CHAPTER 1

Summer’s getting nearer again.

Another break. Just like last year.

And I’ll have to come up with some lame excuse, because I’m too shy to wear a bikini…

Or not.

And—

“Velvet!”

Oh. Shit. I got lost in my head again

“Hmm?” I tried to play it cool, like I always do.

“You’re spacing out again. Did you even hear what I said?”

This time she caught me.

“Um…” I rarely used fillers. “Something about… what was it again?”

Smack.

“Ow—? That hurt.”

She just stared at me questioningly.

I wasn’t lying. It really did hurt.

“You really need to focus a bit more,” Emily began her usual motherly lecture.

“Hmm.” I hummed, my eyes drifting back to the idiot with the terrible hair who kept staring at me from across the café. Even today, when I’d dressed decently.

“You’ve got a lot of them,” Emily said with a smile, sipping her boba.

She noticed.

“With all those beautiful Chinese features you have, why wouldn’t they stare?” she teased. “You’re basically a walking fantasy.”

I rolled my eyes. She chuckled.

“You know it’s normal. You should’ve gotten used to it by now.”

She wasn’t wrong. I knew I was pretty.

But that didn’t stop the discomfort that crawled up my spine whenever I noticed the way some of them looked at me — like I was something to consume.

Too bad I couldn't just up and leave, this café was good.

Their coffee, milkshakes, boba — everything.

As much as I hated admitting it whenever Emily praised them.

••••

We finished our drinks and left. Good thing we did, or I might’ve walked over to that idiot and given him a piece of my mind.

As we walked quietly down a Brooklyn street, Emily scrolled through her phone, smiling at something that clearly amused her. I wanted to know what it was.

“Velvet,” she called, still looking at her screen.

“Yeah?”

“Summer’s coming up.”

There it was.

The topic I always avoided.

I stayed silent. She continued.

“Don’t travel this year… please.”

She stopped walking and looked at me.

“I’d love for us to actually enjoy summer with you here. Go to the beach, get drunk… Amber’s staying too, you know.”

I sighed internally.

“Amber is always available for summer.”

She laughed.

“Yeah, but still.” She tilted her head. “You’ll stay this year, right?”

I didn’t answer.

“We’ll go to the beach. Parties. We can even get boyfriends,” she grinned.

“Or worse — one-night stands.”

She twirled around a lamp post and walked ahead, leaving me to process what she’d just said.

Go to the beach.

Get a boyfriend.

A one-night stand—

“A one-night WHAT?!”

There was absolutely no way I was losing my virginity in a one-night stand.

I ran after her. She turned, saw my face, and burst out laughing before running further.

I hated that laugh. It meant she’d gotten exactly the reaction she wanted.

Emily is my crazy Italian-Australian best friend.

No, she doesn’t have a British accent.

Green eyes. Wavy blonde hair. Looks like an angel.

Not very tall — definitely not as tall as me.

We met three years ago when I moved to New York after my dad died.

College orientation. My English was a mess, and she volunteered to be my “navigator.”

She stuck to me like a koala ever since.

So did the insults from her annoying brother, who loved reminding me that I was Chinese and my English wasn’t “perfect.”

And tales from Emily says he'll be coming back from his work trip , after ten months. I'll get to see that perfectly annoying face of his .

>> >> >> >> >>

By the time I got home, Emily’s summer suggestions still buzzed in my head.

She was sweet to everyone else.

But I knew her well enough to know she meant every word.

Click.

My thoughts broke when Mom opened my door.

“Velvet?” she called softly.

“I’m here.” I sat up and turned on the light.

“Qīn'ài de, wǒ yǐwéi nǐ shuìzhe le.”

(My love, I thought you were asleep )

“Méiyǒu. Gōngzuò zěnmeyàng?”

(No. How was work)

“It was good. Like every other day. Tell me about yours.”

I walked to the kitchen and plated her food while she sat at the table.

“Nothing much. School… and Emily.” I paused.

“She thinks I should stay for summer.”

I set her plate down and sat beside her.

“And what do you think?” she asked, smiling after a bite. “This is tasty.”

“I don’t know. You know… bikinis—”

Her look made me stop.

“You’re not afraid of the bikini itself,” she said gently.

“There are other types. Ones with skirts or wraps.”

She was right.

“You got me.” I sighed. “The truth is…”

She waited.

“Ever since Dad died… we’ve grown distant. Summer is the only time we really spend together. I thought—”

She cut me off, speaking in Chinese.

“Zhèngcháng de. Wǒmen bù huì yǒngyuǎn zài yīqǐ. Nǐ yǐjīng zhǎng dà le. Nǐ yīnggāi duō chūqù wán, gēn péngyou zài yīqǐ. Wǒ juéde nǐ yīnggāi cóng jīnnián xiàtiān kāishǐ.”

(Velvet, we won't always be together. You've grown up.you should go out more, have fun with friends . I think you should start this summer .)

I stared at her.

“So… I’ve been the only one trying to keep this bonding thing alive?”

“No—”

I cut her off this time, smiling.

“You’re right. I’ve grown up.”

I stood and walked upstairs to my room,

slamming the door.

Fuck

What was so wrong about wanting to hold onto what little family we had left?

“you've grown up”

Those three words echoed in my head long after the house went quiet.

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