Page 46 of Septembers

“How many years did you do this?”

“One. My mom pushed me to go back, but I wouldn’t.” Theo waited for him to go on, which took a few breaths. “My English wasn’t great.”

An explosion went off in Theo’s memory, and he couldn’t believe he’d never pieced it together before.

“The funny thing is,” Dae continued, “I was the best in my English class in school.” He spoke to his box of accomplishments, fiddling with the edge, digging his finger into a hole that was gradually growing. “We start early in Korea, and my teachers praised me all the time. I loved it.” He looked up. “The language, I mean. Not the praise. Although…” He shrugged and gave Theo a shy smile. “I guess the praise was nice too.”

“But when you got here…”

He nodded like Theo had made a statement. “I wasn’t as fluent as I thought I was.”

Theo remembered kids snickering when Dae answered questions, taunting him when he tried to talk to them on the playground. He hadn’t understood at the time why his friends shunned the new kid, or why the new kid seemed afraid of them. Of him. He did nothing to stop it. Did he laugh? He must have. He hadn’t known back then how cruel that was. Or maybe he did know but didn’t care because it wasn’t directed at him. No wonder Dae retreated into himself.

“I’m sorry.” Theo’s voice cracked, and confusion took over Dae’s face.

“For what?”

“We were such assholes to you.”

Dae stared at him a moment, then he laughed, flashing those glorious dimples Theo didn’t deserve to see. “We were kids. Everyone’s an asshole when they’re a kid.”

“You weren’t.”

Dae winked. “Not in English.”

His insulting nickname seemed appropriate now. He had a few choice words for himself as well. “Dae, I’m so sorry.”

“Stop. It was so long ago, and it was mostly the others. You were…” His cheeks bloomed pink. “I mean, you weren’t like that.”

“You’re letting me off too easy.”

“Fine.” He stuck out his hand in a formal handshake. “Make it up to me with a lifetime of servitude.”

Dae was joking, but he had no idea how much Theo wanted to. He took his hand and shook, solidifying the deal with the universe, holding on a little too long before pulling away and reaching into the box to find another trophy, this one for an essay competition. In French. He scoffed with disgust.

“Do you realize how unreasonable it is to be good at everything?”

Dae’s shy smile was like an equalizer, and everything was once again right with the world. “If it makes you feel better, I’m kind of bad at math.”

“That does make me feel better. What else?”

He bit his lip in thought. “Tap dancing?”

“Have you ever tried tap dancing?”

“No.”

“Then it doesn’t count. You could be amazing and just don’t know it yet.” The next thing Theo pulled out was familiar. He’d stared at it through a glass case for months, picturing it on his shelf, imagining the praise he’d get once he had it. “Dae.”

“Hmm?”

“I did care about the speech competition.”

Dae kept his face neutral and his voice monotone. “You don’t say.”

“That obvious?” He nodded but didn’t take the opportunity to rub it in. Theo had manipulated that day so much in his memory that it barely resembled reality anymore. He convinced himself it wasn’t important, that he was doing it for a laugh, that the hours he’d spent practicing didn’t matter. “My dad was supposed to be there, but...”

Theo had looked into the crowd, saw his mom and aunt sitting alone, and the disappointment had coated his throat, dulling his words and making him stumble.