by Shae Ross
“Thanks, Robert,” I say purposefully, interrupting him before he has a chance to turn his statement from a kind offer to an inappropriate suggestion.
Jett has made it across the stage to where we are standing and is steps away. Robert sees him and reaches out to shake his hand.
“Congratulations, Jett. Well done.” He looks back to me and then says to Jett, “You know when Ryan told me the two of you were an item this morning, I have to admit I was more than a little disappointed. But seeing you together on stage tonight,” he tilts his head and holds his hand out, “I totally get it. I’m happy for you.” He grips Jett’s shoulder and moves past us, leaving us staring at each other.
“Congratulations, Jett, on all of your accomplishments this week.”
The corners of his mouth lift and fall into a grim line. He leans over my shoulder and whispers into my ear, “I’m sorry, Ryan.”
I close my eyes for a moment and tears sting. “Celebrate your victory, Jett. You’ve earned it.” I try to smile but I can’t stop the tears from gathering, and because I don’t want him to see me cry, I excuse myself. “I’m going to go congratulate your teammates.” His long fingers trail a lingering touch over my arm as I move past him.
After I congratulate Ben and Vaughn, I see my mom and stepdad coming up the aisle, and I head off the stage to meet them. They hug and encourage me with soft words, reminding me how far we came to make it into this competition in the first place. “If you want to start law school in the fall, Ryan, you know we’ll find a way to make it work,” my stepdad says.
“I know. I was just really hoping…”
I swipe the tear that plops over my cheek. Ugh. I hate crying. My stepdad kisses my cheek. They offer to take us all to breakfast tomorrow, including Team Jett, and we make arrangements to meet. I hug them both and we say our good-byes.
We spend the next forty minutes acknowledging the well wishes and thanking all of those that worked with us this week. Between my conversations I have looked for Jett, but have not seen him. I see Devi and Jade standing with a woman behind me. Jade calls me over and the woman introduces herself as the Dean of Student Affairs for NYU law school. “Your friends were informing me you hold an acceptance letter to our school.” I confirm what she heard and she invites me to have lunch with her and tour the campus the next time I’m in town. By the time we finish talking, my spirits are lifted.
The mayor is next in the line of people waiting to console us, but his words are encouraging, too, and by the time we’re saying our good-byes, it seems more like a congratulations. A string of other well-wishers approaches me after the mayor and I watch Devi and Jade smiling and chatting with all of the people we’ve met. I let out a deep breath and smile as they come my way.
“Excuse me, ladies.” A thin man with a tight wave of blond hair is holding up the camera that’s strapped around his neck, motioning to us. “Can I get a picture of the second place team for the New York Daily?”
We pause a beat, staring at him, the words “second place” rolling over in my mind. “Sure,” I say. Our heels shuffle across the marble floor as he points the camera and twists the lens. Second place. I blink and frown.
“Okay, on three.” And he begins his count. “One, two…”
Devi springs forward and lunges into a split fingered gangster pose.
“Hell YES, second place!” she shouts with enthusiasm as the bright light flashes over us.
The photographer lowers his camera, looking a little bewildered by the photo bomb. “Uhhh…could I get one more?”
“Oh sure.” Devi straightens her skirt and comes back to stand beside us. “I just thought you might want something with a little more personality,” she says, casting a sly smile our way.
He stares at her with an annoyed look. “No. No, I really don’t.”
“Suit yourself, then.” She presses one hand to her hip and throws the other over my shoulder, which is quaking from the laughter I’m trying to contain. On the other side of me Jade is shaking, too.
Hell yes, second place. Through our laughter I feel the burden of loss lifting.
He takes his picture and I pull Devi in and kiss her cheek, and then do the same to Jade. Some things are just more important than winning, and this is one of them. My best friends. So it’s not the outcome we had initially hoped for, but it’s so much more of so many other things we never anticipated. It’s opportunity and experience and connections that could potentially help all of us with our future careers. Most importantly, I’m determined that the end of this competition will mark the beginning of something so much bigger.
I pull open my phone. 9:14 p.m. The program officially ended at nine p.m. I bite my lower lip and a nervous flutter waves through my stomach. I tell Jade and Devi I need to find Jett and push through the crowd to the exit. Uniformed ushers are holding the front doors open, nodding to the departing patrons.
I search the crowd. The urge to reach him courses through my body and turns into a breathless pursuit. My heels scrape the pavement as I squeeze past people until I’m standing in front of the Met. I pan the mass of people swarming down the steps. My whole body is tingling with anxiousness. Will he be there, waiting for me?
I don’t see him. My vision spins over the crowd again. I close my eyes and shake my head. I’m so nervous, I’m questioning whether or not I can even see straight. I open my eyes and refocus.
The crowd shifts and there he is, leaning against the handrail with arms crossed, one ankle resting casually over the other. The light from the Met spills down, softening the dark sky into hues of gray and mauve. His profile appears cut from the night air. He’s undone his bow tie and the waved black edges hang loose against his white shirt. I step forward and he raises his gaze. I think I see a quick flash of relief as his eyes lock on mine. A smile curls his lips and a slow, seductive look moves into his eyes. He turns to face me and I start down the steps. He’s watching me and my heart is fluttering. I stop one step above him so that we’re eye to eye. His hands find my hips and he pulls me toward him. My arms circle his shoulders and pull him close. He leans his forehead to rest against mine and the world around us disappears. His arms lock around me and he lifts me off the step and brings his mouth close to my ear.
“We’re on the same team now, Rose, and it’s a whole new game. Better lace up, pretty smart girl.”
Epilogue
The ink gun ignites into a low zzzing sound, spreading goose bumps up my skin.
“Ready?” The wand wielder asks, pulsing the trigger twice. I nod my head and take a deep breath of astringent-filled air. I’m lying on my stomach, T-shirt wrenched up to my bra line, jeans unbuttoned and lowered over my hips. I’m watching him in the mirror, wondering if the thick glasses he’s wearing are a bad sign. Do I really want the guy who’s about to brand me with the Michigan M squinting through Coke-bottle lenses? The needle pierces my skin and I open my mouth and form a long, silent owww as the pain drags over me in short, scratchy strokes.
“Bite your lip, Ryan. It cuts the pain,” Jade says.
“You were smart to go first,” I respond. I bite my lip and try to concentrate on the cool vinyl of the table pressing against my stomach rather than the slow burn against my hip. Devi is standing in front of the full-length mirror, shirt gathered up and clenched in one hand, eyeing the small blue M on her lower stomach, also concealable with a bikini.
“Are you sure you left enough room to add a foot stomping on it?” she asks, turning her torso back and forth, inspecting his work. After she shows the guys the proof of her tattoo tonight, she plans to come back tomorrow and plant a Spartan shoe on top of the M. The ink slayer has assured her he can make it look like the M is crumbling. Jade’s going to have her tatoo altered into the word “Mom” in a mosaic pattern of colors. Since Jett and I are dating and he frequently sees me in less than a bikini, I’m going to leave mine alone…for now.
Devi does a full turn in front of the mirror again and I notice a bluish half-moon
mark on her back hip. “What’s on your side?” I ask with a sinking feeling. She drops her shirt, grabs her cell phone from the stool beside my table, and sits.
“My brother. I mean my asshole brother,” she says.
Jade and I exchange quick worried looks and then focus back to her. Silence expands as we watch her fumbling with her iPhone. Her lips pucker and I know she sees us watching and waiting for more of an explanation. “Kicked me,” she says, her tone sounding resigned. “And I kicked him back.”
“Not good,” I say.
“Nope,” she pops the word off her lips.
This is the second time I’ve seen her bruised since she moved home after graduation.
“So how are we going to do the big tattoo reveal for the guys?” Devi asks, obviously trying to change the subject.
Jade’s brow furrows. “I’m not really up for droppin’ my pants in front of all of them. Suppose they’ll take our word for it?”
Devi snorts. “Not if the alternative is that we strip.”
“Yeah. Not happening,” Jade says.
“Why don’t you just show Vaughn and Devi can show Ben.”
Devi shrugs and lowers her shirt. “I’m good with that.”
“That’ll work,” Jade responds.
I smile and lower my head. After college graduation in June, Vaughn headed to Hong Kong to visit his father. Jade hasn’t seen enough of him to know whether or not the friendship they started in New York will blossom, but I suspect she’s hoping—and excited to see him tonight after the long hiatus.
Ben’s been telling Devi on a weekly basis he’s ready when she is, but for some self-defeating reason, she keeps telling herself they’re “just friends.” I know they’ve had a couple margarita-induced suck-face sessions, though—and apparently they were good enough to make her feel comfortable showing him some skin. I wonder how she’s going to explain that bruise when Ben sees it. I hope she forgets and he calls her out. I know he cares about her and the more allies stacked in Devi’s corner, the better.
“What time do we need to leave?” Devi asks.
“We’re meeting them in Ferndale at Anita’s Kitchen for drinks. Jett said they have a surprise for us and we have to be there at four. He’s taking me to his dad’s yacht tonight. I’m going to make dinner for him and show him the tattoo.”
After a harrowing ride with Devi behind the wheel, we arrive at Anita’s Kitchen.
The hostess escorts us through the bistro and out to the covered patio. For a moment I think we’re the first to arrive, but the hostess comes to the end of the patio and leads us to a private table sectioned off by a screen of potted vining plants.
The guys jump to a stand and the space erupts with laughter and greetings. We shuffle around the table to hug one another. I take the seat across from Jett. Jade sits beside me and next to Vaughn. Ben pulls the seat next to him out for Devi and she immediately starts to laugh and flirt with him. It feels so good to look at them as our friends now, rather than our competition. I’ve heard that people who go through stressful times together become lifelong friends, and I can feel the truth of it in the way we are all looking at each other. Jett’s fingers reach under the table and skim against the top of my knees. I reach for his hand and a warm feeling spreads through me as it closes around mine..
A smiling woman with a small tray of white plated appetizers stops in front of our table. Jett stands and introduces Jennifer as the owner of Anita’s Kitchen. She has the welcoming smile of a childhood friend, embracing with a feeling of familiarity. Bright, engaging brown eyes under black lashes match the glossy shoulder-length curls that bounce as she unloads her tray.
We nibble on olives, hummus, and tabouli while we laugh together and catch up on everyone’s activities for the past months.
Across the table I see Vaughn opening a laptop. “What’s that for?” I point with a triangle of pita bread.
His black eyes narrow as he smiles. “You’ll see.” I watch him while the others are engaged in conversation. His fingers tap softly on the keys. He pauses a moment and then moves the laptop to the front of the table, angling the screen slightly toward Jade and himself. I see the Skype application opening, and the word “Connecting…”
Vaughn holds one hand out and hovers long fingers above the half-eaten appetizer plates. “Hey,” he says, snapping to get everyone’s attention. “Quiet, people. I got a call here.” All eyes raise and follow his gaze to the laptop. He scoots closer to Jade and she casts him a hesitant look and turns back to the screen.
One side of Jett’s mouth rises into a soft smile as I inspect his expression for clues. He squeezes my hand under the table but keeps his gaze fixed on the screen. I turn back and wait.
Colors move and the image of an older man appears. His face is pressed into a calm smile and he has the same handsome angular features as Vaughn.
“Hi, Dad,” Vaughn says. The man’s thin lips spread into a long grin and he nods deeply. “Hello, son,” he says in a choppy accent. Vaughn puts his arm around Jade and she leans slightly forward.
“Dad, this is my friend, Jade.”
His eyes peer into the screen and then lighten. He nods and smiles. “It is nice to meet you, Jade,” he says in clipped, practiced syllables.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Mr. Jung,” Jade says, a smile in her voice.
“Jade, I have someone here who would like to say hello to you.” Mr. Jung brings his fingertips together and up to his nose as if in prayer. Jade flashes a quick wide-eyed glance to Vaughn, but he ignores her and continues to stare at his dad. The screen turns into gray fuzz as the Skype camera moves on the other end. We strain our eyes, following the blur. It lands upon an object. Movement stops and the image morphs into the form of a small woman’s face. Her hair is pulled tight in a neat black bun and she’s squinting at us. My hands fly up to cover my mouth. Oh my God.
Jade draws in a gasp of air that bursts back out with one moaning word, “Mo-mma.” She clutches the sides of the laptop with both hands. “Momma,” she says louder, her hands shaking against the screen.
Her mom’s eyes squint and focus and her sharp black eyes widen with recognition. Small hands reach out toward us.
“Jade,” she says, “my beautiful girl.” She clasps her hands under her chin and looks to the side, then back to Jade. “So good I see your beautee-ful face.”
Jade’s hands are pressed over her mouth and her head is moving back and forth as if she can’t believe what she’s seeing. Vaughn pulls her a little closer, tightening his hand on her shaking shoulder. Devi and Ben and Jett have come around and are standing behind our seats, watching the screen. I exchange a wide tear-filled look with Devi as Jade emits a half sob, half gasp.
“Where are you, Mom?” she asks in a confused tone.
“I am in Hong Kong. Mr. Jung, he come find me and bring me here to the big hospital. I am grateful, very grateful,” she says, turning to Mr. Jung off-screen again.
“But why are you at the hospital, Mom? Are you okay?”
“I have treatment tomorrow,” she answers, “with the money you won in New York…from your game.” Mrs. Song doesn’t notice Jade’s crinkled brow or the shaking head of her daughter. She continues nodding and smiling. “I am grateful, to you and your friends.”
Jade looks at Vaughn’s smiling face, pinning him with a searching stare. I notice Devi turn to Ben and I turn to Jett. A long beat passes while we search their sly smiles for an answer, and then it hits me. I gasp in the same moment Jade stiffens her body and puts a hand on Vaughn’s arm. She knows, too. I look at Devi and she’s shaking her head, confused.
“It’s the IOU money.”
Jett’s soft smile begins to expand and his eyes darken. Jade drops her forehead onto her hand and mutters a muffled, “Oh my God.”
Devi’s chair scrapes across the stone floor as Ben pulls her closer and whispers in her ear, “Vaughn took the IOU money we gave him for the Itty Bitty Kitty underwear, plus his own contribution as
if he’d lost the bet.”
Jett tilts his chin down and leans to me. “We sent the money to Mr. Jung and he arranged for Mrs. Song to see a physician in Hong Kong.”
“As long as she passes her physical, they can begin treatment this week,” Vaughn says.
Mrs. Song’s voice breaks our stunned trance. “Jade, I like to meet your friends.”
Jade wipes a tear and erupts into a small tremor of laughter.
“Mom, this is Vaughn.” Vaughn nods and says hello. “And Momma, this is Ryan,” she says. I lean against her until we’re pressed shoulder to shoulder. “You remember Ryan, Mom.”
I brush away the tear that’s sliding down my cheek.
“Hello, Mrs. Song.” I wave into the screen. Jade’s mom has seen me and Jade only from the pictures we’ve sent over the years. In China she lives out in the rural country where communication is limited, and their family has had no money to travel. I remember her face from the day she left. It’s the same face that stares back at us, but she’s smiling now.
“Hello, Ryan…it’s a good day to see you and my Jade. I wish to thank you and your family for all your help.” She turns to look off screen and says something to Mr. Jung in Chinese…it sounds like she has asked him a question. She turns back. “Tell your mom and dad I am grateful to them, very grateful.”
“I will tell them, Mrs. Song. They will be so happy that we had a chance to see you and talk to you.”
Jade introduces Jett, Ben, and Devi next while Jett rests his hands on my shoulders. We watch Mrs. Song fill Jade in on the details of her journey and everything that’s happened since Mr. Jung’s arrival at their house last week.
Mr. Jung assures Jade he’ll be visiting and see Mrs. Song safely back to her village when she’s well enough to travel. He also arranges for the two of them to Skype again in a few days. Vaughn closes the laptop and Jade and Devi and I begin to douse the guys with heartfelt sentiment, expressing appreciation, shock, joy, awe, and genuine love for their sacrifice.