JAY'S POV
NIGHT, STILL SATURDAY.
I lay on my comfy bed in the dorm room while searching out the celebrity dancer 'Saline' with my phone on Google. If I was gonna chase her, I've gotta know about her background.
Let's see what Google have to say about her asides the fact that she's a celebrity dancer.
But I'm scared...
I'm scared of the kinda feelings I get whenever I see her, be it in physical meeting or on social media....
I click on search tab and typed in the details and waited for it to load. My eyes wandered over to my friends, Roe sat by his reading table, typing away on his laptop, I think he's reading. He's always been the most serious student amongst us and the only one in the science department, Dan and I chose to study business administration not like we need it anyway but just for schooling sake.
Well, Dan probably needs it, his father's idea though because of his chains of industries.
Back to Roe, this guy seriously loves science he studies closely six hours a day, twice that is.
Me? I can't stress my poor brain so I just stick with Business Adminstration.
I looked over at Dan. He sat down on his bed after retrieving from his bedside drawer the picture he drew of the celebrity dancer Diva, and has been a staring at it for what seems like more than thirty minutes now.
I smiled as I watched him furrow his brows in confusion.
"Dan what is it this time?" I asked rolling on my side.
"Jay, I'm having blurry flashbacks and images of a little me running around this beach at New York and...there's a girl, a little girl sitting on the sand wearing a dark blue hoodie and something else." He explained in confusion.
"Did you see her face?"
"No." He replied.
"And?" I asked.
"That's all I could gather. It's blurry, what I don't understand is this. I was getting the flashbacks just by looking at this girl's photo. It's confusing. Why does she feel so familiar? What am I Missing? Gosh! It's seriously confusing." He complained running his hands over his face. I smiled.
"A beach in New York? Didn't we like visit the beach countless times when we were little? And the girl, there are usually many kids both males and females in a beach. I seriously don't get this." Roe said incredulously, still typing away on his laptop.
"No, this feels different." Dan argued.
I smiled, Dan I might know what you are talking about but I will rather give you the pleasure of unraveling it yourself.
"Did you meet her today? I mean the dancer?" I asked him.
"Yes I did. Why?"
"Did you guys talk?" I asked again.
"No...I mean yes, I walked out on her." He said nonchalantly.
Roe hit his table in dismay.
"He had to do that." He huffed.
"So where is this driving at?" Dan asked looking at me.
"Well Daniel, maybe you need to think deeply some more about the flashbacks you are getting. Who knows, you might be able to place two and two together." I said with a small smile.
Dan looked at me suspiciously, whilst Roe gave me a puzzled look.
"Just saying..." I shrugged and turned back to my phone.
Google already brought out what it knows about her. Well let's see...
I read through a headline.
Cilia Saline Wilbert is the first daughter and second child of DR Huston Wilbert, America's number one Best Surgeon and Mrs Diane Wilbert, owner of the Number one fashion designing Industry in America. Saline as she's popularly Known have a younger sister age 10 called Candace. She's also a member of one of America's top dancing Crew DSD. Saline is also a best friend to Diva Scott, leader of the DSD dancers. Presently Saline attends America's Third Best University 'Royal Empire University... and so on and so forth.
I've got the useful information I need about her, what's the use of the rest.
So she's Dr Houston's daughter? Wow, that's great.
Her dad owns the hospital where I was birthed, that's so long ago. I smiled.
The smile on my face was wiped out when a soft sofa pillow came in contact with my face. I quickly look up to see the perpetrator. Dan stood there, eyeing me mischievously.
"I've been talking to you for ages yet you weren't responding. I know it's about that girl again." He teased.
"Brother take it slowly." Roe sang as he laughed. I frowned.
"Anyways you'd better go to bed early, tomorrow is a Sunday and you know what that means." Dan added with a knowing smile.
I use the pillow to cover my face.
"Oh brother!"I gasped as they laughed....
️TANIA'S POV
"Salanghae...ho oppa. No! Saranghaeh..yo oppa... Aigoo! Still not it. I don't know learning Korean would be this difficult. But still, I've got to Learn it. Okay, testing... Sarranghaeyo oppa. Yes! I got it, did you...." I eyed her meticulously beneath my reading glasses.
"Lia can you be quiet? I'm trying to read here." I said cutting off her intended sentence.
I was reading through a course in physiotherapy, with legs crossed on my bed my laptop facing me. The tests are fast approaching, but this fish, yes fish choose to learn Korean and make my reading miserable with her continuous gibberish.
Elle chuckled from her bed. She was reading a novel, Wait! That's my habit, what's up with her? Hmm I guess 'soulmate Daniel'
"Aniyo! Shiro.Waeyo? Nanuen hangug-eoleul baeugo spida." She uttered sticking her tongue at me. I gasped and turned to Elle for help.
"Can you tell me what the crap she's saying?"
Elle folded her legs and reclined more on the bed. I asked her to tell me since she spent a year in South Korea after highschool with her mom's friend and son who remarried a Korean man.
"For a start, I think what she's saying is this: Aniyo! Nanuenhaji anh-eul geos-ida. Waeyo? Nanuen hangug-eoleul baeugo spida. It means: No! I won't. Why? I want to learn Korean." She explained still looking at her book.
"All those long words for just a simple English sentence." I said with a gasp.
"Korean is very broad Nia. Lia you shouldn't say shiro for I won't, shiro means i don't like it." Elle said with a chuckle.
Cilia's eyes widened in interest as she drew closer to the edge of her bed looking expectantly at Elle.
"Really? I just remembered you stayed in South Korea for a year, now you will be my tutor. No need of learning from movies again..." She slammed her laptop shut. "No, I still need to." She opened it again, crazy girl. "How's that cutie doing? Haven't heard from him in a while. Wow...Nia's number one torturer then. No that's me... I guess he's number two then..." She winked at me. I rolled my eyes away.
Although Carl was Elle's close friend and neighbor back then during highschool, we never got along. He always enjoyed pranking me at every little opportunity, he had even successfully put a life lizard in my school bag. I was very scared of lizards then. I and Carl never got along not even once. I think we are sworn enemies.
"...So when are we starting? Do we start now? Tomorrow? Next? Tell me about South Korea again. Was it..."
"Lia! Breathe." Elle laughed.
"Can you tell me why you're so insistent on learning Korean? Is it because of Jay?" I asked cryptically.
"Definitely because of Lee Jung Oppa, Korean is interesting too." She said dreamily. I chuckled.
"Let's say Jay asks you out, what would you do?" I asked again.
"Oh my, Nia! Oh my, if wishes were really horses beggars will definitely ride Nia. My tutor, please tell me." She said.
Elle chuckled.
"South Korea have many beautiful places, towns and cities. There's the N Seoul tower the one you see in some movies, Yongsan park, Lotte world adventure and lots more beautiful places. For cities and towns, I love Seoul city more, the capital city of South Korea. Jeju city is also..."
"Girls, why won't you let me read in peace? You are distracting me with all these nice talks about South Korea, I might be tempted to visit." I said fiddling with a pen while eyeing them closely.
"Yes! Very great idea Nia. Let's visit South Korea soon, maybe during summer, we could even see Carl, his mom and even his new..." Lia was saying excitedly.
Wrong idea. Very wrong idea!
"Not me." I interrupted "I'm not going. I will rather visit the hottest country in Africa and avoid seeing Carl than visit South Korea to see him."
Elle laughed cynically.
She was partially his accomplice, because she always know what he was gonna do but never told me.
"Oh Tania! It's been years now. Forgive him already." Cilia said picking up the juice box that was laying by her all this while.
"I don't think he wants to be forgiven. Let's talk about something else please, since I can't read in peace anymore." I huffed pushing my Laptop away.
"Then let's talk about me." Elle stated putting her book away.
We looked at her confusedly.
"Huh?! Lia said as she drank from the juice. It's late but she still drinks juice. She eats and drinks at anytime of the day she wants, knowing that isn't good for the health. But she never listens.
"Yes, the name Jordan have been ringing in my memory since we resumed this semester and even this novel I'm reading has a character that bears the name. What do you think of that?" She asked leaning up properly.
"Well, I think you are being weird..." I said unsurely.
"Extremely." Lia added, sipping away absentmindedly on her drink. "Wait! did you say Jordan?" She suddenly asked with widen eyes.
What does she know?
"No she said Jacob." I replied with sarcasm. She rolled her eyes.
"Do you know something Lia?" Elle asked.
"That's the name of my second ex-boyfriend." She said with a grin dropping the juice box. We glared at her.
"Okay fine," she shrugged. "Remember I don't forget things easily?" That's true. "Many years back when we were eight years old, our families due to business meetings traveled to New York City. While we were there, we went to a beach in New York together.
I remembered seeing you sitting alone on the sand when I came to you to tell you about the sand castle Tania and I were building, I heard you say a name Jordan.
I thought it was nothing really serious so I didn't ask you about it. But then I noticed after we returned to Los Angeles, you mentioned the name each time we visit a beach, I was the only one who noticed this.
I thought I should ask you about it but you never mentioned the name again after Ariel died, I didn't want to bother you about it so I let it slide. I'm sorry for only saying this now, I'm also sorry for bringing back Ariel's memories." I gulped when she was through.
Does this make any sense? I mean after all the years of forgetting whatever that name meant, then to suddenly remember it only this semester? What does this mean?
I looked at Elle, she looked a little bit shocked but then she quickly regained herself. She swallowed. Lia was fiddling with her fingers.
"It's alright Lia. Thanks for remembering at least, that could help a lot in this name puzzle. I will try to unravel the rest. You guys go to sleep early, tomorrow is Sunday. Goodnight." She turned on her side facing the wall and backing us.
Lia looked at me worriedly, I smiled comfortingly at her.
"She will be fine." I whispered.
Each time Elle hears that name or is being reminded about the little one 'Ariel' she always go weak.
Something in me keeps telling me for the past nine years that child isn't dead but I always shove it away as mere infatuation, reason being that we were so much attached to the child even before she was born. Her death was a huge lose for us all especially Elle. I told you she's emotionally fragile. Too fragile, she could be easily broken. Good thing she didn't date anyone like we did, she probably would have been so wounded and extremely broken. She acts tough on the outside and amidst strangers, but when in with her close and love ones she's a cry baby. I smile sadly. If only that child was alive, Elle would have been better and stronger than she is now.
My phone rang beside me. I looked at Lia, she was already lying down halfway but was now sipping from her juice with a sad pout visible on her lips. Her aquamarine blue eyes far away in thoughts.
She still won't listen despite knowing that drinking or eating while lying down is wrong.
I looked at the caller ID. That annoying little pest of a younger brother. What does he wants this time?.
"Zoe, why are you calling me by this time of the day? Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"
"Good evening to you too Sis Rosy," I rolled my eyes at that. He's just eleven but likes to act like he's older. Mom insisted he calls my name respectfully.
"Whatever. What do you want Zoe? Dylan isn't home right, that's why you are still awake by this time of the day. Didn't mom seize all the phones from you? How are you still able to call me? I know you sneaked into her room to get it. I will make sure to tell Dylan to keep a close eye on you. You are becoming naughty th...."
"Aye! Calm down sis, please don't tell Mom I sneak into her room.." I rolled my eyes. Like she wouldn't know. "Please I just want you to help me get Dylan to release my PS games set. He refused to let me have them again."
Dylan is my immediate younger brother, next to him is this eleven year old pest. I'm the first born and the only girl child.
"Why? You aren't studying like you should are you?"
Silence...
"You have to promise to take back your position as the first in your academics from whoever you left it with, only then will I help you with your little problem. Is that agreed?"
"Yes! I promise I won't let Pete over take me again. I will study very hard this semester and be the best again." I smiled.
"Now that's a good boy."
He laughed from the other end.
"When are you coming home? I miss you already." Awwn, such a funny little pest.
"I just got back to school Zoe. Now go to bed before I report you to Dylan." I smirked.
They don't get along. Dylan is eighteen years old. I'm always the one in between their little fights.
"No please don't. Goodnight." He shrieked. I laughed.
"Goodnight strawberry."
"No..not again..." He hung up.
I chuckled.
Zoe hates being called that. His hair has a natural mix of strawberry colour to his dominant brown one.
Time to sleep.
I look at the girls.
I think Elle's asleep already, Lia was in between consciousness and unconsciousness, the juice box hanging loosely in her hand. I shook my head and stood up. I removed the can from her hand and adjusted her properly. Then covered her body with her duvet, she mumbled and clung tightly to the blanket while curling her legs up a bit. I smiled and took the juice box into the kitchen. Then I returned back to my bed and lie down after putting my laptop away and covering myself with my thick duvet, not before covering Elle with hers though.
It's been a long day.
It's also a cold night....