The two met up at the park early that Sunday, just past noon.
They walked side by side together, their hands holding one another's as they strolled quietly through, the sun not too hot yet, but neither too cold.
It just felt nice, being there at that moment. No words could properly describe the feelings inside the two.
Soon they sat on a park bench and smiled shyly at one another as Mei finally breached the silence.
"Wasn't yesterday great?!"
Tyler smiled back at her and nodded his head. Though the words his mother had said were still in his mind.
"Yeah, nearly as good as today."
Mei chuckled when she heard him say this, giving him a playful nudge and he just beamed back.
"But we haven't done anything yet today," She went on and he laughed softly. He took her hand in his and rolled his finger around her palm. Mei watched in silence and asked nervously.
"What are you doing?"
"Reading your palm," He said softly and glanced up at her for a second with worried eyes, but pushed the fear off as he gazed back to her hand. Mei stared at it as well, very intrigued and Tyler began.
"You're going to marry a rich boy who loves Spiderman as much as you,"
"Hmm..." She murmured, a small grin growing up her mouth.
"And you're going to live in a mansion and have tonnes of baby pandas."
Mei only burst into a laugh at this prediction and she looked at Tyler, asking with a smirk on her face.
"Can you actually see that?"
It took him a moment to reply, a giddy smile on his own face and he shook his head as he chuckled.
"No... not at all."
Mei's eyes were glimmering with intrigue and fascination. As Tyler let go of her hand, she quickly took up his and played along with the game.
"You're going to become a famous basketball player..."
He listened to her closely but felt a bit of hurt in his heart when she said those words.
He slowly pushed her hand away and only stared into his own, not really seeing anything like that in his future.
"No... I won't."
His voice was sad and Mei blinked surprised that this was his reaction to the game.
"I'm too short..."
"You're not short, Tyler." She replied, being honest and he strained his lips into a pathetic frown as he claimed.
"But too short to ever be a professional basketball player."
He sat now, looking broken at the ground and Mei only tilted her hand, confused by this all. But she gave a small smile as she held his hand softly in hers and uttered with a soft gleam.
"Yeah... but if you did, then you wouldn't have any time for me."
He gave a smile in return, and gulped, as he sat up straight from his hunch and slowly turned his eyes to Mei as he said.
"You're such a nice person."
She continued to smile as he said this. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew somehow that she was out of his league... she was just so much nicer than him.
"You are too," She said with a squeeze of his hand and he painfully shook his head.
"No... I'm a bully."
He closed his eyes, as images of all the times he'd teased others... teased her. Why was she even here with him right now... just why?
"You're not a bully anymore, Tyler." Mei told him truthfully and he only smirked coldly to himself at hearing this statement, "I'd know. And if you were a bully... this 'thing' between us... well, it simply wouldn't be there."
She was right in a sense, he knew that to be true. But he wanted to be better now, better than what he was. Because she was better... and maybe if he forced himself to, he could one day deserve her properly... one day be more than nice – be a good person.
He felt Mei's hand squeezing him and he moved closer to her, more shyly as he leant in and the two kissed.
A warm long kiss, but quickly separated when people walked by.
The place where they were was not private at all.
Tyler slowly got up on his feet and pulled Mei up with him. The two strolled back on the path towards a lake walk that was full of shrubbery and sat on an isolated park bench that was seated facing the water's edge.
Tyler picked up a stone and tossed it between one hand and another. He tossed it across the water's skin and it bounced on it before sinking into the lake when the acceleration had stopped.
Mei smiled watching this and did the same, picking up a smooth thin rock.
Except with her, she turned her arm panda and flung the rock so hard to bounced to the end of the lake into a tree.
She was grinning from ear to ear, embarrassed by her strength and when she turned to see Tyler's expression, she was surprised to see he was just smiling widely with his eyes open in amazement.
"You're incredible, Mei."
"No, not really."
"Er, WHAT?" He replied and stood up, walking to her as he continued, "There is LITERALLY no one like you that I know."
All this prays was gonna make her go red and she just grinned awkwardly at Tyler and held his hand again.
"What do we do now-"
Before Tyler could finish his sentence, his phone started to ring and he rolled his eyes, taking it out and seeing who the call was.
It was his mum.
He looked at it for a brief second, before just pressing the red button to reject the call.
His mother on the other end stood at the house phone in shock the moment she was answered with long beeps.
Tyler turned back to look at Mei, and Mei just looked shocked and puzzled.
"Who was that?"
"My mum," He replied simply. Mei looked at him warily as she asked on.
"What did she want...?"
"I don't know... but whatever she wants," He said, placing his phone back in his pocket, "It can wait."
"I think you should've answered it."
Tyler knew Mei was making a good argument, but she was missing the big picture. His mum didn't like her and knowing that had made his heart go cold around his mother.
"Please, can we," He finally uttered out, turning back to the path and wanting to forget all this, "Can we just ignore this?"
She rolled her eyes, giving a smirk as she finally responded, "Fine."
The two found one another's hands again and walked the path through the shrubbery.
But again, that annoying ring tone blasted out of his pocket and he hung back from Mei, taking out his phone and yelling into it.
"WHAT?"
There was a shocked silence on the other end of the phone before his mother said back angrily at him.
"Where are you?!"
"I'm with a friend..."
"Which friend? You don't have any friends."
When she said this, his heart felt like it had got shot right through.
"I'm with..." He began, upset tears coming to his eyes and he muttered, "Mei Lee."
"...what?" His mother gasped and Mei came a bit closer, hearing both Tyler's and his mother's words clearly, "You should not be with that... that monster."
Mei's mouth dropped open when she heard this, her soul being torn.
"She's NOT a monster." Tyler said back into the phone, before yelling at it in tears, "YOU ARE!"
His mother gasped again, and said enraged, "Come HOME, right NOW!"
"-But,"
"Tyler." She said in one stern unbreakable tone. He stood there, his eyes growing red and his teeth gritting.
He finally whispered back into the phone, looking pained over at Mei Mei and seeing her upset too.
"...fine."
He hung up and was scared to look Mei Mei in the eyes. But when he did look at her, he saw not a face that was offended or appalled. But one of empathy and understanding.
"My m-mother..." Tyler stuttered, begging for Mei to understand but not knowing she already did, "She wants me home. Right now."
"I know," Mei said gently and held his hand one last time for that day, "I understand."
"How do you...?" He mumbled, releasing his grip on her and turning away, looking at the lake in the distance and the horizon from far away, "How do you..."
"Because," Mei replied, touching his shoulder to pull him to look at her once more, "My mother was once like this too."
She saw Tyler's eyes swell up with tears and she gulped afraid, not knowing what else she could do.
"And..." Tyler went on, his voice heavy and broken in parts, "How do I stop her..? How?"
Mei didn't know how to answer that. She just cupped his cheek in her hand and only stared hopefully into his deep dark eyes.
"Honestly... I don't know."
He gazed back at her, listening. Just listening.
"But I know... you'll find a way."
He kissed her then, and they embraced for barely a few seconds before he pulled away, squeezed her hand again one last time, before turning his back on her once more and sadly walking away.
Her own heart felt so timid then, as its thudding was small but consistent. She watched him go and only closed her eyes, breathing in deeply and whispering with hope.
"There has to be a way."
