Here we are. July 20^th, half way through summer. Even though it’s summer I am just as busy as I am during the school year. I wake up at 6 a.m., go to swim practice then stay at the pool to work until 8 p.m. I absolutely love the water and the sun, so lifeguarding is the perfect job for me. Not many high schoolers are members at the pool either, so I don’t have to worry about seeing people I don’t want to see.

When I finally get home, I’m greeted with the same thing:

“MARGARET! Are you going to do your dishes? And are you ever going to take those clothes to the donation bin???”

“Mom, can you stop? I just got home,” I yell back at her. I would go up and talk to my dad since I haven’t talked to him in a week, but he goes to bed at 7:30 every night because he drinks too much beer. Our schedules don’t overlap so I don’t see him very much even though we live in the same house.

My mom shouts back from the living room- “Fine, but if you don’t take care of it soon I’m throwing away your books that are sitting in the living room.”

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Throwing my stuff down, I quickly change into a sweatshirt and jeans, grab my iPod and run downstairs.

“Mom, I’m going to hang out with the gang, be back later,” I yell as I grab my keys and run out the door. My mom knows I broke up with Yongguk, but she doesn’t know that I have been letting my perfect life slip away. I’m smart enough to keep up the illusion for her; I’ll get over this, and I don’t want her to worry. So most nights, I either go to my best friend Michelle’s house, or I just park somewhere and hangout. It’s better than staying inside, anyways.

I dialed Michelle’s number as I idled in the driveway. “Hey! You home??”

“Sorry Marge, my mom wants me to go to dinner and meet her new boyfriend, so I can’t hangout tonight. Why don’t you ask Jongup if he wants to?”

“Yeah, I’ll hit him up and see if he’s busy. Good luck with your mom, text me about it!” I answer before I hang up.

I bite my lip, looking at Jongup’s name in my phone. I could call him and see if he wants to hangout, but I’m kind of nervous. He was one of my really good friends in middle school. After he moved in 9^th grade, I would call and text him every day. I used to drive to his house and watch him practice his routines from his hip hop class. When Yongguk and I split, I kind of forgot about him because I was all torn up and stuff. Then, I got into the phase I am in now, where human interaction is a necessity, but not always a treat. I was a pretty ty friend to him. I called him last week, but he didn’t answer. Afterwards, I got a text from him- “You think a voicemail is enough? When you actually feel like caring about me again, hit me up.” It was pretty harsh.

I fired up my cheap, used, adorable red Hyundai Accent and drove into town. I have a few usual spots: behind the high school at the baseball fields, at my swim club’s pool parking lot and the unfinished part of a local development that has a good view of the town. I wanted to mix it up though, so I went to the old courts. Last year, the town built two new basketball courts close to the high school that has bleachers and water fountains. The “Courts” though, refer to the old courts that were hidden behind a closed down video store. There was moss growing in the corners, no nets on the rims and as far as I knew, no one usually went there- perfect.

I parked and pulled out the beat up comforter I keep in my car. The sun was still out, so I laid the comforter in the grass, put my iPod in and just relaxed. I thought about the sun hitting my skin, the smell of cut grass wafting through the air, the slight breeze that made my hairs tickle my face….

….I opened my eyes to see not the glow of the sunset, but the glow of the parking lot lights. My playlist ended too, so all I could hear was a basketball hitting the pavement.

A basketball?

I sat up, drowsily. Looking down, I saw a boy that look somewhat familiar. ‘Was he in my gym class last year?’ His tall form was slowly dribbling the ball between his lanky legs. He looked up, shot and made it. He pulled his beanie down a little before jogging over and scooping the ball up. Suddenly, he looked up- “Wanna play?”

I was horrified. One, I cannot play basketball. Two, if he was in my gym class, he will know quite distinctly how terrifically AWFUL I am at basketball. My rule has always been no sports with balls.
 

“Um, no thank you,” I said to him. Standing, I scooped my blanket up, opened the trunk and shoved it in. I was about to open my door when I impulsively turned back.

“Want to get coffee with me? My treat.”

He looked down, dribbled once, then said, “At 10 o’clock on a Tuesday? Sure, I don’t like sleeping anyways.”

‘Great. Why did I do that?! I may be mostly extroverted but I get social anxiety sometimes. This could be ragingly awkward…omg. I don’t even know his name. It’s Korean sounding, but I can’t remember. We have a handful of Korean and Japanese students at my school, which I would know because I love Asians. Our town is really white though, so those students usually lay low or stick together. Oh jeez, I’m already rambling and I’m only thinking to myself.’

I opened my door and he went around to the passenger side. As I shut my door, he cleared his throat. I looked over to see his outstretched hand.

“Junhong, Choi. Call me Zelo though. Nice to formally meet you.” He said solemnly, his mouth twitching up at the corner revealing his silliness.

“Margaret Warren, nice to meet you Zelo.”

‘What a goofball,’ I thought, smiling. ‘Guess I’ll just roll with it.’

“As you can see, my car has many high class features. Since air conditioning is for noobs, I chose to have roll down windows, so you can cool down and also tone your arms. My car is also equipped with high-end top of the line cup holders than hold 12 ounces or less. And last but not least, I have a cassette player and the cassette collection can be found in the glove compartment. We’re going to be listening to my favorite, Santana. Please buckle your seat belt.”

He chuckled as he opened the glove compartment and started sifting through the tapes. I started to drive to the gas station down the street. At the red light, I glanced over at Zelo. He looked really silly in my car. His long legs were bunched up so his knees were practically against his chest. His head was kind of bent so it could fit in the car. He wasn’t a giant, but my car was really small.

“How tall are you, anyways? That looked painful” I asked, watching him unfold himself from the car. The drive was only 10 minutes, but his tank top and shorts were all wrinkled like he had been stuffed in a bag.

“I’m 6 foot, but I feel like I’m 10 feet tall when I’m in your car. Aiish, what kind of person is that car made for?” He grumbled under his breath, stretching out his arms.

We walked in and I immediately headed for the coffee. I should really tone down my coffee drinking, but it’s my one vice. I don’t smoke, I rarely drink and I don’t do drugs, so leave me be. Zelo grabs a cup as well, though I note it is decaf, the drink of the sacrilegious.

As I make my way to the snack sections, I tell Zelo he can get a snack too.

I started browsing for a Rice Krispy treat. Those hit the spot and go with coffee so well. I look over the aisle and see to my great amusement that Zelo is in the middle of great concentration. He has about seven snacks in his hands, ranging from a bag of Doritos to a huge chocolate bar.

“You actually look in pain,” I say, walking up next to him. “You can get all of them if you want.”

His eyes snap to my face with a look like a puppies. It was pure gold.

“Are you sure?? You really don’t have to, I can decide on one.”

“Zelo, with the way you are looking at all that food, it looks like it would be too hard to pick. And yeah, I’m sure. I don’t want to be here for two days so just grab them all and let’s check out.”

He practically skipped behind me. I kid you not. He also wouldn’t stop thanking me until we got to the car.

“So where to? Do you want a ride to your house?”

“Nah, back to the courts is fine. My house is near there,” He managed to say, his mouth full of cookie.

I drove him back to the courts and he thanked me probably a million times before he finally got out. He stuffed his snacks in his pockets, got on his bike and waved.

‘Well, that was not expected,’ I thought as I made my way back home.