me and you

Chapter 15

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" I screamed as I jumped around on Tzuyu's bed Thursday morning. "I wanna do stuff before I'm forced to go home and spend time with my annoying family."

Her hand wrapped around my ankle and dragged me down. "What in the planet of Mars do you want?" She grumbled sleepily. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something important?"

"Your best friend is more important than snoring," I said.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Joke's on you," she yawned. "I don't snore."

I huffed. "Whatever. Just shower so we can hang out and do stuff before I have to go home and spend the rest of the day with my annoying family."

She threw back her covers and slipped out of bed. "Your family isn't so bad. I've got seven aunts coming over. Not to mention, six of them have husbands and kids. My family is worse than yours."

I crossed my arms. "You wanna bet? My mom has seven brothers and sisters, and they all came to Korea to celebrate this Korean holiday they've never celebrated. And, they've brought along my halmeoni who absolutely hates my uncle Kai, simply because he's related to my father. Not to mention, all of my aunts and uncles have like ten kids each because they're absolutely insane.

"And, my dad's two sisters are also coming with their husbands and kids. And to top it all off, I just found out this morning that my dad—who I haven't seen since he walked out on us when I was six—is also going to make an appearance because he wants to see how his daughters have turned out. So please, don't complain about your family being bad."

Tzuyu squinted at me. "Alright, you win. Your family is a lot worse than mine. You're really gonna see your dad today?"

I shrugged. "Supposedly. Hopefully, he won't show. I don't think my mother would be able to handle that."

She nodded. "Well, then I, too, hope he won't show up. Could you handle that if he did?"

"I'd probably just curse him out with all the colorful language I've learned since he left," I replied. "Can you see me?" I asked suddenly.

"Why?"

"You're squinting," I observed. "You don't usually do that. Can you not see?"

She sighed. "Not really, no. Everything is blurry right now. I need to put my contacts in."

I frowned. "You wear contacts? Why didn't I know that?"

She shrugged as she stumbled into her bathroom. "I didn't ever tell you, and you never asked. It's not really important anyway."

I frowned. "What do you look like with glasses on, assuming you have some?"

She came out of the bathroom, a pair of glasses in hand. She put them on. "Stupid. That's how I look with them on."

I frowned. "Smile."

"Why?" She inquired.

"Just do it," I told her. "I want to see something." she gave me a fake smile. "A real one."

"I can't just smile on command," She said. "I need a reason to smile."

I thought for a moment before I said, "You were my first kiss."

Immediately, a real smile lit up her features. "I was, wasn't I? I'm so proud of myself."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Wear your glasses more," I said as I stood up. "You think they make you look stupid; I think they make you look attractive, especially when you smile."

She smirked. "You think so?"

I nodded as I opened the door. "Yep. Now go take a shower. I'm in the kitchen with Victoria when you're done."