Page 12 of Tiger's Quest
I shook myself.No. No, he wouldn’t. He might have once, but now he’s moved on. He’s gone now, and it doesn’t matter anymore what he would have done or how he would have reacted. It’s over.
Jason was filling another plate, and I tried to look interested and involve myself in the conversation. Half an hour later, we all got up to head to the football field.
It was nice being outside in the crisp fall air, but the benches were cold, and my nose was frozen. The cold didn’t seem to bother Jason and his friends. They stood up and cheered a lot. I tried to join in, but I never knew what I was cheering about. The ball was too far away and too small for me to see much. I’d never had much interest in football. I much preferred movies and books.
I glanced up at the scoreboard. The first half clock was running down. Two minutes. One minute. Twenty seconds. BZZZZ! The timer sounded, and both teams ran off the field. The homecoming parade started and several antique cars drove around the outside of the field. Beautiful girls dressed in chiffon and silk were perched up on the top of the backseats, waving at the crowd.
Jason joined all the other guys in wolf whistles and screamed out his appreciation with the frenzied throng. The scent of sandalwood drifted over the bleachers, and a silky soft voice whispered in my ear,“You are more beautiful than any woman out there.”
I whipped my head around, buthewasn’t behind me. Jason was still standing up and screaming with his friends. I slumped back in my seat.Great. Now I’m hallucinating.I pressed my knuckles to my head and pushed, hoping the pressure would shovehimback to the recesses of my mind.
When the second half of the game started, I stopped trying to feign enthusiasm. This was the second date that had turned me into a popsicle. My body slowly froze to the bench, and my teeth chattered. After the game, Jason walked me back to my car and awkwardly put an arm around my shoulder, massaging it to try to warm me up, but he rubbed too hard and left my shoulder sore. I didn’t even bother to ask who had won.
“Hey, Kelsey, I had a great time getting to know you better tonight.”
Did he get to know me at all?“Yeah, me too.”
“So, can I call you later?”
I considered that for a minute. Jason wasn’t abadguy; he was just a guy. First dates were usually awkward anyway, so I decided to give him another shot.
“Yeah, sure. You know where you can find me.” I gave him a halfhearted smile.
“Right. Catch ya in anthro on Monday. See ya.”
“Yep, see ya.”
He headed back to his wild group of friends, and I wondered if we had anything in common at all.
DATE 3
Before I knew it, it was Halloween—and my date with Li.
There was something about Li that made me feel very comfortable. He was more fun to be around than Jason, and I grudgingly admitted that it was very possible I felt more relaxed around Li because he reminded me a little of the man I was trying to forget.
Reluctantly, I pulled back the door to the closet that I vowed never to open and found a long-sleeved, burnt-orange top designed to look like a short trench coat. It was accented with wooden buttons and a tie belt. To go with it was a pair of dark blue stretch denim jeans. They fit perfectly, like they’d been tailored just for me. A dark pair of boots sat in the bottom of the bag and, slipping those on, I twirled in front of the mirror. The outfit made me look tall and chic and well . . . stylish, which was not my norm.
I left my hair cascading down my back in curly waves for a change. Dabbing on some apricot lip gloss, I drove to the studio, being careful to go slower than usual to avoid any wandering trick-or-treaters.
Li was sitting in his car listening to music and bobbing his head up and down. As soon as he spotted me, he immediately turned off the radio and got out of his car.
He grinned. “Wow, Kelsey! You look great!”
I laughed easily with him. “Thanks, Li. It’s very nice of you to say that. If you’re ready to go, I can follow you to your grandmother’s.”
I walked back to my car, but Li raced past me and opened the door.
“Whew, I almost didn’t make it!” He grinned at me again. “My grandfather always taught me to open doors for ladies.”
“Oh. Well, you are the perfect gentleman.”
He bowed his head slightly, laughed, and then walked back to his car. He drove slowly too, and checked his rearview mirror often to make sure I made it through the intersections. We stopped in a nice, older neighborhood.
“This is my grandparents’ house,” Li explained as we stepped into the foyer. “We always meet here for game night because they have the biggest table. Plus, my grandma is a great cook.”
Li took my hand and pulled me into a cute kitchen that smelled better than any Chinese restaurant I’d ever been to. A tiny white-haired woman was peering into a rice cooker. When she looked up, her glasses were steamy.
“Kelsey, this is Grandma Zhi. Grandma Zhi,huóKelsey.”
