The Girl Who Hates Me

Hebe's Parents

The next day there was a light rain, but all the same, Arron, Hebe, and Selina made the trip to the Tian household, with Hebe having made a call in advance to her mom.

As Arron drove along, Selina said something about haven't seeing Hebe's dad in sometime, and Hebe agreed. They both had brought some flowers and gifts for Hebe's family.

"I don't have any siblings," Hebe said, just to inform Arron.

"I don't either," Arron said.

"Me neither," Selina said. "But Ella and Angela do."

They finally came to the address Hebe confirmed was her house.

Getting out Arron saw a small but pretty pink house with a driveway, and he smiled at the choice of color.

"Move along," Selina commanded, handing him some bags full of stuff.

Hebe unlocked the door to her house and called, "Ma, I'm home!"

Arron looked around the hall they were in, impressed at how cozy it was in here. The carpet was soft and white, the curtains pink and walls painted white, nothing messy or amiss.

"Shoes off," Selina said to Arron. He quickly took off his shoes.

Hebe's mother moved down the stairs and called, "Hebe, is that you? And Selina, too!"

"Yup," Hebe went to her mother and gave her hug.

Arron smiled. He could tell that she was Hebe's mother because Hebe's prettiness indeed came from her mother.

Mrs. Tian smiled at Arron. "Hebe's told me about you," she said. Arron saw that her face looked weary, tired, as if she had seen a lot of hardship in her time.

Arron bowed his head respectfully. "Yes, so it seems."

Hebe looked down at her feet and blushed a little.

Mrs. Tian took Arron's arm and led him away. "Come into the living room."

"Ye Ye, Nai Nai," Hebe greeted her grandfather and grandmother, sitting around the living room.

Ye Ye and Nai Nai gushed over their granddaughter, who was apparently the light of their lives.

They all sat around the living room. Arron kept looking around and around, as if he could never get enough of this. There was a glass table surrounded by a comfy couch and armchairs, a TV against the wall, a glass display case in the corner of the room that held various things.

"Oh my, what a handsome young man," Nai Nai said to Arron. "Are you treating my granddaughter well, hm?"

Arron grinned his killer grin. "Of course," he said. "It makes me happy to make her happy."

Everyone in the room laughed except Hebe, who was blushing, sitting next to Arron.

"We brought you some stuff," Hebe said. "Groceries mostly..."

While the adults gushed over the gifts, Arron got up and examined the glass case.

Pictures of Hebe's family were in there, as well as a stuffed animal or two, pictures Hebe drew in elementary school which Arron smiled at, some little trinkets here and there.

Then Arron thought, this is all of Hebe's family? Weren't there any others? Where was her dad?

Hebe saw Arron examining the family photos closely and sighed.

"Okay, Ma, we'll just be going to visit Dad," she told her mother, who froze in what she was doing.

"Are you sure, dear?" her mother said, her face falling at once. "You don't have to bring Arron along..."

Arron turned around. "I don't mind," he said.

Mr. Tian looked a little weary, but she said, "All right then. But will you be back for dinner?"

"Of course," Hebe assured her.

A few minutes later they were in the car, and Hebe gave Arron directions.

"It seems your family really cares for you, Hebe," Arron said.

"Mmhm," Hebe said.

"I mean, as in, overly concerned about your safety."

"Yes."

A half hour later, Selina said, "Park here, Arron!"

"Huh?" Arron said. He parked and they all got out into the wet cold, in front of a huge cemetery.

Arron turned to look at Hebe in bewilderment, but she turned away and was busily getting out the flowers.

Selina led the way into the cemetery. Obviously, she and Hebe had been here before. And obviously it seemed that Hebe's dad was buried here.

After walking far into the neat cemetery, past many of the tomb stones, Hebe and Selina halted in front of a gray tombstone, bearing a picture of a middle aged smiling man, followed by birth date and date of death, and then a row of vertical Chinese characters stating that he had been a loving husband and father. Arron then noted that the other side of the tombstone had space for the wife's side, but it was not filled in yet, because Hebe's mother was still alive.

Hebe squatted down on the grass. "Dad, I'd like you to meet someone."

Of course no one was there. But Hebe was talking as if her dad really was there.

Arron looked down at Hebe's small figure and felt sorry for her. Her dad had died....right before school had started this year, right before Arron and Hebe had met. Like maybe a week before.

Selina silently changed the old flowers, which looked recent, and put in the new ones.

"He's very nice to me," Hebe was saying, and her head was down, as if she was looking down in the grass, as if she was looking down and wondering whether her father, buried several feet down from where they were standing, knew if she was there.

Arron kept staring at Mr. Tian's picture. He could see a little bit of similarity to Hebe, but most of it came from her mother.

"He died from heart complications," Hebe said, now addressing Arron, though her face was still looking down at the ground. "But he was so young. He's never going to see me graduate, or go to my wedding, or see his grandchildren..." Her voice trailed off.

Arron bent down and put his arm around Hebe.

Selina stood quietly behind them, looking on.

"Mr. Tian," Arron said. "I promise to look after your daughter from now on. I'll never leave her. And I promise to make her stay happy always."

Hebe lifted her head and stared at Arron, surprised but touched all the same by his words.

"And we'll bring your grandchild to see you ," Arron added on further inspiration. "After our wedding we'll get ready to have a child."

"Don't count on it," Hebe said loudly. Selina stifled a small giggle.

After that, they stayed there for several minutes in silence, just looking around, just thinking. After that, Hebe got up, and the three of them slowly walked out of the cemetery, down to the car, not looking back behind them.

Hebe was thinking about Arron's words. And her heart was glad to hear him say these things, but she still wondered whether she was falling for the guy she had once said she would hate.