Auntie looks at both of us with soft eyes. “I could talk to him,” she offers.

“No, it’s okay. We both know that won’t do anything.” The last time she tried telling him to ease up on me a little bit he politely told her to fuck off which led to her impolitely telling him to watch his mouth because she’s not the one. She might end up in jail for assault if she tries talking some sense into him again.

Auntie whispers something under her breath but I do manage to catch the words “go upside his head” before she pastes a smile on her face and asks another question.

Kai stays quiet while Auntie and I talk. He says it doesn’t bother him that we can’t go to the dance but it’s eating away at me. Sometimes I feel like I’m holding him back. Would he be happier with someone whose family is less…complicated?

“So, are you gonna tell me what’s wrong or do you need more time?” My eyes zone in on a patch of green paint on the wall just past Kai’s head, but he grabs my chin and moves my face so I’m forced to look in his eyes. “You can talk to me.”

Kai should be at home sleeping right now, but instead he’s in my room, courtesy of my window, rubbing my feet after a grueling practice with my dad. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve him but then I think that he might just be some kind of reward from the universe for dealing with the parents I was given.

“I know, sorry. I’m just in my head.”

“Okay. About what?”

“Well,” I move my legs out of his lap and plant my feet on my plush carpet. “It’s just…are you sure you’re okay with not going to Homecoming?”

His jaw drops. “That’s what’s upsetting you? You think I care about missing some dance?”

“It’s just that my dad keeps getting in the way. He’s always finding some way to keep us from spending time together, and it drives me crazy so I can’t imagine how you feel. I don’t want you to look back on your high school years and wish things were different.”

He rolls his eyes and then in the blink of an eye he’s on his knees in between my legs. “Do I wish your dad would stop riding you so hard so you could enjoy life more? Yes. But there’s not a single thing I would change about you or us. It’s just one homecoming, Olivia. There will be others. If I wanted to go, I could go with friends but I just don’t care to go. Okay?”

“But…”

“But, nothing. You’re acting like we’re missing our senior prom or something.” He sees the panic in my eyes and cuts me off once again. “And even if we do end up missing that too, who cares? When I look back on high school I’m not gonna be thinking about some dumb dances or your dad. I’m gonna be thinking about that time we skipped school to sneak into a showing of Batman Begins. Or the time you got sick from eating so many dumplings. Or the time you laughed so hard soda came out of your nose after I slipped on a wet spot on the cafeteria floor. I’m gonna think about how lucky I was to have met you and how lucky I am to keep knowing you. I’m gonna think about how much I love you.”