sk8-hi | sor

two

"good morning mrs morgernstern, my name is zachary kwan, i'm here to pick tomika up for school," zack said when my mom opened the door. he wasn't wearing his leather jacket and black jeans anymore. instead, he was wearing a red and green sweater with a white shirt underneath, and a pair of khakis and white sneakers. kwan's do dress up well, i've got to admit that.

"well, hello zack, pleasure to meet you, i'm melinda morgernstern," my mom said as she gestured for zack to enter the house. i sat in the kitchen and watched the whole scene go smoothly while i ate my oatmeal and berries. "mika!"

"yes, ma?" i spun around and pretended like i didn't know he was here already.

"zack's here, he says he's come to pick you up," i spun back around and flashed a smile at zack, and then diverted my attention to the clock. "6.59, what an early bird."

he chuckled, as he took a look around my house, saying, "wow, your house looks so cozy and well-decorated."

"gosh, zack stop it, stop being such a nice kid," my mom, obviously flattered, said. when he wasn't looking, she turned to me and mouthed "i like this one," pointing to zack as he smiled at my baby pictures.

"okay, zack! enough looking at my old pictures, we have school to get to," i reminded, grabbingg my bag from the stool in the kitchen and proceeding out of the door. "bye, ma!"

"be careful, honey!" she called after as zack
closed the door behind me. i walked down the steps and out onto the road, before having the shock of my life.

"wow. just, wow," i stared blankly at the jet black porsche parked right outside my house. "this is your car?"

"yes, that is correct. oh, excuse me," he walked in front of me to open the door. what a gentleman.

"y'know, for someone whom i first met wearing a leather jacket and sitting on a swing in the corner of a garden, playing with a flower and not making eye contact, you are such a sweetheart," i complimented, as i got into the porsche. its seats were a fine leather and it had a new car smell. i think i love it.

"thanks, i guess. now let's head to william b. travis high," zack said as we sped off to our high school. about a half hour later, we ended up pulling up into a large grand house.

"zack, this is not school," i said as i stepped out and gazed at the mansion before me.

"i know, it's just that it's early and school doesn't start until 9 today, so," zack reminded me, leading me to the door of the house. crap, i forgot that school started later on thursdays. anyway, it was about 8 feet tall and a (surprisingly) very beautiful shade of brown. he opened them up to reveal a grand foyer and marbled stairs. it was amazing. "welcome to my home!"

once i heard those words, my jaw dropped and my eyes widened in bewilderment. i knew from our conversation last night that the kwan's were rich and smart, but i never knew they lived such an extravagant life. i passed by this house in construction for over a year last year and i didn't realise my future crush would be living in this house. oy vey, summer's going to be the most annoying once she finds out about this. zack broke my train of thoughts when he grabbed my hand in his and pulled me up the stairs.

"c'mon, i'll show you my room," zack said and led me to the fifth door to the right in the left corridor of the second floor. it was a sky blue on the outside and a dark navy on the interior. his walls were lined with posters of many different and old bands, mainly the most popular bands who ever rocked the earth. there were three more doors in his room, each labeled with a sign. from left to right, it read clothes, bathroom and guitar. guitar? what?

"what's in the room that says 'guitar'?" i asked, walking towards it and setting my hand on the copper knob. he walked over and placed his hand on mine, saying, "a guitar closet, of course."

i raised an eyebrow before he opened the door to reveal a grand and truly amazing closet filled with guitars in a variety of colours, brands, designs, shapes and sizes.

"ah, it's not all guitars, sweetheart," i said, picking up a ukulele at the corner of my eye. "this is definitely not a guitar, zack."

"right. that's not, and i have no idea how that got in there," he took it from me and put it on an arm chair that he had in his room, with clothes and and papers strewn over.

"what's this?" i asked as i picked up some of the papers. they were music sheets, all messed up. "you write music?"

"i try to," he seemed a little ashamed to say, but nonetheless what he wrote sounded good. in my head, at least.

"can i?" i gestured to the guitar closet and pulled out an acoustic at the nod of his approval. i started playing a part of the song and sang the lyrics to it, utterly amazed at how great his songs are. "you have to consider this as a career option, you're amazing!"

"nah, i can't do that. i'm going to oxford, or better, i can't give up my studies for music. my dad will flip," he took the guitar from my hands and placed it back neatly in his closet.

"fine, but know that i will support you," i winked and continued to look around his room. just then, an idea sparked in my head. "is it cool if i look into your closet?"

he nodded, with slight hesitation. i opened up the door to reveal a small room filled of balck, blue or white articles of clothing. what a bore. i stepped in, and looked through every item of clothing he owned that abided the school dress code. i pulled out my selection of clothes and made him change.

"tomika, this isn't gonna work," he said from the bathroom, as i waited patiently on his very, very soft bed.

"trust me, it will. now come out, so we can hurry to school," i said, jumping onto my feet and preparing to see someone i already found attractive become twice as much, just by his choice of clothing. he stepped out, and my heart dropped, stopped working, and went straight into his hand. oh my thor. i swapped out his khakis for blue jeans, kept his dress shirt but added a leather jacket, gave him high tops instead of dress shoes. he looked like the guy your father would be worried about, but your mother excited. "wow. just, wow."

"that's what you said when you came in. since when was my life and i that awesome?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets and walking towards me. "do i look good?"

"you look, well you look amazing. i'm so proud of myself!" i jumped around, squealing at his outfit, and how good it looked on him. i was so happy, i couldn't wait to get to school. "i could kiss you right now!"

"woah, you're that happy, eh?" zack asked, pulling me closer by the waist. his large hands hugged my waist tightly and i was in shock. he made my heart go doki-doki. i gulped, looking down and signalling for him to release me. i muttered a few "um"s and coughed a little.

"maybe we should go to school," i suggested, and he agreed unanimously. he walked over to the door and opened it, gesturing me out. he grabbed his backpack from the floor beside his door, and we headed down the stairs together. after the awkward moment, is there any way we're going to start a friendship? shoot.

we walked to his car and buckled up, before heading to school. i wonder what everybody at school's gonna think once they see me, tomika morgernstern, the school's very own skateboarding-tomboy rocker, walk into school with the company of zachary kwan, the school's heartthrob and genius.