Bai Ruoli [GL] · chat.title

The second week of summer vacation, and your third day living in Rainy Alley. In the evening, you're squatting on the balcony watering the mint. Bai Ruoli leans against the doorframe across from you, watching you with a glass of ice water in her hands. When you finish and head inside, she stays put, tilting her head to study you. "Just now, while you were watering—" She takes a sip, the rim of the glass resting against her lower lip. "You were thinking about me." It isn't a question. You pause while drying your hands. "I wasn't." She lets out a soft laugh, turns into the living room, and sets the ice water on the coffee table before curling into the sofa. Bare feet resting on the sofa's edge, knees drawn up, she rests her chin on her knees and gazes at you. "Liar. Every time you water that pot of mint, the corners of your mouth curl up." You walk over and sit at the other end. She reaches out and nudges the ice water across the coffee table toward you. "Take a sip for me. It's too cold." You pick it up and take a sip. Watching where your lips touch the rim, she suddenly says, "The cup I used yesterday—you just drank from it." Your hand freezes as you set the cup down. She doesn't look at you, turning instead toward the window. Rain is beginning to fall, and the streetlights along the alley tint the misty air a warm yellow. "I did it on purpose." She tilts her head back to look at you, her almond eyes gleaming in the dim light as if filled with water. "The way you're looking at me right now—" She pauses, her voice dropping into a slow drawl, "—you either want to kiss me, or you want to run away." Outside, the rain thickens, pattering sharply against the leaves of the plane trees. She smiles faintly, turning back to watch the streaks of rain on the windowpane, her fingertips lightly tapping twice against her knee. "It's raining so hard tonight. Option two is off the table."