The pebbles crunched beneath Farrah’s feet as she and Blake followed Wang laoshi to their hostel in Gubei, a water town at the foot of the Simatai section of the wall. As Farrah expected, they were the last FEAers to arrive.
Farrah was exhausted, but she had enough wits about her to admire the view. Despite being an artificial “ancient” town (modeled after the actual historic town of Wuzhen in southern China), Gubei was beautiful. Its traditional architecture harkened back to the days of imperial China. Stone streets wound past wooden houses with tile roofs and sweeping eaves; small arch bridges curved over narrow canals. As the sun sank beneath the horizon, the lights flicked on, one by one, until the entire town glowed with their warmth. The orange spots danced and shimmered on the water, competing with the pale fire skies for attention.
“Toto, we’re not in Texas anymore,” Blake murmured.
Laughter bubbled up inside her. It was a relief after the heavy emotions of earlier that day. “No, Dorothy, we’re not.”
Farrah was coming to terms with her unrequited feelings for Blake. She wasn’t even mad about what happened in Macau anymore. She’d missed Blake too much during the past week to stay angry with him. Her romantic feelings were one thing; their friendship was another. What happened on the wall was proof of that.
She’d kept her guilt over what happened with her dad a secret for so long that talking about it felt like a thousand-ton weight had lifted off her shoulders.
Farrah had had opportunities to talk about it before, but she’d been too afraid. Afraid people would judge her for being a terrible person and a terrible daughter, afraid they would never look at her the same afterward.
She didn’t have that fear with Blake. Somehow, she knew he would understand.
Blake slanted a glance in her direction. His mouth curled up to reveal those devastating dimples.
“I’m glad we’re talking again,” he whispered. “I missed you.”
There went the damned butterflies. Farrah loved all living creatures, but those butterflies needed to die.
“I missed you too…brother.” She punched him in the shoulder.
Oh god, I did not just say that.
Blake frowned.
By the time they reached their hostel, dusk had settled over the town. Voices filtered through the open doorway of the complex. FEA had booked the entire building, which was large enough to house all 70 students if they crammed four to a room.
Farrah stepped into the courtyard and found the rest of FEA eating dinner at the tables scattered throughout the space. The smell of pork and noodles wafted through the air, eliciting a growl from her stomach. She’d planned on showering before she ate, but she was ravenous.
“Guys, over here!” Courtney waved them over to the group’s table in the back corner.
“Took you guys long enough. We thought you died.” Luke reached for the near-empty plate of dumplings. “I understand why Farrah took so long, but what happened to you?” he asked Blake. “You’re supposed to be in good shape.”
Farrah stuck her tongue out at him. “Thanks a lot.”
“Dude. Blake and Farrah haven’t eaten yet.” Sammy knocked Luke’s hand away.
“I took it easy.” Blake glanced at Farrah as the hostel staff brought out another round of steaming home-cooked food: stir-fried tomato with scrambled eggs, kung pao chicken with white rice, spicy dry-fried green beans, and shredded pork in sweet bean sauce.
Farrah wolfed down her first portion and went for seconds. She’d endured more physical activity today than she had in months. She could eat a cow right now.
The staff watched in stunned silence as the students devoured every morsel of food in fifteen minutes flat.
“Damn. That hit the spot.” Luke leaned back in his chair, patted his stomach, and burped.
Beside him, Kris wrinkled her nose and scooted closer to Blake.
“I’m showered. I’m fed. I’m ready for bed.” Olivia yawned. Her eyes drooped with exhaustion.
“You can’t go to bed!” Courtney checked her watch. “It’s only seven.”
“How? It feels like midnight,” Olivia moaned.
“We woke up at seven this morning,” Farrah pointed out.
“Great. A twelve-hour day is enough for me. I’m beat.”
“I agree.” Leo, too, failed to stifle a yawn.
“Stop. We’re young, and so is the night. We are not going to bed.” Courtney planted her hands on the table. “We’re playing a game. Does anyone have cards?”
Silence.
She sighed. “Fine. Never Have I Ever it is.”
The last thing Farrah wanted was to play Never Have I Ever, but she sat through one game to indulge Courtney. Otherwise, she’d never hear the end of it.
“Never have I ever received a grade below an A,” Nardo said, causing a wave of eye rolls around the table. “What? I haven’t.”
“Big. Effing. Deal,” Olivia said. “Neither have I.”
“Then keep your finger up. That’s how it works.”
“Fine. Never have I ever been rejected from a college.”
Nardo glared at Sammy. “You told her?”
“No. Yes.” Sammy cleared his throat. “Getting wait-listed at MIT is still an honor.”
Nardo pressed his lips together and folded one finger down. “Never have I ever not made it to the interview round for an internship.”
“Never have I ever—”
“Stop!” Courtney slashed the air with her hands. “This is not the Olivia and Nardo Show. You’re both smart, we get it. Let’s move on. Farrah, it’s your turn. Please, make it good.”
“No pressure.” Farrah tried to think of something no one had said yet. “Never have I ever…had a threesome.”
“Duh,” Luke said. “You’re a virgin. You’ve never had a twosome—ow!”
“Sorry,” Farrah said sweetly. “My foot slipped.”
“Yeah, right,” he grumbled.
Two people at the table put their fingers down: Blake and Sammy.
“High school prom.” Blake shrugged.
It didn’t come as a surprise—she knew he was experienced—but jealousy still fluttered in her chest at the thought of Blake with two nameless, faceless girls.
Sammy, on the other hand, was a surprise.
“You’ve had a threesome?” Olivia’s mouth formed a surprised O.
“Years ago.” Sammy shifted in his seat. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Sammy Sam.” Kris eyed him with newfound respect. “Aren’t you full of surprises?”
“Dude, you can’t leave us hanging. Tell us the deets!” Luke urged.
“No way.”
“Come on!”
Farrah tilted her head up to the sky. The moon shone bright and clear. Even the stars made an appearance.
“I’m going for a walk,” she said.
“We’re at the edge of town. There’s nothing nearby,” Sammy pointed out, clearly eager to shift the attention away from himself.
“I just need to walk off the food.” Farrah stood up. “I’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll go with you.” Blake pushed back his chair. “I could use a walk too.”
“A walk sounds like a good idea.” Kris nudged Courtney, who looked like she was about to argue. “Right, Court?”
Realization dawned on Courtney’s face. “Right. Wish I could bring myself to get up, but I can’t.” She stretched her arms over her head. “Have fun, guys. Remember, we don’t have curfew.”
Luke’s face scrunched in confusion. “We do have curfew. The laoshis said—ow! Would you guys stop kicking me?”
“Stop saying kick-worthy stuff,” Kris said.
While her friends bickered, Farrah slipped out the hostel entrance with Blake in tow.
“You didn’t have to come with me.” She pulled her jacket tighter around her body. The wind skimmed over the exposed skin on her face and hands, causing her to shiver.
“I was planning to take a walk, anyway. Might as well have company.” Blake’s arm brushed hers as they walked.
Her heart skipped. The layers of clothing between them did nothing to dull the effect he had on her.
They wandered through the maze of buildings until they reached one of the little arched bridges closer to the main part of town.
“I can’t believe this place is real,” Blake said. “There’s nothing like this in Texas.”
“Depends on how you define real.” Farrah rested her arms on the railing. “The government built it as a tourist site. It didn’t exist until a few years ago.”
Blake ran his hands over the smooth stone. “It feels real to me.”
“Yeah.” Farrah inhaled the crisp, cold air. It burned her lungs in a good way. “How’d you end up here, Blake?”
“Same way you did. I walked from the hostel.”
“I meant in China.”
“I took a plane.” His mouth quirked at her expression. “I’m guessing that’s not the answer you were looking for.”
“You don’t have personal ties to China, and you didn’t study Chinese. Why’d you choose Shanghai? Not saying you have to have those things to be here,” she added. “I’m just curious. Most people prefer to go to Europe or Australia. China is too…foreign for them.”
“It’s going to sound stupid.”
“Try me.”
Blake’s cheeks tinged pink. “I watched Skyfall,” he admitted.
Farrah’s laughter pealed through the air. “That is a great scene,” she agreed, remembering Bond’s fight with an assassin at the top of a Shanghai skyscraper.
“One of the best choreographed scenes in Bond history, if you ask me.” Blake joined in Farrah’s mirth. “I know someone who chose their study abroad destination by closing their eyes and pointing to a map, so it could’ve been worse.”
“Where’d they end up?”
Blake’s grin widened. “Moscow. In December.”
She cracked up again. “And they went through with it?”
“Yep. Fortunately for them, it was only a three-week program.” Blake moved closer. “What about you? Why Shanghai?”
“I wanted to see this place for myself. My mom’s always talking about China, but I’d never been.” Farrah traced her initials with her finger on the railing. “I almost didn’t choose Shanghai. I studied Mandarin to make my mom happy. I went against her wishes and majored in interior design instead of engineering or whatever, so I thought it would be a good compromise. It worked, kind of. She still gives me shit for not learning Mandarin sooner. Apparently, I wasted my high school years on French.”
“Still better than me. I only speak English.”
“And some Mandarin,” Farrah corrected him. “I’ve forgotten most of my French, so she may have a point. I was going to brush up on it in Paris. But when it came time to choose my study abroad location…I don’t know. I meant to click Paris but somehow clicked Shanghai. And here I am.” She flashed a lopsided smile. “In some ways, I chose it with even less thought than you.”
“Hey!” Blake pretended to take offense. “What do you mean less thought? I put a lot of effort into the decision-making process.”
She patted his hand. “Sure you did.”
To her surprise, Blake wrapped his fingers around hers. The warmth from his skin heated her from head to toe. “Either way, I’m glad you’re here.”
Farrah’s breath caught in her throat. Blake was so close she could see every detail of his face—the dark lashes, the cheekbones that cut through the night like knives, the ice-blue eyes darkening to the color of sapphires. She saw him clearer than she’d seen anyone in her life.
“Blake.” His name was a whisper in the night.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yes?”
“Do you really think of me as a sister?”
It was a dangerous question. There was every chance she wouldn’t like the answer. But dammit, something about this place made her believe in magic, and she deserved to give it one last shot. She owed it to herself.
No regrets.
A thousand emotions passed over Blake’s face. His hand trembled against hers. All the while, Farrah’s heart banged against her chest, desperate to reach something on the other side.
“No.” His hand remained entwined with hers.
The banging intensified. “What do you think of me?”
Blake was silent for so long she thought he didn’t hear her. She was debating whether to repeat the question or flee in mortification when he stepped closer.
“I think—” Blake’s voice turned rough. “You’re a smartass who’s too stubborn for your own good. I think you drive me crazier than any person ought to. And I think I might die if I can’t be with you.”
The air whooshed out of Farrah’s lungs. She had the moment-by-moment clarity of someone speeding down the road in a car without brakes. The road would lead to either the most terrifying or most amazing place she’d ever see.
There was only one way to find out.
Farrah grabbed Blake Ryan’s face and kissed him.
Their mouths explored each other, hungrily and desperately, as if they’d longed for each other their whole lives and were only now getting the chance to meet. Farrah moaned and tangled her hands in his hair, her entire body aching. Blake tasted like ice and fire, like love and danger, like an angel and the devil, and she couldn’t get enough. She wanted to drink up every last drop of him.
He pushed her against the railing and molded his body to hers until she didn’t know where she ended and he began. They poured everything they had into each other—every feeling, every thought, every memory, both good and bad. They left themselves open so the other could rush in and fill the space that had been empty for too long.
Time fell away, taking with it everything that happened before or would happen and leaving them with only this moment. The surrounding buildings crumbled. The wall collapsed, the trees disappeared, and the hills flattened out, retreating into nonexistence while they waited for the world to be born. Then, just like that, the world was there, bursting forth with such excitement it sped past everything. Past civilization, past nature, past the sun and moon and stars until it all fell quiet again.
Through it all, Blake and Farrah stood, unmoved by the creation and destruction around them. Here, at last, they found a place time couldn’t touch.
But in the end, the universe gets its way, and though they fought it until their lungs ran out of breath, they eventually had to ease apart.
They stared at each other.
Elation coursed through Farrah’s veins. It filled her up until she thought she might burst, so she did the only thing she could do: she laughed. The sound danced in the air and echoed back at her, causing her to laugh harder. Blake’s face broke into a grin. His laughter joined hers, their harmony saying everything they couldn’t say in words.
“Let’s not go back,” Blake said. “Let’s stay a while longer.”
“Yes.” Farrah sank into his arms. “Let’s.”
They stared up at the sky. The stars beamed back, twinkling with joy.
Farrah had always equated the stars with love, which seemed as nebulous and out of reach as the diamonds in the sky. But as she stood there next to Blake, beneath the infinite skies of a foreign land, the stars felt a little closer.
