• • •
We watched the rest of the class’s films, but I don’t think I was 100 percent there. By the time the bell rang, I was still in a daze from Mr. Clarke’s compliment. After getting dumped, failing the clarinet, and botching my Farsi readings, it was tough to believe I’d done well on an assignment. Was I actually good at something for once? I started putting away my notebook when Emerson Cheng came up to my desk, his gold chains clanking loudly.
“’Sup,” he said. Then he did that thing where he flicked his eyes from my shoes to my face. Was he checking me out? Is this what checking out was?
“Hello,” I replied politely.
“That video you did? That was fire,” he said, licking his lips. Why was he licking his lips? Were they chapped?
“Thanks.”
“So, listen,” he started, touching his chin as if he were stroking an invisible beard. He put his other hand in his pocket and dropped his shoulder, so he was talking to me at a slant. I tilted my head to try to align with him.
“I was thinking. You. Me. Dinner.” He stood there, nodding at me, even though I hadn’t said anything.
I was silent for a minute. “Um . . . can you repeat the question?” It’s a good thing we were the only people left in the classroom, because I had no idea what was going on and did not need someone to witness my flustering.
Emerson laughed. “P, I’m trying to ask you out!”
I gave a nervous chuckle, my brain going into overdrive. Emerson Cheng? He was, like, a cool kid. He got suspended for setting off fireworks in the parking lot in middle school and commandeering the PA system to play old-school hip- hop. When boys pulled pranks like that, they were popular, but when I did it, I was “too much.” Needless to say, he was out of my league.
“Whoa,” I said out loud. Dang it. Why couldn’t I just keep words in my skull?
“I know, right?” Emerson said, grinning back at me, as if he knew what a big deal asking me out was.
Emerson was cute—with his spiky black hair and bright eyes. But I had no idea what to say. All the sentences had left my brain, and I’d forgotten how to make a new one.
“It’s cool, ma. I can tell Emerson has shocked you. Tell you what, you let me know next week, okay?”
I just nodded, still processing the fact that Emerson Cheng had both asked me out and referred to himself in the third person.
“Emerson out,” he said, giving me an awkward fist bump and walking away with a slight, but pronounced, limp. Had he hurt himself?
But more important, what in the name of Sir’s cat had just happened?
■ ■ ■ MY ROOM 9:30 P.M.
I couldn’t believe Emerson asked me out after Intro to Video. Did he not think that I was too loud or too much? Or did he just not care? Or maybe the whole not-yammering-away-through-every-class-and-wearing-neutral-colors plan had worked.
It’s not that I didn’t want to go out with him, it’s that I didn’t understand why he had asked me in the first place. But what if we went out, and then he asked me to Homecoming? That would solve my problems for sure. I sat at my desk and grabbed a sheet of paper.
PROS OF GOING OUT WITH EMERSON:
It could turn into a Homecoming date.
He’d make Wesley jealous.
He’s cute.
He’s a good dancer (I think).
He’s popular.
People would think I was popular just for being his date.
He would probably set something on fire to make me laugh.
CONS OF GOING OUT WITH EMERSON:
I don’t know if I have a crush on him . . . like . . . at all?
He’ll refer to himself in the third person the whole time.
He might not ask me to Homecoming, even if we do go out.
I would be leading him on if I said yes.
He would probably set something on fire to make me laugh.
Oh god. What was I going to do? Ruth was at a potluck for church, and it was 6:00 a.m. on a Friday for Ameh Sara in Tehran, where Fridays and Saturdays were the weekend. Who knew how long she’d sleep in?
9:41 PM PARVIN: Fabián, 911 emergency! Serious boy conundrum!
9:45 PM FABIÁN: parvin, where were you today? i thought you were helping me film my next video! i wanted to upload it before Yessenia’s party tomorrow
Oh no. I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to go to Fabián’s after school today to film. The Emerson thing had thrown me off so much it had completely evacuated my brain. I could tell he was seriously annoyed.
9:51 PM PARVIN: I’m sorry!! Things got hectic and I totally spaced. Forgive me?
9:52 PM FABIÁN:
9:55 PM PARVIN: Fabián?
10:00 PM PARVIN: You there?
I was just going to have to sleep on it.
Saturday MY ROOM 10:30 A.M.
Still no clue what to do about the Emerson situation. Instead, I decided to just clear my mind and soldier on with my mission. It was already Saturday, which meant I’d be seeing Matty later today. Ameh Sara was even helping me do my makeup for Matty’s party over video chat. Er, I mean, Yessenia’s party. Which Matty would be at. I needed to stay focused. Besides, I probably wouldn’t see Emerson until next week in class. I had time to figure it out.
“Angle your brush up, ameh,” Sara said. The sun was setting there, and in the background I could hear the call to Azane Maghreb, the last call to prayer for the day in Islam.
I tilted my eyeshadow brush higher, mimicking Sara’s through the computer screen. The easiest way for her to teach me how to do makeup over video chat was if she did the same exact things to her own face. After every session we’d both walk away with the same makeover. It was
