1.5 Sun Li's Story

Sun Li silently weighed her options. Or so I figured.  To tell or to run back.  To me, it was a no brainer, whatever she was running from wasn't worth going back.  Her eyes darted around the island.  She was going to run.  I knew it.

"First you have to understand that growing up outside Shang Simla  is rough.  Yes, the city is beautiful on the surface, but in the farmlands that support the city, food is rare and crime is high."  I knew I should probably be listening, but my apple was burning.

"My family was broken from the time I was born.  My father wanted a boy, and my parents kept trying until she died with the birth of girl number five.  Me."   Here I was a spoiled only child;  Jace 2.0 scowled at me.  "At 16, I decided to leave.  My father had nothing to do with us. My sisters were grown and had nothing to do with me.  I wanted attention, and I swore to find it somewhere."

A chill ran down my spine.  The fire was dying, but I wasn't ready for her to stop talking.  I took her poker as she finished her marshmallow and moved to poke the fire.  It roared back to life, warming the two of us.

"I made my way to Shang Simla.  After weeks of roaming the streets and getting by I met Zhan.  It was the life I never had.  Food was abundant. The parties were lavish. There may have been drugs and crooks, but I was in love."  That wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. I was busy trying to convince myself I wasn't in love with her.  I watched the flames dance, and listened.

"It didn't take long before Zhan was tired with me.  I was soon locked in a room with other girls who had once been the object of Zhan's eye. I cried for days.  But they didn't laugh because they had been there too.  We all had similar stories.  And when he was done,"  Sun Li suddenly started sobbing.

I'm fairly certain I had never moved as fast as I did to comfort her in my life.  But this time it was different. I was in love. There was no avoiding it.  She was the ying to my yang. The peanut butter to my jelly.  That moment I knew I wouldn't life without her. I couldn't pull her into my lap.  We were too close to the fire.  And even though I might have been new to this romantic thing, but I knew I was supposed to hold her.  At least that's what happened in the movies. So I stood there, holding her, and whispering words of encouragement.  Because it really was okay now.

I held her close and just let her cry.  Long after my legs fell asleep, I tried to look at her. She met my eyes and smiled weakly. Whatever it was, it was painful. And I was fairly certain I wasn't figuring it out tonight.