“You know I can’t,” I say, my throat tight. “They’ll never talk to me again. They’ll take away all my freedom. I’ll never see you guys outside school, I’ll never be able to call or text you, I’ll never be able to do anything I want. The little independence I have will be taken from me, and they’ll never trust me again. They’ll be so disappointed, and I—” This conversation is making me nauseated. “Can we talk about literally anything else?”

“You can’t always just change the subject whenever—”

“Cora,” Nandini says pointedly. There are some things that Cora pushes that we wouldn’t. Things she does that we couldn’t. Nandini’s brown parents are more lenient than mine, but Cora’s father is a white guy from France. He met her mother, who’s Chinese, when she was studying abroad, and they fell in love. Both of her parents are super modern and liberal and support her in almost all her decisions.

She still has it hard in other ways, especially with her sexuality, but for the most part, her parents have never restrained her the way mine have. It makes conversations like this difficult, because even though Cora tries to understand and be empathetic, there’s only so much that fits with her own experiences.

I don’t blame her for it. I know she wants the best for me and that she loves me. It’s just hard to take her advice when our parents would react wildly different to us doing the exact same thing.

Cora looks between us and sighs. “Yes, we can change the subject. So what exactly did you and Ace do yesterday on your double date?”

I offer a small smile in thanks for not pursuing the subject, even though I can see she wants to. “It wasn’t a double date.”

“It was definitely a double date,” Nandini says. “This, I’ll let Cora grill you about all she wants. He invited you to go bowling with his sister and her girlfriend, Karina. That’s a double date.”

“Samir was there!”

“Yeah, and he was the strange fifth wheel.”

“Oh my God, you two are horrible,” I say, but the urge to hug them is stronger than ever.

At the top of my screen, another notification flashes. Another text from Ace.

I swipe up without looking and continue talking to Nandini and Cora late into the night. Before we hang up, we make solid plans for them to come over the next day since Ma has yet to revoke permission.

When I finally end the call, I have five missed texts from Ace.

I bite my lip, debating whether to click into them, before admitting defeat.

Alistair Clyde:

watching the great gatsby (aren’t u proud) and maybe I am rich...

Alistair Clyde:

also what are ur plans for today?

Alistair Clyde:

karina are u feeling ok?

Alistair Clyde: