Sum: They tried to make it through life together, but when life turns it's back on them they are left with a choice: to live in pain and suffering, or not live at all. Whichever they choose determines their future. Will they do it together or permanently go separate ways?
"Fai!" I call. I'm on the bridge highway next to our city, looking up at my childhood friend who looks like he's getting ready to jump from a metal beam high above the road. From here his small, child-like face seems distorted and his body rigid. The only recognizable thing about him is tan color of his skin and black of his hair. "Fai, get down from there!"
He doesn't seem to hear me, or even see me as he stares blankly at the road below. I look frantically around for stairs or some way of getting up to him before he…no, he won't. He can't leave me here alone. He just can't. But he doesn't hear my thoughts as he takes a step forward into the air and falls toward the ground…
I wake up, sweating from my fear from the dream and the heat of summer. As I shakily get up from my bed, I notice tears drying on my face. Why am I so shook up about this? It was only a dream…
I walk across my room toward my closet to find something to change into. Just as I pick out a nice black outfit, however, my mother walks in. Oh how lovely.
"So, sweetie," she begins, looking around my room casually. Her voice is so sweet I think I might get cavities. Something's up, "do you have any boyfriends?"
I blink a few times before I fully comprehend that. She never asks about my love life. Ever. Why is she so interested now? She fluffs her curly blond hair while she waits for me to think of an answer. "Uh, no. Why?"
"So there's nothing between you and Fai?" She bats her ugly mascara eyelashes at me curiously.
"No, we're just friends," I say slowly. What is she up to? She's being too nice to me…
"Good," her voice has changed to a harsher, grittier tone. That's better, "because Wong and I are engaged and we don't want any incest gong on."
I'm officially rendered speechless. As she walks out of my room into the hallway, all I can do is stand stock-still. When did they start dating? Does this mean Fai will move into the house? I'm so confused right now it's not funny. What's going to happen?
Later Today.
I'm dressed and showered now, listening to mother bitch at me about wearing 'gothic' clothes. It's better than wearing slutty ones. It's not like I'm going to get hot either. I have a tank top under my fish net cover, and my hair is up in a bun with a few curly strands hanging down since they refused to be put up.
Fai and his father Wong are moving in today, so I'm going to help them unpack while mother supervises. Our house is bigger than theirs but Fai and I are still going to have to share a room. Mother says that Wong needs the extra room for office space. I don't mind. Fai can use my neglected dresser, and I think it might be nice to be able to talk to him everyday and night. I've been quiet lonely here the past few weeks.
Apparently, my mother and Wong have been dating for months in private. She didn't want to upset me since my father died only last year. I bet she meant to use him as sex toy for a while, but when he proposed to her she couldn't refuse because, though he looks poor, Wong is actually loaded with money. Most of his money usually goes to Fai's college fund and 'perfect ness' fund. The 'perfect ness' fund is the money put into things like violin lessons and Academic Success camps for Fai. His father wants him to be perfect, but I just want him to be himself. At school he's like a zombie. He won't talk or laugh, he just takes notes and studies. His father is sucking out his soul.
Just as I finish my ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, the doorbell rings. I run to the door and open it, letting my mouth drop at the sight before me. This wasn't the Fai I had left on the last day of school. Fai had blond highlights put into his hair and had it cut to where his bangs hang in front of his eyes, but you can actually SEE his eyes too. He no longer looks like a boy but a teenager. And now…. he's…. taller than me. HE CAN'T BE TALLER THAN ME! I lean back for a fake faint and, predictably, Fai catches me just before I hit the ground.
"What have you done with Fai? Did you kill him or just hide him behind this…. teen appearance?" I ask, standing back up.
Fai laughs and answers, "I stuffed him in a box and sent him back to China."
Wong walks in and looks at us harshly, "I wish it were true."
As he walks away, I stick my tongue out at him. Childish, I know, but it's the only thing I can think of.
"Ignore him," Fai says blandly, "he's just trying to provoke us, like your mother."
I let out an exasperated sigh. "Will they ever stop?"
Fai wraps his arms around me from behind. "Not as long as we live."