Page 73 of Snowballed

Zoe pulls into the parking lot and turns to face me. “Isn’t it funny that we didn’t know each other five months ago? Now you’re this huge part of my life.”

I lean forward and kiss her. Zoe’s mouth is warm and yielding. Then I feel moisture on our cheeks.

“Are you crying?”

She buries her head into my jacket. “I’m sorry. I’m being silly. I’m just going to miss you so much.”

I wrap my arms around her. She’s such a funny mix of strength and fragility. “I’ll miss you too. But you’ll have your family here.”

She sighs. “Yes. But sometimes I feel like an outsider in my family.”

“Yeah.” I know that feeling well.

I have to catch my flight, so I’m not able to cheer Zoe up. It starts my holidays on a bad note.

To complete the reverse chronology, Chi is there to pick me up.

“Did you pull the short straw?” I ask as I stow my bag and strip off my puffer jacket. L.A. is so warm that I’m sweating the moment I go outside.

“You’re kidding, right? There was practically a battle to pick you up,” Chi says.

“Thank god you didn’t let Bachan drive,” I say. My grandmother drives way too slowly. Maybe she’s not in an accident, but she leaves a wake of destruction behind her.

“She’s playing bridge this afternoon. Can’t interrupt that.”

Yes, I may be a favorite grandson, but I’m second to a good game of cards.

Chi changes lanes and cuts someone off, then raises a middle finger when they honk at her. “Besides, I missed you, big brother. And I also can’t believe you told Bachan about your new girlfriend before me. So spill.”

“What’s to say? Zoe’s a really nice person.”

“Zoe. Wait, isn’t that the woman you’re living with? I thought she hated you.”

“We overcame that,” I say.

“Isn’t that an old joke? Sleeping with the farmer’s daughter?”

“Other than Zoe, there is no farmer. Plus, every creature on the farm is female.” Except Katman, he must be a male because that’s his name. Although I’ve never seen any physical proof that he’s male.

“Oh, a harem for you?” Chi teases.

“Not really into farmyard animal sex. But you should see me milk a goat now. I can do it in under seven minutes.”

Chi laughs hysterically at this.

When I get home, our house looks exactly the same, but my perspective has shifted. The rooms look enormous, and everything is so pale and pristine. When our housekeeper Stella brings me a platter of snacks, I’m so effusive with my thanks that she asks me if I’m okay.

I don’t think I’ve ever been ungrateful about my privileged circumstances, but Zoe has made me aware of all the work that goes into making life comfortable.

“What’s for dinner tonight?” I ask. I wonder if Stella or my grandmother will be manning the stove.

“You have plans with your father,” Stella says, and my stomach sinks. Do I have to go through all the arguments again? Besides, there’s no way I could transfer mid-year.

When my mother comes home, she walks straight over and wraps her arms around me. She hugs pretty hard for a five-foot-tall woman.

“I missed you a lot, dear.”

“I missed you too,” I say. I’ve been going away to school for the past four years, but this absence has been different. Because of the rift with my father, even my emails with my mother have been stilted, and we’ve barely chatted.

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