Chapter 2: NEW ENCOUNTERS

Krystal POV

Being the new girl feels weird. I don’t get why my dad decided to even move to LA after living in Korea for 5 years. I thought we were going to finally settle in Korea, but I was wrong. He said that Korean was not the best place for us, we need to get back to the US, and it’s much more stable here. Blah, blah.

As if I care. For all I know the Korean venture he made flopped; and us moving to LA was an easy escape for him from his business partners.

The first day in the new school was uneventful due to my still unorganized schedule. Thankfully, the people in LA were much more civilized than the ones in New York private schools. They treated me well, introducing themselves and welcoming me. Not that I don’t appreciate their warm welcome, it’s just that I miss my friends back in Korea.

The atmosphere in Korean schools were much warmer than the ones here. Who am I to complain, Korea is a word away from LA. I miss the easy-going life back there. But hey, if we’re going to settle in LA for good, I might as well it up and make the best out of my stay here.

Once the final bell has rung, I hurried to my locker and headed straight to the gym where Coach said I could practice.

Gymnastics has always been my stress-reliever. Despite it being strenuous both to the mind and body, I never got tired of the sport. This is what I’m good at and I will never let go of the one thing that has brought meaning to my life.

After the usual warm-up, which took about 30-45 minutes, I proceeded to the easy mat stunts. Every huff and grunt echoed in the empty gym. I’m amazed at how big this school’s facilities are, I might even join other sports teams if their facilities were also as good as this.

A number of somersaults and splits later, I was feeling the delicious burn of my muscles. Savoring the delicious aches, I missed a turn and fell first on the mats.

OUCH. That hurt. I’m losing my focus here. Get your head in the game, Krystal! I scolded myself.

My internal rambling was cut off by a hand stretching out in my face. The first thing I noticed were the delicately long fingers and thin wrists. A girl, I thought.

I reached for the extended hand and pulled myself up. Now that I’m on my feet, I chanced a look at her face.

Oh my gosh. She’s so beautiful. I thought. Not in a girly way, more like in an androgynous way.

Her boyish charms were so up my street. I so love androgynous people.

I was about to apologize but we spoke at the same time. She told me to go and say what I had to say, but I told her to go ahead.

She said that she was sorry for coming in the gym without permission. She was just curious as to where the grunts were coming from. I guess I was particularly loud. I apologized too and assured her that coming in the gym was no problem at all.

I actually liked that she came in. I don’t know why but every time I look at her, I feel nervous.

She said her name is AJ. For someone as beautiful as her, the name does not suit her at all. Oh I guess she’s really a tomboy, adopting that nickname. I introduced myself and shook her extended hand.

We stood awkwardly for a few seconds before she said goodbye. I loved the way her shirt rose when she scratched the side of her head. The little skin that showed between her low waist jeans and shirt made me salivate a little. Oh did I just salivate over a girl? This is so not me. Well I guess I don’t really know who I am anymore.

AJ left me to my practice; but I can’t seem to get the handsome girl’s face out of my mind. I really do have a weird attraction to androgynous people.

Going through my usual routine seem to be getting harder the more I think about AJ. After missing the 5^th jump, I called it a day and packed my bags. This weird attraction will get me nowhere. I need to focus on gymnastics or else my scholarship will be taken away. And my dream to become a world-class gymnast will definitely suffer because of such petty things.

Think big, Krystal. Dreams over love.

AMBER POV

I was home before sunset. Just in time for dinner. Mom always made a big deal of the whole family eating dinner together thing. Keeping the family close and all that.

Our family is close. Actually too close that I don’t have secrets from them. My parents are both retired missionaries who came from China and moved to LA to raise my sister and I.

And speaking of my sister, I can now hear her car pulling over the driveway.

Jackie was the older of us two. The more responsible one. The smarter one but equally as reckless as me.

I, however, was the sportier one, less smart, and less responsible. But like my older sister, we share the adventurous spirit that usually got us in trouble. Like tonight, she asked me to cover for her absence. She’ll be hiking overnight with her friends at Santa Monica.

“How was school, li’l sis?” Jackie said, ruffling my hair as a greeting.

She knew I hated it, but my irritation only made her to it more, so I just endure it every time.

“Fine,” I answered irritably. I sat on the sofa to avoid her questions.

“Something’s on, little Liu. What’s got you all annoyed?” Jackie, always so perceptive, asked.

“Nothing. I’m just tired from practice.”

“Forgive me sis, but I fail to believe that.”

She sat beside me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

“You know you can tell me anything, Amber,” she said softly. She only called me Amber if she was really serious, otherwise it would be AJ, li’l sis or just hey.

“I know, it’s just that I want to figure it out on my own first, okay?” I replied.

“Okay. I get it. But whenever you need me, I’m just her to listen, you know that.”

“FOOD”S ON THE TABLE!” Mom called out in Chinese.

Dad came out of his home office and my sister and I followed dad to the dining room. When we were all seated around the table, my mom led the prayer and we all dug in to dinner.

Mom cooked my favorite for dinner, home-made tacos and chili. Conversation flowed naturally and I found myself quiet for the first time. I was usually the one with many stories – how my day had been, future big plans I have for myself, the latest news, anything – but today was my off day.

Mom noticed how quiet I was and asked me in Chinese (mom always talks in Mandarin at home and we would usually answer in English, depending on our mood), “Amber, what’s wrong honey? You seem quiet today.”

“I’m fine mom, just tired from training,” I answered in Chinese.

“Okay, honey. Just rest early tonight okay?” she said, patting my shoulder.

I did not, however, go to sleep early that night. I had to see that my sister got away quietly, I had a ton of homework to finish, and I thought of Krystal the whole night and morning through. I did not even notice the sun rising if not for my mom knocking at my bedroom door t wake me. I called out saying that I was up and headed straight to the bathroom.

Unlike the usual, I dressed with extreme care today. Meticulously picking out the best attire and styling my overly longish straight hair into some semblance of neatness. I rarely do these things but when I do, I make it a point to look effortlessly dressed up – school appropriate, of course.

Donning on my favorite cap and school bag, I bid my parents goodbye and rode my skateboard to school.

School was a 15 walk away but I preferred riding my board. It clears my head and pumps up by blood before starting class.

Five minutes to 8, I arrived at my first class, AP History. Our teacher came in and spouted boring lecture for the next hour.

The rest of the day went on dully, too early in the semester to get on with the serious hard stuff. Hallway through 4^th period, the door opened suddenly and came in a huffing Krystal.

“I’m so sorry sir, I’m late. I needed to talk with Coach about my schedule. Here’s my excuse slip,” Krystal said, breathing heavily.

“Krystal Jung. You’re the new girl. Welcome to Statistics. Take the empty seat at the back, please,” Mr. Banks said, motioning Krystal to the only vacant seat which was beside me.

We exchange awkward acknowledgements and got on with the class.

This is going to be an interesting year, I thought.