Radiant (16 page)

"That was great," Mary said, looking back at Carter.

He nodded. "They were very good."

They didn't say anything for a moment. Mary
flicked at the zipper on her purse. Inside was the pen-shaped blood test. She slipped it out and hid it under the linen napkin in her lap. She needed to figure out a way to get Carter's blood.

"What are you thinking about?"
he asked.

"Huh?" she said, realizing that she was staring at him kinda dumbly. "Oh. I just…I wasn't thinking of anything in particular."

He nodded and looked over the balcony. "I'm glad you agreed to come with me tonight."

"Why?" she asked.

"I like being with you," he said.

She blushed a little.
"You said that before. But what does that mean?"

He thought for a moment.
"You have a good energy about you."

"
Energy?" she asked.

He nodded.
"I think that's the best word I can use. Another might be 'radiation.' Or 'electricity.' But I don't know if that would make sense."

She shook her head.

"Well, it's the best I can come up with," he said. "But yes, you have a good energy. It's refreshing. You probably don't notice it. But others do. It makes people like being around you."

She
smirked. "Like my long list of nonexistent friends?"

He laughed.
"You don't notice it, but people are attracted to you. It's just that you don't reach back out to them. It can be intimidating."

"I
intimidate people?" she asked.

He nodded.

She thought for a moment. "Do I intimidate you?"

"Yes
," he said. "But not as much now."

"I don't
mean to," she said.

"I
didn't think you did," he said. "You probably do it to protect yourself, which is not always bad. And you do have friends. There's Ben. And your grandmother. And the people at Agape. Friends aren't just people at school."

"
I guess I never thought about it that way. Or them," she said. She suddenly wondered what kind of books he was reading during his time off from basketball. Did the school library even have psychology books? "You seem to be studying me a lot."

"
You fascinate me," he said. "I'm curious why you do the things you do. I suppose that before, I was very intimidated by you. And it was easier to lower my standards than strive for higher ones."

"
I'm a high standard?" she asked, surprised.

"
Very."

She
blushed again.

"
Now I would like to ask you something," he said. "Why did you agree to go on this date with me?"

Mary rolled the blood best pen between her fingers
. "I suppose you fascinate me, too."

"
How so?"

"
Well, the complete change in your personality is a start," she said. "I used to despise you."

He nodded. "I have a better understand
ing of why. But now?"

She thought for a moment
. "I guess I don't anymore."

He smiled.
"I'm glad."

Their
food arrived, and the table filled up quickly with colorful dishes that smelled awesome. Raj came back as well. "Well, what do you think?"

"Looks like you sent out everything on the menu," Mary laughed.

He smiled. "You're not gonna find any tikka masala here. The place may look swanky, but these are traditional dishes." He explained what each of the dishes were, using words like
korma
,
naan
,
biryani
,
samosa
, and other things that Mary hadn't heard of before. "You guys enjoy. Holler if you need something." And he left.

Mary started putting a few things on her plate. But
everything tasted so good that soon she was stuffing herself. Carter, however, only took a couple bites of a few things.

"
You eat like a bird," she joked.

"A bird?" he asked.

She nodded. "You eat really small portions, and you don't finish your food."

He
looked down at his plate. "You normally consume everything you're served?"

"
That's the general idea," she said. "Or just until you're full."

He looked at his
plate again. Then he picked up his fork and proceeded to finish everything on it.

They talked more through dinner and watched the performances on stage. At the end of the meal, they had
a lot of food left over, so the server bagged it up for them. Raj came to their table one last time to offer them dessert.

"I think I
'm 'good full,'" Mary said. "I don't think I want to be 'bad full,' so I'll pass."

"
As long as you're not 'gross full,'" Raj said. "That's when you're so full that it's hard to breathe because your stomach is pushing up into your lung region."

Mary and Carter laughed.

"Anyway, here's you're bill," Raj said. "I gave you a couple things on the house."

"Thanks
," Carter said. "That was nice of you."

"Sure
, bro," Raj said. "You both have an awesome evening. Great meeting you Mary. Later, Carter."

Mary took out her wallet. "How much is my part?" she asked.

Carter shook his head. "My treat."

"But that was a lot of food!" she said.

"I know. But I asked you out tonight and I picked the place." He took some cash from his wallet and placed it with the ticket.

She stared at him for a moment. Finally, she put her wallet away. "Okay. But I'm buying the next time."

He smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that."

"That I'm buying?" she asked.

"That there will be a next time."

Mary
blushed.

"Ready to go?" he asked. "Or do you want to stay longer?"

She chuckled. "I'm so full. If I keep sitting, I might fall asleep."

He laughed as well. "Then perhaps we should go for a walk."

Mary started to stand, and as she did, the blood test fell from her lap and onto the floor. Dinner had distracted her, and she had forgotten that it was still there.

Her
heart skipped a beat as Carter reached down to pick it up. "Here you go. You dropped this."

"Uh, thanks." S
he quickly stowed it in her purse. She looked to see if he suspected anything. Thankfully, he didn't seem to, and they headed for the door together.

Outside, the temperature had dropped a little
. Mary tucked her arms around herself.

"
Are you cold?" Carter asked.

"
Just a little," she said. "I'll be fine."

But he removed his jacket and set it around her shoulders.
It was wonderfully warm, just like his sweater was after Ben's art show.

"If you're not careful, I'm going to have all your jackets," she said. "Don
't let me forget to give this one back to you."

He chuckled. "Okay
."

They walked without saying anything
for a few minutes. Then Carter asked, "Mary?"

"
Yes?"

"
Have you forgiven me yet?"

"For what?"

"For insulting you," he said. "I remember it now. The day I spoke a deplorable word to you. And it was over something very insignificant."

Deplorable
? Who talked like that? Then, the "chink" episode came back to mind, and Mary frowned.

"It took so
me time for me to find that mem—to remember," he explained. "But I know it now. And I am very sorry."

She shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"But I think it is," he said. "I wish there was a way I could take that back, so that it won't harm you anymore."

She wrinkled her brow.
"It didn't harm me."

"I think it
did," he said.

"
Why?"

"Becaus
e you said it isn't a big deal," he said. "I've observed that when people say that, it actually means the opposite."

Mary
said nothing. And she started to feel agitated. Was he bringing out the psychology again?

"
When you don't forgive someone, you let that person keep harming you," he continued.

She crossed her arms.
"Who are you now? Dr. Phil?"

"Who?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. "If I say I forgive you, will you stop bringing it up?"

"Yes," he said.

"Fine," she said. "You're forgiven."

He didn't answer right away. Then he said,
"Thank you."

"
Feel better?" she asked.

He nodded
. "You?"

She thought for a moment.
"Actually, yeah. I do." Mary hadn't realized how heavy holding a grudge had felt before, now that it was gone.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes before he spoke again.
"Mary? I have an odd question."

"
What is it?"

"
Well, I notice you don't touch people often," he said. "Why is that?"

She looked at him.
"Huh?"

"
At school," he explained, "I often see some males shake hands or bump their fists. Like Raj did with me when we arrived at the restaurant. Females tend to embrace other females and some males. But you don't do that."

"
I don't know people at school that well," she explained. "So, I don't want to touch them."

"I see," he said. "
But you touch your grandmother. You embrace her and hold her arm and sometimes you kiss her."

"Yeah, because she's my grandmother," she said. "I'm close to her. I do the same with my mom."

He was silent for a moment. Then he asked, "I've also seen some males and females holding hands. It's because they're close too, correct?"

"Yeah," she said. He was right. These were odd questions.

"Then," he continued, "would it be out of order if I asked you if I may hold your hand?"

"What?" she
asked, surprised.

"I guess it is," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets. "My apologies."

Mary stared at him for a moment. Then, she reached for one of his hands, pulling it out of its pocket and lacing her fingers into his. "You didn't let me finish answering the question."

Carter looked at her surprised. Then, he smiled.

Mary smiled as well. She then realized how warm his hand was. "Wow, you're hot."

"Hot?" he asked.

"I mean, temperature hot," she said. "Are you all right?"

He nodded. "Why?"

"You're just really warm," she said. "Like you have a fever."

Carter
looked like he was concentrating on something. Then, he said, "My body runs hot sometimes. It's nothing to be concerned about."

They walked by a closed store that had
high-end furniture displayed in the window, along with a large clock showing that it was about half past nine. Mary remembered her promise to Mom. "Hey, I know this is kinda last minute. But can we swing by the hospital and see my mom? She wants to meet you."

She expected him to get nervous. However, Carter n
odded and said, "Certainly. I want to meet your mother, too."

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- 1
7 -

Truth

Mary wiggled her knees back and forth during the elevator ride in the hospital.

"
You're nervous," Carter commented.

"
We had an argument," she admitted. "About you."

"
I see," he said.

The doors opened, and they
headed down the hall. Mary was so nervous that she found herself wanting to hold Carter's hand at that moment, to have some sense of security. But Mom might not take kindly to that, so she just clutched the bag of Indian food that Raj had given them. If Mom hadn't eaten dinner yet, which was most likely the case, then hopefully the food would put her in a better mood.

Mom
sat at the nurses' station. She saw them coming down the hall and stood. "You must be Carter," she said politely enough.

"
Ms. Phan," he said, shaking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."