Chapter Four: The Second Song

“No one brought her here.” The singer pointed to the program in Tang Li’s hand. “She came looking for the lunatic who has been stalking her.” Tang Li had covered its back with notes. Xia Mi, twenty-four. Claims we have been friends for eight years. Knows about my left knee. Knows the date of my mother’s operation. May have obtained private records. One final line was still wet: Then why do I remember that she is afraid of thunder? Xia Mi moved toward her, but a transparent wall rose between the seats. It showed the day they first met: backstage at their university orientation gala, when Tang Li had protected a feverish, voiceless Xia Mi from an angry coordinator, then given her the only medicine she had.