PROLOGUE
The sun was bright and the sky was clear. The day couldn't be better. I held my wide-rimmed hat by the corners and tugged it down. The fresh summer breeze was keeping my spirits - and my dress - up. It was a perfect day to shop new summer clothes.
"Two whole months of freedom from school. Time for the beach, the beach, the beach. Me and you at the beach, the beach, the beach." I sang mindlessly to myself. "Me and you and the sunset at the beach, the beach, the beach."
Looking at shop windows, I smiled at my reflection. My summer is gonna be awesome. I trotted down the shopping district and kept on looking at my reflection on the mirror. It makes me happier to see myself smile.
But that grin was wiped of my face when I saw a couple through the window of a boutique. They looked so happy, choosing a perfume together. They were giggling and teasing each other, his arm wrapped affectionately around her waist. He looked so handsome. Lee Hong Ki looked so handsome. My boyfriend looked so handsome.
I slowly walked in the store and closer to the both of them, my legs feeling like a thousand pounds. Hong Ki looked up and was startled to see me. Struggling, I tried to give a small smile. But I was met with a cold gaze, so full of hatred that a chill went down my smile and I felt a fear I couldn't understand.
"Hong Ki, w-who is she?" I asked in a shaky voice. I feared the answer that he was about to give. Feared that my intuition was right. My heart secretly hoping that I was wrong.
"My girlfriend." Hong Ki answered in a cold voice.
She is his girlfriend. She is. Not me. "But we're together, you're my.. I'm your-"
"Don't even say it. You'll only hurt yourself." He placed his hand on my shoulders. "To put it simply, you're too childish for me. I'm popular and handsome, Noemi. I can't be with a kid like you."
Tears began to form, and I was having a hard time breathing. He leaned in, and whispered to my ear, "If I were you, forget about me. You'll be moving to a new school anyway."
He stood up straight, and held his girlfriend's hand. "Good bye, Noemi."
My name is Noemi Hivey, an incoming college freshmen. Cheerful, smiley, romantic and happy - that's how I used to be. But a storm wrecked my summer and I am now in a state of calamity. Will I ever love again?
