Page 3

CHAPTER 3 VI?T

Viet tried taking a nap, but people were still moving in, playing music, laughing, and joking around. He heard everything through the thin walls. Viet eventually decided to go running.

Now that he was on campus, he didn’t know what to expect. He didn’t have siblings, so he mostly heard about college from his parents’ friends who had older kids. Apparently, they were solving climate change and discovering cures to little-known diseases every single day.

“Alexander is so selfless and kindhearted,” an auntie would brag.

Alexander? His childhood bully Alexander—who once poured a fistful of toothpicks into Viet’s sneakers—contributing to the betterment of humankind?

Sure, Auntie.

Viet couldn’t count on the tales of out-of-touch, oblivious parents. And he couldn’t rely on books or TV shows—though, to be fair, someone always got murdered and the murders always got solved. Life wasn’t that easy to navigate.

Most TV shows skipped over the quiet moments like now: him, walking across the campus in search of the track and field before the sun could fully set. Instead, more often shown were packed parties, red Solo cups, chugging challenges. College was where you met people. College was where, supposedly, you had the most fun of your life.

The thought of making new friends took a lot out of him. Viet didn’t need that many. He had grown close to his cross-country and track teammates over the years. But they didn’t really know him like Bao did. With Bao, there were no pretenses. He was just as weird as Viet—even though the other boy would deny it—and he never gawked at Viet’s ability to memorize key plot moments from Law his knee burned. He bit back a swear.

“Hey, easy. You fell hard.” She touched his arm. “Don’t move if you really can’t.” Her voice was solid, all business. Like a doctor.

“No, I can move.”

“Do you want to stay there, or need help getting up?”

“I’ll try standing.” Accepting her outstretched hand, Viet tried finding his balance. Blood dripped down his leg. He was close to crying. He hobbled over to a bench with the girl’s help. Some people sitting in their groups now stared. Others snickered. He imagined their thoughts: First-year who can’t tie his shoelaces, am I right? Great.

Viet said “Thanks” as the girl rummaged through a forest-green L.L.Bean backpack slumped by her feet. He was still trying to comprehend how he went from soaring to crash-landing.

He felt pressure on his knee, a quick sting, and then watched her apply a Pooh Bear Band-Aid.

“Sorry,” the girl said, sounding embarrassed. “I worked part-time at a pediatrics hospital over the summer, and this was all I had in my bag.”

Not wanting to seem ungrateful—she didn’t need to use a bandage on him—Viet quickly said, “You couldn’t have given me Tigger at least?”

She blinked in surprise before smiling widely. “I’ll remember that next time I see you face-plant.”

“I was going for a somersault.”

“Guess you’ll need to work on that, then.”

Up close, Viet wasn’t seeing Linh again, but his mind tried compensating for its initial thought. She was definitely Asian, and might be Vietnamese, and she was familiar. They had met before. They must have.

She noticed. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Wh—oh sorry. I just thought you were someone else. But it’s impossible because she’s at another school….”

Conversations from a few weeks ago, that didn’t seem important then, resurfaced in Viet’s mind. Viet, Linh, and Bao at 7 Leaves. It was after they talked about Wren. Linh had said her sister was at UC Davis too, and maybe she’d connect the two of them before orientation, but she never did. Her sister’s name—what was it?

“You wouldn’t—I mean, you’re not her sister, are you?” Viet asked.

“Whose sister?”

“Linh. Linh Mai.”

The girl’s face lit up, and that was when he really saw Linh. “Yes! She’s my little sister. You know her?”

“I’m friends with her and Bao. I’m Viet.”

“Wait, you’re the forensic-science guy? Bao’s told me you’re obsessed with things like that, right?”

That was accurate, sure, but was that how Bao planned to introduce him to every person he met?

“Ready, Evie?”

Evie. That was her name.

Evie stood up to face another guy.

Viet felt like he needed to do the same, so he disregarded his knee. The guy glanced at the Band-Aid, and he wished Evie could have left it bleeding. He was a building made tiny by a skyscraper.

“This is Viet. He’s, well, someone from back home. Viet, this is my boyfriend, Jake.”

He fixated on “back home.” That was true. Even though they didn’t know each other, they were from the same place and knew some of the same people. She was the closest person to home here.

The boyfriend didn’t say anything, just gave him a Sup? nod.

“And I work at the restaurant right across from her family’s place,” Viet added.

“Yes!” Evie smiled. “Jake, remember that whole restaurant rivalry thing that I mentioned and how my sister ended up with her boyfriend?”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember,” he replied. He glanced at his Apple watch. “Spain’s not gonna be there for long. We probably should head out.”

Was Viet the only one who felt awkward?

“Right,” Evie said. She grabbed her backpack. “It was nice meeting you, Viet. You’re okay to walk back by yourself? If not, maybe we can help you.”

Viet envisioned these two strangers half carrying, half dragging him back.

“No, all good. I’ll see you around campus.”

Watching Linh’s sister and her boyfriend walk away, Viet felt less antsy than he was an hour ago. Maybe it was because Evie, as much of a stranger as she was, knew of him. And that was more than the people sitting on the bleachers now, the ones who’d only laughed when he crashed. The same ones glancing over and smirking while a grown-ass first-year stood there with Winnie the Pooh on his knee.

Summoning his remaining pride, Viet limped back to his dorm.