I stumbled through the flap of the tent first and collapsed on the bed, staring up at the paper lanterns and the cracks in the fabric where the stars leaked through into the tent with the taste of divine hamburgers on my tongue and a bag of white wrapped food and still warm fries thrown into the far corner of the room. I was too mesmerized by the sight of shimmering light through the sliver of material, and much too tired and satisfyingly full to even notice when the Jung crashed in behind me, joining me on the bed with an equally filled tummy.

It didn’t even cross my mind that I was on the same bed I’d been crying my eyes out on just a half hour or so ago, after all, I had just had the best 1 am snack you could ever receive. The kind where you ate your troubles away with a girl that was more beautiful than the photoshopped models on the covers of magazines sitting across from you, offering to buy you another round of Double-Doubles and a container of fries.

She curled up with me underneath the sheets the moment I pulled the blankets back on my bed and I didn’t think about it for another second, because I fell into a deep sleep with a pretty girl enveloping me in her warmth and the scent of delicious food wafting through my nostrils. That night I dreamed of her, the two of us chasing each other with bags of In-N-Out and the sun shining and the wonderful bursts of the clouds coating our skin with warmth and the aura of summer. I’ve never had dreams as happy as the ones I had when I was with Krystal, and it’s been a while since that fateful summer.

Somehow, between groggily waking up in sand gritted sheets with dark hair mixing in mine and eating a breakfast that consisted of roasted hot dogs and cheese quesadillas, Krystal had persuaded me to join her for the summer and ditch my friends. Of course, I agreed immediatly. I was eager to get away, if I had stayed with my friends, I’d be partying awkwardly with people I didn’t know for a long, long time. Plus, I needed a distraction. My eyes wandered over to Krystal shoving our luggage into her convertible’s trunk with a cute look over her face. My heart lifted at the sight. Like I said before, she would be the best distraction in my entire life, and I wasn’t just about to let the opportunity of spending as much time with her pass.

When it was time to go, Krystal tossed our tents into the backseat and hollered for me. I had no idea where we were going, but I yelled a hasty goodbye to my questioning buddies and climbed into her Mustang, and we were off. I didn’t even care about their shocked faces, when they were wondering how on earth I could take off with a complete stranger. But, that’s just the thing. See, I desired to know more about this person who was able to cloud my mind from the heartache and the worry. So I left with her, I would have followed her anywhere. And I did just that.

She smiled as she pushed eighty on the way towards the flashing lights of Santa Monica pier, our hair flying around our faces wildly, dancing in the wind. With the windows rolled down, and the roof above our heads gone, we roared towards the pier at top speed, without the worry of a chasing police officer or a car crash. She shouted over the wailing wind about all the modification she had made on the Mustang, how it could go over 500 MPH, how her father had taught her all she knows about cars and suping them up for drag races. Later, she would tell me more in depth about them, and even teach me a thing or two underneath the hood of that Mustang. I found myself smiling along with her as she talked. That was Krystal Jung for ya, she wouldn’t have stopped even if there was an accident or a policeman chasing after us. After all, she’s got the personality of a very fast car.