There will be 15 chapters of Part 1: WELCOME

ME, MINHO, TIFFANY and Taeyeon. Taeyeon, Tiffany, Minho, and me.

          The family calls us four the Liars, and probably we deserve it. We are all nearly the same age, and we all have birthdays in different seasons. Most years on the island, we've been trouble.

          Taeyeon started coming to Beechwood Island when we were eight, Minho was seven. But summer eight, we called it.

          Before that, Tiffany, Minho, and I weren't Liars. We were nothing but cousins, and Minho was a pain because he didn't like playing with girls. 

          Minho, he is bounce, effort, and snark. Back then he would hang our Barbies by the necks or shoot us with guns made of Lego.

          Tiffany, she is sugar, curiosity, and rain. Back then she spent long afternoons with Sooyoung and the twins(YoonYul), splashing at the big beach, while I drew ridiculous pictures on graph paper and read in the hammock on the Clairmont house porch.

          Then Taeyeon came to spend the summer with us.

          Aunt Carrie's husband, William Oh, left her when she was pregnant with Minho's brother, Hyo. I don't know what happened. The family never speaks of it. By summer eight, Will was a baby and Carrie had taken up with Ed(Kim Taejoon) already.

          This Ed, he was an art dealer and he adored kids. That was all we'd heard about him when Carrie announced she was bringing him to Beechwood, along with Minho and the baby.

          They were the last to arrive that summer, and most of us were on the dock waiting for the boat to pull in. Grandad lifted me up so that I could wave at Minho, who was wearing an orange life vest and shouting over the prow.

          Granny Sunny stood next to us. She turned away from the boat for a moment, reached in her pocket, and brought out a white peppermint. Unwrapped it and tucked it into my mouth. 

          As she looked back at the boat, Gran's face changed. I squinted to see what she saw.

          Carrie stepped off with baby Hyo on her hip. He was in a baby's yellow life vest, and was really no more than a shock of white-blonde hair sticking up over it. A cheer went up at the sight of him. That vest, which we had all worn when were babies. The hair. How wonderful that this little boy we didn't know yet, was so obviously a Jung.

          Minho leapt off the boat and threw his own vest on the dock. First thing, he ran up to Tiffany and kicked her. Then he kicked me. Kicked the twins. Walked over to our grandparents and stood up straight. "Good to see you, Granny and Grandad. I look forward to a happy summer."

          Sunny hugged him. "Your mother told you to say that, didn't she?"

          "Yes," said Johnny. "And I'm to say, nice to see you again."

          "Good boy."

          "Can I go now?"

          Sunny kissed his freckled cheek. "Go on then."

          Ed followed Johnny, having stopped to help the staff unload the luggage from the motorboat. He was tall and slim. His skin was very pale; Korean heritage, we had known already. He wore black framed glasses and dressed in dapper city clothes: a linen suit and striped shirt. The pants were wrinkled form travelling. 

          Grandad set me down.

          Granny Sunny's mouth made a straight line. Then she showed all her teeth and went forward.

          "You must be Ed. What a lovely surprise."

          He shook hands. He bowed. "Didn't Carrie tell you we were coming?"

          "Of course she did."

          Ed looked around at our white, white family. The hair. The sunburnt skin. And then he turned to Carrie. "Where's Taeyeon?"

          They called for her, and she climbed from the inside of the boat, taking off her life vest, looking down to undo the buckles.

          "Mother, Dad," said Carrie, "We brought Ed's niece to play with Johnny. She's a girl, I know. But they somehow clicked over our first dinner. This is Kim Taeyeon."

          Grandad reached out and patted Taeyeon's head. "Hello, young lady."

          "Hello."

          "Her father passed on, just this year," explained Carrie. "She and Minho are the best of friends. And it still remains a mystery on how. Also, it's a big help to Ed's sister if we take her for a few weeks. And, Taeyeon? You'll get to have cookouts and go swimming like we talked about. Okay?" 

          But Taeyeon didn't answer. She was looking at me.

          Her nose was dramatic, sweet. Skin extremely pale. Like milk, or maybe the light. Her hair was black and short, with blonde dyes at the end of it. Body wired with energy. Taeyeon seemed spring-loaded. Like she was searching for something. She was contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee. I could have looked at her forever. 

          Our eyes locked. 

          I turned and ran away.

          Taeyeon followed. I could hear her feet behind me on the wooden walkways that cross the island.

          I kept running. She kept following.

          Minho chased Taeyeon. And Tiffany chased Minho.

          The adults remained talking on the dock, circling politely around Ed, cooing over baby Hyo. The littles did whatever littles do.

          We four stopped running at the tiny beach down by Cuddledown House. It's a small stretch of sand with high rocks on either side. No one used it much, back then. The big beach had softer sand and less seaweed.

          Tiffany took off her shoes and the rest of us followed. We tossed stones into the water. We just existed.

          I wrote our names on the sand.

          Jessica, Tiffany, Johnny, and Taeyeon.

          Taeyeon, Minho, Miyoung, and Sooyeon.

          That was the beginning of us.

MINHO BEGGED TO have Taeyeon stay longer. Wow, he really likes her.

          He got what he wanted.

          The next year he begged to have her come for the entire summer.

          Taeyeon came.

          Minho was the first grandson. My grandparents almost never said no to Minho.

So I got Taeyeon and Ed's relationship mixed up. Not father-daughter. Uncle-niece.  Sorry :P

And I wanted to ask, if you guys would prefer the english names or the korean names? Except for Jessica and Tiffany. Since I think you would be more confused if I use english names. So tell me. And I'll fix anything that needed ot be fixed. Thankyouuuu