Page 12 of Well, That Was Unexpected

“And now I realize, I fail you. Is all my fault.”

Oh no. Here we go. This is why Chinese Indo kids are so obedient. Because our parents raise us with a healthy dose of emotional blackmail.

“You didn’t fail me, Pa.”

Pa’s face scrunches into a half sob. “I fail. I fail your mama. If she see us now, she would cry in her grave. I should have spend more time with you, not worry so much about business. Business fail is still okay. Lose the house, lose everything, is fine. You two are my priority.”

“Aww, Papa.” Eleanor puts her arms around his shoulders and hugs him while glaring at me.

It’s a ruse, I remind myself. Papa and his siblings are masters of guilting their kids into doing what they want. Stay strong.

Despite that, the sight of Papa’s heartbroken, defeated face is too much. I can only take a few moments of it before I relent. “Fine,” I say, and sigh loudly. Damn it.

“Papa is so proud, son.” He pats my shoulder.

“Just. Argh. Never mind. Stop speaking English. I’m gonna take a shower.” I leave the bedroom, unable to withstand the sight of the two of them poring over my phone, and head to mybathroom. Inside, I take an extra-long shower, hoping against hope that by the time I go back out there, both my dad and my sister would have got bored and gone out of my room. Unlikely to happen, but one can hope. When I’m done, I towel myself dry and look at my reflection. The face of the company’s new app. Sigh.

A squeal of excitement comes from the bedroom. Guess I should get out there and face the music. Unfortunately, the music is the theme toJaws.

With no small amount of trepidation, I walk out of the bathroom.

“We did it. We found the perfect girl for you.Andshe’s already replied to your message!”

“WHAT?” Just how long was I in the shower? I grab the phone from Eleanor’s hand and look at it.

And wow. Okay. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but SharSpy10 is definitely not it. Just like Instagram, ShareIt is focused on images. SharSpy10 only has three posts, all of them of her, and she is very, very pretty. Like, forget-what-you’re-about-to-say kind of pretty. She’s also my age, apparently, and newly transplanted to Jakarta.

“Look, she even grew up in California, so that’s, like, major cool points,” Eleanor says.

“Normally I wouldn’t approve of these ABCs,” Papa says, using the abbreviation for American-born Chinese, “but we have to take drastic measures. Maybe an ABC is just what you need.”

I ignore them both and look at the messages my dad and sister have sent to this poor unsuspecting girl.

CuriousGeorge [10:13AM]:Salutations!

Oh my god. “Nobody says ‘Salutations,’ ” I bite out. “What the hell? I expected more from you, Eleanor.”

“I’m being classy. Setting you apart from all the other randos who probably message her every day. Plus, look at her replies.”

SharSpy10 [10:14AM]:Salutations back to you!

CuriousGeorge [10:15AM]:Org Indo, ya?

Are you Indonesian?

SharSpy10 [10:16AM]:Iya. Wah, senangnya ketemu org Indo

Yes. Wow, I’m so happy to meet a fellow Indonesian.

CuriousGeorge [10:17AM]:Sudah “for good” ya di Indo?

Are you back in Indo for good?

SharSpy10 [10:17AM]:Just for the summer, ha-ha. But I love it already!

Despite myself, I’m actually impressed by Eleanor, because somehow, against all odds, she’s managed to start up a conversation with SharSpy10. And Eleanor’s right that given how SharSpy10 looks, she’s probably inundated by messages from randos all the time.

“You liiike her,” Eleanor says in a singsong voice.

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