Great Call of China (S.A.S.S.) (9 page)

“Finally, keep in mind that you will be graded on demonstration of knowledge, creativity, and teamwork. Your projects will be presented and critiqued during the last day of the program. Good luck.”

“So, what do you all think?” Alex said.

“I really don’t have a preference for a topic,” Jessica replied. “Do any of you?”

Chris shrugged. “Not really.”

“Burial Rituals sounds interesting to me,” Will said.

“The Peking Man would be great,” Alex said.

Cece studied the list again. “I was thinking we should go for the Emperor Qin Shi Huang.”

“Really?” Will said, looking at her intently. “Why?”

Cece swallowed, surprised that he would be so interested in her answer. “Well, from what I know, the guy practically built China all on his own. Plus, he was responsible for the army of Terra Cotta Warriors. So the topic seems fun to explore . . . . ” She inwardly groaned. Did she have to sound so geekish? “I mean, that is, if you’re into that sorta stuff.”

“Sounds good to me,” Will said.

“We would have a lot of material to work with,” Alex added.

“All in favor of the Emperor raise your hand,” Jessica said.

Everyone raised a hand.

“Terrific. We’ll make Burial Rituals number two, and the Peking Man number three.” She sat up in her chair. “Now who wants to get some bubble tea?”

“I’m in,” Alex said.

Chris looked confused. “What’s bubble tea?”

“They’re these drinks that come in all flavors,” Jessica said, “like mango, red bean, and grass jelly. And you can get them with gooey tapioca balls at the bottom.”

He stared at her. “And people drink that?”

Jess laughed. “Yeah. And I saw a cool place the other day just a couple of streets away. Let’s go, guys.” She turned to Cece. “You’re coming with us, right?”

Cece glanced at Jessica, then Will. Did she really want to spend the morning witnessing Jess hanging all over Will? But she couldn’t say no. She didn’t want to seem like a drag either. “Uh, sure.”

“All right then,” Jess said. “Let’s go.”

As they walked out of the lecture hall, Cece tried to ignore Jess happily chatting away with Will. But Cece couldn’t stop herself from feeling annoyed once more. This time, though, she was more irritated with herself than her roommate. Why was it that whenever she and Jess were in the same room, it was Jess who always seemed more intriguing, more vibrant? The night at the club, Cece had told herself that Will was just tolerating Jess’s advances out of politeness, but now she wasn’t so sure. He seemed genuinely to like her. And why wouldn’t he? Jess was so many things Cece wasn’t. So girly-girl, so spontaneous, so... confident.

It made her wonder if she could ever be like Jess.

Cece sighed as Jess casually slipped an arm through Will’s.

 

That afternoon, Cece put aside thoughts of Will and Jess when she arrived at a local noodle shop to meet with Peter. The place was a favorite of XU’s students, not only for its inexpensive food but also for its work friendly atmosphere. After they ate, Peter and Cece spread out their books, and Cece began her character studies for Professor Sutton while Peter prepared for an English quiz.

“I am almost finished with my practice questions,” Peter said. “Have a look.” He scooted a piece of paper across the table.

Cece studied the paper. Peter had been working on the past perfect tense. She took her pencil and made some corrections. “Peter, I think you need to review your irregular verb list again. The past participle for forgot is forgotten
.
”

He frowned. “I guess I had
forgotten
.”

She smiled. “Now you’re getting it.” She returned the paper to Peter and went back to writing a Chinese character in her notebook. “Peter,” Cece said, “can I ask you something?” She tapped her pencil against the table. “How do you remember all these strokes?”

Peter looked up. “You write, and write, and write... but sometimes you can look at the word and think of something that reminds you of it.”

He pointed at one of Cece’s vocabulary words. “You see this one?
Zhong?
It means ‘center.’ So when you think of center, think of a field.” He drew a rectangle on his paper. “Then draw a line down the center of the field. And you have
center.
See?”

Cece cocked her head as she stared at the word Peter had written. “Hmm. I’ve never thought of it that way.”

“A lot of Chinese words are like something you can see or imagine. They are not just pulled out of a cap, you know.”

“You mean hat. Pulled out of a
hat.
”

Peter smiled. “Right, hat.”

Cece looked at the next word on her list and tried to use Peter’s technique. The word was
da
, which meant big. It looked like a star, so she pictured a big burst of light in the sky. Then she wrote it down.
Da.
The final product almost looked like an asterisk. She compared her character to the real character on the list and noticed she had drawn too many lines. She bit her lip, frustrated just as she had been with the Google map earlier in the day. She glanced at Peter, thinking that maybe she should bring up the orphanage. It seemed like as good as time as any.

“Peter?” Cece said. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

He looked up. “Which character is it?”

“No, it’s not that,” Cece said. “It’s not even related to S.A.S.S. actually.”

Peter paused, his face turning serious. “What is it, Xiao Mei?”

Hearing Peter call her that made her smile. Since he was a few years older than Cece, he’d taken to calling her his little sister. That would also make Peter her Da Ge, or big brother.

“Well. . . I can trust you, right?”

Peter looked surprised. “Of course, you can. I’m Da Ge.”

“Then maybe I should start from the top.” Cece took a breath. “First, you should know I’m adopted.”

“Adopted?” Peter said. “From here?”

Cece nodded.

“And what is troubling you about that?”

She considered Peter’s question. How would she even begin? There was so much that bothered her. For starters, it would be nice to know who her birth parents were. What they looked like. What they were like. But mainly, it was the same old question she had posed to her parents years ago. “I think what’s bothering me the most is that I want to know why my birth parents gave me up. I feel like I need to know the truth.”

“And what do your American parents say?” Peter said. “Do they have an opinion?”

“They seem to think I was abandoned because I’m a girl. They told me about China’s one-child policy and how a lot of parents here want boys.”

“And you don’t believe that.”

“Well, I don’t know. It sounds so. . . cold,” Cece said. “I mean, you’re from here. Do you think that’s the reason why?”

“I am not an expert on this subject,” Peter said, “but it is a possibility. However, you can never know the truth unless you hear it from the donkey’s mouth.”

Cece smiled. “You mean horse, straight from the horse’s mouth.”

“Right, horse.” Peter wrinkled his forehead. “English sayings are so confusing.”

“Anyway, that’s what I was thinking,” Cece said. “I need to hear it for myself. And I thought I’d start with the orphanage. Maybe they can tell me something.”

“Do you know where it is?” Peter said.

“Well, that’s where you come in. I have the address, but I can’t figure out where it is, and I think I’m going to need a translator when I get there, too.”

“I see.” Peter leaned back in his chair. “Let me think for a moment . . . . ”

Cece watched him intently.

“Okay,” Peter said. “I’m in.”

Cece perked up. “Really?”

He nodded. “You think I would let you wander in foreign country with
your Chinese
? I may be crazy, but I am not stupid.” He laughed.

“Gee, thanks.”

“No problem. What is Da Ge for?”

Cece grinned, then sat back, relieved that was settled. “So you
have
to let me do something in return. You name it.”

“Anything?” Peter said.

“Uh-huh.”

Peter went through his backpack and pulled out a folder. “I think I have something.” He opened the folder and handed Cece a few sheets of typewritten paper. “These are essays for my film school application.”

“Oh, yeah,” Cece said, remembering what Peter had said about them when they first met. This would be perfect.

“There are three questions,” Peter said, “and I am very stuck.”

Cece quickly scanned what Peter had written so far. The grammatical errors were everywhere, and many of the words he had chosen to express his thoughts were incorrect. In fact, it read so awkwardly she could hardly understand what Peter was writing about.

“How is it?” Peter said nervously.

“Um. . . when is this due?”

Peter groaned. “A couple of months. It’s like a bad dream, right?”

“You mean nightmare.”

Peter threw his hands up. “You see? I give up.”

Cece giggled. “Don’t worry, Peter. I can totally help.”

“Are you sure?”

Cece returned the papers back to the folder. “Hey, what is Xiao Mei for?”

After Cece finished her session with Peter, she returned to her room, where she found Jessica standing in front of her closet. Clothes were scattered all over her bed—minis, tank tops, glitter this, sparkly that. “Hey, Cece, are you coming with us tonight? Lisa, Will, Dreyfuss, and some others are going out.” Jessica changed into another top. “Invite your friend Kallyn, too.”

Cece thought it over. It would be nice to see Will tonight, even if Jessica was draped all over him. “That sounds great.”

A look of shock came over Jess’s face. “For real?”

“Yeah. Why do you look so surprised?”

“Well,” Jess said, “to tell you the truth, I was beginning to think studying was your favorite pastime.”

“Yeah, but a girl also has to have some fun,” Cece said, thinking of Alison, who would be so proud of her.

“Great! Go change and get Kallyn. We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”

Cece left the room and made her way to Kallyn’s. She knocked, and a few seconds later, Kallyn answered. She said a quick hello and hurried back to her desk. She was already wearing monkey-print pajamas. “What’s up?” Kallyn typed at her laptop.

“Just wanted to see if you’d like to go out with me, Jess, and a few others tonight.”

“Yeah?” Kallyn kept typing. “Where?”

“Actually, I don’t know,” Cece said.

“Um... sounds good,” Kallyn said, “but I think I’ll stay here.”

Cece laughed. “Kallyn, you’re not even listening. What are you doing?” She leaned over Kallyn’s shoulder and peeked at the screen. The message window read

 

 

“Oh, you’re IMing Ryan.”

Kallyn quickly covered the screen. “Hey, don’t look, okay? It’s kinda personal.”

Cece stepped back and smiled. “I can see that. You sure you don’t want to come?”

“Sorry, Cece, but Ryan got up early to talk to me. It’s so hard with the time difference as it is. Maybe next time.”

“All right. I’ll miss you tonight, but I suppose
Ryan
would miss you more.”

“Very funny,” Kallyn said, without even bothering to look in her direction. “Have a great time!”

Cece left and went back to her room to change.

While she touched up her makeup, Jess let her know the dress for the evening would be casual, but she refused to tell Cece where they were going. She wanted it to be a “surprise.”

Cece put on a simple tank and her cute new jeans that showed off her curves. Then she popped in the earrings she had bought at Macy’s. She inspected herself in the mirror. Perfect. They went to the lobby and met up with Lisa and the guys—Dreyfuss, Michael, and Will. Will looked amazing, dressed in a baby blue polo and a pair of vintage washed jeans. Cece smiled as a million butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

“Hey, Cece. I wasn’t expecting to see you,” Will said, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“Neither was I.” Dreyfuss smiled. “Jess, what did you do to get her to come out?”

“Nothing,” Jess said nonchalantly. “She just finally came to her senses.” She slung an arm around Will and steered him out the door.

Cece’s smile waned, and her confidence about the eve ning plummeted.
How was she going to have fun tonight?

The group took two cabs to their destination, and when Cece got out of her taxi, she saw a brightly lit sign outside of a huge building. It read HAO LE DI. Cece tried to translate it.
Good Happy what?
“What is this place?” she asked.

“Beats me,” Dreyfuss said.

Lisa grinned. “You’ll see.” She and Michael followed Jess and Will into the building.