Chapter Thirteen

Minh Tuyet sat quietly as her father carefully wrapped a necklace around her neck and clipped it in the back. Minh Tuyet let her wavy hair down and gently picked up the face of the necklace. It was a locket shaped like a heart and had a keyhole in the middle.
“This belonged to your mother,” Tuan Ngoc said.
Minh Tuyet closed her eyes and a tear ran down.
“Thank you so much, father.”
“This locket is the only possession I have that belonged to your mother. You remind me so much of her,”
“This is the most special gift I have ever gotten. Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now go to bed.”
Minh Tuyet sat up and went to her room. When she arrived, she found Tu Quyen pacing across the floor.
“What is it?” Minh Tuyet asked slowly taking off the necklace and placed in a box.
“Bang Kieu saw me,” Tu Quyen replied nervously.
“What?” Minh Tuyet cried standing up from her seat.
“I’m sorry! I don’t know why Bang Kieu was standing there; I thought it should’ve been that Vu guy!”
“His name is Duong Trieu Vu.”
“Who cares?”
“Well… um, did you say anything about me?”
“No, of course not! I promised I wouldn’t… but I hope he don’t assume anything because my voice was really shaky when I was talking to him.”
“Ugh! Quyen, how can you let this happen? I told you to be careful!”
“I’m so sorry! I really am. But look on the bright side, now only you have to sneak around…”
“I guess you’re right. But PLEASE do not let anything about me being a mistress slip out of your mouth, okay?”
“I promise!” Tu Quyen said raising her hand in the air. Tu Quyen left the room and a knock was on the door after a while. Minh Tuyet walked across the room and opened it up; Duong Trieu Vu quickly ran inside as Minh Tuyet closed the door and made sure no one saw him coming in.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with her arms folded.
“I wanted…to…uh…talk to you about what happened today at my house.”
“Look, Vu. I rejected my father’s party for me so I can go to yours. And when I come, you just had to make a big argument with Van Quynh!”
“I know! I’m sorry!”
“Just go! Go!” Minh Tuyet yelled as she pointed to the door.
“No, no, no. I wanna talk to you about something. Did you know anything about Van Quynh’s feelings for me?”
Suddenly, Minh Tuyet’s face turned red and she started to stutter.
“Uh…no…why…w-w-would I?”
“It’s obvious that you knew! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“…because Van Quynh made me promise!”
“I’m really…I thought… I-I-I-I…,” Duong Trieu Vu tried to talk.
“Look, she likes you, and I don’t know how you feel about her, but I really don’t want two friends not talking to each other just because of this. So unless you two work it out, I don’t want neither of you two talking to me. But before you go, I want to ask you one teeny favor. Please don’t hurt her… Now get out!” Minh Tuyet said angrily as she pushed Duong Trieu Vu out the door, and closed it behind him. Although her two best friends’ situation want to make her cry, the thought of Bang Kieu added a smile on her face as she fell asleep.