It was just past seven thirty when eighteen-year-old American Born Chinese (ABC) Darren Liu had just finished dinner with his parents, brother, and sister, and now retired to his bedroom to study. However, he was having difficulty focusing on his computer assignment, so he picked up his phone and messaged his secret girlfriend Sarah Brown.
He was pleasantly surprised when within seconds, he received another heart emoji from her. It was followed by a quick text:
Hi, Darren! Can we do a private video chat please? she asked.
Back in her home, Sarah quickly ran up the stairs into her room and locked her door. She then pulled down the shades, took her laptop to her bed, flipped it open, and requested a video conference with Darren.
Darren quietly locked his bedroom door, closed his window blinds, and opened his laptop, where he saw a video conference request from Sarah. He eagerly accepted it.
Sarah waited patiently as the video stream loaded onto her screen and smiled when she saw Darren's short black hair appear, then his dark golden-tanned face with glasses. She remembered a few years back her friends concluded he was so ugly they would never talk to him; now it seemed her closest friends and she noticed him more than the other better-looking guys that circled them.
"Hi. Thanks for calling," Darren whispered.
Let's chat instead. More private, Sarah typed into the chat window.
Good point replied Darren.
I saw you looking at me when I was talking to my friends, Sarah typed.
"I guess you still want to go to the prom with the basketball captain," Darren typed.
"I have not gone on a date with him since the last grade. My girlfriends and I rented a limo to go together," Sarah typed.
Sarah then received a crying emoji from Darren.
"And I always wanted to be prom queen," typed Sarah.
Anyway, when I saw you on the bus, were you hurt or jealous of him? Sarah typed. She figured the answer was yes to both, but she wanted to see how open Darren would be with her about his feelings.
Yes, and yes, Darren typed in response.
But I trust you, Darren added to the chat quickly.
I'm not going to the prom with him. But will have to attend at his side as prom queen, Sarah explained.