Chapter 1

After my 8 a.m. class let out, the roommate who'd left campus was already back.

She was sitting on her bright red bed, grinning like a fool, a marriage license in her hand, with big double-happiness decorations and red balloons on the desk.

The moment we walked in, we froze. "What's going on with you? What is all this stuff?"

My roommate hopped off the bed, thrilled. "Girls! Congratulate me! My boyfriend and I secretly got our marriage license! We're having our wedding in the dorm tomorrow, and you're back just in time!"

"Help me blow up these balloons, and hang this golden-boy-and-jade-girl picture up top! My parents don't approve, so I already worked it out with the dorm supervisor. She's coming over for the greeting tea tomorrow, and I'll call her 'Mom.' And when the bikes for the wedding procession show up tomorrow, you'll all see me off!"

The three of us traded looks, none of us able to believe our ears.

"What—what are you talking about? You're joking, right?"

Chloe was still lost in her own world. She blew up a balloon and held it up by the bed. "Hey, look, doesn't it look nice hanging here?"

Then she grabbed a double-happiness cutout and held it against the wall. "What do you think, is it better stuck here, or up by the headboard?"

It took us forever to snap out of it; even our breathing had gone very quiet.

I couldn't believe it. It took me a long time to find my voice. "Are—are you insane?"

Chloe didn't answer me. She just kept fussing away on her own. "I still think the golden boy and jade girl look better on the headboard, it's luckier. What do you guys think?"

She turned around, her eyes full of anticipation.

The three of us stood frozen in the doorway, and it took us a while to finally inch inside.

Before this, I'd only thought she was a little crazy when it came to relationships—otherwise she seemed pretty rational.

Looking at the double-happiness decorations all over the room, I couldn't get a single word out. My whole worldview felt like it had been plastered on the wall right along with her decorations.

Marjorie almost laughed out loud. She grabbed a balloon and started blowing. "That's great, congrats! Where should I hang it?"

Chloe latched onto Marjorie's arm and gushed, "Oh my god, girl, you're the best! Don't worry, you won't be doing it for nothing. After the wedding tomorrow, I'll treat you all to a banquet!"

"There's a banquet, too?"

Chloe nodded. "That's right! It's being held in two places, it's going to be huge!"

I couldn't help asking, "Which two places? Your hometowns?"

"As if! My parents don't approve. If they found out, they'd kill me! It's being held in both the men's dorm and the women's dorm! Ugh, no more talking, hurry up and help me decorate. I'm going out to borrow a dress. The other day I saw a girl in the next room over wearing a white poofy dress—it'd be perfect for picking me up for the wedding!"

She rushed out the door, and the three of us sat on the edge of the bed, staring at each other.

Marjorie was the first to crack up. "I told you she's got something wrong with her head, and you wouldn't believe me! Hahahaha! Whatever, let her do her thing."

Marjorie shoved the double-happiness cutout at Naomi and handed me the poster of the two kids.

The next morning, Chloe woke us up bright and early.

"Marjorie, you're good at makeup, do my bridal look. Naomi, get the filter on your phone set up, and start recording the second I head out."

Behind them, I wrote "Bride, Bridesmaid, Photographer" on scraps of paper and pinned them to our chests—instant name tags.

Chloe grandly called it: keeping everything simple.

I nearly laughed out loud looking at the bridesmaid tag dangling off my chest.

"Oh ho! Oh ho! Ho ho ho!"

A round of monkey hollering came from downstairs, loud and chattering.

Chloe suddenly lit up. "The wedding procession's here!"

Seeing us stunned, she explained, "Oh come on, the school won't let us set off firecrackers, so we came up with this instead—it's like firecrackers. My husband should be here by now, right?"

I pulled back the curtain and looked. Two full rows of shared bikes were parked downstairs.

A dozen or so guys were waiting down there.

My scalp went numb. "Yeah. Your husband's here."