Track 01

          I placed the headphones over my ears. I the mp3 player and pressed play. For a few minutes it was silent. Rustling could be heard in the background. What are you doing Jackson?

‘Welcome to Jackson’s story time! It’s a free ride for everyone who is listening. Welcome Mark. Congrats you are the lucky winner of the free ride! Let’s cut to the chase already. Where do I begin? The ending? The beginning or the middle? Where would you like to start with Yi Eun?

I’d like to start nowhere Jackson. I’d like to not start. I’d like all of this to end. This mp3 player included.

          ‘The beginning is a good place to start. Don’t you think? I think so. Summer before freshman year is the year that I moved here. I remember all the neighborhood kids visiting me and my family. I remember the mothers coming over with rice cakes.

          Three weeks after I moved in, I was invited to Jaebum’s party. That night I met Jinyoung and Youngjae, and you, Mark. You were shy and didn’t want to talk to me. I wondered if it was because you didn’t know me well. I shrugged it off and didn’t bother with you. I wondered about you the whole night. Jaebum handed me a drink. He told me to sip it down, and I did. You didn’t have a cup in your hand that night. Did you not drink that night? That night ended with me spending the night at JB’s house.

          The next morning, the school had called my mother. The student counselor, Mr. Kim, had told her that I had to be there for a meeting. My mother called me and I had to rush home. I had wandered around the school for a few minutes before finding the counselor’s office. I opened the door and Mr. Kim was sitting at his desk. Another student was sitting in the other chair. I was guessing that it was another new student.

          Her name was YoungJi. She was so pretty Mark. Mr. Kim had told us that we had to get to know each other. I did not want that even though she was pretty. She laughed at me. She laughed at me Mark. YoungJi said that she had no intentions of getting to know me. Mr. Kim had a problem didn’t he? I’m glad that I and she were on the same boat. Mr. Kim told us that we could leave now. I grabbed my bag and left. She followed suit. She caught up to me and asked if we could go to the café not too far. I don’t know why she asked, but I nodded my head.

          We walked to the cafe. (The name was very lame though, Happy Chocolate Café.) Upon walking into the café, the barista greeted us. I ordered a hot chocolate. She ordered a latte. (I particularly don’t know why what we ordered was important, but it is.) We sat down outside in the garden area. There were vines along the wall of the store, and flowers outside. It was nice outside.

          We got to know each other. We spent hours talking over coffee. I honestly don’t remember what we were talking about. I just know that it was easy to talk to her. She made me feel welcomed here, even though she wasn’t from here. I enjoyed it. We had claimed this spot as our own. We said that if one of us is upset that we would hide out here and the other would follow. We agreed that one would order a hot chocolate if something is wrong. That night we agreed to be friends, just me and her.

Everything was going good until Jaebum. Jaebum had given me more friends. JB is popular and everyone knows that. He saw me that first day of school and at his party before. He asked me to come eat with him and his friends at lunch. I did. I saw you there to. Everything was going good. It was nice having friends.

Every day after school, I would go to Happy’s to see YoungJi. Sometimes she would ask me about JB and everyone else. She would ask me questions about sitting with us at lunch. I told her that she would have to ask JB. She didn’t like that apparently. For days, I showed up