This Is My Brain in Love - I. W. Gregorio Page 0,57
me from doing what I want.
“Got it,” I say. “No hanky-panky.” In the restaurant, I add in my head.
My dad eyes me a little more shrewdly than I’d like, and then his eyes flit over to Will. “How about you, Mr. Domenici? I know you are man of honor. You also say no hanky-panky?”
Shit, I think.
Will looks at him with big brown eyes. “Yes, Mr. Wu. Of course, sir.”
“Good.” My dad turns back toward me, knowing triumph in his eyes. He knows that I might sneak around behind his back, but that Will won’t, now that he’s promised not to.
For a moment, all I can do is stare at my father in shock. He can’t hide his faint look of satisfaction, and a bubbling fury builds up in my chest. I want to scream with frustration, that my dad of all people could outmaneuver me like that. I had a plan.
Then my dad leans forward and gestures at Will.
“The day after I catch you in your car, my friend Mr. Cheng come see me.” That’s Peggy’s father. “I so mad he can tell straightaway. When I tell him what upset me, he tell me I need to be more modern, accept that boy and girl in America go on date. Everyone has boyfriend or girlfriend, he say. If you don’t, other people think you strange. Is that true?”
“Um,” Will says, his eyes flitting back and forth in panic between my dad and me. “Well, kind of, but not really. Sure, a lot of the social scene in high school is about people pairing off, but there are some people who are single, too.”
Dad is laser focused on Will, like he’s an anthropologist interviewing an obscure indigenous tribe. “But if you no have girlfriend or boyfriend, people think you…” He scrunches up his face. “… what is called, ‘loser’?”
At that point my anger fizzes out into a level of confusion and embarrassment that I have never in my life experienced, and hope to never experience again. I have no idea what my dad is getting at, why he’s torturing Will like this. Poor Will looks completely baffled but is too polite to cut off the conversation.
My dad plows on anyway. “Mr. Cheng say that if I don’t let Xiao Jia go on date, she will become rebel. She will learn to hate me, will get angry and do thing behind my back.”
The truth is a hot, stinging pain that I feel not in my chest, but in the place just behind my ears where the worst headaches start. My dad’s eyes sharpen when he sees the guilt on my face, and he looks over to my mom, who nods.
“Your mother and I am decide. Xiao Jia can date when she prove that dating will not be distract. So this is my plan. Three thing must happen.”
Wait, what?
My father waves at my report. “Number one. If A-Plus revenue increase by thirty percent.” Next, he points a judgy index finger at me. “Number two. You need to show you serious about your future. If you get University of Utica Junior Business Program Scholarship, that is second requirement.” Finally, he turns back to Will. “Number three. Alan must get B plus or higher in summer school.”
“Wait, what does Alan have to do with this?” I don’t get it; how do I have control over what my brother does? I look over to Will, who doesn’t seem fazed at all. He’s nodding in acceptance, in fact.
“This business plan is only start,” says my dad, staring at Will. “You must earn right to date Jocelyn. I see you working with Alan other day. He need lot of help, and tutoring too expensive. If you keep helping him, and he passes his math, I will approve you to date my daughter.”
For a second I just gape at my father, who is looking at Will with a wary respect. Will is still nodding.
“Wait a second, so you are literally proposing that Will do three tasks for the ‘Standard Hero Reward’ trope?” I’m still processing things—how could Will have come to terms with my dad’s “plan” so quickly? “Are you sure about this, Will? Isn’t this kind of extortion?”
“It’s not coercion if I volunteer to do it,” he says slowly. He rubs the inside of his wrist absentmindedly for a moment, pausing before he continues. “I did a little bit of work with your brother last night when I dropped off the buttons, and he’s a good kid. I’m