Ch. 2

The rest of the school semester seemed to drag on endlessly. I could hardly wait for summer to arrive. There were nights where I could hardly sleep because of the excitement I felt. Finally the last day of classes arrived. I rushed through my last exam; it was supposed to take an hour, but I finished it in thirty minutes. The professor gave me a shocked look as I handed in the exam. However I had studied harder than ever, and was confident that I had done well regardless of the fact that I didn’t spend much time on it. I headed to my dorm with a smile on my face, inside I felt like skipping. However I had to maintain my composure.

As soon as I reached my room, I texted Jenny, telling her that I was ready to go. Then I grabbed my luggage and hoisted it downstairs where Jenny was waiting for me in her car. The plan was for us to sleep over at her house and then her parents would drive us to the airport early the next morning. Once I reached her car, I saw that Jenny was busy talking to a guy. As I looked closer I realized that it wasn’t just any guy, it was one of the most popular guys on campus. I scoffed at the guy’s efforts to impress Jenny. In a way I felt a little sorry for the guy, how could he know that Jenny could care less whether he was dead or alive. Jenny was just one of those girls that could make any guy fall for her, the funny thing was that she didn’t even realize it. She had a bubbly personality and could make friends with just about anyone. She was one of the sweetest girls I knew. I could not remember an incident where she had been mean to a person even if that person deserved it. She was not popular, because she did not seek popularity…..instead she chose to spend her time with me. However, she was very well-known around campus. It was not rare that I would see guys shooting secret glances at her. There had been many instances where guys had come up to speak to me in hopes of me introducing them to my best friend. Sometimes I would play along and introduce them to Jenny knowing well what would happen…..absolutely nothing. Jenny treated everyone the same, she would be polite and friendly; but she wasn’t interested in a relationship past friendship. It wasn’t that she considered herself better than anyone, it was just that she wanted to do so many things with her life first.

Without paying any mind to what they were talking about, I headed towards Jenny to remind her that I had to check-out of my room and to hand in my key for the summer. “Jane there you are!” Jenny turned her back to the guy and ran to me to grab my luggage “let me help you with that!” she reached for my luggage and stuffed it in her trunk. “Oh Jane! You know Will right?” I looked over at Will and muttered quietly “hello” He looked at me only for a second and nodded his head before turning his full attention back to Jenny. “So Jenny what are you doing tomorrow?” Jenny shot me a quick glance. I knew that look, she was asking me for help. I loudly cleared my throat “Jen I need to get the rest of my things from my room, and your parents are waiting for us to get home.” Jenny clapped her hands as if remembering “Oh yeah! They wanted us to get home early today.” She turned to Will with a sweet smile on her face “I’m sorry Will I have to get going, but it was great talking to you! Have a great summer!” She gave a small wave before grabbing my elbow and pulling me back towards the girl’s dorm. “I’ll text you!” Will blurted out before turning to walk away. “Please don’t!” Jenny whispered under her breath.

It took only a few minutes for me to finish checking out, we were on the road in no time. Jenny’s house was an hour away, and she chattered away the entire time. “Aren’t you excited?....why aren’t you saying anything?” Jenny suddenly turned to face me. “I am excited, I’m just tired” I replied honestly. Jenny’s face got serious as she sighed “Are you still having trouble sleeping at night?” I turned my head to look out the window “We’re almost home!” I replied. Jenny offered me a small smile before turning her attention on the road; she didn’t say anything else for the remainder of the car ride. I didn’t want to tell her that I hadn’t been able to sleep properly ever since that night…..the night that my whole life changed……

When we arrived at her house, her parents had a huge meal all ready for us. “Please take care of each other, I feel uneasy letting you two go by yourselves” Jenny’s mom said as she reached for my hand. “Omma! We’ll be fine, you can’t be having second thoughts about letting us go now we’re leaving tomorrow morning!” Jenny cried out. Jenny’s mom chuckled softly “Don’t worry I’m not, I fully trust Jane…otherwise you wouldn’t be going!” Jenny’s mom had known my mother since childhood. They had been such close friends that they considered each other family, and Jenny’s parents had always thought of me as their second daughter. After we finished eating, Jenny and I packed all our baggage in the car so that we would be all ready to go the next morning. I thanked Jenny’s parents for the meal and headed upstairs to rest. Jenny skipped up the stairs after me. Her parents had wanted us to go to sleep early since we had to wake up so early the next day. Jenny couldn’t fall asleep because of the excitement she felt, so instead she searched up the most popular tourist attractions in Korea. She finally fell asleep at 3:00 a.m. with her laptop still in her hands. I turned off her laptop before lying down and closing my eyes. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but it was ok…..I was finally going to see where my mom was born. I felt this strange mixture of excitement and nervousness; I couldn’t help the feeling that I was about to embark on a great adventure.