Radiant - By Christina Daley Page 0,60

to sit next to her. "Ba?"

Ba looked at her. "Oh, hi Mary. Are you having fun?"

Mary nodded. "How about you? Did you get enough to eat?" She noticed that Ba's plate was hardly touched.

"I did," she said. "I had a late snack this afternoon, so I'm not very hungry." Her eyes wondered off again, this time towards the pool.

"Carter's parents have a pretty neat place, huh?" Mary asked.

Ba looked at her again. "Oh yes. Very nice." She looked away again.

Mary stared at her for a moment. Then she took her hand. "Hey, Ba? We haven't gone shopping in a while. You wanna go tomorrow when I'm off from school?"

Ba's eyes met hers again. This time, her face lit up. "That would be wonderful! We can look for more dresses for you, since you're starting to wear them more."

Mary smiled. "Sounds good."

"Excuse me," Phos said as he came over to them. "I'm so sorry to intrude, Mrs. Phan. But can Mary come with me for a minute? I won't keep her long."

"Of course," Ba said. "Go on. Have some fun."

Phos took Mary's hand. "Come on. I want to show you something."

She walked with him into the house and up the stairs to Carter's bedroom. It was larger than Mary's living room and had a massive bathroom to the side. Posters of famous basketball players adorned the walls.

Phos opened the window.

"What are you doing?" Mary asked.

"In case someone comes looking for us," he said. Then he took her in his arms and translated.

At that instant, they were in the middle of the roof. It wasn't as easy to walk around like the apartment's flat roof, so Phos helped her up one of the pitches. They made sure that no one below could see them.

"Okay," she laughed. "Now what?"

He smiled and gestured behind her. "Look."

She turned. "Oh. Wow."

The Maxwells' house was situated on a large hill, and from the roof, Mary could see the city lights sprawled below. It looked like Christmas scattered on the ground. She could see the bridges and make out the buildings of downtown.

"It's like Paris," she breathed. "I've lived here all my life and never knew it looked like this. It's beautiful."

"You don't have to go far to be in an amazing place." Phos turned to her. "Mary, there was also something I wanted to tell you. Without anyone else hearing."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you remember when you asked me if I had experienced love?"

She nodded. "You said it didn't make sense to you."

"Yes. But I think I understand it now." He looked out at the city lights. "I believe it's not an emotion. It's so much more than simply showing affection. It also seems to require a lot of suffering."

Mary's hand went to her scar unconsciously. "I can see that. But it's suffering for the sake of others."

He nodded. "That's what I didn't understand before. Love is antithetical to human nature. Humans seek their own good. Their own survival. Their own glorification. But love seeks the good of the other, even to the detriment of the self. Even to the detriment of others." He turned to face Mary. "It's why I saved you that day. Even before taking over Carter's body and having his emotions. Maybe it's because I have watched you for so long. I don't know. But somehow, some way, I had fallen in love with y—"

Mary kissed him, not letting him finish. He took her face in his warm hands and kissed her back. And again. And again, not letting her go after their three-second rule. Mary felt her mouth burning, but she didn't care.

It was the voices just below them that finally made them stop. Quietly, they tiptoed to the edge of the roof and looked over to see Mom and Carter's parents talking away from the others.

"When Marcos and Linda called us about that accident, we chartered the first plane straight out of Dubai," Mrs. Maxwell said. "We were wrecks the entire flight home."

"I can imagine," Mom said.

"But we were ecstatic when we landed and found Carter sitting up in bed and able to talk," Mr. Maxwell said. "I knew it would take some time for him to recover, so I actually cancelled my travel appointments for a month. But talk about a lightning quick recovery! I've never been one to believe in miracles. But I've changed my mind."

"And he hasn't been the same since," Mrs. Maxwell said. "He holds doors for people. Says 'thank you' and 'please.' Addresses people with