Chapter 1

Colorado~Present day (7:00 AM~Tuesday)

A light spring breeze blew in from the south, sending warmth through the small town of Garden City, Colorado. Small flowers were beginning to bloom in the early morning light while the red orange sun slowly grew over the horizon. The town was quiet. Everything was peaceful, except for a young teenage girl, who played Japanese rock music from her iPod while breathing in the cool morning air. Her hands were in her pockets, for the morning was just beginning.

The girl looked up to the sky, her long blonde hair blowing gently in the wind, and her deep brown eyes, shaded by her thin glasses, were troubled.

"I wonder what today will bring?" She said quietly, and turned around to head home.

 

Tokyo~Present day (11:00 PM-Wednesday)

The starry sky lit the city of Tokyo brightly. Even in the middle of the night, the streetlights combined with the stars made the city seem alive. A few couples were finishing their evenings, and were heading home. Yet, even in the late night, a young boy around age 16 continued to shop around. Though most of the shops were closing, he didn't seem to mind; he just kept walking.

Quietly, he talked to himself.

"I wonder what it's like on the other side of the world? Is it different?" He sighed deeply and looked up to the starry sky.

"Argh. Why is it always me who never gets a girl? Is there something wrong with me?" He looked at his hands, which were shaking.

"Damnit. Just forget it." The boy grumbled, and ran home, where his mother scolded him for staying out after curfew.

"I wonder if there's a girl out there for me?" He whispered, and slowly closed his eyes before falling into a restless sleep.

 

Colorado~8:30 AM Tuesday

"Kim! What are you doing still asleep?! It's 8:30!! You're late for school!!!" Kim's mother cried, seeming very rushed and discombobulated.

Kimberly groaned, despite the time.

"Wh-whaaaa--?" She rolled over in her bed and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "AHH! Crap, i'm late for school!!!" Kim cried as she jumped out of bed and straightened her clothes, which she fell asleep in after she came in from her early morning walk.

Kim grabbed a banana and her school bag before running out the door, where her friends were already walking towards her school.

"Kim! Heeeeeey!!!" One of Kim's friends, Hannah, called out. She stopped and waved.

Kim waved back and ran to her friends, where they showered her with the latest news from their favorite Asian bands.

"Did you hear?! 5PM is making a comeback!! They're continuing their tour!!!!" Leila, another one of Kim's friends cried, jumping around excitedly.

"WHAT?!? NO WAY!!!!" Kim cried, overjoyed that her favorite band was making a comeback.

The three friends jumped around excitedly, then headed off as the first bell rang for class.

 

"Hey, Kim! What's new with you and that one boy...umm....Kun, right?" Hannah asked, nudging Kim's elbow.

"Huh? Oh...Kun..." Kim sighed sadly. Her thoughts went back to the night before.

-Flashback-

"Kim? Why are you home so late? It's 6:30! You should have been home hours ago!" Kim's mother cried, rushing to her daughter. She hugged her tightly, then looked at her sternly.

Kim kept her eyes to the ground. She felt her eyes fill with tears, and her face was turning red. "I was talking to a friend," She said quietly.

Kim's mother let go of her daughter and crossed her arms.

"Kim. Look at me." She said sternly.

Kim shivered. Her mother's stern voice sent shivers down her spine. Slowly, she looked up to meet her mother's fierce, penetrating glare.

"Kim, were you with Kun?" Kim's mother sighed angerly.

Damnit. She caught me. Kim thought, and closed her eyes tightly, as if she had been stabbed. From her mother's cold voice and icy glare, it was as if she already had been stabbed in the heart.

Kim's silence confirmed her mother's prediction. She sighed angerly and called for her husband.

Kim's father, a somewhat young man around 34, came in. His heavy footsteps shook the small house as he came into the dining room.

"What is it, Terri?" He asked worried.

Terri looked at her daughter sternly, and her husband knew what this was about. Both of the parents sighed and sat down at the table. They shook their heads wearily.

"Kim..." Kim's father sighed, sounded old and tired.

He looked at his daughter. Tears were forming in her eyes, and she was shaking.

"Come here," he said, beckoning his daughter to a chair next to him.

Kim stood still for a minute, shaking with sadness. Thoughts of Kun ran through her head at top speed. Even though she knew she was in trouble, she didn't want to tell her parents about Kun. All she wanted to be was with him now, in his arms.

Slowly, she walked over and sat down in the chair. She grabbed her legs and curled into a ball with her head under her arms. She continued to shake as tears flowed down her already soaked cheeks.

"Kim, your mother and I know you were out with Kun." Kim's father began slowly. He sighed deeply, turning to his wife.

Terri continued. "And we both know that he is too old for you. You can't hang around a boy who is two years older than you. You know the dangers there are with--"

"HE'S ONLY TWO YEARS OLDER!!" Kim cried in a rage, and jumped off her chair. She stood defiantly at her parents. Thick tears now poured out of her eyes. Kim looked angerly at her parents, outraged that they thought she couldn't hang out with a boy who was two years older than she was.

"I just don't understand! I just don't see HOW a boy two years older than me is DANGEROUS!!!" She yelled, outraged and confused.

Kim's parents looked at each other at a complete loss. They were exhausted. For 4 months, they had been fighting with their daughter over this boy. They just couldn't make her see the dangers of her hanging around an eighteen year old boy.

"Kim, both your mother and I know that when you spend time with Kun, you fall more and more in love with him. He's an obsession, and you need to stop. You need to get away from him. So, what your mother and I think is best is for you to not talk to Kun at school. You are not to see him in the halls, you are not to walk to classes with him. And you must NOT hug him."

Kim stared at her father in disbelief. She was speechless.

"You guys," Kim began, shaking and angry. "I can't believe you would go that far as to say that I can't even LOOK at Kun in the halls!!!! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO AVOID HIM IN THE HALLS IF I SEE HIM EVERYDAY???!" She screamed, and ran out the front door with tears streaming down her eyes before her parents had time to respond.

Terri and her husband looked at each other in an exhausted stare.

"Have we done the right thing?" Terri sighed, and left the room in slow steps.

-Flashback end-

"It's...there's nothing new," Kim lied, and put her head in her hands.

Hannah and Leila looked at each with worried faces.

"Kim...? Did something happen?" Hannah asked quietly, sitting in a desk next to her sobbing friend.

"NO! NOTHING HAPPENED!! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, OKAY?!" Kim screamed, and ran out of the classroom.

Hannah and Leila were dumbstruck.

"What did we do?" Hannah whispered.

"I don't know. But come on, we should go find her."

"Good idea."

Oh Kim...what's wrong? Why are you upset? Why aren't you telling us something? Hannah thought as her and Leila arrived at the girls bathroom.

"HHH!!! KIM!!!" The two girls gasped.

There was Kim, lying on the bathroom floor in a small puddle of blood, and a bloody pen in her hand.