Page 43 of You Had Me at Hello World
I’m so sick of people’s bullshit. I didn’t think he’d be the type to cheat on his girlfriend.
I’m furious at myself, too, for letting things escalate. I can’t believe I let myself get so lost in the sauce.
There’s a prick behind my eyes, but I will myself not to cry. He’s not worth that.
God. Maybe I should swear off boys forever. I’m going to live my best life as a crazy cat lady. At least cats won’t betray you.
When the door slams shut behind me, he doesn’t follow.
When I get back to my own room, Aisha is already in her pajamas, scrolling Instagram in bed.
“Khoi tried to kiss me,” I blurt out as soon as I see her.
There’s a beat. I wait for her to throw something at my head.
She puts her phone down and sits up. Her face is weirdly neutral. “Oh, so he finally got his shit together.”
What’s she on about? “I’m really sorry. I ran here immediately to tell you.”
Aisha considers me. “I guess he didn’t mention?”
“Mention what?”
She sighs. “Okay, promise to not tell anyone else this.”
“Sure?” How many secrets does this girl have? She’s like a total plot twist of a person.
“Char, Khoi and I aren’t dating.”
I blink.
“It started as this lie last fall because I’m seeing a girl I met through dance. We’re actually both doing the Harvard program. She lives in Roxbury, and I didn’t want my homophobic parentsto know. Khoi is my friend, so he agreed to fake a relationship. My parents track my location, so it gave me an excuse for why I was traveling into the city all the time.”
I need to download all this. My heart rate steadies as I chew through the info dump. God, I’m so relieved to find out Khoi isn’t really a cheating f-boy. Now I feel bad for freaking out on him.
My mind is pinwheeling with questions, but the first thing I can think to say is, “You guys really couldn’t come up with a better story than fake dating?” This isn’t a K-drama.
Aisha shrugs. “Probably could have. But it was funny at the time? And now we’re committed to the bit.”
It’s low-key annoying. Like there was this big joke everybody was in on. Everybody but me. “Okay, so you lied to your parents, but why’d you have to lie tome?”
“The first time we met, my parents were also in the room. And after that, I figured the truth didn’t matter and it seemed safer to keep it a secret. And I’m not ready to come out to everyone.”
“Of course,” I say quickly. I wasn’t trying to act like she owed me that.
“Obviously Khoi wanted to spill to you, because he caught feelings.” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively.
I’m not discussing Khoi and hisfeelingsright now. I still have more questions about Aisha’s secret agent life. “But you said your parents track your location? So can’t they see when you go to Harvard?”
“I give my phone to Khoi, and he carries it around while I’m gone.” She taps her chin. “Come to think of it, maybe I could’ve just done something like that from the beginning. Oh well.”
“Is thisreallyeasier than telling your parents the truth?” The mental gymnastics needed to keep up this lie… She’s really doing the most.
“Trust me, it is.” She doesn’t say more, and I don’t probe further. Family drama can be a lot. We’ve all got our own shit to work through.
There’s a knock on our door.
It’s Khoi. “Char? Sorry, I know that you said you wanted space, but I don’t want you to go to sleep mad… Please, will you listen to me?”
