(LISTEN AS YOU READ)

(Italics represent the past) 

Today’s the first day of junior year. I wear my yellow adidas sweater and skinny, ripped jeans with my battered pair of converse. I leave my hair in its natural form, past my shoulders and down my back, wavy and messy. My cheeks look rosy and I have Jiyong to thank for that. The diamond hanging from my neck is shining bright under the sun’s light. I grab my book bag and head downstairs, smelling eggs and bacon. 

“Chaerin, you don’t want to be late!”

“I know, mom. But Jiyong is waiting for me, I have to go.” 

“You know I don’t like him, right?”

I stop in my tracks and face her, “Why are you so against him?” Ever since the day she met him, she's done nothing but jugde him.

“You’re going to Harvard, not inside a tour bus with him. Remember that.” 

“Well, I’ll be happy in a tour bus, thank you very much.” Taking the toast and bacon, I kiss her goodbye and walk out the door to find my favorite face in the world. 

“My car’s going to smell like bacon, great.” He rolls his eyes and smirks. 

“ for you. I’m going to enjoy this.”

“Can I get a kiss first?” He looks at me with an irresistible pout and I can’t help but lean forward and plant a small kiss on his soft lips.

“Thank you.” I’m rewarded with his smile.

I respond with a bite into my toast and a wink. 

“What’s your first class today?”

“Calculus, yours?” I look out at the evergreen trees and the leaves falling from them.

“Chemistry.” I almost hear the scowl in his voice and I laugh.

“It’s not that bad.”

“Says the genius.”

I roll my eyes. He says that because I’m an A-student and a perfectionist. 

“Ugh, no I’m not.”

“Tell that to Harvard. I think it’s already knocking at your door.” He laughs at his little joke and I cover my mouth at his lame attempt of a joke. It’s too soon when he stops the car and we park outside the school. 

“I don’t want to go inside.” I complain.

“Let’s go to the beach.” He takes my hand and kisses my palm, eyes not leaving mine. 

“It’s six hours away, babe.” The sensation of his lips on my skin is not enough to make me lose my mind on the first day of school.

“So? We can still make it to school.” He pleads.

“Why do you want to go to the beach all the time?” Diverting the offer, I don’t want to get in trouble again. 

“Because it calms me. It inspires me.” He does write beautiful songs every time he goes. 

“One day I’ll say yes, but not today.” I give him a sympathetic smile; he hates school. The generic flow of comments and opinions and fluorescent lighting isn’t for him. He writes poems and songs and plays the guitar, not take standardized tests. He wants to live. 

“Fine, but promise me we’ll go.” He takes out his pinky and I curl my pinky around his to mark my promise. 

-

I walk out of my last class and wait for him to come out. I look around when I see a mop of black hair and the familiar smile. He takes my breath away as he scribbles something down on his battered notebook. He’s never let me see what’s inside but I bet it’s beautiful. He looks up and when he finds me staring he gives me his shy smile and walks towards me. He kisses the top of my head when he reaches me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. 

“How was your day?” He looks down at me and looks genuinely interested. He makes anything I say interesting.

“Same as always, yours?”

“Well, I found out I hate Chemistry more than I originally thought.” I laugh and ask him why.

“I failed our first quiz.”

“You already had a quiz?”

“I know right. Ravenwoood wanted us to take a simple quiz.” He adds air quotes on ‘simple’. 

“Ji, it couldn’t have been that hard.”

“That’s what I thought until I saw the F.”

"Do you want me to tutor you?”

He smirks, “We won’t get anything done.”

I roll my eyes. “Nevermind.” I laugh.

We walk to the car and throw our backpacks in the backseat. 

“Where are we going?”

“I want to take you to this tree I found yesterday.”

“Woah, a tree.” My sarcasm has been on point lately.

“Yes, a tree, Chaerin. You won’t be disappointed.” For the rest of the ride, the promise hangs in the air and when he drives up this old, evergreen tree, I can see he wasn’t lying. I wasn’t disappointed. The tree was beautifully tragic. Its trunk was wide and old and battered. The twigs were bent and distorted and the leaves had this beautiful dark green color that I’d never seen before. 

“How did you find this?”

“I was driving around a couple of weeks ago and it caught my eye. I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”

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