" Okay, now I would make a toast. " Mr Hong stood up as everyone ate, holding up his glass of lemonade. " Even though it's just lemonade. "

We all laughed and clapped. I sat in between Lara and Teddy, opposite Joshua across the table.

" It's so nice to see everyone again, we always miss our times here. " he started off. " But, we always made plans to visit our real home here no matter what. Why ? Because here is where connections are, how we feel like family. And I want to say thank you to everyone for attending tonight's dinner, I hope you enjoy. "

We dug into the variety of food on the table, it was even better than eating alone. Martelle had brought over the chocolate fudge she made at home, and Carrie made her signature carrot cakes. I never saw Jane eat so much before, but she was shoving everything down so fast like a funnel. On and on, everything was going on great.

Suddenly Teddy stood up and cleared , she beckoned Joshua and the others. All five of them slowly left the table, making everyone's heads turn. They headed infront of the table, where their instruments were settled down. They tuned and made some adjustments, with everyone staring at them.

When they were ready, Teddy cleared . " Um, hey everyone. So remember when Josh was still staying here, and we were in a band ? " she asked nervously.

The grown-ups slowly nodded.

" Well, it's official. " she grabbed her microphone. " Lemonade Mouth is back ! "

We all cheered, the moms were already clasping hands in joy. " Our first number and comeback, Somebody. " Teddy introduced.

Brook slowly played the drums and Teddy began to sing, slowly all of them were playing instruments. 

Can you see me ? Cause I'm right here.
Can you listen ? Cause I'm tryna' make you notice
What it would mean to me ? To feel like somebody...
Yeah we're on our way to nowhere, tryin so hard to get there

And I say Oh! , we're gonna let it show
We 're gonna just let go of everything, holding back our dreams
And try, make it come alive
Gonna make it shine so they can see, we were meant to be somebody
Somebody yeah, somehow, someday, someway
Somebody...

During the whole time, I wasn't looking at anyone but Joshua. He was in the background, strumming on his guitar. He was smiling throughout the whole performance, I could tell it was genuine. In fact, I realized he never smiled like that in school. I've seen him with his friends back in our school, all he did was bring out his effort to pull off a faint smile so others would think he was actually interested. 

The truth was, he never felt that way at all.

And I never truly knew what he had in mind. And I felt so blind, all I knew about Joshua was this really nice guy who had a ' Boy Next Door ' image who was my locker neighbour and we were friends. That was it. Until now.

There was so much I hardly knew about him. That he used to live in a place as close to paradise, that his family were some of the nicest people I had ever met. That he had a squad of wackos as best friends. That he knew everything about me, even things I never noticed...

I didn't even know why I was getting mad at him for not telling me about him not graduating or continuing to senior year. I had no right to get mad, it wasn't compulsory for him to tell me about his life. I was getting too worked up about it. I kept telling myself this, I knew I was right.

But why was I still mad ?

When their performance was over, every single person clapped. I did as well, only I wasn't truly paying full attention.

" Thank you, thank you ! " Teddy said and took a bow. " We only prepared this song, so that's all for today, folks ! We'll see you soon ! " and they left the scene. 

Everyone kept on chatting and having fun, most of them were speaking to Joshua, and all I did was slowly slip away to the cushion under the oak tree in the backyard. I felt like a stranger, or I made myself think so. I knew I could always just sit with Joshua's group of friends without feeling left out, I just didn't feel like talking to Joshua.

So I opened the book, MR AIRPLANE that Joshua lent me. Ignoring the fact that I was supposedly happy about him lending me his book, I tried my best to push the thought of him away from my mind and focus on getting through the prologue. I read...

He stopped trying to bring her back.
Hanbin knew Hayoon, she was a person who kept her word. God, he had known her for more than five years; of course he knew what she thought. 
She was see-through, paper thin to him at least. He knew what books she liked, he knew she didn't like sugar in her coffee, she was crazy about the Googoo Dolls. He knew everything about her, Hayoon was always honest, she never lied.

But why did she lie now ?-

" Hey. " Joshua interrupted my peace as he sat down beside me. " I thought I didn't see you at the table. "

" Hey to you too. " I avoided eye contact. " Shouldn't you be talking to your friends ? "

He shrugged, " I noticed you weren't around, so I got worried. "

I scoffed, it came out as a sarcastic laugh, " You were worried about me ? It's not like I'm that important to you. " I sounded so sarcastic, I could see Joshua's hurt in his eyes, I didn't mean to...

" Is everything okay, Minju ? " he still maintained his gentleness.

I had to look away, " I'm fine, alright ? Just leave me alone. " I sounded mad, I didn't want him to find out.

He looked at me intensely, " You're not telling me something. "

" No, I'm not. " I tried to sound okay, opposite the way I felt. " Can't you see I'm trying to read a book ? "

" The book can wait. " he said. " I wanna know what you're thinking. "

I bit my lip, " I thought you said you knew everything about me, then you should know what I'm thinking right now. Right, Joshua ? "

He didn't talk for a while, like he didn't know what else to say. And then, " Does this have something to do with me ? " 

Now it was my turn to not answer, I didn't know what to answer him exactly. So I slammed the book shut and stood up, trying not to look sulky. 

" I think you should figure it out yourself. Now if you'll excuse me. " and I my heel and started to walk off.

" Minju, I'm sorry if anything I did made you mad. " I could hear his sincerity. " I just want you to tell me what's wrong. "

I took a deep breath, " 'He knew everything about her, Hayoon was always honest. She never lied. But why was she lying now? ' " I turned to glance at him, the book clutched tightly. " Now I'm asking you : I thought I knew you, Joshua. You were always honest, you never lied. But why are you lying now ? " and I walked into the house.

My heart was wrenching.