I jumped around my room, squealing the entire time. My mom barged in without knocking.
“Good news? You got into Harvard?”
My smile dropped. “No, I just got a good score on a test,” I said.
“Okay. Good.” She gave me a thumbs-up and left the room without closing the door. I walked over and pressed the handle so it would shut without a sound. Then, I took a deep breath and pulled out an empty document on my laptop.
Suzie Ehrlich…what would Suzie Ehrlich write her college essay about? I scrolled through Suzie’s Instagram. Last year she had been a varsity tennis player, posing in a group picture with other girls in pleated skirts and rackets in their hands. I spent the entire afternoon drafting an essay about tennis. I kept the writing simple but elegant. Perhaps I’d even succeed at making Laura feel self-conscious, this high school senior demonstrating writing skills that far surpassed her own. After I was satisfied with my draft, I added in a couple of small grammatical errors,just so Laura would have something to correct. I needed to keep it realistic, after all.
—
Eunjin and I had coordinatedour itinerary so we were taking the same connecting flight from Minneapolis to New York. Her first flight was later than mine, so I had to wait at the airport for two hours before she arrived, but I didn’t mind. My mom found the plan nonsensical. “You guys live next to each other for the vast majority of the year. And you would see her later that night anyway,” she said, but I just shrugged. I headed to our meeting spot, Panda Express, when I received the notification that her flight had landed. When she saw me, she gave me a bear hug and I did my best to hug her back, even though I felt really awkward when it came to hugs.
Once we sat down with our food, Eunjin asked me about my mom and I told her about our conversation at the restaurant, how she wouldn’t be disappointed in me even if I didn’t get into law school.
“I don’t totally believe her,” I said.
“Why not?”
“I just don’t. I mean, isn’t that what every Chinese parent wants for their kids? To be geniuses and go to Harvard?”
“I think all parents want their children to be happy and fulfilled.”
“I guess,” I said, and took a sip of Diet Coke. “Anyway, how are your parents?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Eh.”
“How’s your dad? Is he still playing pickleball?” I asked. I had met Eunjin’s parents once when visiting them for a longweekend the past summer. I didn’t know much about them though. For the most part, Eunjin had planned activities for us to do outside of the house.
She rolled her eyes. “He’s whatever.”
“What? You don’t like him playing pickleball?”
“I like him doing anything as long as he’s not drinking.”
“How long has he been sober now?” I asked. Eunjin had mentioned her father’s alcoholism to me before, but only in passing. I had never heard her say it so bluntly before. I was treading carefully, prepared to pull back on the subject as soon as she became uncomfortable.
“Just short of ten years. Since I was twelve.”
“That’s a long time.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t erase the memories of those years when he wasn’t sober.”
“I’m sure.”
“There’s some stuff you just never forget,” she said. “At one point he pawned off my mom’s violin to buy more whiskey. And that idiot maybe got one-twentieth of what it was worth.”
“I didn’t know that. Did you ever get it back?”
“No. Not to mention the times when a police officer would bring him home in the morning with vomit all over his clothes. He liked to wander the streets. It was so fucking embarrassing. My only consolation is he was never violent. He wasn’t an angry alcoholic, more just a sad alcoholic.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.” We sat in silence for a little bit. Eunjin chewed on her chow mein and put down her fork. I wasn’t sure whether I should change the topic, so I waited for her to speak first.
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just fired up because I just spent a weekthere, so it feels nice to get it all out in the open. Anyway, you see now why I could never invite someone like Leah over to visit, or even Alex. Even though they’ve brought it up a billion times.”
“I do, but also, I’m wondering if you’re giving your dad enough credit. He seems like he’s doing great now. Besides, Alex and Leah have family issues too. We all do. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Eunjin rolled her eyes. “That’s different.”
