Don't Cry Over Phở

Chapter 2: And That's All It Was

The next morning as my mother drove me to school, I watched the outside view flash by as our car passed many trees. Looking into the rearview mirror and meeting my gaze, my mom said, "Oh today I have to speak with your counselor about some classes you'll be taking this year. So I want you to go to the office with me."

It was my last year of high school and while most people spent their senior year relaxing and partying, I was probably going to be stuck studying for AP classes. I mean I had to look good on college applications after all. I was basically like Rapunzel trapped in her tower. If Rapunzel was Asian and had a mother obsessed with her school grades that is.

"Alright fine," I said, my eyes drifting to the window again.

She parked in my high school's front parking lot and we walked to the office. As we walked in, I was hit with the old dusty office smell that was kind of a mixture of wood and books. I wrinkled my nose in slight discomfort.

"Hi where can I see the counselor?" my mother asked the front office lady. Looking around the office, there was a small waiting room and a front desk filled with messy file cabinets and papers. Along the walls were glass displays of my school's sports trophies and awards as well as a large poster that said Rosswood High Pride!

"The counselor's office is that way," the desk lady said, pointing her sharp acrylic nail down the hall. Even though the first day of school was tomorrow, the office was surprisingly empty. I was expecting a lot of staff members running around getting preparations ready. I was somewhat relieved though. At least nobody could hear the embarrassing expectations my mother had of me. I smiled a little bit. Alright Allison, all you have to do is survive this counselor conference with your overbearing mother. Not too hard right?

As my mother and I approached the counselor's office, I heard arguing voices growing louder as we got closer. "I told you that I need this permit. My grades are beyond acceptable and-"

When we both walked in, my gaze landed on a boy about my age in front of the counselor's desk. He was hunched over and from the back, I could see that he was very tense. The counselor had a tired frown on her face as she was resting her chin on top of her tightly knit hands.

They both stopped talking immediately as we walked in and the counselor looked up with a face of slight relief for the interruption. The boy turned around with a small scowl on his face. He had jet black hair that was a little tousled, tan skin, and dark brown eyes that were intimidatingly cold. He had long toned arms that indicated he worked out in some way. He was Asian like me and was wearing tan pants with a black t-shirt. Hmm alright edgy look I see. Damn, he would be hella attractive if it weren't for that scowl on his face.

I quickly wiped those thoughts from my head from fear that it would show on my face. I tried my hardest to keep a blank and neutral face.

"Hello, are we interrupting?" my mom cut right in. Of course my mom would want to speak to the counselor right away. She was not one for polite talk.

"Actually-," the guy started, but he was cut off by the counselor who said, "Luca why don't you have a seat and wait a bit while I take care of this first."

I glanced at Luca and boy he did not look happy. He clenched his jaw, but sat down on one of the chairs in the room and said nothing after that. The counselor looked at me and my mom with a smile on her face. "So what can I help you guys with today?"

"This is my daughter, Allison. I want to sign her up to be one of those tutors for that after school tutoring program?" my mom asked in a thick Vietnamese accent. I grimaced slightly. Since I was a little kid, I had always been a little bit embarrassed when my parents spoke in public. English was not my parents' first language and I felt like people didn't respect us because of that.

I quickly pushed those negative thoughts away, feeling guilty about it like I always did.

"Oh okay, what days would you like to sign up for?" the counselor asked me with a kind smile on her face.

"Maybe just Fridays," I said with a shrug. Tutoring little kids? I didn't really care about that to be honest, but I had to look good for colleges I guess.

My mom gave me a look, "Don't be lazy Allison." She turned back to the counselor. "She can do every day."

I made a noise of protest. WHAT?! Was my mother out of her mind?!

Since my mom's thick Vietnamese accent was hard to understand, the counselor blinked in confusion and asked, "I'm sorry did you say Wednesdays? I couldn't catch that."

"No, no I say every day," my mom clarified. I wrapped my arms around myself, mortified. These situations have been familiar to me since I was in grade school. It always involved me being embarrassed by my parents' lack of English and having to speak or clarify their words to other people. My eyes darted towards Luca sitting in a corner. To my surprise, he was attentive and keeping his gaze on us. Instead of having a scowl on his face, his expression was simply just... curious.

Ugh. Oh why oh why did someone have to be in the same room during this conference, I cried internally.

The counselor punched in a couple of keys on her computer and said, "Alright I just signed you up for after school tutoring every day. I'm sure colleges will love this. Thank you for signing up!" the counselor smiled appreciatively.

My mom beamed back at her while I offered a tight smile that said "Hit me with a bus and bury my body in the asphalt."

"Okay I think we're done here," I said dismissively. I was done and I was fucking tired of everything. My mom glared at me and flicked my arm. "Ow!" I protested, rubbing my arm.

"Thank you for your help," my mother stood up and I happily followed her to the door. I looked back at Luca who was watching us go. We made eye contact and I quickly turned my face away, embarrassed I was caught looking his way.

Once we were outside, my mom gave me a hard look. "Allison, you did not have to be so rude in there. I did not raise you to be this way." I crossed my arms, "Well I'm sorry, but I don't want to be tutoring little kids every day. I want to do other things! Plus I have a lot of homework," I muttered.

"Nonsense! Tutoring kids will actually make that small brain of yours actually learn something for once! The kids might actually be tutoring you instead," my mother retorted.

I grumbled a bit, "Haha very funny." As we continued walking to the parking lot, I realized I forgot my purse in the counselor's office. Shit.

"Hey uh mom I forgot my purse in the counselor's office so I'm going to run back real quick," I said hurriedly to my mom before sprinting back the way we came. My footsteps echoed down the hallway as I made my way to the counselor's office once again.

I heard a voice from the office saying, "Thank you," and then suddenly something hard impacted me and I stumbled back, my fury rising in me. I looked up and my eyes met Luca's. His brown eyes shifted from surprise to annoyance.

"Watch where you're going next time," he said, narrowing his eyes.

My jaw was agape. He stole MY line. Before I could say something back, he turned around and left.

In an even sourer mood, I grabbed my purse and left the office. Okay he did not have to be rude. I was silent the whole car ride home. I had no idea how to feel about my senior year starting  tomorrow. Sometimes I contemplated what even the point of school was. Get good grades, eat, sleep, and repeat. That's all it was.