You're..."

 

He looks at me expectedly but half-smiles when he realizes I'm out of ideas.

 

"See what I mean? City people have the same exact stuff going to for them. I, on the other hand, have lots

of secrets." He then winks at me really quickly and I elbow him. Is he flirting?

 

"There," he quickly says as he points up and traces the arc of a lone shooting star. It whizzes across the

dark sky for a few seconds, leaving a light golden trail, and I close my eyes, seeing the bright imprint of its

path still flashing behind my closed eyelids.

 

He looks at me and, seeing my amazed smile, nods and doesn't seem to find anything to say for once.

 

A light breeze picks up, blowing my hair back and making me squint my eyes. I realize I'm tired and it's

probably way past midnight. He moves closer and I realize I'm leaning into him slightly but I don't feel like

moving away. I want to talk to him more, but we sit there in silence, admiring Hong Kong from above, where

no one can see us but we can see everything.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I open the apartment door as quietly as I can, tucking my keys into the sleeves of my sweater. As I tiptoed

across the fluffy white carpeting floor of the living room, grateful for the soft and muffled sounds of my

footsteps, I hear the toilet flush and I freeze in the darkness.

 

Crap crap crap crap. I am seconds away from being fried alive.

 

I try to move as quietly as I can through the kitchen and to my room, but when I'm past the dinner table

I hear footsteps of whoever went to the bathroom tread across their bedroom. Its pitch-black in the

apartment and I move faster, but the bedroom door closest to the kitchen opens.

 

Frantically, I run back into the kitchen and open the Flexi-fridge to pretend to look for something to eat. A

soft pearl light floods the kitchen and seeing the food calms me, but I still think I'd pee my pants in a few

seconds when-

 

The kitchen light turns on and there stands my sleepy little sister Lee-Kang in her PJs, hugging a little

stuffed tiger she claimed she threw out once middle school started. Her hair is frazzled from sleep and

she looks puzzled at me decked out in yoga pants, a sweater, and curls, slowly grabbing a plate of cookies

from the fridge.

 

"Where were you?" she immediately accuses after she takes in the scene. "It's almost one. I thought you

fell asleep really early today."

 

"Please, hush," I whisper. If my parents wake up... I'm doomed.

 

She stares at me and jerks her thumb back into the direction of her bedroom. "Sis. You have so much

explaining to do."