Shianne Bramble sighed in relief as the last bell of the day finally rang. Thank heavens! I thought it would never end. She stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. It was full of books and paper and crammed with homework. That’s all I need. More work… She walked out of the classroom where Ms. Miller was erasing the lesson off the dry-erase-board and trudged out of the emptying school and started toward a little wooden bench that Kate Peterson always met her at.

Kate Peterson was Shianne’s best friend and they had done everything together. Kate was one of those people that no matter what you do, no matter what you think, you can still be friends because you are accepted the way you are. Kate was the kind of person who would listen to you when you had had the worst day imaginable and she was the one that could help you forget about that by taking you out for an ice cream and talking about boys…but Kate wouldn’t talk and eat ice cream with Shianne anymore because Kate had moved. She had moved far away to Maryland. Maryland. Shianne was now stuck here in Arizona, alone, while Kate was far away on some new adventure without her and making new friends and probably forgetting all about her. First Dad died from cancer, now Kate is in Maryland. Will everybody that I love eventually leave me?

Shianne turned away from the bench with the realization that Kate wasn’t there anymore. It had all happened so suddenly. Kate had been at school yesterday and informed her that she was moving to Maryland. Shianne had at first laughed it off, until she saw Kate’s tears and then she knew that it wasn’t a joke. They had both started crying pathetically and making irrational plans to kidnap Kate and have her stay at Shianne’s house. Well I’ll just have to get used to Kate not being here anymore. She’s gone. There’s nothing I can do about it. I just have to move on.

Shianne Bramble was a junior attending Saguaro High School in “the middle of nowhere”, Arizona. She was the junior class representative as she had been class representative all throughout her high school career. She was athletic, but only played volleyball since she didn’t want to be overwhelmed by sports, she was very smart and she was very popular, not to mention she was beautiful. She had pale, flawless skin, brown hair with natural higlights that every girl was jealous of, and big, deep, expression filled emerald green eyes. Most people said that Shianne's eyes were the most captivating thing about her because they showed so much emotion. But when needed they could also hide emotions. Shianne had had the perfect life. She was successful in school, had a best friend she could always turn to, and had a loving family. But her life was slowly starting to unravel before her eyes and she didn’t know how to salvage it.

That day Shianne was feeling particularly overwhelmed. What with the twisted wrist at gym, the wagon-load of math homework, the nasty school lunch that suspiciously looked more like toxic waste than any decent food and, most of all, Kate gone, Shianne could hardly maintain her calm facade. The only bright side was that she had been able to avoid DansonTang. So far that is…

The bus pulled up and Shianne dashed up its steps and took a seat. She wasn’t used to not sitting by Kate anymore and…oh no!  Danson had just come onto the bus.

“Mind if I sit here?” he asked pointing to the vacant spot next to her.

“Ummm. Actually it’s saved right now. Sorry.” Although in truth she was not sorry at all.

He shrugged. “No problem. I’ll sit with you tomorrow then.”

Shianne thought furiously, No, No, NO! Sheesh! Does this guy EVER give up? How many times have I hinted that I am NOT interested? But he still is there everywhere I look. The guy is obsessed!

Luckily Angela was there. Begging with her eyes, Shianne persuaded Angela to take pity on her and sit in the spot next to her. But Angela’s pity only went so far. The next 20 minutes were spent yapping on about what she was planning to wear the next day, how many boys had asked her out, the lip glosses she was going to shop for that evening…the list was literally endless! Shianne wanted to scream.

The bus, after a horrible eternity, finally stopped and Shianne gratefully scrambled out as though escaping a torture chamber. She ran all the way home and then collapsed onto her bed. Her body started to shudder. I’m alone. Shianne knew the feeling building up behind her eyes. The countdown began. 3…So much to do. 2…Jonghyun still doesn’t know I exist…1.  But before she could cry, Taemin came bursting into the room.

Grinning impishly, he grabbed her bag. She lunged at him but he skipped out of her reach laughing. “What do we have here, sis? Some love note? A code in your math book from a secret admirer? Maybe even…dare I say it, an ‘I love Jonghyun confession’?”

“Taemin, please not now. I’m not in the mood.”

Taemin looked at her with worry in his big brown eyes. Taemin was Shianne’s 15 year old adopted little brother. He was an incredibly talented dancer that loved to laugh and tease his big sister. Although Shianne would pretend to be offended she truly adored her little brother. When he had done something incredibly silly she would call him her “little Asian” since he was Korean but it was her fond little pet name for him and they both knew that it didn’t matter that he was from another country, they were brother and sister and they loved each other.

Taemin was showing his rare serious side as he gazed at his sister who he could tell was close to tears. “Shianne, what’s wrong?” He asked, setting her bag down slowly.

Shianne shook her head and smiled weakly at Taemin. “Sorry, buddy. But I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Taemin nodded and started to slowly leave the room. Before he left, though, he quickly turned around and gave Shianne a big squeeze. Then he left her alone in her room.

Shianne smiled sadly after her brother. He is such a sweetheart. I don’t know what I would do if he left me too. Then the tears fell. She closed and locked the door, not wanting Taemin or her mom to see her like this and crawled into her bed. She cried herself to sleep. After what seemed like a minute, a knock sounded on the door.

“Honey, can I come in?”

“No, Mom. I wanna be alone.”

“But…”

“Please mom. I just need to be by myself for a while.”

“Alright. Can I get you some dinner?”

“No. I’m not hungry.”

“If you need anything, then just let me know.”

“Okay. Thanks mom.”

“You’re welcome sweetie.”

Shianne waited on the bed. But soon she decided she should start on her homework. It would keep her mind off of Kate. She soon got all her homework done a couple of hours later and still found nothing to do. So she started thinking of how to avoid Danson tomorrow.

Danson was cute. That was obvious. He was Chinese so he had the amazing skin tone and dark hair that came from being Asian. Not only that but he had big, expressive eyes and had muscles to boot. But Shianne got a bad feeling every time she saw him. She didn’t understand why. He was smart, attractive, and tons of girls loved him. He was Captain of the soccer team, apparently wealthy and had everything in the world going for him.

The only bad thing anyone could see in Danson was his temper. He would seem calm and collected then all of a sudden he would snap and the outcomes were never pretty. Even with that obvious red flag the girls couldn’t get enough of him. But Danson didn’t even notice them. The only girl that he had ever had eyes on was Shianne. When Danson moved in freshman year of high school Shianne was the freshman class representative and so she had shown Danson around. He had seemed nice, but then he never left her alone. For the first week he tailed Shianne and Kate, not talking to anybody else. Shianne found it creepy and his slow, calculated smile made her skin crawl. He eventually found other friends and became insanely popular but if Shianne was around he’d always be watching her.

Shianne finally settled on asking her mom for a ride to school the next day and then going to the library for lunch as he never went there. Finally, Shianne dozed off and when she woke up, it was 6:20a.m.

Sighing, she heaved herself out of bed, showered and put on a cute pink shirt and a white hoodie on top of that with pink, heart shaped earrings. Blue jeans and white tennis shoes completed the outfit.

She put her hair into a French twist and snatched up her book bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she rushed downstairs and grabbed a large piece of buttery toast and an apple. Kissing her mom goodbye, and sticking her tongue out at Taemin with a wink, she flew out of the house screeching to a stop as the bus came into view.

She hurried up its steps and sat down. The doors closed and they were on their way to the next stop. Oh no! Danson gets on at the next stop! What happened to me asking mom for a ride? Why??? Shaking her head angrily, she held her breath as the bus pulled up to the group of kids waiting to get on. Peeping out the window, she noticed Danson with a box in his hands. His eyes met hers and for a moment he just stared. Then his slow smile appeared on his face and he winked at her. She pushed away from the window and shuddered. The kids started up the steps but Danson was the first one on. He walked on the bus with a purposeful and important air, heading straight for Shianne. Shianne turned to the window, closing her eyes tight, wishing she were anywhere but here.Why can’t he just leave me alone?

Danson sat next to her with the greatest of ease. He sat a little too close for Shianne’s liking and his arm twitched as though he wanted to put it around her shoulders and draw her closer to him than she already was. Instead, he smiled and handed her the box. It was white with a pretty flower design on it and a pink bow around it. It’s a gift! She realized this all too suddenly and just sat there looking stupidly at it.

“Well, go on, open it!” he urged. Mechanically, she pulled at the ribbons of the bow and they fell into her lap. She slowly opened the lid of the box, wishing she was anywhere else but here. Inside there was a card. Under the card was an amazingly delicate necklace consisting of a single diamond on a silver chain. It’s fake, it has to be fake. Shianne thought desperately.

“Uh. Thanks, Danson. It’s, um, really great,” she tried. “But what’s it for? I mean, we’re not together or anything, so it really isn’t necessary.”

He glared at her for a second. Then his face quickly relaxed into a smile. “It’s for your birthday! It is your birthday isn’t it?”

She’d completely forgotten and had half a mind to say that it wasn’t her seventeenth birthday. It wasn’t going to be much of a birthday anyway with Kate gone. She went to stow the necklace in her bag, but he snatched her hand and removed the necklace giving her hand a little squeeze before dropping it. Carefully he took the necklace and reached around her shoulders to clasp it around her neck. She shivered involuntarily at the contact as his hand seemed to linger a little longer than necessary.  Clearing , she wiggled as far away from him as she could and bent, picking up the card. She opened it and looked down at the messily scrawled words on it and quickly wished that she hadn’t.

Happy Birthday Shianne! This is not only a birthday gift but it’s also a token of my affection. You are the most amazing girl I have ever met. You are beautiful, smart, funny, talented, and just amazing. I would be honored if you would be my girlfriend. For our first date I’ll take you to a nice restaurant and then to a play. Please wear a nice dress. I hope I can give you the best date of your life, Shianne.

Love,

          Danson Tang

Shianne was speechless. If she had gotten this note from somebody else she would have been flattered, delighted even. It was a very thoughtful note and she had to admit, the necklace was gorgeous and the date he had planned sounded amazing. Would it be so bad to go on one date with Danson? Any other girl would jump at the chance. Had she really misjudged him?

She cautiously looked up at Danson and flinched. Danson was staring at her, and the look he had reminded her of a hungry animal. He smiled at her, but not with his eyes. He brought his hand up and tucked a lock of hair that had come out of place behind her ear, brushing her cheek with his hand. Shianne’s eyes widened and she shuddered slightly, pulling away from his touch.  Danson’s smile started to fade. The bus was only a couple of stops from school. She wanted to escape right now!

“Danson, look, it’s a sweet note, but I really am not up for a serious relationship right now.”

“So…” Danson said slowly, “So you won’t go out with me?” He stared at her intently, almost daring her to say she wouldn’t.

Shianne shrank back a little but said firmly, “I’m sorry Danson, but I can’t.”

Danson’s eyes narrowed and he slowly leaned forward, “Are you sure you want to do that, Shianne?” He asked softly. Then he pulled back and slowly turned to face the other way.

The bus finally pulled up to the school. Danson stood up and walked off the bus, looking back only once. Shianne’s skin was crawling as she walked to her locker. She looked at the card in her hand and shuddered, tossing it into the nearest garbage can. She felt the necklace and wondered what to do with it. It was beautiful but it was given to her by someone that gave her goose bumps. She slowly took it off and looked at it. Maybe I can keep it and just not think about where I got it from?

“You okay Shianne?” Shianne gasped and whirled around, closing her fist around the necklace to hide it. Jonghyun, student body president, quarterback and the most amazing singer anyone would ever hear, was looking at her with concern. His gorgeous black, feathery hair was a little bit mussed up and his dark eyes looked questioningly at Shianne.

“I-I’m fine. Thanks.” mumbled Shianne, turning a bright red. “Just lost in thought.”

“Oh. Right.” Jonghyun turned red. “Well, I heard it was your birthday. Seventeen, huh?” He smiled at her and his white teeth dazzled her.

“Ya.” She didn’t know what else to say. The guy that she had had a crush on since middle school knew that it was her birthday. She was dumbfounded.

“Well, can I give you a birthday present? It wouldn’t be much. But I would like to give you one.”

“Oh, uh, sure!” Did he really just say that? Did JONGHYUN really just ask if he could give me a present?

Jonghyun reached into his pocket and retrieved a beautiful necklace.  The chain was a simple gold with a single red gem. Even though it was simple it took Shianne’s breath away.

“Oh wow.” she whispered softly. Jonghyun grinned, flashing her his best smile.

Jonghyun is giving me a present. The one guy every girl is after is actually noticing me!

Jonghyun quickly maneuvered the necklace around her neck and clasped it for her. They were both blushing but they both knew that it was a good sign. If they hadn’t been so occupied looking at each other they would have noticed the red gem glow for a brief moment then go back to normal. For, you see, certain jewelry goes on a certain person. In most situations it is the human, not the jewels that determine which is the best match. In this case, however, it was the gem. The gem had found its true owner.

“Oh.” Jonghyun added, “I have something else for you too. I can’t exactly get it to you now, but if you can meet me at 8:00 at the little bench you used to wait at with your friend I’ll meet you there and then give it to you. He gazed at her with such warmth that she literally felt like she would melt into a puddle of butter. Then it hit her. He’s liked me for a while now. He noticed Kate and I sitting on our bench. Now I’m going to meet him at 8:00 tonight! This is so great!

Skipping to her first class, she felt nothing could be better than that moment. The morning flew by. It had been a good one too. Mrs. Young was not giving any Spanish homework and Ms. Miller’s work was a cinch that she got done before class ended. As she had planned, she skipped lunch and went straight to the library to avoid Danson. She opened her notebook and sketched a quick picture of Jonghyun. It was a picture of him singing into a microphone, looking out into the audience with his soulful eyes that seemed to invite you to feel the way that he felt. When the final bell rang she grabbed her cellphone and headed for the girls bathroom. She dialed and listened. Her mom picked up.

“Hi Hun! Happy Birthday! You ran out so fast I couldn’t even say it to you.”

“Thanks Mom, and sorry. I didn’t want to miss the bus and I completely forgot that it was my birthday. Anyways, I was wondering if you could please pick me up from school today. I couldn’t take the bus when I know I could be with you today. Please?”

“You little flatterer. Of course I can make time today for my birthday girl. But,” false seriousness dripped in her tone, “Let’s not make this a habit.”

Laughing, Shianne nodded even though her mom couldn’t see the motion.

“You got it mom! Love you!” Click. She snapped the phone shut.

When her mom came and picked her up after school, Shianne was literally light as a feather as she dashed over to her mom’s car.

“Hey honey, I have a surprise for you when we get home.”

“What kind of surprise?” She asked eagerly.

“Your present.” Her mom said with a smile.

As they pulled up to her house Shianne’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “No way! No way no way no way! Mom you didn’t!” Shianne leaped out of the car and ran to the new silver Audi sitting in the driveway. “You got me a car?!?!” She squealed in delight.

“Well I don’t believe in buying my children cars until they’ve proved they are responsible but with your grades you definitely deserve it, honey.” Shianne ran to her mom and hugged her fiercely.

Shianne pulled up to the bench outside the high school in her new car at 7:50p.m. She chuckled at herself, knowing Jonghyun wouldn’t be there yet but she had been dying to test out her new car and she couldn’t wait any longer. She parked carefully and turned the car off. She got out of the car and checked to make sure it was locked. A nervous smile lightened her face as she sat on the bench and gazed up at some hazy clouds and the twinkling stars.