I shook away the memory and sat up. Groaning, I settled back onto the sand. I had to find the rock if it was the last thing I did. I owed it to her. My heart caught in my throat as I spied a shining object lying off in the sand. I prayed that it would be my lucky day. I dug feverishly and sand flew everywhere. But it seems like the land was shifting, always hiding the object before I could get to it.

            At last, I pulled it out. Dangling by a silver chain is a music clef. My head spun. Coral had one just like this. I had given it to her for her seventeenth birthday. I remembered walking into the store and looking at all the shining baubles surrounding me. I honestly could not figure out for the life of me why I wanted to come here in the first place. But then I remembered. Right, Coral wanted a necklace, something she could hold on to.

            I took a deep breath and politely approached the clerk. She looked up from her novel and smiled. “How may I help you?”

            “I’m looking for something that symbolizes love, without being too obvious,” I blushed. “I meant, it’s a girl, a friend of mine. I don’t love her, it’s just, erm, it’s just a symbol…”

            She smiled kindly at me and patted my shoulder. “I know. She loves you; she just doesn’t know it yet.” I started at her words but she didn’t comment anymore. She led me to a section in the back of the store which had row after row of sparkling necklaces.

            I saw the charms on them. They were delicate, angel wings, wrapped presents and hearts. I bypassed them all until a music clef caught my eye. It was an elegant swirl and I it. The curves glinted in the sun and cast sparkles over my finger. “This one.” It was perfectly fragile, like she was. The complicated curls represented her personality and the tiny studded diamonds represented how much she meant to me. She created shining spots in my life.

            I was so nervous to see her the next day. The box burned a glaring hole in my pocket and I was self-conscious the entire day. I felt as if she could tell what I was planning. I didn’t know why I bothered toying with the idea that she may like me. She was already going out with him at this time. The first time she told me, I was shocked.

            “Donghae, I just met the world’s most amazing guy. And he says he loves me. He says he really loves me. I’m so happy, are you happy for me? Come on, Donghae, don’t look like that. You’re just jealous that I got a boyfriend before you got a girlfriend,” she tugged on my cheeks, trying to get a smile from me.

            I pulled away. I wasn’t jealous because of that. I was jealous because of all these years of staying by her side, she never once looked at me, never once acknowledged that maybe just maybe Lee Donghae may be in love with her too. This boy, who comes in from nowhere and doesn’t even know her, won her heart. I laughed, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice. “Aniyo. It’s just that which guy can possibly deal with your craziness? I’ll bet you will be over in a few days. Once he realizes how much of a silly child you are.”

            Her expression froze and her hands fell away from my face, ice cold. The atmosphere clouded and I tried to backpedal. “You know nothing about our relationship,” she hissed before turning around.

            It was her birthday a few weeks later. I’ve gone through a painful month of not being able to talk to her. I know I would die if our silent treatment continued. Hence, the necklace. The entire day, I avoided her, stiffening whenever she walked by with HyunSoo. It was almost too much and I wanted to throw the necklace out.

            After school, I waited for her by our tree. There was almost no chance for her to be there, certainly not now with a boyfriend and our feud. But I stayed there anyway, waiting. I heard a shuffle behind me and saw her sink onto the ground. She held a hand to her cheek and I pushed her hand away to reveal a purpling bruise. I used her tears to over it.

            “He said I was beautiful. But he never remembered anything about me. He never remembered that it was my birthday. But he says he loves me, that I’m the most beautiful person he has ever met, ever wanted to be with. He says I’m too pretty to walk around, so he wants to lock me up, to just be his,” she cried.

            I felt my throat tense up. “He hit you.”

            She shook her head. “I fell.” Anger pulsed through me and I wanted to scream at her. Why was she defending, protecting him?

            “No, he hit you. How could you let him do that to you?”

            “It’s my fault! Stop blaming him! I asked for it. I shouldn’t have laughed at that boy’s joke, I shouldn’t have put my hand on his shoulder. It’s my fault, Donghae,” she exploded.

            I dropped my jaw. “Why do you keep making excuses for him?”

“It’s what love is. You don’t understand. You’ve never loved anyone. To you, it’s all black and white. But he colors everything a shade of gray. He makes me see things in a different light. He lets me be myself. Honestly, he’s just looking out for me. He never meant to hit me,” she softly explained. “Besides, he’s the only one I have.”

Her words stung too much. “How can you say I don’t love? Do you know me that well to say that I’ve never loved before? Is that all I am to you? Someone who isn’t even significant enough to count as ‘who you have?’ I never realized I meant so little to you.” My entire body shook, and I fought to keep the tears from dripping. Taking out the box, I dropped it on the ground next to her. “Happy birthday. At least I remembered.” I didn’t stay to watch her reaction.

            Had I stayed, I would have heard the tears that fell as she realized what she said to me. Had I stayed, I would have seen her throw the necklace far away into the river, praying that it would never come back. Had I stayed, had I turned around I would have seen her clutch at the tree, trying to keep her balance. But I didn’t stay. I turned around walked out of the schoolyard, vowing to never see her again. Months later, she would tell me what she did to the necklace, and I would forgive her.

I clutched at the newfound object and found myself shaking, returned to the present. Water dripped down the side of my nose and the sand particles fused together to create a large beige blanket. My tears fell and the sand absorbed the pain of memory. It was a sign, I knew. It was a sign that I found this necklace. I would be able to save her. 

So a bunch of you wanted to know who the face behind all these stories is. And so here it is. XD I'm doing it for all my stories, so you'll be seeing my face for a while if you're subscribed to a bunch of my stories.

”

NOT A PRETTY CHILD. I APOLOGIZES. 

Name: Jill

Age: 16

Ethnicity: Taiwanese but I live in the US

Favorite Boy Group: Super Junior 

               Biases: Hyukjae, Kyuhyun, Donghae, Ryeowook, Sungmin

Favorite Girl Group: Girl's Generation

               Biases: Yoona, Hyoyeon, Taeyeon, Seohyun, Sooyoung

Ultimate Bias: Hyukjae ♥

Husbands: Hyukjae, Onew, Kyuhyun

Follow me on Twitter?  Sure, just tell me who you are/username and what story you subscribed to, iheartzsj ♥ and I love you guys~ 

I want to thank my subscribers and readers and commentors. It's junior year, and that means a lot of APs, SATs and homework. In order for me to feel motivated to continue this story, I really really appreciate feedback please. If you take the time to read, please take an extra few seconds to tell me how this story is going. Kamsa~

I have ten other stories. If this one isn't in hot demand, I won't update as often. Unfortunately, this requires priorities especially with so little time. I won't ditch this story, it'll just take longer to update if I feel people aren't in need to read it.

So I thank you in advance~

And in case you didn't understand this chapter, it's a memory within a memory. Donghae finds the necklace, and he remembers buying it for her, then he remembers WHY he bought it for her, and that's because he wanted to make up after their fight. Mkay? ^-^