The Movie

The girl, completely unprepared for APLUS to flirt with her so boldly, was so happy she could hardly believe it. There was no need to talk about feelings first; for these girls, the vanity of dating a school celebrity outweighed everything else. After introducing herself, Allie smugly glanced at the jealous looks around her, then immediately linked arms with Song Ya and began staking her claim as his girlfriend.

The cheerleading goddess stamped her feet in anger, and her giant football-playing admirer hurried over to console her as a backup.

Having dodged a "disaster," Song Ya had no intention of burning his bridges, either. He'd picked Allie from among all the girls at a glance because she suited his tastes. She was only in eighth grade and didn't have the "explosive" figure that Black girls especially liked. Instead, she was petite and slender, more like an East Asian girl. Her mixed Black and white heritage also gave her more European features and coloring. Anyway, Song Ya thought she was quite pretty.

Besides, having a proper girlfriend would save him a lot of trouble at school. At the very least, he'd attract less resentment from jealous boys.

After school on Friday, his older sister Connie drove Song Ya to the movie theater.

"Want me to leave you the car?"

Connie was grinning as she spoke. "I know a few places where you can take a girl after dark."

"Wow, you sure know a lot." Song Ya teased Connie in return. He pulled something from his pocket. One look told her it was the kind handed out for free at school. He'd always been too embarrassed to take one before. "I don't even have a driver's license. How am I supposed to drive?" His body knew how to drive, but he wasn't old enough to get a license yet.

Connie said nonchalantly, "It's fine. If you drive in the South Side, nobody usually stops you as long as you don't speed. You really don't need it? I can take the bus home."

"Forget it. I don't want to take even the slightest risk." Song Ya opened the car door.

"Yeah, my Ya Li's going to be a big shot someday." Connie patted Song Ya's cheek. "Don't trust those girls too easily. Keep your wits about you." She pointed at the pocket where Song Ya had put the condoms.

"I know."

Song Ya agreed, said goodbye to Connie, and walked to the meeting spot. He spotted Allie waiting there at once. She'd dressed up carefully that day, and as soon as she saw Song Ya, she rushed over and clung to him. "Darling..."

"Uh... Why are you here so early? Shall we go buy tickets?"

They chatted as they walked into the theater. It wasn't yet time for office workers to get off work, so the ticket window was quiet, and they could take their time choosing.

"Huh?" Song Ya spotted two Chinese characters on the edge of a poster on the wall: "Golden Harvest."

"They actually have a movie from China?" He was intrigued by the film called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The poster showed four humanoid green turtles wielding weapons. They looked pretty cool.

"Are you still a kid? We should watch something meant for adults," Allie said, noticing which movie he was leaning toward.

"Something meant for adults..." Song Ya got the wrong idea. "The ticket seller won't sell us tickets for that kind of movie, will they?" he asked.

"What are you thinking?!"

Allie pouted and pointed to another poster. "I mean this one."

"Hm?" Song Ya turned to a poster for a movie called Pretty Woman. It showed a beautiful white actress with a wide, infectious smile. "Julia Roberts. A romance..."

"Let's watch this one." Allie pulled a handful of coins from her jeans pocket.

"All right." Song Ya pushed her hand back and refused to split the cost, paying for two tickets himself.

"This movie's really popular. I heard the box office has already topped a hundred million," the ticket seller said as she printed their tickets.

"A hundred million?!" Song Ya was surprised. Was making movies really that profitable?

They still had a while before the movie started, so they wandered around nearby. Song Ya treated her to ice cream and fried chicken. At a clothing store, he noticed that Allie really liked a little purse. He checked the price tag—it was only about ten dollars, pretty cheap—so he paid for it and gave it to her.

"You're so good to me."

To his surprise, Allie was so moved by the gift that she burst into tears. "No one's ever treated me this well—not once in my whole life..."

Sigh. We're both poor kids.

Song Ya sighed to himself. The whole thing felt strange. His memories of his previous life were hazy, but he was familiar with this standard Chinese nice-guy date routine. Apparently, he'd done it plenty of times before, and the endings hadn't usually been good.

When it was time to go in, they watched a very high-quality romance. Julia Roberts was perfect for the role of a beautiful woman with a big, infectious laugh, and the soundtrack was masterful. The plot, though, was a little too much of a fairy tale.

"Would a Wall Street hotshot like the male lead really marry a prostitute?"

Song Ya mused as they left the theater.

"Love conquers all! You're such a blockhead." Allie wasn't happy. During the more emotional parts of the movie, she'd puckered up several times to hint at what she wanted, but Song Ya had ignored her every time.

After the movie, Song Ya felt a little listless. The girl in front of him had been trying hard to hide her childishness, doing her best to imitate the way older girls talked and acted. But the way she loudly gossiped about who was dating whom at school, called girls she disliked bitches, and deliberately peppered her speech with F-bombs was exactly what Song Ya couldn't stand.

To Allie, that was a sign of maturity. To Song Ya, it meant she'd already been poisoned by the cultural dregs of a crappy public school.

"It's getting late. I'll take you home," Song Ya said.

"Don't you love me anymore?" Allie could tell something was wrong. Her lips trembled, and she began to cry again. "I'm sorry. I've never dated anyone before. I don't know how to act around a school celebrity like you..."

Hm? She'd never dated anyone before?

Song Ya's eyes lit up. "Uh... How about this? I'll take you to the music company where I work. Maybe we can record a song for you or something."

Time to get the plan back on track!

"Really?!" Allie's tears turned to laughter.

"Of course." Song Ya put an arm around Allie, and they walked several blocks to Joe Music.

"Carl!" He banged hard on the iron door.

Carl looked at the girl behind him. His fierce face spread into a lecherous grin as he stepped aside to let them in.

"Thanks, Carl."

Song Ya led Allie upstairs. Apart from Carl at the door, Joe Music was pitch-black and deserted. He went straight into the recording studio and turned on the lights.

"Wow." Allie was thrilled by the professional equipment. She curiously touched this and looked at that. "Is this where you recorded all your songs?"

Song Ya watched Allie's back as she stood in front of the mixing console and recalled Eric's advice. "Yeah, they're all recorded here. Want to learn? Come on, I'll teach you."

"Allie..."

"Bang!"

A sudden loud noise jolted Song Ya upright from his sleep. Allie woke too, and half a second later, she started screaming.

At the doorway, Eric was laughing so hard he nearly sat down on the floor. Behind him stood a group of musicians in outlandish clothes, carrying all kinds of instruments. They were all smirking at him...and Allie.

"XXX! Eric!" Song Ya cursed furiously.