Seasons With You.

Summer (2)

July -

Aera and Junhong sat on the floor of the tall building, in front of one of the windows. Knee touching knee, eyes glued to the marvelous view, and journal held tightly in Aera's hand.

"So.. tell me.." Junhong broke the silence. "Why are you always writing in that journal? Is it your diary or something?"

Aera thought about it and slowly nodded, "You can say so, yeah. I just write about my day and if I have any thoughts on my mind. Usually, I write if I need to get something off my chest or about how my day went."

"So you have all 365 days written in that book?" He asked and eyed the diary clenched in Aera's small hands.

"No, I've only started about six months ago. When I first got it, I didn't write much. It wasn't until I met.." Aera realized what she was saying and stopped. She looked down, and away from the twinkling lights.

"A special friend of your's?"

"Yeah, you could say that." She gazed up and over at Junhong on her left. Smiling lightly, she placed her hand on his bicep. "Let's stop this."

It had been bothering Aera for a while now. She didn't want to continue Junhong being her tour guide, not because she didn't like him, but because she felt as if it wasn't right. He should be at school, studying for his college entrance exams. He should be with his friends or doing homework at home with his parents.

"Stop what? Me being your tour guide? Why?" Junhong slowly took ahold of Aera's hand and held it.

"I feel like it's not right. You should be studying for your exams, being at home, being a teenager. You should be living a student life." Aera frowned.

Junhong's face fell instantly and the expression on his face was stone. He was actually serious and Aera knew the words that soon left his mouth meant something. "Aera, I'm doing fine. I am living a student's life, I am being a teenager."

"Being a student doesn't mean running off to new adventures every night. Why are you so persistent?" Aera asked with a breaking tone.

"Because maybe I don't want to go to school! I don't want to study for useless tests!" Junhong threw his hands in the air, dropping Aera's along the way.

"Why not?" Yelling didn't do them any good, so Aera took her tone down a notch.

"I'm not good at it-"

"-But you're incredibly smart."

"That doesn't mean I'm good at school. I'm good at the curriculum, not the system. I have to sit in classes for hours a day and listen to my teachers talk about a single subject. On top of that, I have to read, do work, and listen to the snobby girls in my class ramble on about the latest gossip."

Aera didn't say anything, so Junhong continued, "I merely want to experience an adventure, something to live for." Junhong leaned back on his arms. "Not staying in class for eighty percent of the day and writing, or reading until either my hands or eyes fall out."

Aera was the student who devoted her life to school. She ate, slept, and inhaled academics. She was the star student everyone tried to be, admired. She wasn't bad looking either, she had boyfriends - a lot of them.

They were never a distraction though. School was her top priority. The only thing Aera didn't excel in was heartbreak. She understood how it worked, why she felt the way she had, but she never found a solution to the pain that came with it. Instead, every time felt worse than the previous.

"Do you like being with me?" Aera asked in a hushed voice. Her attention was back onto the lights that blinked calmly at her.

"More than you'll ever know." He whispered and Aera caught on.