Chapter 8

Without waiting for an explanation, I suppressed the discomfort in my heart, wanting to say something. The phone rang. Jasper put on a short T-shirt and stepped out onto the balcony to answer in English. I wasn’t interested in his call. I searched again and decided to pretend to sleep. Jasper was unlikely to share a bed with me; I’d search again in the morning. I couldn’t let him find it first. Half-asleep, I felt the bed sink beside me. That night, I dreamed of Jasper from high school. The transfer student from Hong Kong, smart, handsome, and well-off. His name was once popular throughout the school. He had a girlfriend. I didn’t know why they argued back then, but she cried. Jasper, holding his school uniform, bent down to comfort her helplessly. I stood not far away, feeling a profound silence.