“How did you find out?” I asked.

“I got a phone call from a classmate of yours, Ruth Andrews I believe. She seemed concern that you weren’t going to the Business College classes your school offered afterschool and that instead you went off to some Dance Studio. She was worry that your class GPA would go down if a student decided to slack off”

Is this what she was sorry for?

I swallowed and took a deep breath.

“I’m planning on pursuing Dance.” I said; surprising myself with how boldly I spoke.

“Didn’t we talk about this already?” He said, rubbing his temples.

“We did, but I didn’t change my mind”

“Min…you’re so close to being accepted-“

“I got accepted to Stanford, UCLA and UC Davis, but I’m not going”

“What do you mean you’re not going?” He yelled. I assume he was tired of this conversation.  

“I don’t want to work in your company. I don’t want to pursue business I want to Dance”

I took another breath.

“In case you forgot I danced before Suzy, I got accepted into a top dancing school and I filled out my own applications for that audition. I love to Dance”

“You’re confu-“

“No, I’m not. Just because I didn’t yell it at the world didn’t mean I didn’t love it. You’re not the only one who was hurt when Suzy died; I saw her die for goodness sake! But she’s not your only daughter, Fei is still here, I’m still here. Don’t you realize that?”

After years of silence, I finally yelled it out. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. My stepfather was looking at me with a wounded expression.

“You’re still here,” He said, moving closer to me.

“You’re still here,” He repeated, wrapping his arms around me.

I clutched on to his shirt and wept.

I’m still here, Daddy.

-

“I don’t get why you’re so nervous. You’ve met my parents before” Haru said, glancing over at me.

I stopped fidgeting with my fingers.

“Yeah, but I’m meeting them at your home. It’s different”

“If you say so” Haru pulled into a large American style house surrounded by bushes, flowers and trees.

“Wow, that’s a lot of plants”

“My mom loves gardening”

He parked in the driveway and kissed my hand before getting out.

I took a deep breath and got out of the car.

Haru and I walked into the house. The walls were surrounded with art of all kinds, but I didn’t see any family pictures.

“Min, it’s nice to see you again” Haru’s mother greeted me with a hug.

“Come sit down in the living room. Your father just got a phone call, he’ll be out in a minute,” She said kindly, leading us to the couch.

Haru’s mother had the same auburn hair as Haru, while his father had dark brown hair. He did look more like his father though; it was just the hair that was different.

We talked to his mother for a while, before she got up to check on dinner.

“Rowan can you close the blinds a bit? The sun is blinding me”, She said before going into the kitchen.

Haru got up and went over to the window.

“Rowan?”

“Yeah, that’s my middle name. It used to be my first name, but I changed it after my sister died”

He sat down next to me and I looked at him confused. He glanced at me before sighing again.

“Rowan as a name means…” He trailed off, obviously contemplating whether he wanted to tell me what was on his mind or not.

Little Red One

“Little Red One. My little sister’s name was Scarlett” Haru took my hand.

“I told you my little sister was hit by a car right?” I nodded.

“Well, she got hit because she saw my older sister getting into a car with her suitcase and Scarlet chased after her. I saw her too, but I simply turned around, forgetting about Scarlett and the fact that I was suppose to take care of her”

He tightened his grip on my hand.

“It’s wasn’t your fault”, I said softly.

“My parents say the same thing. Scarlet ran off when she knew she wasn’t supposed to run across the street. It was a terrible accident, but I was so furious when I saw my older sister get in the car with that stupid boyfriend of hers. I never liked him and I made it clear to her, but she never listened. When I turned around, I felt like I couldn’t do anything else. I gave up on her”

He leaned back on the couch, “Hawthorn didn’t even look back at us. I don’t think she even saw us there”

My head started to throb.

“She left that day and she never came back. We still don’t know where she is….” I couldn’t listen to what he was saying.

The pain was growing stronger.

Hi. I’m Hawthorn. What’s your name?

I could see her now.

I could see her sad brown eyes, her chapped lips, the bags under her eyes and her weak smile.

Her auburn hair fell just below her shoulders, dull and broken.

Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.

I yanked my hand away from Haru and held my head, tears streaming down my cheeks from the immense pain.

“Min? Min! Dad! Mom!” I heard Haru yell.

She smiled.

We’ll get through this together.

I screamed and everything went black.

I remember.