2.

I usually don't sleep well in unfamiliar places, but maybe because I was exhausted from the journey—the flight was a series of naps and restless sleep—I drifted off easily.
I arrived in America a few days before my classes actually started, so I had almost a week of free time.

I planned to explore the neighborhood and check out the school. It wasn't that far, though, so I wouldn't need to take the bus—no problem there.

I woke up late morning and heard voices outside, but I didn't open the door to check. I just grabbed my phone, replied to messages from my friends, and went to the bathroom. It felt strange.

The day before yesterday I was still in Thailand, but now I've crossed several time zones.

It's a crazy escape.

I tried not to dwell on P'Phim and my father. After four months, at least, I'm hoping my dad will have forgiven me.

As for P'Phim... I have no idea what our future holds. Whatever. Thinking about it now won't change anything.

I haven't contacted him for days, and he hasn't bothered to reach out either. My feet, just stepping out of the bathroom, stopped. My eyes met the broad back of someone in the room. The tall figure was facing away from me.

Beige pants, a white t-shirt, and a physique I recognized from last night. He was the man who had entered Anwar's room.

"Um..." He didn't even know I was there. I had my music playing loudly on my phone, so he probably didn't hear me until I spoke. Only then did he turn around.

Last night, I only saw him from behind for a fleeting moment. This was the first time I saw his face.

He looked like a model who'd stepped out of a magazine… double-lidded brown eyes,
strong, well-defined eyebrows, a sharp nose, and lips that weren't too thick or thin, a natural pinkish color. His fluffy hair, slightly curled at the front, was the color of chocolate. He raised an eyebrow, showing a moment of surprise. When he turned, I saw he was holding my passport.

"Uh, sorry. I thought my friend had come back," he seemed to regain his composure first, quickly placing my passport back on the table. "He likes to play music this loud, too." "It's okay," I smiled. Luckily, I have a habit of getting dressed in the bathroom, unlike my friends who often walk around half-naked looking for clothes.

Otherwise, our first encounter would have been much worse.

"Are you Thai?"

"Yes,"

"Should we speak Thai?" The question surprised me, but the person in front of me didn't seem to be joking.

"You can speak it?" I draped the towel I had around my neck over the rack. Suddenly, I felt nervous.

Although he seemed friendly, something about him made me tense.

"A little. I’m Anwar," he smiled, switching to Thai. His captivating eyes followed my every move.

His Thai was surprisingly fluent, even if his accent was slightly off. Like those foreign
teachers who've lived in Thailand long enough to speak Thai well.

"I'm Blue," I hesitated, wondering if I should offer a handshake. Were we doing Thai
introductions or Western ones? I think I was so nervous I was starting to ramble. Anwar, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease.

Seeing my discomfort, Anwar took the initiative, stepping forward and extending his hand as if reading my mind.

"Nice to meet you. If you need anything, just let me know." My heart pounded, causing me to unconsciously furrow my brow. Because he wouldn't break eye contact, I tried to hide my nervousness behind a composed demeanor.

"Nice to meet you too."

I extended my hand, our skin touching. His warm hand held mine for a moment.
"Sorry again for barging in. I'll go now." After I nodded, Anwar looked at me one last time.

A friendly smile curved his well-shaped lips before he left the room.

Leaving me standing there, bewildered, trying to figure out what had just happened.

He really was Anwar.

Our conversation had been simple, just introductions, but what I didn't understand was why I felt so nervous, so uncomfortable.

And why my heart was beating so hard, like it is right now.

I spent hours outside. The temperature wasn't too hot or cold, making it pleasant for a walk.

Everything still seemed strange; I wasn't used to being surrounded by people speaking English, even though this wasn't my first summer abroad.

The atmosphere in New York was different from New Zealand, where I'd been before.
Everything felt rushed, strangely stimulating.

I stopped to buy some plain, simple t-shirts, jeans, and other toiletries I hadn't brought from Thailand. Before I knew it, it was already five o'clock. It took another twenty or so minutes to find my way back to the house using the map.

"Hey!" A greeting, and immediately everyone's eyes were on me as I climbed the stairs to the second floor. A blonde woman was the first to speak; she was sitting on a large sofa, one leg crossed, holding a bottle of nail polish.

"Is this him?" another woman with brown hair murmured. "Hi."

"Yes, everyone, this is our new housemate. He’s replacing Jordan for four months," Jasper, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, explained before going back to his phone game.

"Hello, my name is Blue."

"I’m Hazel, and this is Audrey. Welcome!" Hazel, the brown-haired woman with her hair tied up high, had a light tan, blue eyes, and arched eyebrows—the whole Instagram influencer look. She was slender, wearing a form-fitting black long-sleeved crop top and matching jeans.

Audrey was the woman who’d greeted me first. She had light blonde hair tied up in a small bun, blue-grey eyes, a delicate face, and full lips. She seemed more cheerful than Hazel, grinning constantly. She wasn’t as thin as Hazel; she wore an oversized cream-colored t-shirt and shorts hidden beneath the length of the shirt.

"Want to sit down…? Where are you from?" Audrey asked as I settled onto the sofa.

"Thailand."

"Wow, I’ve been there! The Full Moon Party was insane!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Anwar can speak Thai, right?"
She directed the last question to the other two. Jasper just raised an eyebrow, completely absorbed in the loud sounds of his shooting game.

"I don’t know, probably. He seems to hang out with that Thai group a lot, you know, Hazel replied flatly. "Have you met Anwar yet? Jasper forgot to tell everyone you were coming yesterday. It looks like Anwar doesn't know anything about it yet."

"I met him this morning," Anwar seemed different from these others. I didn’t know why, but the three in front of me weren’t as intimidating as when I was just talking to Anwar alone.

"Do you live here too?" Because yesterday, when Jasper showed me around the rooms, I remembered Audrey’s name wasn't on the list.

She shook her head, chuckling cheerfully.

"No way, I can’t afford to rent a place this
expensive. But I come over often to hang out because being alone in my room is boring. I get more use out of this place than the actual owner!" I smiled back, admitting to myself I was still a little nervous, typical for someone who isn’t good at socializing.

But they seemed friendly, making the atmosphere less awkward than I’d imagined. Jasper himself seemed to be that type of person—easygoing, efficient, sometimes seeming indifferent to others, but ultimately not standoffish to the point of being uncomfortable.

Even while we were chatting, Jasper mostly focused on his phone, occasionally interjecting a reply or laughing at someone’s joke.

After an hour or so, the atmosphere among the four of us improved considerably.

Being in a new place, talking to new people, and constantly striving to understand the
English conversations kept me so busy that I didn’t have any time to think about things back in Thailand. Not a single second was spent thinking about my team back home.

"Oh, and I’ve been learning to read tarot cards. I’m confident enough to put it down as a special skill now!" Audrey started a new topic after we’d talked about Jasper’s disastrous college project.

"No way," she pulled out a deck of cards to show us. It was a tarot deck with beautiful
artwork on the card faces.

"I’m not interested in knowing my own future right now," Hazel refused almost instantly.

"I’m playing a game. Do I have to go and get the cards myself?"

"No, you have to finish the game first!" Audrey bared her teeth at Jasper before turning to me with a pleading look. "Blue, are you interested in a card reading?"
I’m not really into fortune telling. Actually, I’ve never had a fortune told before.

The closest thing I’ve ever done to it might be shaking an omikuji (fortune slip) at a temple in Japan, but that was just following the crowd. I wasn’t really interested in knowing the result.

Besides, what kind of fortune could I possibly have right now, other than utterly terrible luck? "Okay, let’s do it," But because of the pleading and slightly pressuring look on her face, I finally agreed.

Consider it a kind of social exercise.

Audrey raised her hands in the air, gesturing for me to move to the sofa opposite her. "Here, shuffle the cards according to your age. Then, use this hand to cut the deck once." I nodded, following her instructions. I focused my attention as she instructed. It didn't take long before ten cards were arranged on the table in a pattern I didn't understand.

The first card was The Fool. I immediately pursed my lips upon seeing it. Even if I didn’t know its meaning, the name alone didn’t sound auspicious.

"Alright, let’s begin."

Audrey nodded to me, opening the instruction booklet and beginning to read.

She said that this card represented me. It signifies naiveté, confusion, optimism, and a tendency to not learn from mistakes.

The next card showed what was currently happening.

When she mentioned that I was in a period of self-imposed isolation, withdrawing from society to find myself, I started to listen more intently.

It could just be a coincidence, though.

After that, several more pronouncements came forth. She said my relationship was going in the wrong direction, with both parties drifting apart, and that I was experiencing neglect.

This made Jasper mutter that her cards were ridiculously negative.

"You’ll encounter rapid change," Audrey murmured to herself. "It might be travel, a new relationship… or even coming here. This card," she pointed to a card, "see? It’s an image of a tree falling rapidly downwards. It means sudden, rapid change. Or, it could mean encountering a new relationship."

"Whoa, this is serious…" Jasper looked up, teasingly. He grinned. "You might find a
girlfriend here!"

"Yeah, yeah! Let me read more. It says that if it’s a relationship, it will be full of excitement, infatuation, and an irresistible attraction," she said, then covered her mouth, blushing.

Audrey winked at Jasper, while Hazel simply smiled.

Audrey continued reading the cards one by one. Nothing as exciting as the previous card emerged until she came to one depicting The Devil.

"This one… is about people. It could be someone you’re about to meet, or someone already in your life. This is tough. I’ve never encountered such a difficult reading before."

"So, what did this card say?" Jasper dropped his game, sat up, and looked intently at us.
"The Devil card means bondage, addiction, infatuation… sexual infatuation," Audrey
explained.

"Or maybe it's connected to that earlier card, the one about relationships?"

"That’s possible. If they are connected, this card could signify a love triangle, infidelity, or something like that," Audrey said.

I frowned, perhaps showing a slightly embarrassed expression. Hazel quickly intervened, "Come on, Audrey isn't the most accurate tarot reader. It might not be true."

"But that’s what the cards showed!" Audrey protested loudly. "And that’s exactly what the book says! Look! It means being bound, infatuated with superficial things like sex or appearance."

What could I say?

I’d never even had sex before in my life.

Having someone tell you your future involves infidelity and sexual obsession is… well, it’s quite unsettling.

"Want to see more? If you do, I’m thinking of that card from earlier…" She picked up the fire card again.

I nodded, complying without objection.

The Lovers.

"I think they’re connected. See, The Lovers card means that person will become an option. It means you'll meet someone compatible, a potential partner. But because it's the fire element, this option might require a decision."

I leaned in to get a clearer look at the card.

It depicted a man and a woman standing
together.

"There are other meanings too. It could also mean a love triangle, infidelity, or someone with multiple options, and you might be one of them. Why is it always about love triangles?" It might not be true.

Audrey wasn't as skilled at reading the fire element as she initially claimed. She kept
referring to the book to interpret the meaning of each fire card in its respective position.

But if it were true… someone new, sex, choices, infidelity… Everything she said sounded terrifying to an inexperienced person like me.

"You might meet this person soon. Time will tell," Audrey affirmed confidently, just as
someone walked up the stairs.

She was a slender woman with long blonde hair cascading down her back. Her face was somewhat haughty, perhaps due to her narrow eyes, slightly upturned nose, and full lips.

She had an amazing figure.

I thought to myself, gazing at the other woman clad in a short, white crop top revealing a flat stomach and well-fitting pants.

"Oh, hello again!" Audrey greeted her, and the other woman returned a friendly smile.

Followed closely by another tall figure ascending the stairs. A hand rested on the woman's hip, gently guiding her away from the stairs.

Anwar…

Anwar looked completely different from this morning. He wore a dark grey shirt under a lighter grey fabric pants and a large black jacket, completed with sleek black leather boots.

In one hand, he held a black beanie.
His brown eyes scanned everyone before settling on me. He seemed surprised by our current activity – the tarot cards.

"I forgot something in his room, so I came back to get it," the woman said with a smile, passing our group to Anwar’s room.

Anwar simply stopped nearby.

"Reading fire cards, Audrey?" The closer he got, the more uncomfortable I felt.

It was clear I had a problem with the aura radiating from his tall frame. Maybe it was
because he looked too cool for someone like me to approach, maybe it was his seemingly inaccessible demeanor, even though he smiled amiably.

"Yes, and I’m not reading for you, Mr. Loverboy. It makes me inexplicably annoyed," That nickname made me look up. Anwar glanced in my direction, and our eyes met. He narrowed his eyes.

"I don’t like that name," he said before turning back to Audrey.

I squeezed my hands tightly to regain my composure. For a split second, when our eyes met, I felt like I’d been electrically shocked from head to toe.

"Don’t like it how? Look, she's forgotten things in his room three times now," Audrey whispered, covering her mouth. "That’s not normal."

"People forget things all the time, Audrey. You still often forget this isn’t your room," he retorted teasingly, immediately eliciting loud laughter from Jasper and Hazel.
"And the fire cards?" This time he turned to me, speaking in Thai.

The same blonde woman emerged from the bedroom with a designer shopping bag and a thin white shirt draped over her arm.

Because Anwar hadn't moved, she stood close to him waiting.

"Well… good, I guess."

"Hey, you guys, speak in a language I understand! Don't act secretive right after you just met!"

"I just asked how the cards were."

Audrey’s eyes widened. She held up The Lovers card. "He’s going to meet someone here. A passionate, irresistible relationship that will arrive suddenly. Sounds more exciting than your card, doesn’t it?"
Anwar raised an eyebrow slightly, meeting my gaze steadily.

"Oh really?" A small smile played on his lips, making him even more charming.

This was the first time Anwar had stood this close to me – close enough to see tiny freckles on his cheekbone under his eye.

He was probably the first person I’d ever seen who suited those kinds of things.

"So, that means you got a good card," he smiled mischievously. "See you later then."

Anwar released the tension in the atmosphere by dropping his gaze to his wristwatch, before turning and walking down the stairs.

I tried to shake off the strange feeling I had.

I watched as the woman slipped her hand into Anwar’s, their backs gradually disappearing from view. Questions and uncertainty swirled in my mind.

So, that means you got a good card – what he’d said just now…

Did it mean something…?