Something Peculiar

15

Lisa lead me through the house and down a hall I didn't know existed. We went out the side door and stepped onto a narrow gravel trail lined with tall hedges. It curved around the house, leading us down the bluffs before it opened into a beautiful garden. The house and balcony hung over part of it, leaving half of it in the shadows, but the rest was bathed in the warm bright glow of the sun. Brick walls covered in thick flowered vines kept the garden blocked off from the rest of the world. Apple, pear, and plum trees blossomed all over the garden, making it more of an orchard than a garden. Flowers of pink and purple and blue sprang out in a small beds, and mossy greens like creeping Charlie grew in patches along the ground.

It was on a hillside, so the whole thing titled down. As we walked down the trail. I slipped a bit, and Lisa took my hand to steady me. My skin flushed warmly, but the second I caught my balance, she let go of my hand. Still, I refused to let it dampen my mood.

"How is this possible?" I asked as butterflies and birds flitted about the trees. "None of these things are in season. They shouldn't be flowering."

"They always flower, even in winter," Lisa said, as if that made more sense.

"How?" I repeated.

"Magic." She smiled and walked ahead.

I looked up at the house towering above us. From where I stood. I couldn't see any of the windows. The gardens had been built in the perfect spot so it wasn't visible from the house, leaving it hidden among the trees. It was a secret garden. Lisa was ahead of me, and I hurried to catch up to her. The sound of the wind in the trees and the river flowing echoed through the bluffs, but over that I heard laughter. I walked around a hedge and saw a pond that inexplicably included a small waterfall. I found the source of the laughter on two curved stone benches poised around it.

Wooseok lay on his back on one bench, laughing and looking up the sky, and Lisa stood next to him, admiring the sparkling pond. A girl looking a little bit older than me sat on the other bench, a Mountain Dew bottle in her hand. Her hair was shiny red, her eyes sparkled green, and she had a nervous smile. When she saw me, she stood up and paled a little.

"You got here just in time, Jennie." Wooseok smirked, sitting up. "We were having a show. Jisoo was about to burp the alphabet!"

"Oh, my gosh, Wooseok, I was not!" the girl protested, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I just drank the Mountain Dew too fast and I said excuse me!" Wooseok laughed again, and she looked apologetically at me. "I'm sorry. Wooseok can be such an idiot sometimes. I wanted to make a better first impression than this."

"You're doing okay so far." I wasn't used to the idea of anybody trying to impress me . . . ever, and I couldn't imagine that this girl would have to try too hard. She already had a certain likable quality to her.

"Anyway, Jennie, this is Jisoo, the girl next door." Wooseok gestured from one to the other of us. "Jisoo, this is Jennie, future ruler of everything around you."

"Hi, nice to meet you." She set down her pop and came over to me so she could shake my hand. "I've heard so much about you."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" I asked.

Jisoo floundered helplessly for a minute, looking to Wooseok for help, but he just laughed.

"It's okay. I was just kidding," I told her.

"Oh. Sorry." She flashed an embarrassed smile.

"Why don't you come have a seat, Jisoo, and relax for a bit?" Wooseok patted the seat next to him, trying to ease her discomfort. She felt awkward because of me, and I still couldn't wrap my head around the concept.