Chapter 19
Why did my parents have to meet at a soiree?
They could’ve met in a more pleasant setting, like prison or … hell.
I would rather slam my head against the wall a concussion-worthy number of times if that meant I could be anywhere else tonight. It’s bad enough that I’m at a soiree, but the fact that I got dragged into cohosting one?
Lord, take me now.
After debriefing my “memories” theory with Kayla and telling her my parents’ love story, she insisted that we needed to go to the soiree. “This is even more powerful than any fruit basket, Nika,” she urged. “This is your parents’ meet-cute.”
A big part of me was hoping that Dani would turn me down and say I was too late in RSVPing for the soiree.
Unfortunately, she was thrilled. When I subtly asked for the soiree details, she quickly added me to her soiree-planning spreadsheet.
My email inbox is now full of notifications of Dani tagging me to check on this, follow up on that.
Another hassle of this whole experience is convincing everyone in my life that I’m interested in this thing. When Auntie Baby mentioned that I was cohosting the soiree, she had to keep repeating the line to my family.
“Annika wanted to host?” Ma asked for the billionth time.
And Achi followed up with, “She wanted to hang out with boys?”
“Yes.” I smiled through my teeth. “Yay, boys.”
On the bright side, I didn’t need to worry about how I’d get my parents to be in the same soiree. Ma wanted to witness me “cohosting” with her own two eyes and volunteered to take care of the food. There are more pastries in this soiree than in our Christmas noche buena spread.
This all leads me here—getting stuck in Seph’s living room and taking orders from Dani all night.
Dani assigned Seph and me to be in charge of welcoming guests and handing out stickers to use for name tags. While Seph King, pro-flirter, is busy mingling with all my classmates, Kayla and I are using Dani’s stickers to name different furniture.
I place a sticker on the snack table and write, Steve.
Pa listens closely while Kayla and I discuss what name suits the couch. “Aren’t you supposed to be making friends at a soiree?”
I gesture to the snack table. “Haven’t you met Steve?”
The whole room gets interrupted when Dani calls for everyone to pay attention.
She stands in the center of the room and makes sure to wave at each person before speaking.
“As class president, I’m all about unity and camaraderie.
It’s so nice to see the sister and brother schools—Saint Agnes and Saint Francis—come together. ”
When Dani asked if I wanted to deliver a welcoming speech as the cohost, it took me a while to process that she wasn’t joking. I insisted that she should have the honor as our one and only class president.
“Before we start the games and mingling, we wanted to open the night with a soiree success story,” Dani says, and waves for Julia and Sean to take the floor.
Julia then goes on with her story on how she and Sean first met at a soiree at the start of the school year.
On that fateful night, the two of them locked eyes from across the room and spent the whole evening talking about their shared love of K-pop and horoscopes.
In her words, “He’s the Cancer that my Pisces has been looking for. ”
It reminds me of Dr. Derrick’s love story with the moon.
Julia ends her whole speech with a pitch about how a soiree is a great way to find a prom date, or maybe something more *wink* *wink*.
My take: Things like soirees only benefit those like Julia, the ones already highly likely to get over-the-top promposals.
Someone who’s awkward with guys isn’t going to magically turn into a boy whisperer if you stick them in a roomful of guys.
It’s an excuse for those who are already pros at flirting to keep flirting, and leaves those who are awkward to stay awkward.
Hence Kayla and me, awkward non–boy whisperers, standing by Steve the table next to my ghost father. Seph keeps trying to make eye contact with me all night, but I refuse to engage. I’m still pissed at him for hiding Ma’s wedding dress fitting from me.
“Can you please tell me what’s in the backpack?
” I ask Kayla again. The only reason why Kayla was allowed to go to a soiree was because both Auntie Baby and Ma were here.
Still, Auntie Grace gave Kayla the condition that she could only go if she promised to do homework right after.
Based on the giant backpack Kayla arrived with, it’s like she brought all her school supplies with her.
“Since we wanted to remember your parents’ love story, I thought this would help…” Kayla unzips her bag and reveals a shoebox stuffed inside. She lifts the lid and it’s filled to the brim with folded pieces of paper.
“I thought getting some love notes would help kickstart Auntie Beth’s memory,” Kayla says. “True or false. This type of romantic gesture always works in the movies. Think The Notebook, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before…”
I unfold one of the papers and Pa reads the note. “Dear Beth, My love for you is like my body … undying.”
Pa’s face almost goes pale again after looking at more notes.
My personal favorite: Dear Beth, Ten years have passed and you haven’t aged a day. Dying didn’t make me age too.
“I don’t think your mom would find these romantic,” Pa says, stating the obvious.
I mean, of course. These love notes look like letters written by a serial killer, but that doesn’t change the fact that Kayla put in a ridiculous amount of effort.
“Maybe this could be plan B?” I offer.
Kayla doesn’t look discouraged and pulls out a stack of paper hearts from her backpack’s other pocket. “I also made these to get your parents in the mood…,” she says, then her face lights up. “What if I stick these on the walls? Maybe that’ll remind Auntie Beth of Uncle Ton.”
Before Pa or I can chime in, Kayla’s already on the hunt for masking tape.
My attention gets diverted when Ma emerges from the kitchen. “Anyone like banana-cue?” She waves a deep-fried banana skewered on a stick. “Don’t be shy to ask for more!”
Other mothers might protect their daughters from hanging out with strange boys; my mother, on the other hand, bribes them with food.
Okay, time to rekindle my parents’ romance. I maneuvered this perfectly. When Dani told me the date for the soiree, I called Dr. Derrick’s office and inquired about his schedule. I made sure Dr. Derrick was unavailable tonight so Ma could pour undivided attention into reminiscing about Pa.
“Work your magic,” I whisper to Pa.
He looks at me, perplexed. “What magic?”
“It’s a soiree. Isn’t this where you and Ma first met?”
My hand sweeps across the room while a group of guys act out a sword fight with barbecue sticks.
“Should I tell your mom that my love for her is like my undying body?”
After hearing my parents’ high school love story from Auntie Baby, I was so excited to share my memories theory with Pa—that maybe helping Ma remember her love for Pa could be key to making him less “ghostly.” But Pa didn’t even give it a chance.
He still keeps insisting that him no longer being translucent is no big deal.
Pa falls silent when I don’t laugh at his joke.
“So what do you want me to do? Flirt with your mom?”
I smile up at him. “You’ll really do it?”
“If it means a lot to you, Superstar. Of course I will.” He then hesitates when he spots Ma retreat to the kitchen. “How do I flirt with your mother when she can’t see me?”
Hmm. This is the part I didn’t think through.
“Try floating around her,” I suggest. “You said you guys have some sixth marriage sense, right? Maybe Ma will somehow feel your presence.”
After more persisting, Pa finally relents and drifts toward Ma, who’s rearranging the dishes on the snack table. He keeps going around Ma in circles, like he’s a bird circling his prey instead of a man courting his wife. Maybe my father would have better romantic chances at a zoo.
“Hey, cohost buddy.”
I jump when Seph appears behind me out of nowhere. “You still mad?” he asks.
“Nope.”
“At least you’re talking to me now. That’s progress.”
I almost give in when I see his nose scrunch again.
“Why are you even at a soiree?” I ask him. “Aren’t Saint Agnes moms already begging you to take their daughters to prom?”
“I’m here for emotional support while my friends mingle. A lot of guys in my class aren’t as pogi,” he says, and I groan.
“Some come to me for advice on flirting,” he adds, and I groan even louder.
I’m saved from hearing more about Seph’s “flirting” when Dani starts recruiting people for a Never Have I Ever game.
Seph nudges me. “Do you need any help talking to anyone here?”
“From you?” I ask.
“Yeah, you know Sean?” He points to Sean of power couple Julia-and-Sean fame. “He asked for my advice when he got paired with Julia for a soiree game before. Now they’re going to prom together. Lots of guys got inspired to talk to their crush after seeing how they connected.”
And that’s when I realize the crucial detail of my parents’ meet-cute—the ice game!
My head is buzzing with new possibilities, and Seph is still bugging me about talking to random boys. “If I help you secure a prom date, would that make it up to you?” Seph asks.
“Focus on getting your own date, Moseph.”
“Hey, Dani!” I leave Seph and rush toward Ms. Class President while she’s asking people to form a circle. “Don’t people always do Never Have I Ever at every single party? Have you ever heard of the ice game?”
Once I pitch the game rules to Dani, she’s already ordering me to find ice cubes. “I really love how this event is maximizing your potential,” she adds.
I bypass my parents and Kayla, who is sticking hearts on the wall, on the way to the freezer. Pa is still hovering aimlessly around Ma.
It’s not working, Pa mouths at me, and I flash him a thumbs-up to keep trying. Although, Ma thinks I’m signaling at her so she answers me with her own thumbs-up. “You’re having fun, Nika?”
“Super.”