(1)
"You're not coming, are you?" I pressed the answer key and said.
I'd been standing at the only bus stop around my home, waiting for Lili and Chenhui, when my phone started to ring. I'd known it was Lili – ten minutes before the time we'd fixed for them to show up, who else could it be?
"How did you know that?" Lili was surprised. "Beibei is sick, but my aunt's very busy working from home today. So she just called to ask if I could take him to the hospital. You remember Beibei? Her poodle."
"I do remember Beibei, and you know why?" I asked, watching carefully at the open back door of the bus that had stopped in front of me, in case Chenhui got off. "It's because the last time you talked about him was the day you had to go to your aunt's place to see him for the last time before he died. Now I'm wondering if your aunt really has a poodle called Beibei or if you really have that aunt."
"Oh crap. I should've come up with something better than this."
"Come on. I knew you weren't coming. You hate dumplings, don't you?" Did she really think I didn't notice her secret eye-rolling when I talked to her about my mom's dumplings the other day?
"I really do, and, more importantly, I don't wanna be a third wheel – so have a nice day. You know what I mean."
No, I didn't know what she meant. But then again, I felt thankful that she'd done all this for me.
The weather was good, though the forecast had said there would be scattered showers. I really hoped the sunny spell would last longer.
As soon as the bus left, I saw someone straddling his bike on the other side of the road with one foot planted on the ground, his hand holding his phone up to his ear. There he was, in a white T-shirt under an open oversized denim shirt, sleeves rolled up. He was wearing a black messenger bag, which he never used when going to school, rotated to his back. He might've had his hair trimmed, for I somehow found him looking even younger this way. Then my phone rang. Instead of answering it, I raised the hand with the phone to wave to him.
"Do you go everywhere by bike?" I asked him when he braked the bike in front of me. He did have his hair done, the sunshine gleaming on his forehead that sweated a little.
"Almost." He answered casually, then dismounted. "I always prefer a bike to a bus. The city looks different from a bike."
"How is it different from the one you see on a bus?" I was tickled by the unexpected reason. Who would pay any attention to the roads, the trees, the buildings, or the passers-by when running late for school?
"Dunno. Bus has windows?" Then he gave me a how-can-I-unsay-this smile.
"It may sound shocking to you, but you are allowed to open them."
"Nice to know that!" His eyes widened with an affectation of surprise.
I owed Lili one. A huge one. But for her detention and the whole I-love-dumplings story, I wouldn't have talked with Chenhui like we'd always been close friends.
"You never ride a bike?" He asked me as we were heading for my home.
I shook my head.
"How about…" He stopped walking to take a look at his watch. "We go for a ride on my bike? We still have some time before lunchtime, don't we?"
Before I said anything, he had already mounted the bike deftly and patted the rear rack. "Hop on!"
That wasn't a bad idea, but what I was concerned about was whether he knew the roads well in the neighborhood of my home. What if we accidentally got somewhere I didn't even know? What if we couldn't make it to lunch? What if we couldn't find our way home? What if we were lost in the city forever?
Didn't it sound great?
"What the hell." I swung my leg over the rack and sat on it, feet stepping on the chainstays.
Would he mind if I held his waist? No, no, no… That would look weird. Or I might be merely overthinking. Friends did do this, right?
Forget it.
I gripped the rack tight and told him, "Let's go."
"Here we…"
"Wait…" I tapped him on the shoulder, stopping him from pushing off.
"What?"
I suddenly realized he hadn't even asked about Lili's absence. Lili might've already told him, or, I was just hoping, he might be feeling thankful that Lili wasn't here as much as I did. That couldn't be entirely impossible, could it?
"Never mind. Let's go."
It must've been the fact that it was Sunday, the pleasant temperature, or simply the breeze across my face, that delighted me. Listening to the tune Chenhui was humming while riding, I thought I disliked summer less. For all my familiarity with the streets I'd been walking on for years, had I never thought I'd have a chance to explore them this way. I felt like a tourist who'd arrived here earlier this morning, passing by all the convenience stores, restaurants, and milk tea stalls with enjoyment.
We should go traveling together sometime. The Bund in Shanghai, Ximending in Taipei, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, or La Rambla in Barcelona. It didn't really matter where we went, as long as Chenhui could still ride a bike with me sitting behind on the rear rack. We wouldn't have to talk all the time. Instead, we'd be chorusing a random song by Robbie Williams together along the way until my voice cracked hilariously when trying to hit high notes, then Chenhui would laugh so hard at me that the bike swerved a little bit. On bumpy roads, I was positive that he wouldn't mind me putting my hands on his shoulders or holding onto his waist. Yes, I was still thinking about it.
"You like it?" Chenhui stopped humming to ask me.
"Yep. My neighborhood feels different this way." I thought I started to believe his bus-has-windows crap.
"Wanna learn to ride a bike?"
"I'm good. Thanks." Rather than being a rider, I just wanted to be a pillion rider who knew where to put his hands.
(2)
It'd been raining for a little while when we got home. Apparently, Chenhui had a good sense of direction. Disappointing, I had to say. I informed Mom that we were back by giving a violent sneeze the moment I shut the door.
Besides the dumplings I'd promised Chenhui, Mom surprised me by cooking a couple of pretty good dishes, including something I'd never seen, even at the Spring Festival.
"What are these dishes for? Didn't I tell you that two friends of mine were coming for lunch instead of two dozen?" Above the noise of the running exhaust hood, I shouted to Mom, who still seemed to be in the middle of something in the kitchen. "Lili's not coming, by the way."
"Those are for your friends," she turned off the exhaust hood and walked out of the kitchen with a birthday cake in her hands, "and also for your birthday, my boy." Then she greeted Chenhui with a smile. "You must be Chenhui."
"Auntie, good afternoon." Chenhui returned her smile, then whispered to me, "Today's your birthday? You didn't say anything."
"Not until three days later. Wait…" I turned to look at Mom. "Does it mean that we're not doing anything special on Wednesday? My 18th birthday? The day I reach adulthood?"
"Do you mean you'll never fail your math exams ever again?"
"I don't think so. Why?"
"In that case, how is it different from your 17th birthday?"
Holy crap. Had she already known I'd argue? Know your enemy, Yang, know your enemy.
Chenhui cleared his throat to resist the impulse to laugh. "Actually, we can celebrate together today. Mine is on Wednesday next week."
"You're just one week younger than me?" That was interesting. "So we're both Cancer?" Then this early celebration wouldn't sound that bad.
"I thought you were good friends…" Mom murmured while rearranging the dishes on the table.
"Mom. Enough already."
The lunch was pleasant. The dumplings tasted great as always. Chenhui had a fine sense of humor, which I'd already known. And more to the point, to my surprise, he knew how to talk with adults at parents' age decently. During the meal, he entertained Mom with his stories during the meal. Didn't she remember how she'd warned me not to laugh while eating for fear of being choked? Never mind, parents might rarely do what they'd told their children. Besides, Mom asked him several things that had happened in our school, seemingly double-checking if what I'd told her was true, including the "free tutorial" when I, as I'd claimed, helped Lili with Ms. Yin's task.
"I like the way you get along with your mom. It's so natural." After lunch, I led Chenhui to my bedroom, waiting for the rain to stop.
"What do you mean?" I pulled back the drapes, hoping the rain wouldn't stop. "The way I squabbled with her or the way she made me speechless? How did I end up being less smart than her? Does it have something to do with my dad? – Anyway, what about your mom? Do you get along well?"
"Yes. I guess so – Who's that?" Having settled himself in my chair, he looked at the poster on the wall in front of him and asked.
"It's Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green." I sat on my bed. "Don't you know her? From FRIENDS, my favorite American sit-com."
"OK. Not really interested in American TV shows." He gave a shrug.
"Fine. Lili doesn't like them, either."
"So why do you like this one best?"
I'd never thought of this. Because it was funny? But many other sitcoms were also amusing. Or because it starred actors and actresses I really liked? I hadn't even known their names before I watched the first episode.
"Because it must be a blessing to live in that kind of apartment – you wake up with the person you love, then you get out of the bedroom for a breakfast with your siblings and best friends." I glimpsed Chenhui unconsciously. "Sometimes your life, your work, or your relationships may go wrong, but no problems seem too difficult to solve with Monica's food, Chandler's jokes, Phoebe's songs, or a cup of coffee from Central Perk. Doesn't it sound like the ideal life that everybody wants?"
"I know none of the characters you just mentioned, but it does sound like the type of life I'd like to lead." Chenhui came and sat next to me. "How many seasons are there?"
"Ten. And I always skip the last episode, so that these people will never leave that apartment." Then I decided not to talk about FRIENDS anymore with the sudden realization that he might not wanna hear more stuff about it. "So you never watch American TV shows?" Prison Break? If he didn't like funny stuff.
"Rarely. More precisely, I don't really watch TV shows. Movies are good." That was fair.
"Then what's your favorite movie?" I wanted to see if my favorite movie was also his.
"Hard to say. Maybe V for Vendetta?" It was a shame that mine was Titanic, mainly because of the theme song.
"That's a good one. One of my favorite dystopian stories." No, it wasn't. Actually, I didn't like dystopia at all. But V for Vendetta was a classic. Nice taste.
"One of my favorite dystopian stories." He mimicked me, which was pretty funny.
"Stop it!" I nudged him on the shoulder.
"Stop it!" He did it again. Mom's question made sense – the 18th birthday wasn't that different from the 17th.
The rain was getting heavier in the evening. Mom insisted that Chenhui should stay over, though he told Mom he was afraid it might cause us some trouble in an attempt to decline the invitation. After Mom had left, however, I saw him take out his pajama pants and the textbooks we were gonna use at school the next day from his bag.
"Just in case." He gave me an eyebrow flash.
(3)
When I woke up and looked at the time, it was almost three in the morning, and I was still awake, either because of the coffee I drank during dinner or because of someone lying next to me at the moment.
Eyes open, I couldn't see anything around me, even the outline of the Jennifer Aniston poster on the wall.
Chenhui's side was quiet. The only sound I could hear was his breathing, deep and regular. I turned my face to him, trying my best to figure out the contours of his face.
Knowing our birthdays were quite close was nice, which meant we could always celebrate together. But how many times could we do it together? We were graduating the next year, and nobody knew where we'd go for college. Thinking about it really upset me.
I didn't wanna turn 18. Adulthood sucked.
I reached across the bed in the dark to hold his hand, secretly and lightly. All of a sudden, he gave my hand a little squeeze, so weak that I couldn't even tell if he'd done it consciously. My heart nearly popped out of my chest. Then I stayed still for a little while and didn't dare to breathe loudly, listening out for anything that could tell me he wasn't asleep.
Would there, by any chance, be a day when he and I could hold hands when we were both wide awake?