Nobody Like You

New Summer, New Me

Lia

My last year's self will not understand me for saying this, but I wish for summer to last forever.

After all, life is great. Today is the first pride event of the year—the first one where I am comfortable with my sexuality—and all my friends are sitting around me, chatting and baking in the summer sun. My small circle of queer friends has expanded to a group that needs four picnic mats for us all to sit on, and I'm so proud of it.

"Yeah, Ruimin is applying to UCLA too," RJ says. Jon and Yuna have been asking her about her family, and I'm curious too. "He's the better sibling, so he'll have no issues trying to get my parents to pay up for college. Which is good. I want their money drained."

Jon chuckles. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: your mom is scary as fuck."

"Oh, agreed," Yuna says. "You know, RJ, when I had to leave Singapore and break up with you, I was secretly happy I won't have to see your mom again."

"Wow," I chime in with a laugh, "she's that bad, huh?"

I've heard RJ's many rants about her parents, especially her mother. It was how our friendship bloomed; we both complained to each other so much that we grew closer. But it is still wild to see that both Jon and Yuna—RJ's childhood friend and ex-girlfriend, respectively—have the same grievances about RJ's mom.

Jon and Yuna exchange a knowing look while RJ snorts. "Yeah, she's the worst. Also, I'm going to call her my birth giver instead of mom now. It's more appropriate."

I nod. "That's fair."

"I can't wait till I graduate and get a job. I'm so ready to cut off all contact with her." She raises her brows at me. "You too, right?"

"Yeah... I'm working on it."

With RJ's help, I've been taking steps to cut off my parents too: applying for more jobs, establishing a separate bank account, and saving up a lot more. I've even discussed this with Ro. After I get independent, I'll help him get out of the house too. We're in this together.

And it's not like I will be void of parental support—Jade has been more of a mother to me than my own mother.

"Isn't it strange that a person like that can give birth to two of the most awesome people I know?" Jon muses.

"Oh, so now you think I'm awesome?" RJ rebukes. "You were just bitching about me being a terrible host."

"You are a wonderfully awesome person who's also a terrible host."

"Oh fuck you. But Ruimin is awesome though. Honestly, I would've exploded without Ruimin around growing up." She turns to me with a smile. "Siblings are a saving grace from terrible parents, am I right?"

I wink at her. "Absolutely."

My phone buzzes. I read the text message, and a tingle shoots down my spine.

I look around. Jon, Yuna, and RJ are continuing their reminiscence about their younger days together in Singapore. Next to me, Yeju is having a separate conversation with Darren, Harvey, and Gabby.

I lean over to her. "Hey, Yeju, I'll be back, okay?"

"Oh?" She sits up and turns to me. "Where are you going? I can go with you."

"No, no, I... I just want to take a short walk around here. Stay."

Yeju frowns. "You sure, babe?"

"Yeah."

I force a smile and give her a quick kiss for assurance. Her concerned eyes linger on me as I scamper away.

Checking my phone, I make my way to the outskirts of L.A. state historic park. There are a lot more people now than one hour ago. Bright colors and pride flags embellish the park. Everyone seems to be wearing their best outfits and having the best time in their lives.