29 Dates

by Melissa de la Cruz

  “You people are always way too serious about getting good grades,” Bobby said. “Besides, what are you so pressed about? You’re probably gonna get into Harvard or Cornell or whatever anyway.”

  “You people?” The way Bobby said it made Jisu feel the most uncomfortable she’d felt at Wick. Bobby was doing his best to make her feel like an outsider, and it was actually working. Jisu clenched her fist. She wanted to get as far away from Bobby as possible.

  None of her classmates had heard, or if they had, they didn’t react. Trolls should be ignored, but Jisu wished someone, maybe even Dave, would say something and put Bobby in his place. Again. She could ignore a lot of his dumb comments, but she couldn’t let him get away with this one.

  “What do you mean, you people?” she asked again.

  “I meant like you guys...you know,” he said, sounding a bit set back, as if he hadn’t expected Jisu to stand up for herself.

  “No, Bobby. I don’t know.” But it was clear now to Jisu what he meant. He meant people who looked like her. Like Dave. Like all the other students at Wick who were Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese. Asians. Jisu was lucky to have never encountered jerks like Bobby back at home. But she was quickly learning that the best way to deal with them was to confront them head-on. Jisu grilled him harder. “What did you mean when you said you people?”

  Some of her classmates, probably sensing real tension, started to turn toward them. Bobby squirmed in his chair.

  Not so fond of the attention all of a sudden, huh, Bobby?

  After a moment, Bobby pushed the hoodie off his head, acting as if he’d gained some twisted sense of confidence from everyone watching.

  “Good for you, Jisu. I didn’t know Asian girls ever talked back.” He smirked. “Isn’t that why everyone wants an Asian girlfriend though? Because they never talk back?”

  Bobby’s words hit Jisu hard like a punch to the gut. Were people really dumb enough to believe that about girls who looked like her? Where did he even get off on saying such ridiculous things?

  Jisu was shaking with anger, and she tried to hold herself together. She knew every word that came out of Bobby’s mouth was empty and meaningless, but it didn’t change the fact that it was still hurtful and ostracizing. The students around her gasped. But none of them said anything.

  Where was Mrs. French when you needed a grown-up to step in? Of course she was still taking her “very important phone call” in the hallway, away from this mess. What would Jisu’s parents make of the fact that their tuition money was going toward her learning to fend for herself against racist classmates instead of focusing on international studies? Although, to be fair, those two things probably shared more than a few parallels.

  Stupid Bobby Leeman. Even at his most confident, full troll self, he was hunched over in his chair with the posture of a decrepit eighty-year-old man. Kaylee was right—he probably hadn’t ever gotten enough attention from his parents. Whatever his issues were, Jisu didn’t care enough to try to understand him. That wasn’t her job. The only person who could unpack the loneliness that drove Bobby’s sad, desperate ploys for attention was Bobby himself.

  Jisu was floundering through all the new layers of her anger and frustration when Hiba Khoury, a classmate she knew in passing, stepped in.

  “What would you know about girlfriends, Bobby?” she said. “Not even dead girls would go out with you.”

  The whole class jeered at this and cheered Hiba on. Hiba nudged her assigned partner, Jordan Rodriguez.

  “Jordan, take one for the team and switch with Jisu.” Jordan shrugged and Hiba stood up.

  “Get up, Bobby. Go sit with Jordan,” she ordered. Jisu watched in awe as Bobby sidestepped away from her with his head down.

  Hiba sat down next to Jisu, who marveled at her new friend. She had met Hiba during the first days of school, but they hadn’t really chatted outside of that initial interaction.

  Jisu had always admired Hiba’s fashion sense—she wore bright, vibrant colors and her outfits were always perfectly coordinated, from her hijab down to her shoes. Today she looked impeccably chic in an all-black outfit. Her sweater had gold roses embroidered on the shoulders and her Mary Janes looked a lot like a pair Jisu had seen and coveted the last time she had gone to Neiman Marcus with Linda and Mandy.

  When class ended, Bobby sneaked off quietly and disappeared into the crowded hallway.

  “Looks like the troll is going back under the bridge for lunchtime,” Hiba said. She turned to Jisu. “Are you okay though?” she asked with a serious look.

  “Oh, I’m fine. Idiots like Bobby can’t get to me.” Jisu smiled. It felt good to be seen the way Hiba looked at her.

  “You’ve learned that a lot faster than I did,” Hiba said. “Bobby has always been a bully. He’s never been nice to me since my first day at Wick.”

  “Kaylee says it’s because his mom never gave him enough attention, which makes me feel more sad for him than mad,” Jisu said.

  “Yeah, some people try to be too nice and say that he’s just awkward and doesn’t fit in. But being a jerk is not the same as being awkward. And people will go so far as to say he’s ‘kinda biased’ when really he’s kinda racist!” Hiba said. “No one ever wants to use the R word and offend anyone, when really the idiotic things he says are more offensive.”

  Jisu nodded her head as she walked down the hallway with Hiba. All of this was so new to her, but it made complete sense. Jisu let her shoulders drop and felt some relief. Listening to Hiba talk was like finding a new word in the dictionary to match a feeling you constantly felt but couldn’t name before.

  “Do you want to eat lunch together?” Jisu asked.

  “Yes, of course!” Hiba exclaimed, much to Jisu’s delight.

  The two of them walked to the main lawn. They threw their books and backpacks onto the grass and pulled out their lunches. Hiba took a bite out of her sandwich. Jisu opened her lunchbox. The plastic container was divided into sections. In each one, she packed servings of bulgogi, white rice, a packet of roasted seaweed and steamed vegetables.

  “Oh, my god, that looks so good!” Hiba said. “And it smells amazing.”

  “Thanks! I even made the bulgogi myself,” Jisu said, feeling proud of her amateur culinary accomplishments. She hadn’t cooked at all in Korea, but ever since she moved in with the Murrays, she had mastered a number of dishes. Emulating her mother’s cooking was the best way to cope with homesickness. Jisu ripped open the seaweed strips.

  “Do you want one?” she offered. Hiba took one and ate it immediately.

  “I love these. They’re so crispy and salty. Honestly, they’re even better than popcorn. I would eat this at the movies,” she said as she licked her lips and the salt off her fingers.

  Jisu remembered when she’d first eaten lunch with Jamie and Tiffany. They weren’t dismissive in any way, but the way they had said, What’s that? And that? I think I ate this at that Korean restaurant last week. Oh, my god, I actually love kimchi so much, hadn’t felt quite as genuine and natural as the way Hiba reacted.

  “So, you moved here when?” Jisu asked.

  “My parents and I emigrated from Lebanon when I was nine. I actually skipped a grade and started fifth grade early,” Hiba said.

  “Okay, so that definitely has to be the main thing written all over your college applications,” Jisu said.

  “How did you know?” Hiba laughed.

  “But seriously, the whole college application process is freaking me out.” Early applications were due in November, giving her only two months to get everything together. And then the rest of the applications would be due in January, which wasn’t that long after. Everything was hurtling forward. Jisu pushed the rice around her lunchbox. Her appetite had disappeared. “I know I’m not behind, but I feel like if I stop to breathe even for one second, I’ll fall to the end of the class.”r />
  “First of all, everyone overdoes it with the whole early-college-prep thing,” Hiba said. “Also, if I can be honest, it seems like you’re fitting in really easily here, at a completely new school in a completely new country. If you can do that, you can do anything.”

  “Do you know which schools you’re applying to?”

  “Princeton,” Hiba said firmly. “I want to go there for undergrad and then for law school.”

  “What kind of law do you want to study?”

  “Probably international law. It’s why I love Mrs. French’s class so much.”

  “See? That’s what I’m talking about. You know exactly what you want and what you’re going to do with your life.” Jisu sighed. “It took me like a week to figure out a time to meet Dave for the IS project.”

  “Well, Dave is always doing a million extracurricular activities, so that’s not on you.”

  “That makes me feel even more guilty,” Jisu said. “He’s out there, racking up all these accomplishments and awards to tack onto his résumé. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “Hey.” Hiba placed her hand on Jisu’s arm. “Nobody in this school really knows what they’re doing. I’m just following my older sister’s footsteps. Dave is just doing what his parents are telling him to do. You’re doing great. There are plenty of people in our grade who aren’t even half as prepared as you are.”

  Jisu knew all of this was true, but it was reassuring to hear Hiba say it. For the first time in weeks, she felt her anxiety go down.

  “Jisu! We’ve been looking for you!” Jamie and Tiffany ran across the courtyard and plopped themselves down on the grass.

  “We just had the most boring US history class,” Jamie said. “I’m so over high school. I can’t wait to go to college and just party.”

  Hiba glanced at Jisu. See? You’re way ahead of these girls, she seemed to say with a look. Jisu stifled her laughter.

  “Will you guys tell me if you see Jordan Rodriguez? I’m trying to avoid him,” Tiffany said.

  “Jisu and I were just in class with him. What happened?” Hiba asked.

  “He asked me out on a date and caught me off guard. And I said yes because I like him, but I was so awkward about it. I wanted to die. And now I never want to see him again.” Tiffany nervously pulled at the fringed hem of her skirt.

  “Maybe your matchmaker from Seoul can set Tiffany up on some dates,” Jamie said to Jisu.

  “Matchmaker?” Hiba turned to Jisu with wide eyes.

  “It’s not that crazy,” Jisu said. “It’s more like a glorified version of my mom trying to set me up on dates with her friends’ sons.”

  “Oh, my parents do that to me, too,” Hiba said. “Every time we go to mosque, they point out another boy my age and talk about what a nice man he’s grown to be, or how he’s so good to his parents.”

  “Don’t they know you’re busy trying to get into Princeton first?” Jisu said.

  “I know!” Hiba threw her hands up. “If I bring home a good grade, they ask me why I’m not dating so-and-so from mosque. If I spend too much time socializing, they scold me for not studying enough.”

  “You just can’t win,” Jisu said.

  “But I’ve never been on a real blind date. I grew up with all the boys that my parents are trying to set me up with. What are the blind dates like?” Hiba asked. Jamie and Tiffany also seemed eager to hear.

  “Honestly, they’re really not that glamorous,” Jisu said. “One time, I was on such a boring date that I actually fell asleep.”

  The girls collectively gasped.

  “You did not!” Tiffany screamed.

  “I’m not proud,” Jisu said, trying not to laugh. “I dozed off for like just one second while he was blabbing on about something—I can’t even remember what—but he definitely noticed. And he called me out on it!”

  “Oh, my god! Why would he do that?” Jamie looked bewildered.

  “Yeah, seriously. Just take the L and move on,” Hiba said. “Boys are so dumb.”

  Jisu checked her phone as the girls got up to go to class. There was a text from Austin.

  Wyd Weds? Supposed to be the last warm day of the year. Wanna go surfing?

  Jisu looked at Jamie and Tiffany. They were adjusting each other’s hair—Jamie making sure Tiffany’s braids were intact and Tiffany adjusting Jamie’s bangs. They didn’t seem to have gotten any texts from Austin, so maybe it wasn’t just another friend hang.

  Jisu’s stomach did a tiny flip. Was he asking her out on a real date?

  I don’t know how to surf :(

  Jisu checked next Wednesday in her calendar. IS project with Dave K. Of course, the one time Dave could manage to find a time to squeeze her into his busy schedule was when Austin wanted to hang.

  I can teach you :) c’monnnn

  Jisu wanted to say yes. Why did she have to bend over backward to make it work for Dave? She had a life, too. She started a new message, this one to Dave.

  Sorry, can’t do Weds anymore. But we’ll find another time!

  Jisu had no idea when exactly that might be. She didn’t know what her schedule looked like the following week or for the next. But she had plans with Austin, and for now she was happy just to have that in her calendar.

  JULY 30, SUMMER BREAK

  DATE NO. 9

  NAME: Park Changmin

  * * *

  INTERESTS:

  Seoul SK Knights, Marvel Comics, Comedy

  * * *

  ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

  Skipped two grades; Early admittance to

  Cambridge University; Currently a Physics major

  at Cambridge

  * * *

  Jisu: You know, I’ve been to the UK but I’ve never been to Cambridge.

  Changmin: Oh, word.

  Jisu: I’ve been to London and Oxford. Is Cambridge a lot like Oxford? I know you guys are major rivals, right?

  Changmin: Yeah, but I don’t really pay attention to that school rivalry stuff.

  Jisu: Oh...got it. So, what are you studying at Cambridge?

  Changmin: Physics.

  Jisu: Do you like it?

  Changmin: Enough to major in it, yeah.

  Jisu: I see.

  Jisu: I heard you skipped a few grades and even got into Cambridge early. Is that true?

  Changmin: Yeah, it’s true.

  Jisu: That’s amazing! So wait, does that mean we’re actually the same age?

  Changmin: How old are you?

  Jisu: Seventeen. I turn eighteen in October. How old are you?

  Changmin: I turn nineteen next month. Do you go on these seons often?

  Jisu: Hmm? I’ve just been on a few. Not that many. Some were boring. Most of them were perfectly nice, but that’s about it. On paper though, I think you’ve got the most interesting résumé.

  Changmin: Really? If I’m the most interesting dude, then you need to fire your matchmaker. Or she should quit her job.

  Jisu: What! Don’t say that. Getting into college two years early and then going to Cambridge is pretty interesting. Although, I have to be honest, I don’t really care much for physics. I’m actually very bad at it and barely passed last year.

  Changmin: A physics nerd at Cambridge couldn’t really interest a lot of people. Or anyone for that matter.

  Jisu: Well, that isn’t the only thing that defines you!

  Changmin: True, I suppose.

  Jisu: What do you do at Cambridge outside of class? Is it true that you guys always have fancy dinners where everyone gets dressed up?

  Changmin: You’re probably thinking about the Formal Halls.

  Jisu: Do you dress up? I bet you look great in a suit.

  Changmin: I do get dressed up. And you go with your friends, bring a bottle of wine, sit down to eat in a big hall that was built centu
ries ago and socialize with your fellow classmates.

  Jisu: That sounds so nice.

  Changmin: Do you want to go to Cambridge? Or any school in the UK?

  Jisu: I’d be lucky if I got into any university at this point. Korean universities are super selective, so I’m looking at more options in America. But who knows if anyone will take me.

  Changmin: You’re being too hard on yourself.

  Jisu: How would you know?

  Changmin: You seem smart and snappy. Like book smart but also sensible.

  Jisu: Really? You think so? If I applied to Cambridge, would you write me a letter of recommendation?

  Changmin: I’m flattered you’d ask, but I have a feeling a recommendation letter from one of their own students wouldn’t really help.

  Jisu: It might if that student is a physics genius who got into college at the age of sixteen.

  Changmin: I hate to tell you, but I don’t even make the list of top ten smartest people at Cambridge. You’ll get to campus and become completely unimpressed.

  Jisu: Damn, then I definitely can’t get into Cambridge. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who’s skipped a grade, no less two. So that probably makes you the smartest person I’ve met. When do you go back to the UK?

  Changmin: I’m actually going back a little early, in a few weeks. I want to spend some of the summer there, and it’s also my girlfriend’s birthday in August.

  Jisu: Girlfriend?

  Changmin: Yeah...wait, did you not see my text before we met up?

  Jisu: I haven’t checked my phone...

  Changmin: I’m just out here to see my family and the seons are to keep my mom happy. She’d be mortified if she knew I had an English girlfriend. Shoot. I’m sorry, Jisu, I thought you got my text—

  Jisu: No, it’s cool! I’m really only doing this for my parents anyway, too, so...

  Changmin: Good! I’m so relieved. Also because I think you’re actually kinda cool. The first two seons I went on were kind of a mess. Especially after I told both of the girls that I already had a girlfriend.