Page 12 of Somewhere Only We Know
Wow.
Snap out of it, Jack. I gently moved her head off my shoulder and was about to push her to her side of the seat when she woke up.
“Hi.” Her sleepy eyes looked at mine. Straight into mine.
It was the first time I had a good look at her face and I had to clear my throat from the unexpected electricity of it. “Hi. Hi, there. You fell asleep and I was trying to wake you up.”
She blinked and looked around. “Where am I?”
“The bus. In… uh, Hong Kong?” I had no idea how out of it she was.
Her eyes registered the seats, the windows, the city, and then me. “Oh.Oh. Wuh-oh.” She started laughing. “Goodness, I’m in trouble.” The expression was so old-fashioned and odd that it made me pause.Wasshe American?
“Do you need help getting back somewhere?” I asked, being careful not to cross from friendly to overly enthusiastic.
She shook her head. “No, I’m okay. Like, okeydokey!” She held up her fingers in the “OK” symbol over her eye. Something about the movement was familiar. Then she laughed hysterically and I felt a gnawing sense of obligation, again.
“Are you sure?”
“Sure I’m sure,” she said with a hiccup. Oh boy. A hiccup. Like a freaking drunk cartoon mouse. The bus stopped and she got up so suddenly that I fell over into the aisle, on my butt. “Here’s my stop!” she exclaimed, holding her index finger up in the air.
She staggered along the aisle in those ridiculous slippers and I scrambled up after her.
I tugged on her arm before she stepped down into the narrow stairs. “I’m going to help you. These stairs are steep.”
She shrugged. “No problem.” She sounded like a cowboy. Vowels dragged out, overly pronounced. I couldn’t help smiling. Was she making fun of me?
We made it down the stairs, barely, and the driver didn’t even glance at us as we fell out into the street. I looked around. We landed in the middle of all the bars, where I had been planning on meeting Charlie.
The girl’s eyes grew huge as she took everything in. We were surrounded by people and brightly lit signs. Off every side street were steep hills filled with bars and cafés. “I think I can find a hamburger here,” she declared.
“A hamburger?” I asked, looking at her intently. She was alert now—sleepiness completely wiped from her bright expression.
“Euh,” she said in Korean, nodding her head. “I’m hungry.”
“I gathered,” I said with a grin. “Well, I’m not sure where you can find one around here.”
“Where areyougoing?” All of her focus was suddenly on me. I started to feel hot under her gaze. It was like having a beam of sunlight on you—pleasing but a little too intense.
I paused and angled my head to get a good look at her. One second she seemed drunk out of her mind, and then another she seemed weirdly sober.
“Why? You wanna come?” The flirtation was instinctual and I immediately regretted it.
She tilted her head to match mine. Precisely, like a dance move. Her delicate finger pointed at me. “Yes. Take me with you.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
LUCKY
The cute guy looked surprised.
It was satisfying to catch this rando off guard. To have a moment of boldness. Now that I was outside, on the busy night streets of Hong Kong, surrounded by young people in pursuit of fun… well, I wanted some fun, too.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I had been anywhere without Ren, without supervision. Not only had I never snuck out, I never even had the desire to do it.
But Ididdo it. This night was turning out to be something beyond wanting a hamburger now. There was a chance that it would be impossible for me to go unnoticed after my performance onThe Later Tonight Show. For the tiny bit of anonymity I had to get even smaller.
I looked up at the high-rise apartments and bright lights and felt a cool breeze sweep over my cheeks. I closed my eyes for a second. Yeah,I wanted a tiny piece of the freedom everyone else had. I wouldn’t be greedy. A thimble-sized serving of it would do.
