F.U

Chapter 18

Chaeyoung

WHENEVER MY PROFESSORS asked me to create a painting about love in the past, I kindly refused and asked for another assignment. In turn, they threatened to fail me, so I always had to flip through the pages of a local magazine or a fictional book to get inspired. I'd have to listen to a long playlist of love songs until I heard the right note.

Unfortunately, those pieces were never my best work, and each time my professors said something along the lines of, "Surely, you've felt passion for someone in your life, Miss Park. Surely you can bring out that love in your work."

For years, that topic was my biggest weakness, but after dating Jennie — even for such a short time so far, I knew I would never have that problem again. That no matter how long we lasted, I could always look back and remember our recent nights of spending hours in the hot tub, our mornings making love loud in the kitchen, and the weekends of never - ending dates that made me feel like this was definitely my first real romance. My first true love.

"Chaeyoung?" Jennie waved her hand in front of my face, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Chaeyoung?"

"Yeah?" I looked to my right and realized she was standing in the pier's parking lot.

"When do you plan on getting out of the car?" She smiled and unbuckled my seatbelt for me. "Tonight would be nice but I can wait until tomorrow if you like. If we wait that long, I won't be able to take you to Blue Falls in the afternoon, though."

I laughed and stepped out, shutting the door behind me. "I didn't know you were serious about bringing me to the carnival. We came here all the time when we were young, remember?"

"I only remember leaving with bruises because we fought the whole damn time." She pressed her hand against the small of my back. "They've changed a lot of this since you've been gone."

She purchased our tickets at the entrance, and we walked down the boardwalk hand in hand. The only things that remained the same were the Ferris Wheel and the paddle boats that lined the dock. All of the former snack machines were now replaced by full - blown food stands that featured funnel cakes, cotton candy, and fried sweets.

I could still remember all the times we chased each other across the pier as kids, and I was wondering how the hell I'd never managed to guess that the girl who would become my first real girlfriend was my enemy next door.

Leading me toward the rides, Jennie stopped in front of a bright blue food truck that read, Gayle's: New Specialty Sweets. The menu on the side door was full of waffles and breakfast themed - desserts, and for some reason, the word "Crack" was posted on all the tins of waffle batter.

"Before we get on any rides, I need you to finally try this so I can make sure that you've had it at least once." She held out a few bills for the attendant. "Can I get two hot chocolates please?"

The attendant began making our cups, and I stared at the menu.

"Isn't there a café near our campus named Gayle's?" I asked.

"There is, but you have to wait for at least an hour to get a seat. They have the best breakfast and desserts in the country."

"Better than the waffle place we used to stop at before school?"

"A million times better." She smiled and handed me a cup, motioning for me to take a sip.

I braced myself to hate it, to feel justified in rolling my eyes each time she insisted on ordering this instead of coffee when we were growing up, but it was love at first sip.

"It's okay," I said, taking an even longer sip. "It's still not as good as my coffee."

"Would you like another one before we get in line for the rides?"