I was satisfied with myself. I am now one step closer to having her back in my life. One step closer to being with my love. As I walked back to my tent, I felt the rain drizzle down on me. And all of a sudden, a flood of memories hit me, so intense and poignant I couldn’t breathe.

            It was raining hard that day too. We had gone to the junior dance together. I remember asking her. “Coral, hey. You know how your mother wants us to all go to some social event in the school? How about we go to the junior dance together? I don’t think we’re getting anyone else.”

            She had glared at me slightly. “I wanted to believe I had more of a life outside of you.” I could only laugh to hide my pain.

            “No, I’m just saying. Okay, how about this; Ms. Coral, I promise to be your servant forever and ever. Now go to the junior prom with me? My mother will kill me if she found out I missed out on this opportunity.”

            Coral had laughed and pushed me onto my back. “You silly freak. Yeah, sure. But I expect you to respect the rules of a true date. Corsage and all.” I smiled at her commands. I knew that underneath the causal visage, she wanted to go.

            For the rest of the day, and week, I walked around with my head in the sky. I knew that if I did anything overly extravagant, she may be freaked out. So I decided to make things really simple. I’m going to plan to take her in a nice SUV, then when we come back, we’ll walk back, with me assisting her and taking a short cut by the beach.

            She banned me from her house, insisting that she wanted to pick the dress alone.

            I found this funny. “Oh, isn’t this sort of like a wedding tradition?” She blushed. “I’m joking. But how would I buy you a corsage?”

            She had smiled enigmatically. “You’ll find out.”

      Two days before the prom, she walked up to me. “Donghae, what would you do if I told you I have a date for prom and it’s not you?” I suppose all the color must have drained from my face because she laughed out loud. “You should see your face! I was joking you genius.”

      I felt all the blood rush back and my heart resumed beating normally. I clipped her on the shoulder. “Ya, you’re so cruel. Hmmphs, now you make me not want to take you.”

      Coral stuck out her tongue. “If you don’t take me, who would? Then your mother and mine would be even more furious at you because you broke my heart and kept me from having fun,” she pointed out. I grinned and hooked my arm through hers.

      I bought a deep blue corsage with a burst of yellow and purple forget-me-nots. I straightened my tie in the mirror and walked out. My mother waved at me, happy to see me doing something ‘normal’ for a change.

      I rang Coral’s doorbell and waited patiently. When the doors swung open, my breath caught. She was dressed in a brilliant midnight blue dress that had sleeves off the shoulder. Her hair was swept up and she smiled tentatively. I held out the corsage and the reserved smile broke out into a wide grin. “Hey, you guessed my dress color!” I nodded, completely mute.

      She wore a studded pearl choker around her elegant neck and I felt my insides twist. And she says she’s not beautiful. I held out my hand and she slipped her soft ones into mine. Her parents sent us off, and I helped her into the car I had rented. Her natural scent permeated the air, and a bit of the jasmine smelling perfume added into the mix. She was smiling serenely, happy to be going.

      When we arrived, I immediately felt shy and wanted to retreat into a corner. But many guys we didn’t know came up to Coral and asked her to dance. I smiled tightly and watched as she was whisked away by one after the other. When she finally came back, her face was flushed and she was out of breath.

      “Donghae, why don’t you ask a girl to dance? Come on, have some fun!”

      I stared dully at her and placed the glass of juice on the table. “Coral, come dance with me.” This made her happy and she gladly took my hand.

      Coral on the dance floor is just as graceful as Coral in the waters. She flowed with the element, and I led her through the steps. Her head came up to my chin and I breathed in her scent. Her fingers held mine closely with hers and I could feel the heat of her body pressing up against me. I felt myself relax as I pictured claiming what was meant to be mine since the very beginning.

      When the dance ended, she let go of me and pushed me in the direction of a group of other girls. “Go explore. There are so many other girls out there jockeying to dance with a handsome guy like you.” She waved and sat down, nodding at me, encouraging me to dance. I went up to one of the girls and asked her.

      Dancing with the others just wasn’t the same. There was no chemistry, no spark, no rhythm. I simply went through the motions before dropping her hand. I endured another long hour before the dance was finally over.

      I returned the car and smiled apologetically at her. “I’m afraid we have to walk back home. We can cut through the beach if you like.”

      She nodded. “Good, I’m starting to feel too girly in this dress anyway.” She reached down and took off her high heels, and ran towards the waters. We waded in and stood there, watching the sky rumble with gray clouds.

      She leaned her head against my arm. “Tonight was fun wasn’t it?”

      I looked down at her, at the blissfully innocent look in her eyes and nodded. “Yes, it was.”

      She sighed in content and I tentatively wrapped an arm around her. The light lapping of the waters against the shores was a soothing melody. As we turned to go, there was a low rumbling and we looked at one another. “It’s going to-”

      Before I could finish my sentence, a downpour of rain splashed down on us. Coral shrieked and hugged me tightly, laughing all the while. The rain saturated our skin and our clothes, and lightning flashed in the distance.

      I took off my shirt and held it over her head. “Come on, let’s run!” I grabbed her hand and we started running back, giggling as we tripped and slipped. Her bare feet splashed into mud piles and her hair slowly came out of its elegant bun. We ran underneath the cover of a tree and stood there, gasping for breath.

      I caught her eye and she dissolved into laughter. Her hand came up to wipe the hair off my face and I jolted at her touch. “Ahahaha, that was not how I planned for this evening to end. But I’m glad it did. That was fantastic, running in the rain. Look, my feet are all muddy now.”

      I knelt down and pretended to beg for forgiveness. “Oh Princess, please forgive this lowly servant for not checking the weather. Would she like him to clean her feet?”

      Coral giggled and patted me on the head. “Get up. As punishment, he is required to carry her and take her home.” I smiled and scooped her in my arms, marveling at how well she fit in them. She wrapped her arms around my neck and clung on as I ran back towards her home.

      It was a few minutes before I realized I was getting soaked. My arms were lifted in front of me and I could feel her phantom weight. I shook my head. Now was not the time to reminisce. I had a job to do.