Page 45 of You Had Me at Hello World
She jabs a finger at me. “You’re running away from something.”
I take another swig of my flask as I figure out how to respond. It seems like the conversation has suddenly shifted into a serious vibe that I’m not ready for. Maybe I should distract her. Ask to see another TikTok of Trinity twerking.
Suddenly, there are footsteps, and HellomynameisBrenda’s voice wafts in. She’s maybe ten feet away. “Hey, it’s lights-out.”
Saved by the Brenda.
“Shit,” Aisha whispers. “Hide the booze.” She shoves the half-empty soju bottle behind her desk. I slip the flask underneath my pillow.
A door creaks opens. “Sorry!” Jenni-with-an-i’s dreamy-light voice. “Was reading. I just got this fascinating textbook on plant reproduction morphology. Did you know most flowering plants have both male and female reproductive organs?”
I can’t help but giggle. Aisha shushes me.
“Um, I did not know that,” HellomynameisBrenda says, sounding thoroughly uncomfortable.
“And guess what the name of my textbook is?Plant Parenthood!Get it? Like Planned Parenthood?”
I let out another gust of a giggle, louder this time. Aisha hisses, “Shhhh!”
For a beat, there’s only silence.
“Hold on, Jenni,” HellomynameisBrenda says. Then there are footsteps again, and a knock on our door. “Everything okay in here?”
If she opens the door and sees us, smells our breath, she’s going to know we’ve been drinking. And sure, some of the kids here totally get away with all sorts of stuff. Haru is high half the time and nobody says a peep because Watanabe Technologies is a major donor to Alpha Fellows. But me… I’ll be packing my bags for the next flight back to Oregon.
I swallow, as if that’ll erase the alcohol from my voice. “Yeah, all good!” I hope that sounds sober enough.
“Alrighty then,” HellomynameisBrenda says, sounding somewhat unconvinced. Then there are footsteps fading and thedingof an elevator. Guess she didn’t want to continue the plant sex conversation with Jenni-with-an-i.
Aisha says that she’s tired, so ten minutes later I’m lying in bed staring at the ceiling while my roommate snores softly.
You’re running away from something.
She’s not wrong. I’m definitely running away from Chinook Shore. This entire summer has been an escape from that hellhole.
My mind wanders to Khoi.
I don’t know how to handle a boy who has a crush on me. It’s never happened before. No, that’s not true. In third grade, there was this boy who sat behind me and yanked on my pigtails. According to my teacher, that meant that helike-liked me. As if that were an excuse for his behavior. Ew.
But at least the hair-pulling was straightforward compared to this.
Up until an hour ago, it didn’t matter how I felt about Khoi. And now… I don’t know anymore.
What if Khoi thinks I asked to team up because I had a crush on him? But that’s not why. I asked because he’s my best shot at winning this thing.
Oh, no. What if he said yes because he had a crush onme?
The thought makes my stomach twist. It feels manipulative, like I’m leading him on. Except obviously I didn’t know he liked me like that. I mean, c’mon. The dude was supposed to have a girlfriend!
But for a fleeting moment there, I was definitely tempted to kiss him…
No, I can’t be kissing Khoi. Not if I’m serious about winning. It’ll be too distracting. Instead of hacking, we’ll be hooking up. Instead of making an app, we’ll be making out. Instead of coding, we’ll be cuddling…
(For several minutes, I amuse myself by thinking of more wordplay like this. Most are absolute flops, but there are a few with potential. Like,GitHub and get it oncould be the nextNetflix and chill.)
Anyway. I’ll tell him tomorrow that we should just be friends. That’s obviously the safest, most responsible option. So now I’ve made my decision and everything is chill and I can forget all about the almost-kiss.
For three more hours, I can’t fall asleep.
