First Love

Chapter 1

The flight attendant hands me the third glass of champagne I had asked for. I immediately take a greedy gulp, drinking half of it. I need to keep my nerves in check. This third glass has just done the trick. I feel my body slowly relax.

I sink into my comfortable first-class seat and watch the pure clouds outside. It has been thirteen years now. I wonder if Tokyo has changed.

'Tokyo, huh.' My mind starts wandering back through memory lane.

I blame the champagne.

Memories flash in front of me like a roll of film. Some happy, but others painful. I close my eyes and see Kei's face. His beautiful green eyes. I can't help but sigh.

'Kei... my first love.'

I remember when I was about five. I was sick of playing with my older brother and his friends. They used to always leave me behind and Tom hated it when I followed him. He used to complain to mom and dad all the time. He was ten at the time and too cool to hang out with his little sister.

My younger brother, Daniel, was only three. So, when I was with him, it was more watching than playing. I felt so lonely. There was not even one kid my age in the neighborhood. That's why I kept running after Tom and his friends.

That is, until a family moved into the house next to ours. The Ichihara family. A few days after they did, my mom took me along when she brought an apple pie over to their house. It was a 'welcome to the neighborhood' gesture.

The blond woman welcomed us and immediately invited us in. I remember there were a few boxes still laying around the house. We sat on one of the green couches in the living room and our new neighbor smiled at me sweetly.

I remember thinking that the woman, Amanda, was beautiful. She had long thick locks of blond falling on her shoulders. Her eyes were green and captivating. They looked like my mom's emerald earrings.

"I was just making some tea, so your timing is perfect," Mrs. Ichihara said as both her and my mom giggled. She disappeared into the kitchen for about three minutes and came back with a tray of tea and some plates for the pie.

"Kei, come say hi," the woman called while pouring tea.

A shy little boy showed up from behind the dining table. He was hiding there the whole time.

"Hi Kei," My mom greeted. "Sam, do you want to go say hi?"

"Yes," I replied, already walking toward the boy.

As I got closer to him, I noticed he had his mom's eyes. The shape was different from hers, different but lovely. I found out later that he got that beautiful shape from his father, Mr. Kenji Ichihara, who was originally from Japan.

"Hi, my name is Samantha. And you?"

"Kei," he replied shyly.

"How old are you?"

"I am five years old," he said.

"Me too!" I yelled. I think I even ran to my mom to tell her that we were the same age.

Kei also had a younger brother. Like Daniel, he was also three, but he was sleeping the whole time we were there. I played with my new friend for a couple of hours as our moms enjoyed their tea and conversation.

It was my first encounter with Kei Ichihara, but far from the last.

That summer, we played together every day. We celebrated Kei's birthday in July and then mine in August. And a few weeks after that, we started school together.