Cruel Summer

Of Laughter and Tears
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

Summer's a Knife and I Bleed

 

My mind couldn’t seem to remember when we actually met. What point in our life exactly we crossed paths and became friends? Our close knitted ties with Momo and Jeongyeon. Since we were young, the four of us were already playmates. It was always the summer, the brightest summer that we looked forward to. We used to get teased by Jeongyeon, she pulled the weirdest prank. Momo was the constant victim and you were the designated accomplice. You would often banter with Jeongyeon over the randomness of things. We often tease each other a lot but at the end of the day, we were still together - Inseparable. Now thinking about it as I wrote this, it made my chest felt warm, you guys were warm.

Our usual meeting place was our house, a simple two-story house with a nice lawn and cozy rooftop. When it was our time to play, the four of us would race on going up and the last to arrive would be punished. You were the least nimble among the four of us so you always lost. We have our designated places and you would wipe off some nonexistent dirt using the back of your favorite book and you would say, “I wiped it clean for our Princess Mina.” Then you would do a deep curtsy. Momo and Jeongyeon would throw me meaningful glances but I don’t understand them at all, maybe because they didn’t mean anything at the first place? I’m not quite sure myself. I just missed you calling me your princess, Nayeon.

The roof became our small world of our entire childhood. We held picnics on the roof, there we tease each other; how your teeth were too upfront, how weird Jeongyeon’s haircuts, how Momo’s plushie smell so bad because you didn’t want it to get washed and how, how timid and shy I am. You defended me a lot though; you would return the teasing for me. We also shared stories and scared each other on the roof. Jeongyeon was the best one in the field of telling scary stories. Funnily, she was also the first one to run on going home whenever we lost track of time and we talked until late at night. When it came to teasing and jesting, Jeongyeon was still the number one. She just knew how press one’s buttons and anger them. Momo was as she claimed “no loser” though, she also fought back Jeongyeon but she never won. She was still the sore loser at the end. But when it comes to storytelling; that was your turf that no one could ever place, none of Jeongyeon’s scary stories could beat yours or Momo’s weird but funny experiences could dethrone you. Even though Momo and Jeong had great stories, you were the best and had the most stories to tell. It was as if you’ve been through a lot. Sometimes if not most of the time, you were like the stories you have shared to us – hard to understand.

When we got tired of sharing stories, we went down the roof but that did not mean you guys were going home already, no it was not. “It’s not over ‘til it’s over” as what you would say. We would be playing on the lawn. We usually play hide and seek. And most of the time, you were the ‘it’. But whenever it was you, I was never tagged. When I was the ‘it’ you were the first one to get tagged. Were you doing it on purpose before, Nayeonie? If you did then you were a silly dork. There was that one time when Jeongyeon was the ‘it’ and she found you hiding inside Ray’s house, crammed in with him. You were racing against each other reach the home base but you hit your head on the edge of the roof. You were bleeding. I was the one who treated your wound. I was at awe because you never whimpered nor cried. Unlike Momo who would scream like a dying llama just because dust went into her eyes.

We started to go to school with Momo and Jeongyeon and not much was changed. We would still be playing hide and seek on the lawn; picnics and storytelling on the roof. There was only one thing that got added into our routine and that was making of our homework.

You were good in Math so I had you as my tutor. You look so pretty whenever you were in deep thought. Your brows were furrowed and your hand would hold a pencil tucked under your chin. After a while you would shove to me my notebook with my assignments already answered. You would smugly throw me sideway glance, “Here you go, Princess Mina.” I missed you calling me your princess, Nayeonie.

Sometimes when we’ve already finished all of our homework, most especially when the skies were grumpy and dark, we would be drawing the roof with colorful chalks. Momo said that we need to draw the Sun to stop the incoming rain. Your Sun was the prettiest, I thought yours was the prettiest because you put some little details to your Sun: you put some cute eyes and a smiling lips. Jeongyeon often teased our drawing because it was ugly the rain won’t probably go away. I think, Jeong was just jealous because her Sun looked like a constipated worm, whatever that means. Momo told her that, not me. Rarely, rain wouldn’t fall so we would jump around and dance above our suns. But most of the time, we couldn’t do anything but watch the rain wash away our suns as we stay inside the house drinking some hot chocolate my mom prepared for us.

Childhood passed by like a soft touch, as if it was not that long. We all went to high school and we started to lose interest in playing hide and seek, playing at the roof, and we started to not hang out that often. Momo and Jeongyeon started hanging out without us, they were slowly breaking away from our friend group weren’t they? I was kind of mad at them. Wasn’t it my turn to be suspicious on why were they bonding together without us? Just what were they doing? Was there something going on with those two? But whatever miracle were they have been on about, I might be a little mad at them, I would still be happy for them.

A lot of things have changed. It happened so fast I was barely keeping up. We didn’t just change physically but we even matured emotionally. I thought I was thinking differently too. I’ve changed with the way I feel things too, that I’m certain; changes that I was not sure if it would make me happy or sad.

Especially you, Nayeon.

I’ve noticed a big difference in the way you talked and the way you share your stories. You talked about things much deeper than before. Way deeper and I was finding way to follow the depths but it was getting too deep.

It was just us on the roof that time. The summer rain just stopped and the roof was a little wet and some puddles were formed. You laid some of our old picnic blankets and we sat their silently gazing above the dark skies. The sky was clearer now; the stars were everywhere, no clouds to hinder their small blinking. The night was silent. The silent twinkling of the stars was what you were looking at. I was watching you watching the stars shine. You held my chin up and made me watch the stars as well.

“Look at the stars. There are lots of them. Gathered in one bunch and all are shining. But, why is it that they don’t give much light to the earth? It’s as if they are there to be appreciated and complimented. As if, the more praises they get, the more these stars shine and shimmer. The more they get boastful.”

I don’t understand you, Nayeon.

“That is why, I don’t like them. The stars, I mean. Yes, they could give light but we need give them all the praises and appreciation in exchange.”

I’ve braved myself and asked you my question all this time, the question that was bugging me every day. “So, you like what then?

“Have you seen a meteor before? That’s what I like. It can appear really briefly, it may shine temporarily, but it costs it’s like to shine like the brightest one ever. And then it suddenly disappears, it is as if it doesn’t want to be thanked. Like, it’s shy to receive gratitude from the others. It can be buried on the other side of the universe but rest assured you can hope that it will return. Maybe tomorrow? In the next 2 light years? In the next life? Nonetheless, the meteor will return as long as the earth is living in the darkness of the stars.”

I really don’t understand you, Nayeon.

Time flew too fast, like a wind kissing your skin after the strong breeze. It was like yesterday when we entered high school. Now, we were graduating. I gave you a scarf as a gift. I even knitted it for you. You gave me a card in return. You were shy when you boasted that you made it yourself as well. You even joked about not having enough money to buy an expensive paper just like the expensive yarn on your scarf. You reminded me to read the letter when I reach home because you thought it was embarrassing. I followed your gentle reminder. When I opened your letter, I saw two figures looking up at the night sky as a meteor passed by. You left me a message as well, wishing me the best and hoping that I would reach my dreams. Until now, that you were reading this letter, I kept it with me, Nayeon. I kept it nice and safe.

I was deeply sorry for writing you this, Nayeon. By the time that you would be reading this, I’m probably, well, away already. But, please, promise me one thing: You would never cry. Just like before, don’t shed a tear for me. I didn’t want to see Nayeonie sad. I just wi-

Nayeon stops reading the letter and grasps her chest. It hurts, it ing hurts. She looks at the letter once again and sees dots of tears. She is crying, she is crying. Gasping for more air, she looks up in the dark skies, the same dark skies she used to gaze

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Iguessimhere #1
Chapter 2: All the uwus. This is amazing