Warning: mention of pet death, swearing, mention of school bullying, anxiety, intimate scene not in detail, death of an unborn baby.  I do not do angst very well. I'm sorry to my Valentine. I hope you have a beautiful day!

 

It's difficult getting the attention you want when you come from quite a large family. There is mom and dad, older brother Baekhyun, older sister Bora and then a younger brother Eunwoo.  One set of doting grandparents, my father's Finnish-American parents, lived two doors to the east from our big house that sat on a large city lot. My maternal grandparents, the Byuns lived in South Korea, we tried to visit them at least every other year.  I often felt like the typical, forgotten middle child and whenever I saw reruns of that old show, The Brady Bunch on Nickelodeon I would tell myself that I was the modern version of Jan Brady. You know, the non-descript one in the middle that no one remembered because she had a cute little sister and a beautiful older sister.  Not that my sister was Marsha! Heavens No! She was as ugly as a stepped-on bug! Even today after several, umm, beauty modifications, the woman still looks a bit like great grandma Maude, who was probably a nice enough woman but I am sure she didn't need a mask at Halloween. I admit I am no rare delicate orchid but at least I feel ok with myself. I guess I'm tougher than Jan Brady that way. I digress,  the real beautiful ones of the family are my brothers Baekhyun and the younger Eunwoo. When I realized that both of my brothers were prettier than me I knew right then that there was no greater force in this universe looking out for some of it's creations and all those years of going to church with Grandpa were probably wasted, at least on trivial matters like me growing out of my chubby cheeks and freckles. At least I am still Grandpa's favorite grandchild and he sends money in my birthday card every year, which makes me cry because I miss seeing him so. Sehun Oh and his family moved into the house between mine and the grandparent's when I was fifteen years old. I remember it was the day my beloved cat Grady passed away and I was inconsolable. I refused to leave my room because I was crying my eyes out for what felt like hours and hugging my favorite stuffed teddy bear to me while missing my kitty's presence curled up next to me on my bed. All I could think of was who would I have to turn to now with my thoughts and secrets, who would be there for comfort when I stumbled on a test or was called a name in school. Grady had been really old and that morning I could not find him lounging in his favorite spot on a padded window sill facing the morning sun in the dining room. We often ate breakfast together before I would head off to school. Since I had a moment I made a quick look around the house in a few of his other spots without success. By the time I finished my strawberry jammed toast I still had not found him. Since Baekhyun had offered a ride to school I gave up my search, grabbed my school bag and left with my kind, older brother. As he drove me to school he proposed to help me look for Grady when we got home. He was the one to find him behind the huge butterfly bush in the backyard that afternoon, that is where we buried Grady as well. The Oh's moving truck had pulled up while we were burying my best friend and confidante. After my brothers held a small ceremony on my behalf because they are really the most caring of the family, I immediately ran to my room, bawling. Two hours later I had to be dragged out by the Marsha Brady wanna be to meet our new neighbors who had presented themselves.  Mr. and Mrs. Oh and their oldest son had bright, cheerful smiles on their faces when greeting us all. The youngest son had stood back with a solemn expression, he at least bowed in greeting my parents. Since I still felt raw and open in my grief Eunwoo hugged me to his side where I found stray hairs from Grady on his shirt. This set off a new wave of tears. My mother explained to our guests that the family pet, a cat had passed away from old age that day. Most of the Ohs were sympathetic in their expression, bidding their condolences. I say most because I made the error of looking up at the moment right when I saw Sehun mouth the words, "a cat" and then sneer just like any villain would do. Right then Sehun Oh was my sworn enemy and I could not help but glare at him.  Eunwoo patted me on the back and hugged my shoulders to draw my attention. I realized that the parents were talking about us. The oldest Oh son had already graduated high school and was in the process of transferring to the nearby state university so he could complete some of the basic requirements before he decided between two degrees he was still debating. The youngest son was now enrolled in the same school that the four Salani children attend and I had the immense displeasure of being informed that Sehun was in my class. I believe the word ecstatic comes to mind when I think back to this day. Joy of joys! The villainous resting face Oh was not only my next door neighbor but my class mate as well. I couldn't wait for tomorrow. Chances are he wouldn't even acknowledge me or at least I hoped. Dad suggested that Baekhyun give Sehun a ride to school along with the rest of us in the morning.  His parents accepted on his behalf. My mother then invited the new family to join us for dinner since they most likely had not had a chance to set up anything necessary to cook. Even though Mr. and Mrs. Oh said that they did not want to be a bother, mom and dad insisted so that was how I found myself half an hour later peeling and chopping onions to help make spaghetti and cheesy garlic bread. At least crying over onions helped cover up tearing up over the loss of Grady. After helping mom in the kitchen, I helped set all the place settings at the table plus the extra card table that was pulled out of the garage for us children to dine at. Mom asked me to walk over to Grandpa and Grandma's house to ask if they wanted to dine with the new neighbors and walk them over if they wanted. I think she just wanted me out of the house for a bit but I always liked going to get them so I did not mind. Before I left Mrs. Oh insisted that Sehun accompany me so that he could check on the movers plus meet more of his neighbors, if he is lucky I won't push him into grandma's rose bushes that line the sidewalk. The thorns hurt like a thousand sharp needles! He didn't talk to me at all when we left my house or when we got to his new home. I walked up to the front door with him but didn't go in. I hadn't been invited so I stayed out. I had been in the house plenty of times before when the previous owner was still there anyways, why would I care to see the Oh's furniture. Less than five minutes later -face came back out. He just looked at me.  "Ready to go then?" I asked. "Well I'm standing here aren't I." Sehun replied. Instant hatred. I have never felt this way toward anyone before.  I my heel and skipped down the steps to the the sidewalk and practically ran over to my grandparents. I wanted to put space between me and that jerk. He caught up with me in just seconds since he was already several inches taller. Before we reached their front door he grabbed my arm and pulled. "Hey! What is this about. Running away? That's really rude and childish." "You're rude and...and" I stuttered to which he sneered again. "And what? Im rude and what?" "And an . You have to be the biggest, rudest I have ever met. Good for you on that type of success. If that's your dream in life, you've achieved it." Sehun dropped my arm immediately and started to laugh. He didn't stop either when I went up to the door of my grandparent's house either. I think I broke him. I gave a quick knock to the front door before I walked into the house, calling out loudly as I did to let my grandparents know that I was there. I turned back to see Sehun following me in. "Woah there face. Where do you think you're going? I didn't invite you in. What makes you think you can come barging in? Aren't your kind supposed to be invited in before entering someone's home?" "My kind? What am I a vampire? Afraid I'm going to visit you while you sleep since your parents opened the front door an hour ago, huh. Don't worry. I love little kids and old folks, I'll let you all live. For now."  The jerk then laughed like he thought he was actually funny. Just then my grandma came in from the back. She probably had been in the backyard. "Oh Tae Tae, you're here. Who do you have with you? Hello, young man. I am Mrs. Salani, Tae Tae's grandmama. Who might you be?" Grandmother held out her hand which Sehun Oh took within his and gently shook.  "Good evening Mrs. Salani. My name is Sehun Oh. My family and I just moved into the home between yours and Tae Tae's. The other Mrs. Salani sent us children over to ask if you and Mr. Salani would like to have dinner with everyone and meet my family."  I did not miss the slight smirk that lifted up the left corner of his lips. How I wanted to take my fisted up hand and plow it right into his stupid face. "That would be lovely. I will go get your grandpa, Tae Tae. We saw the moving truck outside and were curious. Leave it to you to make friends already, sweet girl. I will be right back. Wait here children." Grandma walked toward the back again, this time looking for Grandpa. As soon as she left, Sehun turned to me with a gleam in his eyes and his teeth on full display. "Tae Tae? How cute. Where did you get that adorable little moniker? It's almost too precious for you." "It's none of your business, jerk face. Why don't you just get out of here. I don't need help with my grandparents." He just laughed at me and then patted my head to which I swatted it away immediately. He was still laughing at me when both of my grandparents came in. After Grandpa introduced himself and Sehun tried to win him over with fake politeness, Grandma had me come into the kitchen to help her bag up cookies for dessert. The cookies were made earlier in the day and I could still smell the delicious aroma of sugar and spices in the air. Before we left Grandpa grabbed a big tub of homemade vanilla ice cream from the spare freezer in the garage. Once he handed off his bundle to Sehun to carry we set off to walk back to my house. Mr. Oh was waving good bye to the moving truck as we approached the new Oh homestead. "Appa, is everything okay?" The older Mr. Oh nodded his head to say yes so then Sehun continued. "Appa, this is Mr. and Mrs. Salani the elder. They are our neighbors to the East and the Grandparents to Tae Tae here." Here this is at it again. Making me hate a lovely nick name that Baekhyun had giving me when we were all so small that Tae Eun was hard to say. The desire to slap that smile from his face was growing at an alarming rate. Mr. Oh greeted my Grandparents with hand shakes and then a slight bow, which I knew from mom was a sign of respect as well as a form of greeting. My grandmother then suggested that we all continue on toward my home before more Salani children were sent out to help people to dinner. This was met with polite chuckles. As we were all walking toward the front door Sehun decided to tempt fate and speak to me again. "So, do any of your siblings have nicknames as cute as yours or are you the only special one?" Grandpa laughed as he heard Sehun's question and before I could say anything, Grandpa spoke up. "Well Tae Tae is special indeed, she is my church buddy and my right hand man when I have a project to fix but to answer your question, Sehun. I think the kids have had a variety of nicknames over the years but the only one that has stayed is Tae Tae's. Baekhyun, our oldest grandchild, had trouble pronouncing Tae Eun when he was little so he said Tae Tae instead and it stuck. Of course, you can ask the kids if they have anything sillier than that for each other now or not. They are getting older and it's not cool to tell grandpa and grandma everything anymore. Right Tae?"  I was responding to let them know that it wasn't true. That I still told them everything. I didn't like to keep secrets from my parents or my grandparents so I usually just opened my mouth and let all my life events fly out unfiltered just like butterflies zoning in on flowers. I didn't get a chance to refute his words because the door had opened and Baekhyun and Eunwoo came rushing out to help. Baek relieved me of the cookies in my clutches while Eunwoo told Sehun that he would put the ice cream in our big freezer in the basement until it was time for dessert. Then Baek held the door for everyone to go through. Dinner was ready to be served so those of us children who had not already washed their hands, that would be me and Sehun, hurriedly did so. I showed Sehun the downstairs bathroom, while I washed mine in the kitchen sink. Before I walked out to join everyone in the dining room I grabbed the extra bowl of cheesy garlic bread that was warming by the stove, both of my brothers seemed to love it. Who was I to deny them anything. I took a seat at the card table along with Eunwoo and Baekhyun. It was supposed to be the eldest child at the adult table but Bora had thrown such a fit several years ago that Baekhyun switched with her to halt the temper tantrum. As the guest in our house Sehun should have been at the adult table with his family but that Bora must have grown roots to the chair she was sitting on because I found  face sitting right next to me. I think I lost my appetite for my favorite food. Grandpa asked that we all join hands to say Grace and I did my best to keep my right hand in my lap away from Mr. Rude but before I could say or do anything other than send him the most seething of glares, Sehun grabbed my hand and set out clasped fists on top of the table for everyone to see. His smile was so smug. I hope he got big chunks of onion and garlic and gagged on them! While everyone else dug in and ate and made small talk about the neighborhood or school or the weather or the city or frigging Santa Claus for all I cared, I had to sit there by that monster that moved in next door and decided that my life wasn't bad enough being fifteen years old and being just average compared to the beauty that is my brothers. NO. Now I would have a new hell to go through. I could feel his mirth wafting off of him like cologne. And it nauseated me. I could not eat. I saw the food on my plate and it turned green to my eyes and told me that it wanted to meet anything I had put in my stomach earlier. I remember standing up so fast that the chair tipped over to the floor in my haste to make it to a bathroom. Thank goodness we had five of them in this house. I made it just in time.  "What's wrong with Tae Tae?" Grandpa said, almost getting up to follow me.  "It could be that just a lot has happened today Grandpa. We found Grady under the butterfly bush out back this afternoon, he has passed and she has been very upset. I will go see how she is." offered Baekhyun. He got up to track me down. By that time I was lying on the floor in my parent's bathroom which is attached to their bedroom on the first floor. I heard his soft knocking at the door asking for entrance. He asked if I was better and truthfully I felt more numb by that time than anything. I didn't really feel like throwing up but the need tor my stomach to seek violence reared it's head in such an odd fashion with me, so that was the result. He got me a little paper cup of water to rinse my mouth out then rubbed my back for a moment.  "I know you miss Grady. He was such a good kitty. It will take a long time to feel normal again but just know if you need someone to talk to, you got me or Eunwoo. Okay Tae Tae? You don't have to be alone in your grief. I will help share it."  This person was going to make such a good husband and father someday. I almost felt like crying again thinking about the future when I was still struggling with the present. I was a mess. I nodded and murmured an okay then reached for a much needed kleenex. I should probably just use a bath towel, the mess  my face warranted something more heavy duty. We finally got up and left to rejoin the dinner party. Oh, joy! Young Master Oh was still present. The UFOs  I had prayed for had not stopped by to pick up their human guinea pig. Almost everyone was done except for the kid's table, where the food was lukewarm at best by the looks of it. I understood why Eunwoo did not eat but I was surprised to see that face boy hadn't his plate clean yet. I wonder if he was looking down my mom's cooking? If so it was just another reason to hate him. Once we sat down it didn't take long for plates to be polished off, even mine though Baekhyun and Eunwoo shared in the spoils like the mighty victors they were. Rude kept his piehole shut at least. When it was time for dessert, Baekhyun  and Eunwoo offered to help serve. I sat back in my chair and let them, I felt drained.   "Wow, this is seriously the best cookie and ice cream I have ever had, Mr. and Mrs. Salani. " the piehole  finally uttered a up compliment to my grandparents halfway through. There was a chorus of agreement. I turned of deathly state on my new foe. He just winked at me. That mother plucker seriously just winked and carried on like he did nothing wrong. I wasn't sure how much damage a butter knife could do but it was something I was willing to find out. My grandmother thank Se-ugh for his compliment and mention that they were a family recipe, that could only be shared with family, then she laughed. At times I questioned if the older lady had all her marbles but then being part of the big Byun-Salani clan might drive you wackadoodles faster than was intended. The time had finally come for dinner to be over and hopefully our lovely new neighbors would drag their devil spawn out of here so I could go to my room to rest. Eunwoo offered to walk all the nonresidents of this particular house to their respective homes. Baekhyun told Sehun to be ready by 7:35 to get a lift to school. Then they walked out the door as I sunk in my chair. Mom asked Bora to help with the clean up, which of course unleashed not only water works but a poorly executed temper tantrum. It still worked and the eldest yet youngest acting daughter skipped out on helping yet again. Thus leaving Baekhyun and myself to clean up since mother needed to talk to dad about a few things before turning in for the night. I had hoped I could get some sleep since I was exhausted but I was plagued by a combination of sorrow and irritation. I split my night between crying and grinding my teeth. 6:00 a.m. came early and I reluctantly arose to start my day. Shower, dress, breakfast and get to school was the plan. I managed two out of four by 7:00 a.m. so I gave myself a quick once over before taking up my school bag and heading downstairs. Trying to put myself in a positive headspace as I hopped down one step at a time, I came to a halt when I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking with my brothers and father. I slowly continued my way down the stairs.  "Sounds like one of the girls is making her way down, probably Tae Tae. She is usually down here before this time. Poor girl had a bad day yesterday. You make sure to handle her with kid gloves for a while. Okay, boys?" I could hear my dad say. He didn't need to worry about either of them, they are both such sweethearts that they would never be mean to me. He should have saved that suggestion for Bora but that dead bug looking, Marsha Brady wannabe would probably laugh in his face.  "We had a dog that we lost last year so I know how Tae Tae must be feeling. Don't worry Mr. Salani, I will do my best to cheer her up and keep her company while we are in class." "Thank you Sehun. You are a nice young man. I can tell you are going to be a good friend to our family. Just let us know if you need anything. Okay and stop by anytime." Well my curiosity had been quelled. The mystery voice with the slight lisp belonged to face. Great!! He now had carte blanche at my house and my family was ered in by his fake manners. I decided to get breakfast and ignore the gatecrasher. "Good morning Dad, Baekhyun and. Eunwoo. Did mom already leave? What's for breakfast?" "Morning daughter dearest. Yes, mom left around 5 for her shift. I made waffles. And don't be rude, Sehun is here. Say Good morning to him." In the fakest, most childish and annoying voice I could muster I looked at jerk boy, "Oh my goodness, Sehun is here! I didn't see you sitting there when I came in. So sorry. Gooooood Morniiiiinnnngggg." With that I grabbed a plate and loaded two waffles on it, then drowned them in maple syrup. A forkful of gooey, sweet deliciousness hit my mouth before I sat down next to Eunwoo, who was doing his best to hide his giggles. Baekhyun didn't even try. Dad just rolled his eyes and looked at a dumb founded Sehun while apologizing on my behalf, saying something about teenage girls. Before I could retaliate, the Queen B graced us with her presence. "Morning Bora Sweetheart. I made waffles today. Please help yourself. Plus Sehun is here, please greet him nicer than your sister did." Woah there Dad, you have a lot of high expectations going on there and for once my monster didn't let me down. "WAFFLES? YOU MADE WAFFLES! I CAN'T HAVE THAT MANY CARBS, FATHER. ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME AS FAT AS TAE?" The shrieker was with us today. "Bora Salani! That is not a nice thing to say about your sister. She is a beautiful young lady just like you." My brothers and I all shared an eye roll at that on. Stepped on bug, remember. "Plus do you have to be so dramatic in front of our guest? He will go home tonight and tell his folks that the Salani Sisters are crazy." I shrugged my shoulder to that one. I've been called worse and I know for sure Bora has, hee hee. "It's okay Mr. Salani. My folks would not believe me even if I were to say anything. They were very taken with your lovely girls last night." I looked over at face after he said that and caught a wicked gleam in his eyes. Yeah right, Sehun Oh was quite the fibber. "Okay. Okay. We need to get this show rolling kids. Your bus will be leaving soon. I forgot to put gas in the beast last night so I should stop first. Grab your bags and meet me out front. Oh and Bora, no fighting over shot gun. Let Sehun ride up front, it's only polite." Baekhyun was starting to round up his little chicks for the ride to school. "Hey Dad, I have swim practice tonight. Will anyone be around to pick me up. I forgot. Sorry." I had just remembered and still had to run up for my swim bag. "Actually Mr. Salani, I'm going to join the swim team so my folks can give Tae Tae a ride home when they pick me up tonight. I mean if that's okay with you?" "That is wonderful Sehun. Will your parents mind? Should you check with them first?" "Our car seats five anyway so even if all of us were to go, which is doubtful there would still be room for Tae Tae. I can call during lunch but I can tell you right now they would be happy to help." Insert internal meltdown and a scream that could be heard in Hell. It was bad enough I had to share a car ride in the morning, now I had to do the same tonight. Plus IT was on the swim team? Frigging awesome!! It'll only be better if I find out that he is in all my classes. Is it too late to call in sick? I ran up to my room and grabbed my swim bag and prayed that I could talk Baekhyun into coming back at 5:30 to pick me. I was pretty sure I was his favorite sibling and if I couldn't work that I would use tears. I heard a car honking so I knew everyone was waiting on me. As I ran out the door I shouted to dad that I loved him then slammed the door. Running up to the beast, grandpa's behemoth hand me down Chevy Suburban, that was missing the furthest rear seat, I didn't bother to see who was sitting where until I grabbed the rear door handle behind Baekhyun and wrenched it open. To my surprise I was greeted by face. "You're supposed to be up front. Bora, you greedy witch! We have an honored guest with us today and yet you still refuse to give up shotgun? I'm going to tell dad." I was fuming. "No, no. I told Bora that I did not expect her to give up her seat for me. I am just happy to get a ride so I should sit in the back." "Fine, then slide over so I can get in." I didn't like the evil smirk he sent my way nor did I like how he suddenly reached his hand down and jerked me upwards causing me to land on him. "WHAT THE HECK! WHY DID YOU?" "Tae Tae! Hurry up and sit down. We are running late now." Baekhyun yelled back to me so I scrambled off of jerk face and took the middle seat. I put my backpack next to me as a buffer like it would shield me from this monster I somehow inherited. I had crossed my arms over my chest and was trying to scoot closer to Eunwoo when Sehun leaned in close to and whispered in my ear, "Better buckle up butter cup. It's going to be a bumpy ride from here on out." And he wasn't kidding. When we finally reached our school after dropping the youngest off at his, I was beside myself and immediately ran for the safety of my friends. Two of my best friends were in first hour with me and after greeting them with hugs I launched into my story of the worst last 24 hours of life starting with the passing of Grady, then the displeasure of the spawn of Satan moving in next door and how he had already bedazzled my family. Before I could go in to detail over how miserable I had been over every second I have been in his vicinity our teacher came in followed by face. "Morning, class. As you can see we have a new student. This is Sehun Oh. He and his family just moved here. I want everyone to make him feel welcome." The class let out a bunch of heys and hellos while I sat back and glared at the tall boy at the front of the class. Out of all the courses, why did he have to have the same as mine in the morning? The teacher looked at her seating chart to put him somewhere, at least the only open chair was in the front row by the door and no where near me. I had that at least. Sehun leaned toward the teacher to tell her something and I saw her nod her head and then look up. Toward me. What now? "Since I just found out that Taeeun and Sehun are next door neighbors, I think it would be helpful for him to acclimate faster if he seats near you Tae. So please collect your things and switch seats with Angie or better yet, Taeeun can sit in front and Sehun you sit behind her since you are taller. Grab your things Tae." "Mrs. North this is not fair to me at all. You are making me move from where I can see the board the best just so I can babysit the new kid?" "That's enough already Taeeun. You are not babysitting, you are being helpful to someone who moved mid-semester. Now move yourself to the front within the next minute or get detention." My mouth fell open at that. Even though I was mouthy and at times talked too much, I had never been in trouble at school. In fact I was on the honor roll every semester. This new kid was trying to destroy me! I grabbed all my things and begrudgingly moved to the chair by the door, the absolute worst seat in class. It was the seat that got stuck handing out everything, the one that got the cold draft from the hallway in the winter, the one that had to put up with all the noise from the hallway, the one with the weird angle from the board. I was now sitting in the seat they put all the delinquents in. My high school career was over!  The rest of class flew by in a haze due to my misery. I wasn't even sure about assignments for the evening but my new best friend was there to let me know. That's great! Thanks buddy. Now take a sharp stick and poke my eye out. Once class was over I went to my locker to exchange books and wanted to weep when I found my new shadow had his locker three down from mine. Before I could leave he came up to me and slung his arm across my shoulders. "Hey Bestie! What class do you have next? I wanna see if I need to turn on the charm to get you to sit next to me again." "Back the heck off! You have no charm Satan." I ran off toward my next classroom after shrugging his arm off me. I could feel my face just blazing hot from embarrassment. Hell, in absolute total frigging hell. It wasn't even two minutes after I walked into the room that he showed up with a smile on his face that to me was nothing but evil. For the first time in a long time I was afraid, afraid that I might be capable of real physical violence. He pulled the same act on this teacher and made it work. This time we were sitting across from each other in the middle at least. At the end of the day we shared five out of six classes and even lunch break because of our last names. He followed me like I owed him money, never letting me out of his sight. I couldn't even ask Baekhyun if he would come back and get me after swim practice. I could either skip it or it up. These type of decisions were too traumatizing for someone my age. Why? Why am I being punished with Sehun Oh?? This is how things went on for three more years as well. We shared almost all the same classes, our GPA was practically identical, always within the top five. We stayed with the swim team, Sehun became an All State for freestyle while I at least helped our girl's team medal in the 4x4 relay at several meets. We both were in track and cross crountry, I did better there in the distance events. I think he only half-assed it to be honest. He is a lazy runner. He did get into basketball for a couple years and I am happy to say I did not bother to go to one damn game. He broke his pinkie finger just before Senior year so he declined a third year of it. During the winter I skied and in the summer he golfed.  When Baekhyun graduated he decided to stay home and attend the state university a couple of miles away so he kept the behemoth. I didn't inherit it until senior year when Baekhyun transferred to a different university and mom and dad got him a different vehicle to drive. With the passing of the keys to me, since Bora proclaimed she wouldn't be caught dead driving that "thing" while she drove back and forth to the University in town.  I had to promise that I would continue to give Sehun a lift to and from school. In fact they gave Sehun permission to drive the behemoth, so we had to take turns. It was ridiculous! It was like I was saddled with a twin with a personality worse than that of Bora's and a sadistic streak. Granted we were rotten toward each other. The only time we were civil was on Sundays when we accompanied Grandpa to church, don't even get me started on how he wormed his way into my tradition with my grandfather. It irritated me for months and months that it went from my thing with Grandpa to our thing. My senior year I cut back on the hours I had at my part-time job at a small coffee shop. I had done just about everything there so it left me feeling confident in my abilities plus I didn't have to put up with Sehun Oh.  The only time my evil shadow bothered me at work was when he presented himself as a customer and that was too often for my liking. I had saved quite a bit toward my own college fund. My goal was to be different from my two older siblings and move away from home to attend school. I had talked to mom and dad junior year and got their blessing now it was decision time. I could go to one of several places that I had been accepted at but I was leaning toward staying within my own home state and going to a well known tech school several hours away. In the end the thought of being able to drive home for the weekend won me over.  High school graduation was a blur since I had busy with so many activities. I do remember taking tons of pictures with my friends and the photo that my parents insist I take with Sehun in our cap and gowns. I tried my best to just grin and bear it but he tickled me right before the photo was snapped so I looked weird with my eyes bugged out and my body hunched over. I didn't even get a separate graduation party, it was another Tae Tae and Sehun production just after 4th of July in the backyards of our homes. I couldn't wait to move away from him.  I knew for a fact that he got a scholarship to a couple big schools out West thanks to his swimming so I was sure that by August my time with Sehun " Face" Oh would be over. I was wrong! A week before moving up to school I found out that he had decided to go to the same damn school as me and that our parents were planning on moving us the same day. I snuck out of the house late that night to confront my mortal enemy once and for all. I found him sitting under a big maple tree in their backyard. He had his eyes closed and for a moment he looked sweet and peaceful and I faltered in my fury. Then he opened his eyes and smirked at me. "Evening Tae Tae. What brings you by?" "Why are you destroying my life? I get that we do not get along and all but if I leave you alone, you should do the same. Why follow me to Tech? You got into several other schools. They don't even have a swim program there. Why go there?" He suddenly stood up and grabbed me by the shoulders and twirled me around so my back was against the tree. Then he spoke. "The thing is you don't leave me alone Tae. You are constantly with me, in my head, in my senses. I feel you around me even when you are clearly not there. I can't seem to be separated from you even when I try and I have. I have tried. So please don't be so cruel and ask me to get away from you now." All of a sudden he leaned into me a placed the softest kiss on my cheek. I pushed him away from me with all I had and ran back to my home to figure out what had just happened. What kind of joke was he playing at now? Was it a joke? Did he mean any of what he said? Was he friend or foe? I avoided Sehun like he h