Chapter IV

Police Officer: How did Sunny and Selena meet?

Me: It started when she followed her home.

***

The door opened to the smell of ramen. Yummy. Dinner. The Wong family was sat around the table, rotating their dishes in the time of day called night. Sunny ate a lot today because her parents told her fat kids were harder to kidnap.

"I saw somebody," Sunny said slurping her noodles. As much as she tried, Sunny just couldn't hold any secrets in.

"At the park? A new friend?" Hiram asked from across the table.

"No. I would never. She was smoking, and that's bad."

"She was smoking?!" Lyssa put down her chopsticks, and her eyebrows furrowed. Everybody stopped chewing.

"Yeah. That's what I thought too."

"How old is she? Is she okay? What school does she go to?" Lyssa said, like a detective on a new case.

"I think she's fine. She looks older. I don't know."

"Did she hurt you?"

"No. She was just smoking."

"Oh my. She better not go to Wrestler," said Lyssa. "She's a horrible influence on you."

"I know, that's why I didn't talk to her."

"You never know what's in those cigarettes. I know so many innocent young girls who..." Hiram paused, searching for the right words. "Drugged and kill and die," he finally added. Sunny looked frightened by such big bad thoughts. She kept picking her nails under the table; only then was she able to open up and breathe.

"Mom, Dad, I know that smoking is bad. You don't have to worry, I would never," she said, like a sweet lollipop.

"My smart girl," said Hiram with a spreading grin.

"No Hiram, my smart girl," said the Mom. He laughed knowing that Lyssa always liked to win.

* * *

40 empty boxes. 40 empty boxes and Sunny had finally finished. She rushed to her Mom. Puppy eyes and a cute smile sent her out the door and to the woods again. We sat down on her rock and listened to the silence as if we were sisters.

The wind blew past, the pigments unfolded above, and for a moment everything was captured in all its beauty— an unforgettable sunset. It was a magnificent view and not even a photograph could display the beauty she saw with her own eyes.

Sunny seemed curious; I imagine she was still thinking about the girl, wondering if she'd ever see her again. She never did.

Until today. In her timidity, she was just about to turn away, but when she looked over, the girl was crying. Sunny walked over and took the seat next to her anxiously and forcefully. She was just going to swing for a bit, and then fake a phone call and leave like nothing ever happened.

The girl was so caught up in crying that she didn't notice that the swing beside her was occupied. At some point, she sniffled her nose, turned around, and said, "What the fuck are you looking at?" It pulled Sunny out of her funk immediately. The snob was rude.

"Uh... I just saw that you were crying, so I thought that..." The girl squinted her eyes and shook her head.

"Phhh. Like you give a shit." Sunny noted that she had a really bad attitude and the worst vocabulary.

"You look like you need a little stress relief if you don't mind me saying."

"Ok, you want to know what's going on? I was drunk, and I accidentally called my new boyfriend by my old boyfriend's name. And now he's mad at me. There, now can you get the fuck out of here and mind your own damn business?"

Sunny couldn't help but let out a little chuckle for the situation seemed very simple and one that could be fixed with an apology. It was surely something she and Lyssa would joke about as being stupid. But her laugh seemed to rub the girl in the wrong way.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" she said, squinting her face.

"Huh?" It was the first time that Sunny had looked her in the eyes.

"Don't play dumb, you Patel's are never dumb. You heard me."

"Patel?"

"Yeah, all you Indians have the same last name around here."

"I'm Chinese."

"What the fuck is that?"

"I—"

"Whatever doesn't matter. You wanna fight?"

"NO no uh, it's just I mean, you've had so many boyfriends you can barely keep track... and I've barely had a friend."

"You mean you've never had a boyfriend?"

"No." It seemed too secret and personal to admit to a virtual stranger, but she told her anyway. The fact seemed to tickle her funny bone. The girl laughed and laughed until she came out with the hiccups.

"No way."

"I'm serious."

"Ha-ha-ha it's probably because you look so goddam tired all time. I mean Christ, who wants to be around someone who can't even see their date?"

"Tired?"

"Never mind tiny-eyes," she said, bringing her hands to eyes and pulling so hard they turned into slits. Oh, this was what it was about.

"Stupid boys. They are an enigma." There was an awkward moment where Sunny didn't know how to respond, but then, the girl started again.

"I really liked him." Her voice sounded fragile.

"Who."

"Cole Baker."

"Cole?"

"Yeah, he's my boyfriend— ex-boyfriend. Fuck."

"What's he like?" A smile spread over her pale cheeks, and she started talking real fast, and with great intensity.

"Well, he's a large guy so he isn't very nimble on his feet, but he can whip just about anybody on ice. He is an adroit team caption of the hockey team with so many friends that everybody, even the coaches almost always went with his ideas."

"Oh."

"Yeah, his family is so goddam rich that they funded trips all around the country. Being around him, I feel like such a princess, but it's just like he can fuck three girls at once and I have to eat that shit up like it's nothing, but I say one little thing about my ex and he dumps me like that?"

She walked forward as if knowing Sunny would follow. "Jeez. Are you coming or what?" Feeling like an over-infatuated idiot, Sunny caught up to the girl. The break-up was only a week old and as raw as an open wound, and the girl was still hurting. She started to cry every few steps, and out of sympathy, Sunny took it as her duty to keep the girl company. Lyssa would want her to be kind, right? But it really did bug her that she was smoking profusely.

When the sun started to set, Sunny said told her she had to go home for dinner. Which was true, but she could have probably stayed a bit longer if she really wanted to. The girl looked at her and said, "Dinner? I'm Selena, who the fuck are you?" It suddenly felt that the air between them warmed. Maybe she wasn't so bad. "Sunny. From Calgary." Selena replied with a drag into her cigarette. Maybe not.

***

"Did you see that girl again?" Said, Lyssa.

"Yeah."

"Still smoking?"

"Yeah."

"Don't talk to her." The mother was a cynical person with a bleak outlook about others, always imagining that people were ruled by their worst instincts.

"Okay."

Sunny went up to her room to draw. Doodling was her safe haven. Today, it was a charcoal portrait of Selena. It didn't look exactly like her because the nose and the eyebrows were drawn from a blurry memory. But still, when she finished, she seemed to feel oddly close to the girl, as if they had known each other for quite some time already.

When the day was at last ending in a serenity of still brilliance, Sunny laid in bed staring at her ceiling. Thinking about other things, and then thinking about why she was thinking when she should be asleep. Soon after, she found that her eyes had stuck open for far too long. Sunny rolled over and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. Selena had texted. Hey, just texting to make sure you didn't purposely give me the wrong number.

Sunny blinked and put down the phone. Don't talk to her. But the text kept Sunny awake well into the night. She looked some more at the comment and took it as a good sign. Selena felt comfortable enough to tease her. Sunny never replied, though. Her parents had told her not to.

* * *

Sunny stopped going to the park. Sunny, who looked like a cute little pea with dark long hair and round frames, was free from anything acquainted with evil. Blameless, faultless, guiltless, she did everything to maintain her innocence. Sunny resorted to drawing instead, doodling at first but then it always ended up being a girl that looked a lot like Selena. Slim. Blonde. Bad-ass. Somehow there was no way of escaping her. The doorbell rang and Sunny rushed down the stairs.

"I'll get it!" The door opened.

"Thank you!" Somebody yelled. The doorknob turned. No way.

"Selena?" It gave Sunny chills knowing that she found her. "How did you know where I..."

"Oh. Followed you home the other day. You didn't answer my text. Thought we could chill. Can I come in?" Her head was already leaning past the doorframe, eagerly peering at their shiny furniture. What else was there to say?

Involuntarily, Sunny showed her around and after the tour, the girls ended up in Sunny's room. They sat cross-legged on the bed. Talked. Laughed. It was an automatic friendship. Smoking made Selena appear intimidating but really, Selena's heart was quite cute. She had a rooked steel shell, but underneath it, she was genial and outgoing. Sunny seemed quite surprised at how much she had in common with someone completely different from her. Opposites do attract, I guess. Selena said silly things and they talked about their blunders and embarrassing stories while I watched.

They didn't seem to notice me. Nobody introduced me. But seeing Sunny so happy made it durable, at least. When the bed sheets warmed under their legs, they walked down to the living room. The parents were cooking fried rice in the next room. Sunny could smell it, and she looked hungry.

Selena plopped herself down on the couch, continuing to answer Sunny's endless questions about the city.

"I've heard great things about McMurray."

"Phhh. Do you really believe that? There's like one type of person here. It's lame. Nothing. Happens. Ever. God, it's like watching a plant grow."

"What about the bears?" Selena wasn't listening anymore. She was lightheaded at how beautiful this house was. "Selena?"

"This place is fucking huge."

"It is?"

"Are you kidding? These houses are over-the-top expensive."

"But it's smaller than my old place."

"Yeah well, it's a huge house for Fort Mac. You don't know shit about this place. Just take it when I say that you are fucking rich as hell." Selena had a crisp voice, so the parents heard her. Though it was a compliment, they took off their aprons and made sure to cut the stay immediately.

"Sorry. We're actually in a rush. But you're welcome to stay for dinner any time else," said Lyssa. Hiram fake-smiled.

The door shut. Sunny's parents turned to her.

"Who was that?" The father asked.

"Selena."

"The girl who was smoking?" Added the mother. Sunny froze.

"Um... no, no. That's another girl." A white lie. Somehow, she knew that they wouldn't let her come over anymore. And she didn't want that.

"Ok. Phew. Good. Don't want you anywhere near the other girl." Her mother looked worried for a moment.

"Mhm," replied Sunny. "So, what do you think of Selena?"

"Well, she's not exactly Kelly greeting us with roses and warm hugs—"

"And the dumplings too," said Hiram.

"Right! The dumplings. She is wonderful at the piano, always loved that family."

"So, Selena?"

"Yeah. Um, she's different..." she said, glancing at Hiram who was nodding his head.

"I mean, at least she doesn't smoke," the Dad added. Sunny gulped.

"See? I told you that you'd make friends! Oh, I'm so happy for you. School hasn't even started and you already know Serina."

"Selena," Sunny said.

"Right."

***

For the last week of summer, Selena was all Sunny knew, all that crossed her mind. Sunny had no one else to lean on, which made it easy, but even easier because she wanted Selena to get to know her.

When no one stopped them, Sunny went out to meet her as much as she could on those "walks" of hers. I always tagged along; somehow, I got to know Selena pretty well too.

Sometimes she could be quite fickle, deciding that she didn't like Sunny one week, and then the next week she would want to hang out again. Sunny never understood why.

When they did meet up, they often did at the skatepark where they reminisced about the many things. Every time though, Selena always had a vape in the palm of her hand. They came in all shapes and sizes and she would offer Sunny to try, but Sunny would always deny. She knew that smoking was bad, but as long as she wasn't doing it herself, it seemed not to bother her as much anymore. Lyssa had nothing to worry about.

"Would you ever eat candy with me?" said Selena.

"Candy? Sure, I guess a red twist or two wouldn't hurt," replied Sunny. Selena, sitting on the bed, suddenly had her eyes screwed shut with laughter.

"Not that kind of candy, silly." The peculiarity of her behavior made Sunny frown. "Sweets that can cure trauma." She dragged on her voice like an unreachable alien. So exotic.