Chuxi had a dilemma. On the one hand, the horrible stench produced by Julie’s socks continued to make his life unpleasant. There they lay, their formerly bright colors dulled by years of abuse and sweat. On the other hand, removing them would require him to touch the detestable heaps of toxic waste. Just the thought of it made his insides squirm. Relocating was out of the question: he simply couldn’t get a good grip on the smooth surface of his iPad, and even if he could, there was no guarantee that he could move it with his meager strength. Ultimately, he decided to bite the bullet and get it over with.

Grabbing some tissues that Haley had left him, he used them as a buffer between himself and Julie’s toxic socks. To his dismay, the flimsy paper became immediately soaked with her sweat. Chuxi sighed, gritted his teeth, and then set about wrestling the dirty fabric off of the bed.

While he worked, Chuxi had plenty of time to think about Julie. The sour aroma of her feet permeated the air, making it impossible to focus on anything else. As he replayed their short encounter over in his mind, he couldn’t believe that someone could be so self-absorbed. How could Julie blithely set her feet so close to him, especially after a long summer run? As a sorority sister, she had to have at least some semblance of social grace – surely she knew that shoving her feet in his face wasn’t okay.

Still, the next logical conclusion presented its own problems. Had she intentionally subjected him to her feet, with the sole purpose of making him suffer? Did she want to hurt him? He couldn’t fathom what her goal was with this, and he could see no reason why she should dislike him. Then again, it could be worse. If her goal was to torment him, she could certainly be more aggressive, given their size discrepancy. Quite frankly, while the smell of her feet was rancid, it was the psychological aspect of her hazing that posed the largest threat. While she wasn’t openly bullying him, he had been in enough similar situations growing up in Hong Kong to recognize it for what it was, and to therefore resist at least on a mental level. Of course this was all assuming she was doing this on purpose – maybe she was just a complete ditz.

With a final shove, he managed to rid himself of the offending socks, although the smell inevitably lingered. He couldn’t do anything about that, but what he could do was try to find out more about Julie. Once Haley returned, he could hopefully get to the bottom of this.

…

She didn’t get back until 4, and by that time the smell had finally faded, although occasionally he would get a whiff of it – he couldn’t tell if it was actually there, or just his imagination. Either way, this suited him fine, particularly because he didn’t intend to tell Haley the details of his encounter with Julie. If he still reeked, he didn’t know how he’d explain it away. Chuxi definitely didn’t want to jeopardize his friendship with Haley by leveling unfounded accusations at her best friend. No, he would just poke around a bit, nothing more.

“How was your day?” asked Haley as she set her backpack down.

“Not bad,” Chuxi replied. “I got a fair amount of work done. How about you?”

She sighed, her smile looking a little worn around the edges. “It’s been a long day,” she said. “I know it’s just the start of the year, but I’ve got a killer schedule. I don’t know how I’m gonna make it if every Wednesday is like this.”

Chuxi winced sympathetically. “I hate it when they just pile it on you like that.”

“Tell me about it,” she groaned. “Did Julie stop by?”

“Yeah, she did for a bit,” he replied. Chuxi chose his next works very carefully. “What a character, huh?”

Haley laughed, the sort of laugh that mother’s make when their baby does something stupid. “So you noticed, huh?” She wore a long-suffering look.

Chuxi hadn’t expected this response at all, but he thought it best to remain noncommittal. “Yep,” he said simply.

“She’s just a bit all over the place,” explained Haley. “That’s why she can never keep a boyfriend.” She emphasized the “keep” in order to point out the obvious: Julie was a looker, and should have no problem getting a guy. “Honestly though, she’s a really a good person. She just plays games with people – guys, mostly – and ultimately they’re self-destructive.” Her voice took on a different tone, as if she had thought this through on a number of occasions. “Really, she’s just like any other girl I suppose,” she said with a rueful smile. “Why, did she come in here complaining about Kyle?”

Not quite, Chuxi thought to himself, but he wasn’t ready to divulge Julie’s strange behavior just yet. “Something like that,” he said instead.

Suddenly, a loud rumble issued from Haley’s stomach, a decidedly unfeminine sound that sent her cheeks on fire. “Uh… are you hungry?” she asked weakly.

Chuxi shook from unsuccessfully suppressed laughter. “You’d better make something… or else you’d eat me!”

The rest of the evening went by uneventfully. Haley made another wonderful dinner (spaghetti and meat sauce with some assorted peppers), and they chatted about a variety of subjects. Ludicrous though it may seem, things were starting to feel almost routine – like he and Haley had known each other for months instead of just hours. Chuxi admired her meticulousness, which extended into all aspects of her life. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted to do, and she pursued those goals with a single-minded drive that was at once powerful yet comforting. While she put pressure on herself to succeed, she certainly didn’t seem miserable.

For his part, Chuxi tried to be witty, and Haley rewarded him with plenty of giggles and smiles. He hoped he was actually funny, and not that her prodigious generosity compelled her to offer pity laughs. After dinner, they returned back to her room and Haley began to lay out her schoolwork.

“Sorry,” she said with a pained look, “but I really need to try to keep up. Julie is having a party at our house this weekend, so that’s like a day and half out the window.”

“No problem,” he replied. “Being tiny doesn’t give me a free pass either.”

Haley smiled that same, wonderful smile that turned his heart into a turkey melt. “How about this? Let’s grind out three solid hours, and then we can watch some TV or something. Deal?”

“Deal.”

The three hours crawled by as Chuxi tried to stay productive. Predictably, he spent much of his time just staring at Haley, who somehow made hunching over some notes look sexy. Her ridiculously long legs didn’t hurt. From his vantage point on the bed, he could see her graceful figure from top to bottom. It seemed like bad form to fall in love with his savior, but this was hardly a fair fight – Haley was irresistible.

At three hours on the dot, she stood up and stretched her arms up to the ceiling, like some incredibly attractive skyscraper. Then she collapsed back into her chair and spun around to face him. For a fleeting moment, Chuxi had a surprisingly traumatic flashback to Julie sitting in that same chair, her awful feet rising up to torture him with their mere presence. In fact, Haley seemed to raise her legs up to do just that, but a split second later she crossed them at the ankle and leaned back, satisfied from a long day’s work. Chuxi scoffed inwardly at his silliness – Haley would never do something like that. And even if she did, why was he letting this disturb him so profoundly? They were just feet, he told himself unconvincingly.

“I gotta say, it’s really nice having you here, Sushi,” announced Haley. “I don’t know why, but I’m way more productive right now – maybe I should keep you around.” Instantly, any thoughts of Julie’s feet vanished, and visions of Haley and him dating sprouted up in their place. Yes, it had already come to this, he realized. He was hopelessly infatuated.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” he replied, trying his best to keep it cool. “What are we going to watch?”

“I dunno…” Suddenly, she broke into a wide grin. She asked: “How about a Chinese movie?”

“What? Really?” stuttered Chuxi, taken aback.

“Why not?”

“Uh… ok,” he said, racking his brains. Meanwhile, Haley just looked at him coolly, resting her chin on her hand. “How about…” Time seemed to stretch on interminably, and inexplicably, frustratingly, Chuxi began to feel nervous, like he was defending a thesis. He desperately cast about in his mind for something that would impress her, she of the soft brown eyes who made him feel so small. “Kung Fu Hustle?” he blurted finally.

“You got it!” she sprang out of her chair, and mere moments later, Chuxi found himself watching the opening credits to one of his favorite movies in a decidedly unusual position. With a bunch of pillows propping her up, Haley had her back to the bed and her computer on her lap; meanwhile, with a bunch of Haley propping him up, Chuxi had his back leaned up against her. With her breasts hanging above him and the rise and fall of her breathing, it was impossible for him to watch the movie – not that he was complaining. He could feel her heartbeat thumping against him, like tiny serial earthquakes, and he began to sweat from the sheer heat emanating from her body. Again, not that he was complaining. It was surreal – like a dream.

And like a dream, it was suddenly over. The closing credits scrolled down the screen, and he looked up to see Haley’s face peeking down at him. She smiled broadly, but Chuxi also saw redness rimming her eyes – while the movie was technically a comedy, it did have a poignant ending. “What a movie!” she exclaimed.

“Glad you liked it,” mumbled Chuxi. This particular movie-watching experience had left him completely drained – but in a good way.

“You look tired,” she observed, a concerned look replacing her smile. “Let’s get to bed – same setup work for you?”

He nodded and mustered up a reassuring smile of his own – and before he knew it, he was laying on a pillow next to this girl who made him feel so strongly. Life seemed to speed up when he was with her.

…

It wasn’t until late the next morning that Chuxi had a moment to sort out his feelings, because he certainly couldn’t do any meaningful thinking while Haley was around. Ultimately, though, it was very simple: he was falling – no, had fallen – in love with her. Desperately, helplessly in love. He hoped she felt the same way, obviously, but even if she did… well, he was tiny. He was desperate and helpless in ways beyond his emotional state, and the harsh shortcomings of his situation would become all too clear very shortly.

He heard the apartment door swing open and shut, followed by loud, purposeful steps that could only belong to one person: Julie. A sense of dread filled him, and it only spiked when the towering blond entered the room, clearly having just completed a run (did this girl ever go to classs?).

“Hey, Sushi!” she said, her tone somehow ominous. She wasted no time in plopping herself down on Haley’s chair, before practically slamming her sock-clad feet on the bed – déjà vu. His iPad actually bounced from the impact. He winced from the smell. Julie smiled, but the curl of her lips was so different from Haley’s. There was no mistaking it now: she had nothing good in mind for him. Unable to help himself, Chuxi fixated on those socks, and Julie gave him a knowing look.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day.”