Celia, Misoka, I by Xue Yiwei

Author:Xue Yiwei [Yiwei, Xue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Asian American
ISBN: 9781459748064
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Published: 2022-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

∞ Celia

I DIDN’T KNOW what to think the first time I saw Celia and Misoka talking to one another. It was a complicated feeling, no doubt similar to how Misoka felt when she saw Celia and me together or how Celia felt when she saw Misoka and me together, but at the same time there was a major difference. I saw two people with whom I had a connection, whereas of the two people Misoka and Celia had seen there was only one (me) with whom they felt personally connected. Of course I knew Misoka and Celia were bound to meet at some point, especially since both had expressed such an interest in one another. They had each intuited something about the other’s life and it was evident that both of them were keen to explore it further. Nonetheless, I was concerned that a relationship forming between Celia and Misoka might affect the relationship I had with each of them.

I did not greet them when I walked into the pavilion and instead headed straight to my locker where I swiftly put on my skates with my back to them. By the time I was leaving the pavilion I saw that Celia had already returned to her locker. Their conversation had finished, but this did not improve my mood, which remained with me through my warm-up exercises and out on Beaver Lake where I found it difficult to muster any enthusiasm for skating. Before long Celia had come onto the ice too, and she stood at the side waiting for me, then motioned for me to stop.

“Jealousy might be a literary stimulant,” she said, “but in life it’s toxic.”

It was lucky that I had not entirely come to a stop when she said this because it only made me feel worse. I increased my speed and started skating away. Celia had apparently anticipated that I might react this way because she immediately started after me and it wasn’t long before she had caught up.

“This is not even the first time we’ve chatted,” she said. “Didn’t she tell you?”

I had talked with Misoka the previous two days and neither time had she brought up the fact she had spoken with Celia before. I felt as if I had been deceived in some way.

“We saw each other in the supermarket on Sunday,” Celia said. “She saw me and said bonjour.”

I was surprised to hear that it was Misoka who had begun the conversation, but I made an effort to appear as though it didn’t bother me. “She’s curious about you,” I said.

“Me too,” Celia replied. “I was curious about her the moment I saw her.”

“I think it’s different,” I said, half jokingly. “She seems to see you as a rival. You seem to see her as a lover.”

Celia was clearly not too pleased by this comment. “She’s young enough to be my daughter!” she said.

It was the first time Celia had ever revealed anything about her age. I was surprised to discover I

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