Nothing will ever make me forget the last night I shared with Gin. Likewise, nothing can ever fill this gaping pit in my soul that dissolved into the forest air along with him that fateful summer night. Sometimes I bring myself to wonder if everything would have been better if it never happened; would this pain that now rots within my heart be gone if I never met Gin? Even so, a life without Gin was unimaginable to me.
At school the teachers complained about my sudden lack of focus when I came back that year after summer break. Previously, after my summertime adventures with Gin came to a close and I went back home, school would be when I began to dream about what Gin and I would do next year; in fact, I even had a notebook chock full of pages describing things to do with Gin and even letters for Gin that I never gathered the courage to give to him in the summer. Now all I do is stare outside with a pair of sullen, glassy eyes; everything was hard to stomach without Gin in the picture.
I wanted to be with Gin.
Gin wanted to be with me, too, right?
Suddenly my life was falling apart, starting with academics – my grades plummeted. My parents squabbled behind my back about me, blaming each other for my poor academic conduct; people I thought were my friends all of the sudden brushed me aside or told me I wasn't myself and abandoned me altogether. My life hit rock bottom fast.
I managed to gather the willpower to bring up my grades in school (for my parents' sanity as well as my own.) I ended up focusing only on school, so much so I didn't have time to think about Gin. Slowly, I recovered, my 'friends' sulked back and life was 'normal' again.
But then summer came around again. I visited my grandfather in the countryside.
And before I knew it, the forest had lured me in...
This time, without Gin waiting for me at the entrance.