Romeo And My Juliet

Chapter 1

     "Each Flower will bloom. And each raindrop will pour. The moral is not to mourn. There is no need to gloom. Since the world will revolve, no matter which way we evolve,"

 Mrs. Choi used to sing this song whenever we fell asleep or faced any problem. I especially liked it at night, while we fell asleep. It blocks my mind a little bit from my reality. 

      I have been good at reading hidden signals.

     "June! Come here to wash your dirty clothes,". This translates to, "June! How dare you dirty your clothes! Come here so you could be smacked,". 

  "June! Come here and help your mother in the kitchen," is what was said. "June! Come to the kitchen so we can nitpick and humiliate every single thing in your life," is what I heard.     
                  
  "June! You need money? Sorry sweety, but we just got you a new game last week,". The reality was, "You need money? How? All of our money goes to the bar every night so your father could be satisfied,"

     All of my life consisted of hearing things in public and the complete opposite of it at the house where my parents live. My home, where my neighbours who took me in live, was different though, I felt safe in my home. I felt loved and heard. But unlike other kids, I couldn't spend all my life at home. Every night before 9, I had to be back at my house. 

     16 years ago a new park was built, all the parents took their kids to play and find new friends. My parents took me too. They took me to play the role of an orphan child.  And while people were busy comforting me, they stole whatever their hands could reach. Both of my parents are professional thieves. I was only 9 when they started using me as a bait. "Three tips to always remember. One, always look for pretty girls. They're probably well-off. Two, some people will only ask once, what's wrong with you? If you sense they're uninterested/ about to go, you have to make up anything to grab their attention for the longest time. Three, run. If anything goes wrong, you run. Don't look for us. Don't hesitate for one second. Just run,". These were words of wisdom written on our fridge every day since that park was built. They were mainly for me though. My Mother and Father had different tips. They'd always tell me that if I performed my role just right, the audience will clap for me. Meaning, they might give me some money.

     One day, a year after the park was built, and while I was obeying my parent's tips, "search for pretty girls", my eyes caught the appealing sight of a pair of black eyes. They shone like the darkest night ever and were big enough to hide all the universe's stars in them. If we could line all the pretty girls that I have been searching for during the past year, she must be the prettiest of them with no doubt. 

     I didn't have enough time to get lost in the universe of her eyes, my parents had seen the black-eyed girl too. Within minutes, I was ordered to perform my lead role in front of her. But this time, I didn't want my audience to clap. I didn't want to perform tonight. Instead, I wanted to play a different role. It is an honorable yet simple one. Away from being the main character, but being beside her. Nevertheless, to say that the most a 9-year-old girl could do was just act unhappy. I was forced to put up my scheme anyway.

     One, two, three... that's how many seconds it took me to reach her even though my whole body was fighting to go backwards. Even though I know that the look of disgust and betrayal in her eyes when she realizes what I'm doing will haunt me forever. But my body is weak too. My scars from the belt and fire aren't healed yet from the last time I disobeyed my parents. Although for her, I would be ready to take the same punishments a thousand times again to look into her eyes for seconds. Deep down, though, I knew that even if I left her now, my parents wouldn't. This is my only chance to try and warn her.