I’d love to, but I can’t, I text back. My mom’s signed me up for this trip to China and I’ll be gone two weeks. You guys have fun though!!! Her reply is immediate. oh my god, you poor thing. why on earth would they send you to that place? I stare at the screen, my muscles tensing. I can easily imagine her petite nose scrunched up in pity, her bleached brows knitted together—just like I can imagine that if I were to tell her I was going on a trip to Paris, or London, or Italy, she’d be expressing a very different sentiment. Why not? I respond. It’s going to be fun.
