First Love

Chapter 3

My high school years were boring, except for the occasional boys who asked me out. I never understood why. I rarely wore my hair down, I never wore a skirt or a dress, and unlike the other girls, I never wore make up. That is why every time a boy started talking to me, it was fascinating to me.

I remember when Jordan Ramirez asked me out. It was after gym class one day, so I was even less appealing. But I thought maybe that was the only time he could talk to me alone, away from everybody else.

Jordan was gorgeous. He was one of the tallest boys in school. He was on the basketball team, and really popular with the girls. He looked at me with his hazel eyes that went perfectly with his tanned face. I could tell he was nervous.

'How could a guy like him be so nervous talking to someone like me?'

"Hey Samantha, I was wondering if you were free this Saturday. There is this movie playing, Ocean's Eleven, and it's supposed to be really good. It has a bunch of stars in it like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and that guy from Good Will Hunting. What do you say, do you want to go watch it together?" It felt like he didn't take a breathe the whole time he was talking.

I looked at him for a moment. I felt a little bad rejecting him. His eyes were so sincere and nervous. But I used the same excuse I had used many times before.

"Thank you so much for the invite, Jordan, but I can't. I'm dating someone."

I could see surprise in his eyes.

"I thought that was just a rumor; you dating someone who lives in Japan."

"It's true. His name is Kei." He stared at me for a minute and nodded his head, defeat written all over his face.

"Ok, well I'll see you around, then."

"Yeah, see you around."

Jordan never talked to me again.

A few weeks later, it was time to apply for the Japan Exchange program. So, I decided to tell my parents about my plans. One evening, I sat them down in the living room and I pitched my idea to them. I was so nervous about their decision, my hands were ice cold. I had made my case and was waiting for the verdict.

My mom stared at me for a few minutes then looked at my father.

"We will have to talk to Kenji and Amanda even before you apply. I mean it's not like a week or two, it's going to be four months," my mom finally said.

"Of course." I was trying to play it cool.

"I'll call them tomorrow to talk about it. What is the scholarship going to cover?" my dad asked.

"Transportation, food, they would also cover housing but since I have a place to stay-"

"May have a place to stay," my mom corrected.

"Yeah, that's what I meant." I smiled at her, but both my parents were way too serious at that moment.

I couldn't sleep that night. The anticipation was too great.

The next day my mom gave me the good news. She said that Amanda would love to have me. She was even more excited than I was, mom told me.

I filled in all the paperwork including the high school where I wanted to go - which was Kei's school of course - and applied to the program with the help of my advisor.

I was pretty confident. After all, I was the first in my class and in Japanese class. I was a good candidate for a program like that.

When I got the confirmation, about four months later, I immediately wrote to Jiro.