“Yeah.” Depending on how you defined “learn.” Classes started so early Blake found it hard to stay awake.
“If you memorize them, they can be really helpful. Take kou, for example. You see how it sort of looks like a mouth? It’s part of most characters whose meanings have to do with the mouth, like jiao, to call, or chi, to eat.” Farrah wrote the words out. She went through a few other examples before moving on to the next radical.
Blake followed along, trying his best not to stare at her mouth. Farrah’s lips looked like they were made for—
Don’t go there, buddy. She’s a virgin. She’s probably never even given a blow job before.
He refocused on the lesson at hand. To his surprise, the characters made more sense. Not a lot, but more. It was a start.
Every once in a while, Blake broke up the monotony with random stories from his childhood and questions about Farrah’s life back home. He told her about the time he donned a bear mask and scared the hell out of Joy during a family camping trip at Big Bend, and how Joy tricked him with fake adoption papers as retaliation. That was messed up. To this day, a tiny part of Blake wondered if he was adopted.
Farrah told him about “borrowing” her mother’s lipsticks and using them as crayons on her family’s freshly painted walls.
Blake smiled at the mental image. A budding creative at age six. Farrah really did have her life figured out.
By the time they finished the first chapter, it was close to one in the morning. The food was long gone, and Blake’s eyes were bleary from staring at the text.
“We should call it a night,” he said. His brain wanted him to stay, but his body screamed for sleep. “Thank you for helping me with this.” He gestured at his notes.
“No problem. Consider it my apology for thinking you’re, you know.”
“A dumb jock?”
Farrah blushed. “Well, yeah. You’re different from what I imagined.”
“I am awesome,” Blake agreed. He scooped the empty food containers into a bag.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You were thinking it.”
She helped him gather up used utensils and napkins. “Now, the arrogance part, I got right.”
“I’m blessed with an abundance of confidence. Besides, I know you think I’m awesome.”
“Oh, really? How?”
Blake pointed at the clock. “You spent the whole night with me.”
Farrah’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish’s.
After Blake stopped laughing and dodged a swat from a red-faced Farrah, they disposed of the trash and collected their belongings. He turned off the library lights and followed Farrah into the stairwell.
He paused on the third-floor landing outside the girls’ hall. In the distance, a car door slammed, and laughter filtered through the stairwell window.
“Good night.” Farrah’s gaze tipped up to his. The moonlight reflected in her eyes, and Blake’s heart did that weird skipping thing again.
“Good night.”
She was so close. If he moved forward a few inches…
No. Nuh-uh. Don’t even think about it, buddy. One kiss is not worth ruining your year over. Even if it’d be a helluva kiss.
Blake cleared his throat and stepped backward, breaking the spell. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yes.” Farrah, too, stepped back, widening the gap between them. “See you later.”
Chapter Five
“This is hell.” Kris surveyed the happiest place on earth the way Anna Wintour would survey an outfit from Walmart. In her $500 jeans and Chanel top, she couldn’t have looked more out of place amongst the hordes of screaming children and frazzled parents.
Nearby, a little boy held an ice cream cone in one hand and picked his nose with the other while his parents tried to calm his sister, who cried so hard her face turned scarlet.
Kris shuddered and slipped on her sunglasses like they could protect her from reality.
“Cheer up, Kris. We’re at Disneyland!” Courtney sang. “The most magical place in the world.”
“Magical, my ass. The only magical thing about this place is how many terrible outfits they’ve crammed into one park. It’s like an outdoor convention for the poorly dressed.”
Farrah turned her head so Kris couldn’t see her laugh. Kris was one of her closest friends in FEA, but she lived in her own little world sometimes.
Farrah’s gaze landed on Blake, who chatted with Luke and Sammy off to the side. Blake was friends with Luke, who was friends with Courtney, which meant Blake was a de facto member of their group.
Farrah was still trying to figure him out. Sometimes, she glimpsed something deeper beneath his cocky playboy persona—a vulnerability that flickered over his face when he thought no one was looking. Then, with the wink of an eye and a smile, it was gone.
Blake’s gaze met hers. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” Farrah’s residual smile faded when Blake walked over and slung an arm over her shoulders. The gesture made her heart flutter in a way she did not like. At all.
“What are you doing?”
“Keeping you warm. You look cold.”
“It’s seventy-five degrees.” Farrah shrugged Blake’s arm off her shoulder. To her surprise, goosebumps rippled over her skin. After the warmth of Blake’s embrace, the park felt like a tundra.
Damn him.
She ignored Blake’s chuckle and scooted closer to Olivia.
“I’ve mapped out the most efficient route for us.” Olivia snapped open a map of the park. “We’ll start at the farthest section and work our way clockwise back to the entrance. First, we’ll go to Fantasyland, then Treasure Cove and Adventure Isle. We’ll cut through the Gardens of Imagination and make our way to Pixar Toy Story Land and Tomorrowland on the other side.”
Luke grimaced. “You scare me.”
“I think it’s nice to have someone organized plan things for us,” Sammy said.
He and Olivia locked eyes. Olivia blushed and busied herself refolding the map.
Farrah and Courtney nudged each other at the same time. Olivia could deny it all she wanted, but the attraction between her and Sammy was mutual, and everyone knew it. They already had bets on when the two would get together.
Farrah gave them another week, tops.
As the group battled their way through the crowd toward Fantasyland, Nardo looked almost as displeased as Kris. “We could’ve gone somewhere more authentic for the Mid-Autumn Festival,” he grumbled. “This place is so Westernized.”
“It’s Disney. It is Western. And according to the Internet, it’s one of the best places to celebrate the festival.” Courtney leveled Nardo with a stern look. “That’ll be the last complaint for today. If anyone wants to be a Debbie Downer, do it on your own time.”
“The Internet is stupid,” Nardo mumbled.
Courtney narrowed her eyes. “What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Olivia may have mapped out the best route, but sadly, her efficiency didn’t extend to the lines, which snaked in front of every ride and restroom like never-ending spokes of misery.
By lunchtime, Farrah’s feet were numb from standing.