The beginning

The boy who was in front of me was the one who would change my whole life. My life would never be the same from this day on.

Chapter 2: The beginning

I really had a very nice time having a long tour around Washington, D.C. with Susan. She was a knowledgeable tour guide. Actually, after the day we drove around the capital city of the United States together, she brought me to many other interesting places the whole week. She treated me so well. Her mother-like personality really made me feel so warm. However, the coziness from Susan was suddenly gone when her black car was driven out of sight, leaving me alone in front of my new high school. There were many people passing by, but I still felt like I was standing alone under the dim sunlight in the cloudy sky. I inhaled deeply, and walked into the school.
I had a very strange feeling while walking into the place. I didn’t know anyone there. I was walking through a sea of people who spoke English, and I could hardly find any Asian-look students like me. I felt like I was a weirdo among the crowd. I felt that my entire body was freezing, not because of the cold wind that was now blowing on my face, but because of the unfamiliar environment that I was inside right now.
Susan had told me what to do on the first day in school. I did exactly what she told me. I went into the office, applied some confusing documents for exchange students, took my class schedule, and walked out to find where my first class took place. The personnel had already told me where Room 11 was. The only task I needed to complete right now was to walk to it without getting lost; and this wasn’t easy at all.
I looked around, trying to find kind student to help me. And then, I found him, a tan young man with short black hair, who was also walking with his eyes on the schedule. He seemed to be a kind boy. I collected all the confidence I had, and walked toward him.
“Excuse me,” I said.
He looked up from the paper, and had both of his dark brown eyes fixed on me. It was a very strange look which I’d never seen before. “Yes?” he spoke after a few seconds.
“Could you tell me where Room 11 is?”
His mouth curled into a little smile. “I’m going to Room 11, too.” He said with a very gentle voice. “Would you mind if I walk you there?”
I gasped, astonished.
“Would you mind it?” he repeated demandingly.
“Oh, yeah, I mean…no,” I replied. “Thank you.”
He nodded, still smiling. “Let’s go, then.”

            “What’s your name?” he asked as we walked through a narrow way on the second floor of the building.
“Xin,” I answered, “Xin Tan.”
“Interesting name,”
I frowned. Interesting name? Was it just like Strange name?
“Well, I’m Jasper,” he introduced himself, “Jasper Alden, an exchange student.”
My ears suddenly widened from the last word. “What?” I exclaimed. “You’re an exchange student?”
Jasper nodded. “Yep!”
My heart was pounding so hard with glee. Now, I had a friend who was an exchange student like I! I felt much better at once. I wasn’t alone anymore.
“Jasper,” I said excitingly, “I’m an exchange student, too!”
Jasper almost immediately turned his bright face to me. “Really?” he laughed out loud.
“What are you laughing at?” I demanded. I was pleased to know that he was in the same position like I, but he just saw this as a joke?
“No, no,” He stopped laughing, “I didn’t laugh at you. Don’t misunderstand me, please. I laughed because I was happy. You know, I felt really very bad when I walked into the school. I felt just like I was an alien in this place. I felt like I was alone in this country. But now, I’ve got a friend who shares the same feeling.”
What he said made me smile very wide without even knowing myself. It was a genuine smile. His words were like a powerful force that grasped both side of my lips, and pulled it into a very wide grin.
“Don’t be angry with me,” Jasper pleaded. “You’re now the only friend I have.”
“No, I’m not angry,” I laughed a bit. “I can’t be angry with you, Jasper. I also don’t lose my only friend in this place.”

            “Here we are,” Jasper kept the paper inside his jeans’ pocket. “Let’s get inside. We’re almost late for our very first Chemistry class.”
And we walked inside. The room was now full of students who had already booked the best seats in the class.
Jasper and I looked around for two available seats.
“There,” the teacher pointed at seats in the corner of the room.
“Thank you, sir,” I bowed a bit.
“Let’s go,” Jasper said, pushing me softly.

            Chemistry was the only subject I felt that was not very understandable for me. Mr. Smith, a fat chemistry teacher, spoke very fast that I couldn’t understand anything at all. It was hardly acceptable that I didn’t catch anything in a 45-minute lecture.
“Now,” Mr. Smith said after finished explaining. “I’m gonna give you ten questions, and want you to complete them before the bell rings.” He turned back to his white-board, and wrote all the questions with the ugliest hand-writing I’d ever seen in my life.
I noted the questions down without understanding any of them. I massaged my own forehead. I only had fifteen minutes left to finish everything.
“You need my help?” Jasper offered.
I nodded firmly. “I really need it.”
Jasper chuckled. “Okay,” he said as he leaned himself to my side with his finger pointing at the first question.
“Here,” he started to explain.
His explanation was very clear and understandable. I’d rather choose him to be my official chemistry teacher than Mr. Smith. I finished the fifth question by the time the bell rang.
“Time’s up!” Mr. Smith yelled.
Many students in the class groaned in dissatisfaction.
I exhaled hardly. “I really can’t believe I’ve finished it on time!” I gave Jasper an admiring look. “You’re really great!”
He chuckled. “Thanks, student. Well, you’re a smart girl, Xin. You just need to read more.” He picked up my notebook and put it on his. “I’m gonna send it for you.”
He stood up, and walked to Mr. Smith with two notebooks in his tan hand.
My eyes automatically followed him. I felt that my heart was beating in a strange way every time I looked at him. He was really cool!

            “What’s your next class?” Jasper asked as we walked out of the room.
“History,” I answered happily. This was the subject I wanted.
His face was dim at once. “Mine is Physics.”
“Oh,” I felt that my heart sank. I still didn’t want to separate from him. I didn’t want the loneliness to be back.
He seemed to have the same feeling.
“Could I walk you there?” he asked, looking at me.
I nodded with a little smile.

            The loneliness blew hardly through my heart again. Jasper was already out of sight. But I told myself firmly that I must be okay staying alone. I couldn’t expect to have him or anyone sticking to me all the time. It was the time I must learn how to be with myself.
I walked into the classroom, pretending to be confident.
“Oh!” a tall woman turned to me. “So, you’re the exchange student from Thailand, right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied. I didn’t know who she was, but I supposed, from her dress and age, that she was a teacher.
She gave me a smile. “Welcome to the U.S.” she said.
I smiled back. I felt so good. “Thank you, ma’am.”
There were not so many people inside the class, so I didn’t have problem finding good seat.
I sat down in the front of the class, wished to gain as much information from the teacher as possible.

            Students started to flow into the room. I was excited to know who was going to sit beside me. Is that person going to be friendly?
“Hey!” a voice came from aside. I turned to see who was talking to me.
“Hi!” I greeted back with the friendliest smile I could cast.
Two girls were standing beside my seat, looking at me.
“So,” a girl with long blond hair started, “You’re that exchange student from Asia?”
I nodded. “Yes, I am.”
“Well, I’m Jess,” I introduced herself, smiling strangely. “And this is my friend, Kate.” She gave a brief look at a red-haired girl beside. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Xin,” I replied. I felt so good as they were talking to me nicely. But that feeling didn’t last long at all.
I was gone almost immediately after I finished introducing myself.
“Xin?” Jess giggled. “Your name’s Xin?”
I tried to maintain my smile. “What’s wrong with my name?”
They didn’t seem to hear me at all. They kept giggling.
“Her name’s Xin, Kate!” Jess spoke to Kate in amusement. “I wonder if her name is something like…SIN!”
And both of them burst out their laughter.
I hid my tight fists under the desk, trying my best to control myself. My fighting skill was fantastic. I knew exactly what would happen to them if I lose my self-control for only half a second. So, I kept myself quiet and continued reading my history book in order to distract myself.
“Your name’s cool, sin Xin,” Jess elbowed my arm.
I frowned, clenching my teeth. I inhaled deeply, and faked a dim smile.
“Excuse me,” I spoke sternly, “But would you mind stop jeering me? I’m reading my book, and I don’t feel like playing at this moment.”
Their faces turned red at once.
“You just remember what you said today, sin Xin,” Jess spoke harshly through her teeth. “We played with you because we saw that you were lonely, and this is what you give us back. Just remember today!”
She took Kate’s hand, and they walked away.
I exhaled gloomily. GREAT! Finally, I had got two enemies on the first day in school!

            I didn’t study with please at all. I felt that I heard Jess and Kate gossiping something with other students, giving me an angry gaze all the time.
I frowned with stress. Maybe, I should have controlled myself better than that. Enemy was the last thing in this world I wanted to have.
Their gaze really annoyed me greatly. I couldn’t catch anything the teacher said at all. I felt the pressure blowing hardly on me all the time. The tension kept increasing every time I felt that more and more students started to look at me in a very unpleasant way. I tried not to care, but I couldn’t!
The only thing I could do was to fix my eyes on the history book, which was opened in front of me, and read every single alphabet with intention, even everything I read just passed through my head without any information left behind.

            The lecture finally ended. And that was the first time in life I was keen to walk out of the history class.
Right after the bell rang, I abruptly closed the book, threw it into my bag pack, and stood up. I squinted my eyes around the room to see if anyone still bothered to give me unfriendly look. And as expected, I found many.
I turned my eyes away from them, and controlled both of my pupils to look straight-only as I walked out of the room. I didn’t want to be aware of them anymore. I’d got too much tension, which I could barely cope, to deal with.
What I really wanted to do right now was to get out of here, and found Jasper. My desire for someone to share my feeling with was now very concentrated. Talking to someone was a great way to get rid of pressure. But I was disappointed to realize that I still hadn’t got any of his contact information. I didn’t have his phone number or anything. So, how was I going to find him? Fate and destiny were the only hope I had.

            I looked around the unfamiliar cafeteria right after I walked across the threshold. I was looking for the only boy whom I felt that understood me most at this time.
And to my disappointment, I couldn’t even see his shade.
I sighed as I walked alone to get my lunch. My first day in school was so gloomy. This morning, before walking out of Susan’s black car, I did feel that today was an auspicious start to my exchange student life in the U.S. But I was terribly wrong; now I knew.

            I sat down on a small round table which was only available for two people, hoping that he might come.
I placed my nice-cooked lunch on it, and started to eat.
“Oops!” I exclaimed as my sausage dropped down onto the table. “The table’s quite clean,” I whispered to myself. I knew picking up that sausage to eat wasn’t a good idea, but the sausage was so delicious that I could hardly stop my hand from picking it up.
“Ouch!” I exclaimed again. My hand was in pain from a hard slap from an unknown hand. I abruptly looked up angrily.
“What-?” my words stuck inside my throat. A wide grin appeared across my face. “Jasper!”
Jasper sat down on the opposite seat with a bag of sausages in his hand. He looked at me dimly.
“Don’t ever you do that again, Xin,” he said in a kind of authoritative tone. “It’s dangerous to eat something dirty.”
“It’s not dangerous,” I argued. “You see, the table’s so clean.”
He frowned. “Are your eyes microscopes?”
I rolled my eyes. “Alright, alright.”
Jasper smiled a bit. “That’s a good girl,” he said as he took my fork to pick one of his sausages, and placed it gently on my plate.
“Jasper, you don’t need to…”
“Just eat it,” he interrupted. “I’m happier to see you eat it than to eat it myself. You like sausages, eh?”
My heart started to pound hardly again. He was sort of gentleman I liked. I ate his sausage, still smiling.
“You normally smile when you eat?” I asked, astonished.
I shook my head. “No,” I murmured. “Just this time.”
He chuckled, eating his nice lunch.
That was the best lunch time I’d ever had. He told me a lot of funny jokes that made me laugh until I felt that I couldn’t breathe. We talked about so many good things. But the environment turned to be gloomy at once when he said…
“So, how was your history class?” he asked. “Did you find any good friends there?”
My smiling lips curled into a flat line.
“Oh,” I said unemotionally, “It was fine.”
It wasn’t fine at all! I made my voice as sarcastic as possible. I wanted him to notice that I was lying. And to my satisfaction, he did.
“What’s wrong?” he asked anxiously. “You can share with me, okay? You can tell me anything you wish.”
I sighed, and told him what was happening in that class.

            “Are you sure?” I asked in shock, pulling him back. We were now standing in front of the administration office.
He nodded firmly. “I understand how you feel, Xin,” he said, holding both of my hands in his. “And I really can’t let you face that kind of situation alone. I’m going to change my schedule. I will be studying history with you.”
“But you told me after lunch that you didn’t like history,”
He shook his head. “That’s not important,” he spoke. “Having someone with you in that kind of environment really helps. I know that you love history, and I don’t want this kind of stupid thing to disturb you. I’ll be sitting with you, studying with you, and protecting you from them.”
I forced myself not to be in tear. His words really melted my whole heart. This was only the first day we met. How come he was so nice to me?
“Wait here,” he squeezed my hands, before opening the office door. I pulled his arm back. There was a question in my heart that I was too keen to know. I couldn’t wait anymore.
“Why are you so nice to me?” the question flew out of my mouth. “Why are you treating me so well?”
He thought for a little while.
“I don’t know,” he finally replied. “I just do what I want. And taking care of you is what I wanna do most.” And he walked into the office, leaving me standing alone with melted heart and body. I drew a deep breath. I knew it was too soon to explain this kind of feeling with the word ‘love’, but I couldn’t find any other words to explain my feeling toward him. He was too nice to me. I’d never found anyone being so good to me like this, except my parents. Maybe, time wasn’t a correct interpretation of ‘love’ after all.

            The office door opened, followed up by a tall tan boy.
“Everything’s all right?” I asked enthusiastically.
Jasper nodded. “Yep,” he said, “Everything’s all right. We’re always gonna have history class together from today on.”
I chuckled in glee, looking at his beautiful face. “Thank you, Jasper,” I said it sincerely from my heart.

            Jasper walked me to the parking lot where Susan was waiting in her car.
“I’ll wait for you in front of the cafeteria tomorrow,” said Jasper with a very gentle look.
“Okay,” I said, waving my hand. “Bye!”
He laughed a bit, waving his hand, too.

            “How was school?” Susan asked after I climbed into the car. “Nice?”
“Not exactly, Susan,” I whispered, looking out of the windshield. I didn’t say anything else. I was in a good mood, and I didn’t want this kind of thing to dim it.
Susan seemed to understand how I felt. “This is your first day. You’re gonna be used to it soon.”
“I hope so,”
Susan sighed. “As you see, dear, most of the Americans are friendly and helpful. However, it’s impossible that a society contains only good-natured people. Some of the people in America might not be so friendly to a newcomer. This is what you need to understand.”
I closed my eyes. “I understand, Susan. But I still have problems dealing with it.”
“That takes some times.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.” But I didn’t have to worry much about it anymore as Jasper was going to be in history class with me. I smiled as the picture of Jasper appeared vividly in my mind.
“So,” Susan broke the silence, “Who’s that boy?”
“Which boy?” I pretended to be innocent.
“The one who walked you to the parking lot. Is that your boyfriend?”
“No,” I replied, feeling the urge to say ‘Yes’.
“He’s just a friend,” I added. “He’s also an exchange student.”
“Really?” Susan asked excitedly. “Where’s he from?”
“England.”
Susan’s face crimpled. “He doesn’t look like English.”
“He looks more like an American-Indian,” I admitted. But he’s sort of handsome, anyway.
“It seems that you and…what’s his name?”
“Jasper,” my heart pumped as I spoke his name.
“Well,” she continued, “It seems that you and Jasper are getting along quite well.”
I chuckled. “It’s just the first day.”
“Great start often guarantees great future,” she said, “even if it’s not always like that.”
I looked out of the windshield again. I wished our great start to be a clear pathway to reach our great relationship in the future.

            “Here we go,” Susan hit the break.
I walked out of the car, feeling a bit tired.
“Have you got any homework to do?” Susan asked as we got inside the house.
I shook my head. “No, Susan.”
“So, what are you gonna do tonight?”
I shrugged. “I still haven’t decided yet. Maybe, I’ll read chemistry. I didn’t understand anything the teacher taught.”
“Should you need any help, let me know.” She gave me a mother-like grin.
“Sure!” I answered playfully, before running up the stairs.

            Chemistry really sucked! I tried my best to read it after a nice dinner with Susan, but my brain turned to be numb every time it realized that what I was forcing it to remember was Chemistry. I closed my book shut as I decided to give up, and asked Jasper to give me a little lecture.
I switched off the light, walked to the bed, and laid down.
I had been sleeping in this room for many days now, so I didn’t have any more problems. I could fall asleep very fast.
I still thought of my family in Thailand, though. But it wasn’t as much as the first day I arrived here. I was feeling much better now, and I knew that I would be able to cope with all the terrible feelings I had soon. I closed my eyelids, giving myself a rest. The cool wind blowing from outside gave me a very good feeling. It was so comfortable.

            I was walking in a wet narrow road between two dirty buildings. I didn’t know where I was. The only thing I knew was I wanted to go back to Susan’s house, but I didn’t know how I could possibly go back. I didn’t even know how I got here. I decided to keep walking through the darkness.
“What are you doing here?” the guy in front yelled. I was about to run back when I realized that he wasn’t talking to me.
I narrowed my eyes to have a better picture of a guy in front, and was shocked to see that he was Jasper.
I hid myself behind a big smelly bin beside, and carefully see who he was talking to. And then, I saw them. Three enormous guys was walking toward Jasper.
“You know the answer,” said the one in the middle. He seemed to be a leader.
“You shouldn’t do this,” Jasper bellowed. “You’re a betrayer!”
“Betrayer?” the guy jeered. “Betrayer? I think this word really suits you and your little Adonis more than anyone else!”
“You must not insult Adonis!” Jasper thundered fiercely. He showed his fists up, ready to fight.
The guy laughed out loud. “I forgot how much you revere that little Adonis.”
“I’m warning you,” Jasper spoke sternly. “Go away! Get out of this town! Or there’ll be a consequence.”
“I think you’d better tell yourself,” the guy cracked the tendons in his neck. “Do you really think you can fight us?”
Jasper chuckled. “That’s for sure!”
“Very well,” the guy walked in, “Then, we shall see!”
            “Jasper!” I yelled out loud, sitting up automatically. I looked around, and saw a familiar pink wallpaper around me.
“It’s just a dream,” I told myself even I could barely believe it. It was too vivid to be just a fabrication. I rested my face in my cold hands. Was Jasper really in danger? I was very worried about him.
“It’s just a dream, Xin,” I told myself again firmly. But I still felt like my whole heart was sinking. I knew it was crazy to think that the dream was real, but I couldn’t help feeling it.
I really couldn’t help feeling it.

            “What’s wrong with you?”
This was the first sentence Jasper spoke when we met in front of the cafeteria.
I shook my head. “Nothing at all,” I lied.
Jasper had my face in his hands, and turned it to meet his gaze. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he demanded.
I sighed. “I had a terrible dream last night. It was about you.”
He gave me an interested look. “Can you tell me?”
I nodded. “Yep,” I said. “In the dream, I was walking on a wet narrow street between two dusty and dirty buildings. It was so dark and smelly, and the environment was terrible. I walked and walked ‘til I saw you. You were talking to three giants. At first, you asked them what they were doing here.” I paused to see if he was listening.
“Go on,” he spoke in a serious tone. The gentle in his eyes was gone. There was the mixture of fear and angriness instead.
“Err…” I hesitated. I didn’t know what had happened to him.
Had I said anything wrong?
“Just go on,” he cast a little smile which was clearly a fake.
I nodded. “Then, you guys had a very serious argument. It was about a guy name Adonis.”
Jasper inhaled deeply.
“Jasper? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Go on.”
“Then, you told them to get away from this town. They said something which I can’t remember, and you guys picked a fight.”
“And then?”
“I woke up,” I replied. “Are you sure you’re not sick?”
“Why?”
I looked at his face. “You look so serious.”
“Me? Serious?” he laughed. “No, no! I’m not serious. I was just paying my attention to what you told me. It was an interesting dream.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not interesting at all. It’s scary!”
“Don’t behave like a little kid, Xin,” he shook my head playfully. “You’re a high school girl, remember? It’s nothing but a nightmare. Now,” his voice turned to be father-like, “I want you to forget everything you saw. Remember that it was nothing but a dream. Forget everything. Don’t think about it ever again. Can you do that?”
I frowned. “Why do you want me to forget it so much?”
“Because I don’t want your beautiful face to be so gloomy because of this fantasy nightmare.” he said. “I don’t want to see you unhappy, understand?”
I smiled out. He was so sweet!
“Yes,” I promised.
He caressed my face. “Good girl.”

            I had a very good mood for the rest of the day. Jasper made me forget everything about that nightmare, and made me feel like flying. I knew that it was too fast to have this kind of thought, but I really couldn’t stop myself from believing that his gentle attitude toward me was a sign of love.
He walked me to everywhere I wished to go. At lunch time, he pushed me down on the seat, and ordered my meal for me.
He taught me Chemistry after lunch, and his explanation, as expected, was so understandable. My eyes focused on his face as he taught, and I could see his eagerness and intention showing clearly on his beautiful tan face.
“Do you understand?” he finally asked.
I jerked. “Err…yeah! Sure!”
Actually, I wasn’t paying attention on the latest topic he taught. I was charmed with his powerful allurement.
He frowned, narrowing his eyes. He didn’t believe it.
Please believe me! I heard my own plead in my head. Please don’t test my knowledge on that latest thing. I didn’t want him to know that I wasn’t paying my full attention on his lecture. I was scared of making him angry. He had turned to be very important and influential in my life. I couldn’t stand losing him now by any reason.
Jasper sighed. “Okay, then,” he said, closing my Chemistry book. “Enough for today. Your head seems to be tired now.”
He took my bag from my back, and kept the book neatly for me. “What’s your next class?” he asked.
I thought for a second. I still didn’t have the whole schedule memorized, so I needed some seconds to think.
“Biology,” I finally replied.
He nodded his head. “Mine is Math.”
“I’m good at Math,” I abruptly spoke. “If you need any help, just tell me, okay?”
Jasper smiled playfully. “Sure, I will. My Math sucks!”
He crimpled his face like an old man.
I laughed out loud. “That’s so funny!”
“Yeah?” and he laughed, too.

          

Author's Note

How do you think I can improve my writing?
Please kindly write me a review :D