Yup, I was turning sixteen, and yes my birthday is on the Fourth of July.  Not to brag, but technically everyone celebrates my birthday nationwide.  Trust me, I’m not as conceited as that statement makes me seem.  And to be honest, I’m a very simple child; my parents brag about it all the time to their friends.  My mom’s favorite story is about the time that I was 4 and my grandmother gave her a couple hundred dollars to buy me any toys I wanted.  Mom put me down in the middle of a big toy superstore and let me run around and pick up anything my little heart desired.  After searching that entire store, she told me, I came back to her shortly, dragging a hot pink colored Crayola crayon piggy bank that was twice my size behind me.  After shaking her head at me, she picked me up and put me in the cart, searching the store herself.  To this day, I still have that piggy bank stuffed in the corner of my closet somewhere with coins in it.

To be honest, Mom should’ve taken that as a sign that I was going to be a practical child who doesn’t need a lot of stuff and money to be happy.  Because I did grow up to be a practical child.  And I didn’t want a huge Sweet 16 party.  I’m not one of those spoiled kids you see on TV that throws a diva tantrum for a huge party and their parents end up getting them an expensive car or something.  That’s way too high-maintenance for me.  I’m completely fine with having a family barbecue and blowing up fireworks in the driveway one day and then going out with my friends to the city or something the next day.  That’s it.

Besides, I already have the best present ever.  Every year for Fourth of July, a whole bunch of my neighbors decide to do a full on fireworks show for the entire neighborhood to see from their houses.  For the almost 9 years that I have lived in this neighborhood, I’ve always watched the shows; when I was younger from my deck in the back, and when I was a little older walking around outside with a few friends on the block.  But when I hit 13, I started watching from my roof, crawling out the window in the office without my parents knowing.  When I was 13 and 14, my cousin would come up with me and watch the show.  But ever since he moved to a different state, I couldn’t come up with him anymore.  And of course, being the helpless romantic high school girl, I wanted to have a special person watch the fireworks with me in my cousin’s place.  And I was bitterly single.

I mean, I wasn’t looking for a relationship - Come on, school occupies the majority of my thinking space - but if I had the opportunity, I would go for it.  Unfortunately, going to a nerd school has taught me that all boys in my class are either not interested in dating, boys, or gay.  And all the guys I would actually consider dating material are taken.  Naturally, I lose when it comes to love.

So, once again on my birthday I’m sitting in the house doing nothing.  Mom tells me to go take my brother out onto the deck just so he can be outside, because this little 4-year-old is the opposite of me and he would spend his whole life outside if he could.  I take my brother outside and let him run loose in the tiny enclosed space, standing on the patio chairs and knocking them down.  I cast my eyes across the way towards the decks of the houses on the next block.  I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, I was just bored.

As soon as I did, my heart skipped a beat for a split second.  Across the way was a friend from my middle school.  We really only hung out through our mutual friends, but ever since my best friend moved across the country the summer before high school started we haven’t spoken or hung out.  I heard through one of his old friends that he became an though.  I used to like him because he was really sweet.  Well, not outstandingly, just in comparison to all the boys in my middle school.  I’ve known him since I moved in when I was and we went to the same school.  I didn’t know that he lived behind me until maybe 5 years ago.

Ever since high school started, I haven’t seen him on his deck all that much.  Today, he was getting the deck ready for a family barbecue.  Since it was hot, he was wearing a tank top.  Can I just say that puberty was obviously good to this kid, even from here I can see how he’s become slightly more muscular.

He turned his head to my direction suddenly.  He’s also gotten more handsome.  The boy I knew back in elementary and middle school was definitely gone.  I noticed he also got a lot taller.  When he registered that it was me, he smiled and waved.  My heart stopped.  That smile was too gentle to come from a boy.  His face itself became much gentler.  His eyes, even from this distance, were captivating.  We’ve talked from across the way a few times over the years.  And by a few times, I mean legitimately only twice.  I never even got any contact information from him.  We’re just neighbors, and that’s it.  Maybe acquaintances if you want to push it a little.

I know he wanted to talk to me for a little.  He walked towards the front edge of the deck and leaned over it slightly to get a better view of me.  I did the same.  I was nervous because I didn’t know what to say to him after all this time.  I never knew him that well in the first place, how can I make conversation now when I don’t even know how much he’s changed?

My nervousness was relaxed when his mom called him from inside his house.  He turned back to me with a sheepish smile and said farewell with a wave before he went back inside.  My mom soon called me too and switched places with me to watch my brother.  I was still slightly disappointed that I didn’t get to talk to him, but I figured that since we’re neighbors we would have other times ahead of us.  Then again, knowing me and my reluctance to go outside and meet new people, it probably won’t happen anytime soon.  Sighing, I went back inside the house.

The day went by fairly quickly.  I was passing the time by counting how many people wished me happy birthday on my social media pages.  So far, the total was 23.  I got phone calls and texts from family members throughout the day.  The other thing keeping me busy was helping Mom prepare meat for tomorrow’s barbecue at my grandma’s house.  But my mind kept wandering back to that boy earlier that day.  I couldn’t get that smile and those eyes out of my head.  And I was curious.  How did he suddenly become an ?  He doesn’t seem like it.  Well, then again, you shouldn't judge books by their covers.  My middle school crush on him was slowly coming back to me.  It was never that big to begin with, but it was substantial enough to make me still get butterflies when I think about him.

Oh, that’s right, I never said his name.  Joshua Hong, or Jisoo by his Korean name.

Just thinking about him just makes me feel like my hair’s getting longer, my skin’s clearing up, and my throat’s less dry.  He looks so pure and good and-

I suddenly hear a BANG out my window.  I realize that it’s getting dark and that the fireworks were started to go off.  I scrambled to close my computer and make my way to the office.  I pulled a chair in front of the small square windows that were high up near the ceiling and climbed up.  I opened the window and crawled through.  I didn’t have to worry about my parents; my mom was putting my brother to sleep and she was gonna fall asleep with him too, and my dad went to a party down the street.  I had brought a blanket and a long pillow out with me to lay down on while i watch the show.  Since it was still a light bit light outside, the show wouldn’t start until it was dark.  I was so excited!  This was one of the few things that I looked forward to every year.  I looked down just to see the view from above.

That’s when I saw Joshua staring at me.  His face was blank, but when he saw that I was looking at him, he cracked another serene smile.  I smiled back at him, my stomach flipping.  Then, he pointed at the roof and at himself.  I understood that he was trying to ask if he could join me.  My heart started pounding.  He wanted to come watch fireworks with me?  Without thinking, I nodded enthusiastically.  He gleamed, and I saw him disappear inside his house.

I knew he was going to be there in 5 minutes max.  It gave me a little bit of time to get myself mentally prepared for him coming.  I didn't want to say anything stupid in front of him.  I hope I don;t say anything stupid in front of him.  I mean, I don't like him too much, but still it’s embarrassing.  Too soon, I heard labored breaths and grunts behind me.  I crawled over to help him through the window and onto the roof, slipping on his way out.

I burst into a fit of giggles.  “You haven’t done this before, have you?”

Jisoo chuckled with me, a sound that could be compared to soft tinkling bells.  “Nope, never.”

I was the first time in a while that I’ve heard his voice, and this time it wasn’t being shouted from the other side of backyard.  It sounded sweet, not too deep and not too high.

“Come on, let's go sit down.  The show is gonna start soon,” I cleared my throat and crawled back over to my spot.  He followed and sat down next to me.  “So, how have you been?” I asked.

“I’ve been well,  I started taking guitar lessons a while ago. It’s a little hard for me,” he pouted.

“It’s not that hard,” I shook my head at him,.  “I’ve been taking lessons for almost 4 years now.  It gets easier once you get comfortable with it.”

“I hope so,” he frowned.  “I guess I’ll just have to keep  working on it then.”

“If you need any help, you know I’m literally right in front of you,” I offered teasingly.

Joshua laughed, his eyes turning into crescents.  “I’ll do that.  So, do you still talk to anyone from middle school?”

“No, not really,” I answered honestly.  “I was never good friends with anyone except SeoRi, but she moved down South.  Oh, I saw Hansol the other day.  Are you guys still friends?”

Joshua smiled bitterly.  “We got to the same school, but I don’t see him as often.  And I feel like he’s not even a friend to me anymore.  He’s been spreading rumors about me that I’m a terrible friend and I left him to fend for himself and that I’m a fake friend.  I just made new friends and I haven’t had the chance to hang out with him.  And if he wants to be like that, I won’t hang out with him anymore.  Maybe he just doesn’t like my company anymore so he’s doing all this.”

I stared at Jisoo’s face sincerely.  He really did look a little hurt through his smile.  “If you miss his company, maybe you guys should really sit down and talk about this.  You guys shouldn’t give up on your friendship.”

He turned his head to face me, and I just realized how close he was to my face.  His soft eyes were staring into mine.  I looked down at his perfect pink lips and bit my own.  My heart was pounding.  Before I could say anything, I heard another firework going off.  I turned my head towards the sky.  “Oh, the show’s starting!” I exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, I heard more of the neighbors got stuff, so it’s a better show,” he added.

It definitely was a better show than the rest of the years.  There were so many fireworks of different colors and designs spewing across the sky.  The colors were mesmerizing, but every time one went off, the loud bang would make me flinch.  It’s not that I was scared of them, it was just a reaction to the surprise pops.

I felt Jisoo take my hand gently into his warmer ones.  Startled, I turned towards him.  With all the light from the fireworks reflecting on his face he still looked amazing, and perfect.  He felt me looking at him and turned his head to stare into my eyes.  I saw his gaze flicker to my lips and back up.  He inched himself closer to my face, slowly closing his eyes.  I followed his lead and came closer until our lips met.  The fireworks were the perfect backdrop for the sparks that went off during our kiss.  It wasn’t such an elaborate kiss, it was a very timid and shy kiss, holding each other’s hands before pulling each other closer.

Jisoo broke the kiss first, immediately looking down to hide his blushing face.  “I-I know it’s sudden, but I-I-I like you, JinYoung.  Maybe, we could give it a go this summer?”

I hit him in the shoulder gently.  “I don’t do summer flings thought.”

He blinked once before breaking out into a soft smile.  “Even better.”  He turned his attention back to the fireworks show that was still going on, putting my head to rest on his chest.  “And this is our first date.”

“Sounds good to me,” I giggled, completely satisfied with spending my birthday on a roof with someone I can now call special.