42 Yang! (2/2)
Jessica burst out laughing. Closing the cooking magazine, she said to Joshua in a sarcastic tone, ”Oh, you are so experienced. You had only one relationship, and you were dumped!”
Joshua said embarrassedly, ”Two relationships! Anyway, I am not a rookie like you.”
Raising her eyebrow, Jessica did not take offense. She said, ”It is only because I don't want to start a relationship yet. There are way too many people who want to be my boyfriend.”
Joshua murmured, ”Not including Yang?”
Jessica picked up a pillow. Pretending she was going to throw it at him, she said, ”I don't want to talk about this, and I especially don't want to talk with you about this, kiddo. Get out of my room.”
Someone was annoyed… Joshua got to his feet and walked out of the door. At the mention of the word boyfriend, Jessica suddenly thought of something. She stopped him. ”Come back! Let me ask you one thing. What is that Jack thing all about?”
Turning around, Joshua was struck dumb. He asked confusedly, ”Jack? Jack who?”
Frowning, Jessica looked confused, too. She said, ”Jack Frank? I have no idea. One day, Yang asked me out of the blue, 'How has Jack been?'. That is really weird.”
”Jack Frank? Jack?” Joshua kept repeating the name. He seemed to find some clue. He finally remembered it after a good while. Looking at Jessica embarrassedly, he said, ”Hmm… maybe it is because before, you know? Because I was trying to protect you, and I told Yang that Jack was your boyfriend.”
”What?!” Jessica screamed. She fell off the bed. Her pretty eyes were full of shock. She said, ”Jack Frank? My boyfriend?! My boyfriend?! Since when I have a boyfriend? What the hell!” She recalled that day how Yang had held his tongue. Had he misunderstood her? Jessica walked back and forth anxiously. Looking back and giving Joshua a stare, she said in anger, ”I really want to give you a beating! Why are you so annoying?!”
Joshua pretended he threw up his hands. He said, ”I didn't do that deliberately. I thought Yang was a bad guy back then…” Seeing Jessica gnashing her teeth and looking for something that she could use as a weapon, he hurried to say, ”Okay. Okay. I get it. I know what you are worrying about. But I don't think Yang will misunderstand anything. He came to your birthday party. I remember Jack Frank was also at the party that day! Yang could see how you treated Jack. He is not a moron or something.”
Frowning, Jessica put the pillow down. Joshua was right. Yang should know that…”So, he doesn't like me?” Jessica thought. She shook her head immediately to get the idea out of her head. She could feel there was something different between them, but had she felt it wrongly?
Seeing her worrying, Joshua could not put up with it anymore. Spreading his hands, he said, ”Come on, Jessica. Just tell him you like him! I said it first in both of my relationships, and then it worked.” He looked serious. Closing his fist, he said, ”Don't you know? Chinese are usually very shy. We should make the first step!”
”Moron!” Jessica denied his suggestion right away. What would it be like if she was rejected by Yang? The mere thought of it could make her shudder. A long time ago, she'd thought she had been rejected when she could not receive Yang's letters. She did not want to experience that frustration and pain once again. Besides, the shooting of High School Musical would start very soon. If she was rejected, she might not be able to do a good acting job at all… thinking of this, she shook her head. ”No!”
Frowning, Joshua was trying to come up with another idea. Looking around, he suddenly saw a sentence printed on the cover of the cooking magazine, ”What to Eat on Thanksgiving?”. His eyes lit up. He said excitedly, ”I have a good idea! What about this? You invite Yang to our Thanksgiving dinner, the family dinner. You tell him he is the only guest invited! I don't think he won't get such an obvious implication.”
”Isn't that the same as telling him I like him?” Jessica asked, looking at him.
Joshua said confidently, ”No, they are not the same thing. You could invite him just because he is a good friend! But why only him? Figure it out yourself!”
Frowning, Jessica was pondering what he had said. Waving her hand, she said, ”Go out. Stop bothering me.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Joshua walked out. As soon as he had left, Jessica shut the door of her room. Sitting on the edge of the bed with her cellphone for a long time, her heart beat faster and faster. She breathed out after a long while. She called Wang Yang. Smiling, she said, ”Hi, Yang. Good evening!”
”Hi, Jessica.” Wang Yang smiled at the cellphone. He was sitting by the desk in his bedroom, reading about how to be a director. He closed the book as soon as he got Jessica's call.
They started to talk. Then, he heard Jessica ask him, smiling, ”You know, it will be Thanksgiving in two days. Will you go back to San Francisco?”
Shaking his head, Wang Yang said, ”No, I won't.” He would not go back until New Year's Eve, but he certainly would call home on Thanksgiving Day.
Jessica tried to calm down. She said, ”Well, I am preparing a big Thanksgiving dinner. I want to invite you to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Would you like to come?”
”Wow, sure!” Wang Yang agreed immediately, smiling. He said happily into the phone, ”That is really exciting.”
She took a deep breath, but her heartbeat did not slow down. All of a sudden, Jessica said in a loud voice, ”Yang! Well…” Her voice was almost shaking. She said, ”You come alone, okay? I am sorry, but it's just that my turkey is not big enough…”
”Sure!” Wang Yang's heart skipped a beat. He realized what she was implying. His heartbeat accelerated too. Listening to Jessica's breathing, although she was trying to keep it down, he said, ”I see. Thank you for inviting me.”
”So, good night!” Jessica hung up as soon as he agreed as if she was afraid that he would change his mind somehow. She breathed out. She lay down on the bed, exhausted. Staring at the ceiling, a hopeful, sweet smile slowly showed up on her face.
Wang Yang put the cellphone down when he heard that Jessica had hung up. Then, he said quietly, ”Good night.” Would the Thanksgiving dinner be big? He let out a sigh. He picked up Little Women from the desk and opened it to a page. He took out a photo from there.
Gazing at the blond girl in the photo, Wang Yang became serious. He recalled many things. And a vague, crying voice was echoing in his ears. ”Yang, you are a jerk! I hate you! Go to hell!” This was the first time and the only time he saw her vulnerable side. She was always so tough. She was a woman of her own and would never lose her manners like that… looking at the girl in the photo, he murmured, ”How have you been?”
He thought he had forgotten about those happy days, but it turned out he had not. Why had they fought? They'd been so in love that they had not even needed any disguise. That was how they had naturally shown who they were and had stopped caring for the other person's feelings. They'd started to demand the other one with their own standards, which they'd thought was good. Then, the terrible thing had happened. It was not that they hated each other. Instead, it was that they cared about each other too much…
One and another scene showed up before his eyes. Wang Yang held the photo in his hand tighter involuntarily.
”I will go to the University of Southern California, I tell you. I will be a director.”
”What do I care if you want to be a director?!”
”Why don't you want me to be a director? Why?!”
”It's not that I don't want you to be a director, but you know that I will go to the business school of Stanford. You should go to Stanford with me. That will lead you to a better future!”
”Go to hell, Stanford! What can I do at Stanford? Go to the business school with you?! Will I be admitted? Putting that aside, that is not what I want! I want to be a director. I want to make movies. Why can't you just support me on that?!”
”Yang, please. For my sake, go to Stanford! Just go to Stanford for my sake! Don't you understand? That is the only way we can stay together…”
”I will be expecting you at Stanford…”
”No. I will be expecting you in Los Angeles!”
Then, he went to the University of Southern California. And he got that call from her and saw her vulnerable side.
Looking at the girl in the photo, Wang Yang suddenly gnashed his teeth. He tore the photo into halves, and then into four pieces. He threw them onto the ground. In a hoarse voice, he swore, ”Go to hell, Stanford! F*ck!”