“Are you kidding me?” Darian looks at her like she’s lost her mind. “It’s always triangles. Have you ever even played beer pong before?”
Her look could melt titanium as she crosses her little arms and pulls her shoulders back. She only comes up to Darian’s chest, and he looks huge when he rests his fists on his hips and towers over her.
She doesn’t even flinch. “It’s diamonds, you idiot.”
“It’s triangles, Miss Clueless. Here, let me google it for you.” Pulling out his phone, he takes great delight in proving her wrong, and when her eyes lock on that screen and her skin flushes pink, I don’t know what she’s gonna do.
I hold my breath for the fallout, but after a soft tut, she mutters, “Diamonds look cooler,” picks up a Ping-Pong ball, and throws it into the nearest cup.
Darian’s smug smile makes me wonder if she’s about to punch him, but instead she flips him the bird with a sticky-sweet smile and sashays away.
He takes advantage, checking out her butt, and I take a quick glance too. I shouldn’t. That’s rude. I know better than to look at a girl’s private parts. You look into their eyes, not at their breasts, and when they walk away, you don’t leer at them like some creepy predator.
But my eyes can’t help a quick skim, and that short little thing has got some very tight curves.
Wow. She’s hot.
Can I say that about girls?
My insides flush, my body tensing for… a reprimand that won’t come.
Because I’m not home right now.
I’m here.
And here is so liberating.
I nearly laugh out loud as this spike of freedom rises up inside me like a stratovolcano forming this peak of knowledge in my chest—this awareness that I don’t have to stay locked in a prison anymore.
Leaning back against the wall, I cross my arms and just stay quiet, silently watching from my perch. No one’s beside me whisper-barking at me to stand up straight, pull my shoulders back, smile at the person we’re supposed to be cajoling into selling or buying a property from us.
Glancing down at my polo shirt and shorts combo, I frown and pull the fabric out, shaking it free and letting it just hang.
No one notices.
A smile twitches my lips, and I run a hand through my hair, mussing up the back.
No one says anything.
It almost makes me want to laugh.
No one is watching me here.
No one cares what I do or don’t do.
Freedom.
This is what it feels like.
And yes, I’ve been away at college for the last year, so you’d think I’d know, and maybe I have had tastes of this before, but something about this weekend just feels different. My parents don’t want me here, yet I am.
It’s the first time I’ve ever done this—gone against their wishes with them actually knowing what I’m up to.
It’s—
My phone dings and I pull it out of my pocket, scanning the screen and getting instantly reminded of what a terrible child I am.
Your mother and I are very disappointed, Jun Hie. You should be coming with us tonight, and your selfishness has not gone unnoticed. We will be having a conversation when you return. Family duty must always come before basketball. That was the agreement we had when we allowed you to join the team at Nolan University. We were being supportive, but you are proving that this was a mistake on our part. You are obviously not mature enough to handle making decisions on your own. I expect more from you.
