“I saw how you looked at Mei Li’s house before you came in my shop. You like her.” Guo smirks and nods, folding her arms. “Mm-hmm. You will find love with Mei Li. She will make you smile every day. I know.” She points to her head. “You will love Miss Zhang deeply.”

            She’s staring at me, and I’m supposed to say something but I mostly want big piles of food and to stare into space. “Dude, Guo, why does it feel like I’m floating? Am I?”

             “Here.” She steps behind the register, bends down, and holds up a Magic 8 ball. “You ask Magic 8. Ask if you will fall in love with Miss Zhang.” She demonstrates how to ask it a question, then shakes it and holds it toward me.

I fumble it out of her hand and glance at her. How did she know that during practice, Coach yelled at me because my head was back on Mei’s fire escape, my imagination making my eyes say a whole lot they would—hopefully—never actually say to her. But what if they do?  That whole thing was so weird. But so cool. I wanna try it again, though I’ll definitely have to censor my eyes.

            Guo pats my cheek and I drag myself out of my surprisingly vivid imagination, though my head’s still floating somewhere above me. Beside me? Doesn’t matter—not screwed on right if I’m having this conversation with Guo and a Magic 8 ball.

            I laugh as I ask the question, the air around me tinted purple. “Is Face Eater Mei Li’s boyfriend?” I shake the ball, turn it over. Squint to read the answer. My sources say no.

Okay. So far, so good. Kinda like this thing. I glance at Guo, then ask Magic 8 another question. “Does Mei Li Zhang think I’m the hottest white boy she’s ever seen?”  Ever done Eye Language with? That sounds kinda dirty. Could get dirtier if I’m not careful.

            It is decidedly so.

            I roll my eyes and shake the ball again. “Will I fall madly in love with Mei Li?”

            You may rely on it.

            Guo crosses her arms and grins. “You see?”

            “You don’t even know what it said.”

            “I saw your face. A light went on in your eyes.”

            “That’s whatever you put in that tea.” I slip the Magic 8 ball in my backpack and reach for more fortune cookies to calm my violent craving.