The Girl Most Likely To

Chapter Eight

It took about twenty minutes for a police officer to arrive and take down a report of the hit-and-run. He walked around my crunched-up car to assess the damage, taking notes along the way. “We pulled over the driver a mile away for speeding.”

“Can I get him to pay for the damages?”

I asked, unable to shake off the tremor in my voice.

“That’s unlikely, given the nature of the collision,”

the police officer said, not bothering to look up from his notepad. “The other driver had the right of way.”

“But he wasn’t supposed to be driving so fast,”

I argued, desperate to say my piece. I didn’t even see the other car when I backed out. Didn’t that count for something?

The officer’s face showed no emotion, like he was immune to my plea. “Be grateful that no one got hurt.”

Sure. I’d agree that it was nothing short of miraculous that Danny and I came out of this crash physically unharmed. But had the police officer considered the pain of having to live in LA without a car?

I looked up, desperate to conjure any kind of hope, only to be boxed in by the LA night sky, which suffered from so much pollution that very few stars shined through. The police officer spoke as he shoved a report in my hands, but it registered as muffled noise. It wasn’t until the officer left that the shock waned and I regained the part of my consciousness that was flipping out.

“Fuck.”

I lost the strength to stand and crouched on the edge of the sidewalk, ducking my head in between my knees. Just what I needed. Now I was jobless and carless. My car was basically my second home, and it was now unrecognizable.

“Here.”

Danny held out one of the reusable shopping bags that I kept in my trunk. “I collected as many personal items from your car as I could. There wasn’t much I could salvage.”

“You didn’t have to do that,”

I said, touched that he tried to get into the wreckage, though maybe it wasn’t too hard since half of my windows had shattered. Then the tow truck arrived. Watching my car get taken away triggered big fat tears. I couldn’t hold back the ugly crying.

“Hey, hey.”

Danny sidled next to me, letting me lean on him. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s n—”

I hiccupped. Damn it. I couldn’t get out another word without choking on it.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. It sucks.”

Danny wrapped his arm around my shoulders, resting his head on top of mine, locking me into a side hug. It was dangerous, how quickly his warmth comforted me. It was a balm, alleviating the pulsing anger and worry holding my body hostage. “Don’t feel bad. It was an accident.”

“But now we’re stranded.”

Goddamn these narrow streets and reckless drivers. Without a car, I was stuck. I hated LA sometimes.

“Oh.”

Danny checked his watch. “Well, the reunion is well underway. We’ll have to be fashionably late, then.”

“It’s not fair,”

I said, wiping away the last of my tears with the back of my hand. “I was thirty minutes early, remember?”

“Don’t worry. You’ll still get extra credit for your punctuality.”

There was a smile in his voice that I wished I could see, but I didn’t want to leave this Danny bubble. It was safe and cozy in his arms, like being wrapped in linen that had dried in the summer sun. I wished I could’ve stayed in the moment longer, but unfinished business left me restless.

“How do we get back, though?”

Since I usually had a car, I never used a rideshare service. I didn’t have any of the apps on my phone.

“You still want to go?”

Danny ducked his head and met my eyes, seeking confirmation. I had to wonder if my question was so unreasonable.

“Yeah.”

The thought of staying home alone while my life was in shambles made me more depressed. “I need to get out and blow off some steam.”

I thought Danny would try to talk me out of it, but then he started texting someone with his free hand. “I know someone who can drive fast. He can be here in ten minutes.”

“Who?”

Danny wouldn’t say, but I found out soon enough when a gigantic SUV pulled up, driven by none other than Tao Sun, the notorious, larger-than-life thrower of parties. Back then, he always had people over because he wanted to be everyone’s friend. The feeling wasn’t mutual. Personally, he was too loud for my taste, and it didn’t help that he wore too much Acqua di Gio. I mean, he was fine, but only in small doses. If I spent more than ten minutes with Tao, my face would curdle like it did when I sucked on a lemon wedge.

Since that was likely to happen, I sat in the backseat while Danny took the passenger seat up front. I didn’t want to offend Tao when he was doing us a huge favor.

“Hey hey! Yo, Danny!”

He greeted Danny with a hard clap on the back and a wave to me. “And freakin’ Rachel! Long time no see!”

Tao was as excitable as ever. His look had evolved into a confused hypebeast, wearing more brands than a NASCAR racer.

“Thanks for picking us up,”

I said as I buckled up. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I live in Los Feliz,”

Tao said as he drove off. “We should hang out more, Rach. We’re practically neighbors. You can stop by and borrow a cup of sugar anytime, you feel me?”

“No.”

It shot out of my mouth as easy as breathing.

Tao laughed, taking it in stride. “Classic Rachel. If you ever change your mind, let me know.”

“Will do.”

Danny swung his head back, and he gave me a look that I couldn’t interpret. If he was checking on me because Tao was being annoying, then he must not have remembered how Tao hit on every girl in our class, hoping for one yes. Rejections were so meaningless to Tao that he kept chitchatting. “How about you, Danny? Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you lately.”

“You know. Work.”

Danny said this dismissively, apparently uninterested in elaborating. “What about you?”

“Ah, you know, I’ve been dabbling in a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I sell some stuff on eBay. Have some money invested in a little bit of this and that. Can’t put all your eggs in one basket, if you know what I mean.”

“Whatever you gotta do, right?”

Danny said. If he understood anything Tao said, he’d have to explain it to me later.

“You know how it is,”

Tao said, reaching over for a quick fist bump. “You were always hustling back then. Same with you, Rach, except your hustle was for As and shit.”

“Guilty,”

I replied.

“What were you two doing tonight?”

Tao said with an obvious wink-wink in his voice. “I remember the two of you spending a lot of time together back in the day.”

“In the library,”

I reminded him. I didn’t want to go down this road, but old memories were the only thing that connected us.

“Our high school reunion’s tonight,”

Danny said, effectively changing the subject. “I sent you an invite.”

Oh. I guess I wasn’t the only one who received a personalized invite from Danny. It didn’t feel good to be on the same level as Tao.

“Oh right, right, right,”

Tao said. “Sorry. I have plans tonight.”

“You . . . do?”

It was hard to believe when he had appeared out of thin air to drive us back home.

“I wear a lot of hats, so I’m not tied down to any schedule.”

Tao merged onto the freeway. “But hey, this is a reunion right here. What have you been up to, Rach?”

Tao sneaked a glance at me through the rearview mirror. “Busy taking over the world?”

“Uh . . .”

Danny didn’t turn around, but I got the sense that he was waiting to see how I’d respond. I could lie. Tao wouldn’t know any different. He didn’t seem like someone who followed entertainment news. But after losing my car, I didn’t have much else to lose by being truthful. “I’m jobless actually. I got laid off a week ago.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that. But you’ll land on your feet. You always do.”

That was nice of Tao to say. I wished I could bring myself to believe it. “What about your fam? You married? Kids?”

Maybe it was just me, but I could’ve sworn the temperature shot up in the car. I should have been used to these questions by then. I heard it ad nauseam from my parents and older relatives, and I heard it whenever I had new coworkers. What was it about being a single, childless, middle-aged woman that made people treat me like I was a carnival sideshow? I was painted as either a ruthless career woman or a sad, lonely, little lady. I wasn’t either. I worked hard to be an independent woman, but I had other wants and needs outside of work. Things just hadn’t worked out the way I thought they would. With as much confidence as I could muster, I replied, “No husband, no kids.”

I couldn’t see Danny’s reaction, if he had one at all. I wondered what his situation was. I was so focused on getting us back on good terms, I hadn’t even thought to ask. I didn’t see a ring on his finger earlier, but he could be dating someone.

I didn’t come for them.

He’d said that earlier, hadn’t he? That meant he came for me, right? Was he looking for closure too?

Tao was still watching me through the mirror, waiting for me to add more. I’d forgotten to answer his other question. “My family’s good. My parents are retired. My sister’s good. My niece is graduating high school next year.”

“Oh, you’re a real auntie,”

he replied.

“I am, I am.”

It hurt to get called an auntie by a stranger in public the first time, worse than the first time I was called “ma’am.”

But after sixteen years as Hailey’s aunt, I accepted it. I might not be a mother, but I was a real, bona-fide Asian auntie. A cool auntie, if I said so myself. “What about you?”

I asked, turning the tables on Tao. “Are you married?”

“Nah. Life’s too short to settle down, you know what I mean?”

I did, but perhaps not in this context. “But we should hang out more,”

he insisted. When I made an agreeable but noncommittal noise, he added, “What if I threw a kickback tonight?”

“A kickback?”

Danny asked. “I thought you said you had plans.”

Tao exited the freeway, bringing us back to Alhambra. “Yeah. My plan was to party!”

I scoffed at the idea at first, but why the hell not? I never went to any of Tao’s legendary parties before, and it seemed like something I should experience at least once. When would another opportunity present itself? “Sure. I’ll go.”

Tao punched his horn. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Do you need me to bring anything? Wine?”

I suggested.

“Wine? Pfft.”

Tao threw out a dismissive hand. “You just gotta bring yourself, Rach. But you,”

he said to Danny, “can bring some beer.”

“Where’s this party going to be?” I asked.

“You’ve never been to my parents’ house?”

Before I could say no, Tao kept talking. “Danny’s been there. He’ll tell you.”

My mind was blindsided by a memory of Danny drunk-dialing me after one of Tao’s parties. He’d said all kinds of nonsense. That was what I thought at the time. He must have been really drunk because we never spoke of it.

“Your parents’ house?”

Danny asked. “They don’t mind?”

“Dude, they can hang all night.”

Tao pulled into a shopping plaza across the street from the oldest location of The Hat. The car windows were closed, but I swear I could smell their pastrami from where I sat.

“All right,”

Tao said, putting the car in park. “We’re here.”

“What do you mean we’re here?”

I said. Clearly, this wasn’t our high school.

Tao tapped on the sticker on his windshield, which looked like a cute onigiri. “I have to pick up food for delivery. It’ll be a quick stop.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

He was delivering food? Was this the “this”

or “that”

he referenced earlier? Good for him for having a side hustle, but it was already past eight. The reunion was half over. “We’re like five minutes away. You can’t take us there first?”

“Come on, Rach. I gotta make that cash, you feel me?”

“No, I don’t freaking feel— You know what?”

I unbuckled my seat belt. “Thank you for the ride. I’m going to walk the rest of the way.”

“Rach!”

Tao called out. “It’ll be fast. I’ll drop you off after I make the delivery. The customer is only in . . .”

Tao squinted at his phone and then faced the screen toward Danny. “Hey. I don’t have my reading glasses on. Does this say San Gabriel or San Manuel?”

One of those cities would make us lose time and the other would make us lose time and money. Neither option was acceptable. “Bye, Tao.”

“Kickback later! Don’t forget!”

he shouted as I stepped out of the car.

We’ll see about that. If he was out making deliveries, I doubted this party would come to fruition. “Danny. You coming?”

Before Danny got out, he gave Tao one of those goodbye nods that made me wonder when they became so chummy. We headed east toward Commonwealth. I walked slowly, not wanting to rush Danny when he was still limping. The sky was black, but the street was buzzing with life. Rows and rows of cars were zooming in both directions, passing the bright restaurant storefront lights. My stomach grumbled for food so loud even Danny heard it over the traffic.

“Do you want to stop and eat?”

he asked. By that point, we were too far away from The Hat to go back for pastrami.

“No.”

We’d come this far and we were beyond fashionably late. We were capital L Late.

“No one’s going to care if we’re late,”

he said, as if he read my mind. “Over a hundred people RSVP’d. Mariana hasn’t texted me since we left your apartment. She’s got things handled.”

Probably because Mariana used to throw every school assembly, including a choreographed dance number to whatever song was popular that week. A hundred RSVPs was a cakewalk for her.

“I don’t care what Mariana thinks.”

Danny side-eyed me, not believing a single word I said. “I don’t!”

“You want me to believe that after all the trouble we went through to get those passes?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way,”

I reminded him. Leaving to go get the passes was supposed to be a quick trip. “We just had bad luck.”

“Yeah.”

Danny’s steps dragged on the concrete. “Tell me about it.”

March 2003

I couldn’t sleep after the Spring Fling. Every time I closed my eyes, my brain replayed the moment Danny’s arms circled my waist. Since we were the same height, our faces were inches apart, as close as we’d ever been. Close enough to notice things I hadn’t before, like the small silver scar that ran parallel to the corner of his forehead. He also had a defined Cupid’s bow, which pointed a big arrow at his lips. I had to look over his shoulder to stop myself from staring. It wasn’t like I could help it. His face was right there.

What was most perplexing about the whole thing was that it didn’t feel weird. At least, it didn’t when it was happening. Everything about the casual way Danny asked me to dance felt like a natural extension of our friendship. So why was I still thinking about it so much?

I had to stop or I’d go out of my mind. I had to remind myself that our dance ended as fast as it started. Once the song was over, Danny left with his friends for Tao’s party. I could’ve gone, since Tao’s parties weren’t exclusive. Everyone had an open invitation. But I’d told my parents that I’d come home by eleven, so I went home to spend time with my AP prep books. I wasn’t sure why I bothered with them. The words looked like gibberish because my mind was broken, filled with thoughts about Danny’s warm body and how he smelled like nothing except for the faintest scent of soap.

The phone rang, interrupting my hormonal state. It had to be a prank call. No one ever called this late.

“Hello?”

No one replied, so I tried one more time before hanging up. “Hello?”

“Did I wake you?”

It was Danny. He sounded tired or drunk. Probably both. Before I could answer, a third party joined the call.

“Who’s this?”

my dad mumbled, sounding barely conscious.

“I got it, Ba.”

I waited until I heard the phone click off before I spoke again. My parents were used to boys calling when Angela still lived here, but not in the middle of the night. “No, you didn’t wake me. How did you get my number?”

“Nat gave it to me.”

I should have known. “What? I can’t call you?”

“Not at one in the morning.”

“Why didn’t you come to the partyyyyy?”

Okay. He was drunk. His voice lowered to a whisper. “Do you wanna know a secret?”

He was acting like such an idiot. It was kind of funny, so I played along. I whispered back, “What?”

“Nat kissed Mariana.”

“So?”

Nat had come out as bi the year before. Everyone and their mother knew about it. It was all people could talk about for weeks because there were only a few other kids out at school.

“On the mouth!”

Danny continued. “In front of everyone!”

“Good for her,”

I said. Nat was fearless in that way. Not much embarrassed her.

“Have you ever kissed anyone?”

Forget the hormones. My entire body was malfunctioning. I couldn’t get my mouth to produce any words. Danny and I had chatted a lot over the years online, but we’d never really talked on the phone like this before. What if Danny heard the panic in my voice?

“Why do you want to know?”

I hedged. Was he trying to make fun of me? “Have you kissed anyone?”

“I asked you first.”

This was so childish.

“No, I haven’t, okay?”

It was embarrassing to say out loud. It felt like everyone else had experienced at least their first kiss by now.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,”

he replied. “My first kiss was with a girl in middle school, and she did it on a dare. It meant nothing to her or me.”

Danny was trying to console me, but even his sad first kiss sounded better than being a late bloomer. “Sometimes I wonder if I should kiss someone and get it over with.”

“Like who?”

“I don’t know.”

It didn’t matter at this point. It could be anyone who’d be willing. “I don’t think Nat would mind.”

“Nah. Not Nat.”

“Why not? Whenever I ask someone about it, no one seems to have had a good experience.”

At least Nat knew what she was doing. She’d kissed plenty of people.

“Yeah, but . . . it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t waste it either.”

He might not have said the words, but I heard the judgment. Why did I say all of that? I probably sounded pathetic. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“Who would I tell?”

“I know how guys talk.”

It didn’t take much to overhear guys talking about girls they’d supposedly hooked up with or objectifying girls they wanted to be with. Sometimes when I felt down about my single status, I’d wish I was one of the girls guys talked about. But then I’d hear them talk about getting a piece of ass and wonder why I had the misfortune of being attracted to boys at all. “You guys pretend like you don’t gossip, but you do.”

“Don’t look at me,”

he said, his words blurring into a yawn. “I can keep a secret. I keep lots of secrets.”

“Like what?”

Danny stayed quiet, proving his point. Or so I thought. When he spoke again, his tone had shifted to something more serious. “I’ve been working with my brother.”

I was going to tell him that I knew that already, but then he added, “He’s, um . . . he’s gotten into a lot of trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Money troubles. He keeps trying to get rich quick, but then he keeps losing money. His booth at the mall is the most legit thing he’s ever tried. I want to make sure he sticks with it.”

So that was why he’d been working so much. It was pretty sweet of him to do that. “You’re a good brother.”

Danny didn’t seem to take the compliment well because he responded with a grunt. “I want to be good at other things.”

“Like what?”

“Like . . . like . . .”

Danny finished his sentence with a quiet snore. Right when he was opening up, the idiot fell asleep. Danny knew how to leave a girl wanting more.