1000 Paper Cranes

Chapter 12 - 1000

I checked myself in the mirror one last time.

My hair was as close to perfect as I could get it, though I couldn't recreate whatever the stylist had done a few days before. My clothes felt uncomfortably tight, but when Joanna bought them, she said they were "form-fitting" and that I'd look less gangly in them.

Though it was cold, I was sweating with nerves. I had told myself that I wouldn't be nervous, but that obviously hadn't worked. While talking to Robin had become easier, I was about to let her in on my biggest secrets. Even Jo and Jon didn't know that I had written one thousand secrets, one thousand wishes. They just knew I was folding cranes. They chalked it up to my weird neuroses.

I sighed, decided that what I saw in the mirror was as good as it was going to get, and grabbed my keys.

I knocked on Robin's front door and waited for the longest minute of my life. The door opened and a severe-looking, mid-fifties woman appeared. Robin was the spitting image of her mother, save for the scowl her mother was wearing; Robin always seemed to smile.

I had expected to meet her parents, I guess, but not in such a hostile way. My mom would have welcomed Robin with a warm smile and a plate of freshly baked cookies. But, then again, I was a boy picking up a girl. Not the other way around. Maybe my parents would have been that protective of me had I been a daughter and not a son.

"Hi. Mrs. Chiang?" I asked. I immediately felt nervous again, I just knew her parents were going to interrogate me.

"I'm Jordan Johnson. I'm, uh—I'm here to pick up Robin." Except that it sounded less like a statement and more like a question.

"Come in," her contralto voice sounded like a horror movie. Any second, I would be skinned alive. Then they'd probably string my body up like a victory banner.

Thanking her, I entered the house and followed her into the living room.

I felt like I was in a museum. The décor was all modern, all black and white and angular. The black shelves were lined with glistening, flowerless vases. There were shapeless, unidentifiable paintings hanging in sleek, boxy frames on the walls. The white couch looked as if it had never been sat upon. As I sat on it, I found it very uncomfortable and no longer wondered at its lack of use.

Moments later, an older man took a seat in an equally uncomfortable-looking chair. He peered at me through his glasses before speaking.

"So, you are Jordan? I've heard a lot about you." He said. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I said nothing. It seemed safest.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, I realized he expected me to speak. I crossed the room and extended my hand.

"Yes sir," I said at last. "I'm Jordan Johnson. Robin and I go to school together." I shook his hand firmly, and then sat down. My knees were weak. I felt sick. I was, admittedly, terrified.

"Your father says you're a good student." I thought this was a question, but I wasn't entirely sure, so I just nodded.

"I'm valedictorian," I answered. "But my best friend, Jon, is right behind me. And Robin, too. She'll probably pass Jon, because he's not as good at calculus as she is. She may even pass me. But I work hard." Then I realized that I was rambling. I tried to change the topic.

"You know my dad, then?" I asked, curious. My dad was a social butterfly; I had not inherited that from him.

"We work together at the university. I also teach in the mathematics department. I teach the upper-level courses; your father teaches mostly freshmen and sophomores." He nodded and I got the feeling that he probably enjoyed talking about math. Which gave us even less in common than I originally thought.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" Dr. Chiang asked, a serious, sever tone creeping into his voice.

"Baba!" Robin called from the staircase, rescuing me from the wrath of an unimpressed father.

"Baba, don't be so old-fashioned. We're just going on a date. Jordan's a good guy, Baba, you don't have to worry." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Um, we're just going to get some sushi," I mumbled nervously. "And then we're going to just hang out. Nothing big."

Dr. Chiang regarded me for a moment, and then breathed deeply.

"Every night with my daughter is big for you, son." His face was shadowed and serious. "You'd do well to remember just how lucky you are that she'd consider you."

"He remembers, Baba." Robin sighed. "May we please go? Jordan made reservations. We're going to lose our table."

She looked irritated. I just tried not to look terrified. I was terrified.

"Have a nice night." Her mom smiled, finally returning from wherever she had disappeared. "Jordan, please have her back for curfew, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." I nodded a little too emphatically, smiling. Dr. Chiang smiled at us at long last and wished us a happy evening.

By the time we made it to my car, the sky had faded from the deep turquoise of pre-sunset to hazy orange and purple. The clouds were deep gray ripples against the blazing sky. This was the kind of sunset that meant luck. This was the kind of sunset you never forget.

"So, sushi, huh?" She smiled as I opened her door for her.

I noticed just how beautiful she looked, then. She always took me by surprise. Every time I looked at her. Her black hair shone in the light, falling in a long braid down her back. Brown eyes sat atop freckled cheeks. She was petite with fire in her eyes.

She was wind and rain and sun and warmth all at once. Robin Chiang was indescribable.

"Yes, sushi," I nodded. "And karaoke. Another wish," I explained.

"Then let's get going, Johnson. You're about to find out what it's like to see your dreams come true." Something in her tone excited me. Robin Chiang was going to make all my dreams come true. All one thousand of them.