In a twisted game of truth and lies, Yuki Kobayashi schemes to win the heart of her academic rival, Rhett Tudor, and the college scholarship with it. But if he sees through her deception, it's game over.
...
"Rhett?" Yuki sat up. Her old phone had been smashed and burned. How— "How do you have my number?"
"Take a lucky guess." There was a bite to his words Yuki had never heard before but then it softened. "You wanna come over, Snowflake?"
Yuki bit her lip, eyeing the glowing screen of words that were already blurring together. But Sophia would wreak havoc on her social life if she didn't finish this assignment for her. "Would love to, but I've got homework."
"Bring it with you; I'll help with it. You can sleep in Minji's room. She's excited to see you again." But Rhett didn't say anything about him wanting to see her.
It hurt how much she wanted this, a sense of normalcy. The lie that her parents would pick her up after summer ended. The blissful reality that the worst part of life was not being with Rhett for an entire school year.
"Anything I can bring over?" she asked.
"You, yourself, and your appetite. Minji's experimenting with hotteok." A clatter sounded followed by an exclamation from Rhett. "Gotta go. See you soon!"
The line buzzed in Yuki's ear until she snapped her phone shut. Padding over in her house slippers to the sticky-noted wall, she eyed Rhett's blank paper and sighed. She had to be his Lie. Why else would he be so kind to her?
Unlike most of Zenith High's students, Rhett came from an upper middle class family. His father worked as an industrial engineer, a far cry from owning conglomerates or being distant relations of royalty. That scholarship would be a dream for him too, not necessarily because of the money, but the unspoken promise that Era would get the winner into the college they chose.
Yuki grabbed a duffel bag from under her bed and started tossing clothes inside. If she won the scholarship, her SAT scores wouldn't matter. She wouldn't have to worry about the "Asian tax" or how she could no longer list the sports she'd once excelled at on her applications. That acceptance letter arriving in the mail—the surprise on her grandparents' faces—it would be worth everything to her.
So for that, she was willing to risk getting hurt. Rhett could try to break her heart if he wanted to; she'd be a good sport about it.
Zipper closed, Yuki snapped the buttons shut over it and slung the blue bag over her shoulder, picking up her laptop as she passed the desk. Before the accident, she'd raced downstairs at a breakneck two steps at a time speed. Now she took it slow, careful to distribute the weight of her bag evenly by putting the straps over her shoulders like a backpack.
"Nana, I'm going to spend the night at the Tudors'," Yuki called into the kitchen. "Where's Papa?"
"He's already retired for the night." The spraying of the sink faucet shut off and her grandma walked over wiping her hands with a towel. "The Tudors invited you over? What about homework?"
"Rhett and I are going to do homework together. Mrs. Tudor always makes everyone go to bed at ten even on weekends, so don't worry, Nana. I won't stay up late." At her grandmother's insistent dabbing at her face with the towel to wipe some—what? nonexistent apple juice?—from her face, Yuki backpedaled to the door and kicked her slippers into a basket.
"You can go, just...don't tell them anything." Her grandmother glanced sadly at the wedding photo of Yuki's parents on fireplace mantle, while Yuki winced at the cracked glass. If only they'd replaced the evidence of her rage getting the better of her instead of leaving it as a reproach. In the beginning, she'd wanted to erase the past. Now she realized she couldn't, and that the better choice was to preserve it as if nothing had ever happened. It would be forever summer and her grandparents kept up their part in the charade without a hitch.
"Of course, Nana." Yuki kissed her grandmother's cheek, slipped on her shoes, and headed out the door.
The sun had just set, but she jogged to reach the bright Tudor house. This time, Rhett sang the duet from Tangled, Minji's favorite movie. His younger sister must be on a Disney princess binge again. The strumming of his guitar accompanied the lyrics.
Yuki waited beneath the window, catching her breath. When Rhett started up the chorus, singing Eugene's part, she joined in with the melody, their voices entwining in the night air. Then they reached the final line and his blonde head poked out between the drapes.
"Rapunzel, let down your hair!" Yuki laughed, tucking her hands into the sleeves of her grey hoodie to protect them from the chill.
"I think I'll need to buy some extensions," Rhett replied dryly, looking down at her.
The front door swung open like a hurricane blasted it open and a young girl came running out. Her long dark hair flew behind her as she skipped barefoot on the stone path up to Yuki. "Unnie, I made hotteok! Try it."
Yuki barely had time to open her mouth before Rhett's sister shoved a piece of what looked like a pancake in. "Hot" —fanning the food with her hand, Yuki attempted to nod her approval to Minji's rapid questions about the quality— "Hot, but good." The sugar melted on her tongue while the dough burned her lips.
"Hurry up and come in!" Minji tugged her inside by the hand, stickiness transferring over. "I'm so mad at you for not visiting but Rhett said you've been busy."
Yuki made sure to shut the door and stopped to remove her shoes at the entry.
"Minji, you'd better come flip this one!" Mr. Tudor's voice called.
While Minji raced off to tend to her cooking duties, Yuki tucked her shoes into one of the cloth baskets on the shoe shelf. A blue basket was empty so she placed her footwear inside, her finger skimming the faded name tag in its metal slot. Snowflake. She straightened and found Rhett watching her from the base of the stairs.
His eyes flicked to the basket, then back to her. "Been awhile."
Yuki probed her burned lip with her tongue. "Two years is hardly forever."
Rhett shook his head as if he disagreed. The ceiling lights made his hair glow in a soft halo. "I'll carry your bag up. Want to study in the library? I'll get us some drinks."
"Sure. Sounds good," Yuki said, surrendering her luggage. The Tudor house hadn't changed a bit, with warm golden lighting and simple white furniture. Even more than her grandparents' place, this felt like coming home. "And Baguette?"
Rhett paused, his glasses slightly askew. She resisted the urge to reach up and straighten them, instead being struck with sudden regret at how much he'd matured, him and Minji both. Even if she wanted it to be forever summer, time didn't stop for anyone.
Yuki smiled sadly. "Sorry I took so long."
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