𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑮𝑰𝑹𝑳 ; 𝑠𝑘8 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦

𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 // 𝑀𝑖𝑦𝑎

The teacher's clapping in an attempt to get the class's attention startled me out of my reading and left me irritated. My eyebrows furrowed and scrunched together slightly as the teacher began to talk about our summer reading assignment. I enjoyed reading, but rather on my own time and at my own pace. The books that the school assigned students always bored me and left me with more work to get done. I had zoned out by this time and turned the page of my book The Diary of Anne Frank, feeling pity for the poor girl who experienced those times of oppression and war before her unfortunate end. I pushed a strand of [hair color] hair behind my ear before it could fall forward in front of my line of vision.

"I hope you all have a good vacation! Don't forget to finish The Great Gatsby!" I heard my teacher call as I stood up and pushed my chair in.

I walked out of my class and down the hall, blocking out the sounds and letting my world go numb for a few minutes. I reached my locker and plugged my combination. Grabbing my backpack, I stuffed my binder and planner into it before kicking my locker shut. Stopped by my homeroom, I picked my skateboard up from the corner.

"Have a good break Mr. Harada," I said walking out of the room. He looked up from his book and gave me a smile and a wave. I walked out of the front entrance to the high school and saw my boyfriend, Miya Chenin, leaning against a railing on his phone. He always skipped his last period. Seeing as he already got his art credit there was no point in sculpting.

"Miya!" I called as I jogged towards him. He looked up from his phone at the call of his name and flashed me a smile when he saw me. He got off the rail and hugged me tightly when I was within arm's reach.

"Babe," I said, getting his attention, "you can let me go now."

"Right right, sorry about that," said Miya. He picked his backpack off the ground and slung it over his shoulder. His hand entwined with mine and he led me through the crowd of students trying to catch their buses. We walked down the sidewalk and off of school grounds, and headed for the park. We always used to hang out there, especially on Fridays when we would sit on a certain bench at a certain time, gazing off towards the lake.

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We arrived at the park and walked through the iron gate. The foliage shone in the blistering sun and dense humidity. Birds chirped up in the trees, peacefully observing the people that walked below them. The occasional few flew away cawing as children ran up to them screaming. Me and Miya walked quietly together, in one hand my skateboard and the other, his hand. We strode under the shade that blocked the hot Okinawa sun from reaching our porcelain skin, free of sunburn. The bench we usually sat at came into view, but as we walked towards it we noticed that a family was occupying it.

Miya, who was visibly disappointed, was snapped out of his scowl as I led him to a grassy area near the lake. I set my things down and lay down in the grass, filled with a sense of tranquility I wouldn't be able to find elsewhere. Miya joined me and lay down next to me, turning his head to gaze at me. My eyes were closed and as a breeze tickled my face, I let out a quiet exhale. I opened my eyes and turned my head to look back at him. A smile was plastered on both of our faces as we looked at one another fondly.

Leaning forward, his lips met mine in a sweet, short kiss. We allowed ourselves to relax and close our eyes, happy to be in each other's presence.

I was happy back then before the accident happened. Now, look where that got us.