Stay (Topp Dogg) {Published on Amazon}

Part 10

Monday

My first real date was with Yano's best friend A-Tom. At least, that's what everybody calls him. The kids real name is Kim Sanggyun. He's a sweet guy and I still keep contact with him. I can still remember our first date.

I was going through a hard time at home when my mom and I had just found out I had Tourette's syndrome. She couldn't pay for my medication and at that time, my tics were the worst. I had a few different ones going on at once. My right eye would wink constantly, I had this strange movement in my mouth, my nose tickled a lot so I kept sniffing without stop, and about every five minutes my head would twitch. That happened for a few years.

I kept coming home crying, saying the kids were making fun of me. When I turned thirteen, I was in my last year of junior high and everything just seemed to collapse. My Dad had lost his job, so we were very low on money. Mom was at home all the time, constantly making pancakes because she was getting phone calls from my teachers. They were telling her something was wrong with me and I had to go to a doctor. I was sick of the smell of pancakes and eventually took a cab over to Hyejin's house.

Hyejin and her husband always welcomed me whenever I needed a place to stay. I ended up staying at their house for a whole week, wearing Hyejin's baggy clothes.

Yano was getting annoyed from seeing me moping around the house every time he came home, so he set me up on a blind date. It just so happened that Sanggyun was having a rough time too. Yano thought a date would be a cheerer upper for both of us. In reality, I took Sanggyun away from him for an entire week.

Our first date, Sanggyun took me out to dinner at Nel Bom, which is a really crappy restaurant. The food was better than what my sister made though.

Sanggyun didn't think my tics were all that weird. He just needed somebody to talk to. I needed somebody to hang out with.

He told me about how his mother had developed cancer. Sanggyun went on and on with her cancer story from beginning to end. When he made it to the present day, the boy was crying hysterically. I just sat there, eating my food, as if it were no big deal. That's how he found out I wasn't big on sob stories.

After dinner, he hailed a cab and we drove around for about thirty minutes, until we reached the outside of the city. Then he took my hand in his and we walked around the area, looking at Christmas lights. Sanggyun and I made up a criteria for them and voted for number one spot. The house that got number one was the one with the orange and purple lights and Santa Witch standing on the front lawn.

After that, he called his father to come pick us up. We talked and talked on somebody else's front porch until his father came. His dad yelled at him a bit for taking me this far from the city, but I didn't mind much. At least somebody other than family was able to hang out with me without wondering what was wrong with me.

We had exchanged numbers and he came over to Hyejin's house for the rest of that week. After that, I wasn't afraid to go to school anymore. Some of my tics disappeared too. They would eventually come back to haunt me, but things seemed to be okay since then.

This is my second real date I've ever had. This time, it's with my dance instructor and Yano's school tutor. It seems that my love life will always revolve around Yano. Maybe I should keep my nephew closer to me.

Kidoh pulled over to the curb and parked the car. I looked out the window and saw that he brought me to an extremely popular Cafè. I've always wanted to go to this cafe, but I could never afford it. Now, Kidoh is taking me. I wanted to hug him tight and kiss his cheek, but I decided not to. That would be too much.

He rushed out of the car and opened the door for me. I smiled and stepped out, wearing my new black and white lace dress. I had pinned my hair up in a bun and got my bangs cut this morning so that they laid to the side. I also bought a pair of black high heels with a mini black bow on them. Maybe I went too far with the outfit, but I felt pretty, for once.

Kidoh endlessly complimented me that night.

We sat down across from each other. The main colors in the cafe were milk chocolate brown and a creamy color. The table cloths had lace on the trim and felt silky under my hands. The cafe/diner was newly refurbished. It was very nice, for lack of better vocabulary.

Kidoh continued to stare at me and smile. "You look so beautiful tonight."

I blushed and the butterflies started to fly again in my stomach. "Thank you," I said.

Kidoh sat up straighter once he saw the waiter coming. I sat up a bit more too and looked at the table, waiting for him to get here.

"Hello, I will be your waiter for tonight. My name is Kim Sanggyun. You can call me whatever you wish." I looked up in shock at the waiter. It couldn't be Sanggyun. He told me he was studying in Japan. That kid couldn't be here.

Sure enough, when I looked up, it was Sanggyun. My first love, showing up on my date.