Chapter 34
Jill Valentine
I'm so sorry Chris. I miss you, a lot. Piers does too, but he uh... He's found a girl. He really likes her, she moved here from South Korea. She's cute and sweet but. What the hell am I doing? I wanted to write to you, let you know how stupid I've been. I should've been there when you left! Even if I'm not ready to marry you now, I will be one day and we'll be the best married couple that's ever lived! I've been thinking about you a lot, I really hope I can see you over winter break or something... I miss you and I love you, but I'm pretty lonely here. Piers has the new girl, her name's Chaelin, and Helena's still with Forest 24/7. I just hope you get this, and that you can read it through the tears on the paper. I love you Chris... Please reply as soon as you can. I wipe my face as I finish the last sentence and sign it with a fancy script, Valentine. I put it in it's envelope. I'll mail it on the way to school tomorrow. I'd been a week since the football tryouts, and everyday I'm in school and I don't see his face I miss him more and more. Jesus I'm a mess!
Piers Nivans
"So you sing a lot?" I ask as I sit across from Chaelin in Emmy's. "Yeah, back home my 'band', I guess we were a band, would sing for fun." "You told me that the other day." I smile. "Right, yeah. I have... I have a C.D. of our original songs at my house if... if you want a copy?" She seems nervous, like I'd judge her if I listened to it. "Why don't we listen to it together?" She blushes. "Oh! Uh, um. You want to...?" "Why not?" "Well, my mom and dad are home today... So how about tomorrow I bring the copy to school and we can go to your house after to listen to it?" "That'd be great!" I smile, probably like an idiot but Jill was right. I like her, and I think she likes me too. I hope I'm not reading all of this wrong, but then again I might be. Shit, there you go again Nivans, second guessing yourself. This is why you failed that Calc test! "I'm thinking of going blonde." She says. "Blonde? Why?" "Well like, really light brown. And because it's something different. I've had black hair since I was born, why not change it up?" I laugh. "If you want! It's your hair!" "You think it'll look good though?" "I think you'll look good no matter what." She blushes again. We spend a few hours talking like this until her dad comes to pick her up. This wasn't a date right? I mean, it was just the two of us, but neither of us said it was a date. So I guess it wasn't a date. I should ask her on a date though. I mean, is tomorrow a date? I like her. She's different than Claire... She's more girly and foreign. She's ugh, she's perfect. Blonde is an interesting choice though, never seen a Korean with blonde hair before.
So the next day, Jill doesn't walk with me to school but Helena does. Jill said she wanted to be alone. I'm a little worried about her, but she says not to. If I'm going to bring this back to me, I'm a lot more confident now. I don't know, Chaelin just did something to me. It's weird but I just have all that energy again and... I don't even know how to explain it. So I go in and Helena goes to her locker while I go to my own. "Piers!" I hear Chaelin call out as I unlock the door. "I got the C.D.!" She stands next to me looking into my locker with me. "I like the hair." I smile back at her. Its light brown, like she'd said. Its down, but it's kind of wavy. Her clothes are different too, much more expensive looking then she's been wearing. Her pants are kind of weird, one leg was black while the other was white and her shirt was all white with a v-neck but it didn't reveal much. "I like your hair." She repeats back at me. I laugh because I hadn't changed my hair... ever. "You seem to be in a good mood." "Well, I'm excited for an outside opinion on my music." "Outside opinion?" "A non-Korean. You won't understand a lot of the words so you can only judge by the sound. That's the real test."
"So, Calculus," I ask. She nods with an eye roll. "Wait, are your eyes blue?" She looks away from me, avoiding the question. "Did you change your whole look?" "Yeah... Why?" "Nothing, I'm just wondering. You look good." "Cause I didn't before?" "No, Chaelin. You looked beautiful then, and you still do." Fuck, we both kind of realize was I said and both of us blush at the same time. "Well, we should get to class." I say nervously. "Yeah, we should." We walk to the room kind of quietly, but I can't help but look at her. She has a small smile on her lips, did she like that I complimented her or was that awkward?
We get in and sit down in our usual seats. We were early, not by much though. Her dad walks over and hands her a C.D. "You forgot this in the car. You're still going to that boy's house today right?" She nods. I guess he didn't realize it was me she was hanging out with. He heads back up to his desk. "You didn't tell him it was me did you?" She shushes me. "You embarrassed of me?" I ask with a smile looking back at her. "gyejib." At least that's what it sounds like. "What does that mean?" She rolls her eyes with a smile. "Don't worry about it." I look ahead and watch as Jill walks in and takes the seat next to me. "You okay," I lean over and ask her. "Yeah, I just had to mail something... to Chris." I nod. "That's why you've been like this. You miss him. Helena was right!" "What?" "Nothing. I'm sure he misses you too, Jill. You both were really important to each other. It's natural to feel like this Jill, but I think you should move on." "Move on!?" "Yeah, I mean you guys kind of broke up." "That's why I sent the letter! I wanted to make things right with him." "So you're accepting his proposal?" "No! I still don't want to get married so young, but I don't want him to leave." "So you don't want to marry him, but you don't want him to move on?" "Yeah... Does that sound selfish?" "A little, yeah." She lets out a loud sigh and slams her head on the table.
So, after school Jill, Chaelin and I walk home. This Helena and Forest thing is getting a little out of hand. We reach the house and say goodbye but then Chaelin asks Jill if she'd like to join us. Jill replied with a simple 'no thanks' something about her parents going crazy. Chaelin shrugs, "Next time." Jill nods and heads into her house. "It's convenient that your closest friend lives next door." She says as I unlock the door. I nod and then we head up to my bedroom. We listened to the whole album, it was really great! I didn't understand most of what they were saying, but there were bits and pieces in English. The last song on the C.D. was Ugly. No, that was the name of the song, it wasn't an ugly song. But it was all about how they were ugly and wanted to be pretty. At least the English parts were. "Is that really how you feel," I ask. She raises an eyebrow with a tilt of her head. "You think you're ugly?" "No, it's just a song Piers." "Well, I think you're pretty beautiful." "Don't lie to my face." She quotes the song with a smirk. We get closer as we talk. We're going to kiss, but before our lips meet she backs away. "I'm sorry. I'm not ready for a relationship... I like you, a lot Piers, but I just moved to America and we both know I'm not staying here after this year." "I don't care." I smile nervously. "We can give it a chance!" "Piers, I don't want to do that to you... You're too sweet. I should go." She gets up and I walk her out. Damn, I was just rejected...
I head back up to the room and I see the C.D.'s case still sitting there. I notice there is another song we didn't listen to, the Baddest Female. I don't bother, I'm too upset. Hearing her voice would only make it worse. I open up the blinds on my window and look over to Jill, who's smiling back at me once she realizes I'm there. I open up the glass and she does the same. "Wanna go out," I ask. "What? Aren't you trying to go for Chaelin?" "Shut up, Jill." "It's Monday. You wanna go clubbing on a Monday?" "Yep. I need to forget today." "I could go for that too." "I'll be outside in five." I tell her and close the window. We meet outside of her house in exactly five minutes. "Same place?" She asks. "Same place." She drives us out there, she inherited Chris' car since he left we just never used it to get to school. We enjoyed the walk.
Jill Valentine
"So Piers, things didn't go as planned with Chaelin?" "I don't want to talk about it." "Come on, spill." "Ugh, she said she didn't want to be in a relationship because she just moved here and she'd be gone after graduation." "But you don't care about that, do you?" "No! Basically, she doesn't want to hurt me when she leaves." "Aw, Piers. It's kind of sweet." "Yeah! But I want to be with her. Who cares if she has to leave in ten months?! I'll be with her 'til then!" "Piers, just give her some time. She has to get used to it here, I'm sure she'll warm up to the idea eventually." After a few seconds of silence, he responds. "I'm going to get laid tonight." I laugh, "Have fun with that."
We pull up in front of the club and I greet Mikhail like usual. He lets the two of us in and we join the large mass of people. I go to the bar and get a drink while Piers goes in to test his luck with the crowd. After a few minutes of scanning the crowd I see a man take notice in him. I think Piers is still into that, he's kind of bisexual now. I'm not sure if that's actually true because his last relationship was with a girl and now he's in pursuit of a girl. But we'll see right now. The man's tall and kind of big, like Chris but I can't tell if he's big because of muscle or fat. He does remind me of Chris a lot, except for his longer hair and a rounder face. He makes his way through the crowd and over to Piers. The dance together a bit, Piers getting pretty close. I guess he does still like guys. Good for him. I watch as the man whispers something in his ear and grabs his hand walking Piers towards the bathroom. Piers looks over to me with a smile and winks at me. I smile back with an impressed nod.
I wasn't looking for anyone, I was here with Piers to drink basically. Yeah, I'm still hung up on Chris even if he's mad at me. I'm sure he'll read the letter and understand. I do still want to be with him, and who knows maybe one day we will get married. Just not so soon. Everyone I know who's been married so young, which is maybe three couples, gets divorced. I don't want that, I know Chris is the one and we can wait. I can wait, I'm not so sure Chris can. We'll see. I can't deny that he's my one true love. Listen to me, I sound like a fucking Disney Princess! Jesus.
A man sits down next to me with a sleazy smile. "Hey Beautiful." "Not interested." I say as I take a sip of my drink. "You so sure?" "Yep." "Come on, give me a chance sweetheart." He has a stupid grin on his face. "Leave before I bash your head into this bar." He looks intimidated and walks away. The dark skinned guy to my right laughs. "What's so funny?" "You know how to handle yourself miss." "Yeah well, I've had trouble in this place before." "Is that right?" "Yep, right over there." I point to the bathroom. "Bash someone's face in?" "Almost." I smile. He laughs. "You're pretty violent!" "Thanks." I flash some teeth. He laughs again. Wait was he hitting on me? No no no this is not allowed. I'm in a relationship! Kind of at least. "You're pretty too." "Oh, sorry buddy. You're sweet but I've got a boyfriend." "Oh." He turns red. "Sorry. I didn't know." "It's fine. But thank you for the compliment." "No problem for a pretty lady. Name's Josh Stone." "I bet you say that to all the girls, Josh. Name's Jill Valentine. Pleasure to meet you."
So Josh and I talk at the bar for a while, while I wait for Piers to finish having sex in the bathroom. We exchanged numbers at one point, I drank a lot at this point so I was drunk when Piers came out of the bathroom with the man. "Looks like you made a friend," he smiles. "Looks like YOU made a friend." I point at the man standing behind him. He laughs. "You need a ride home?" The man asks. "Doesn't look like she can drive." "I'm fi-ine. No, yeah. You should drive." I gave him the keys and I say goodbye to Josh. I'll text him some day. He was cool. I get to the car and lay down in the back as Piers and the man get in the front. "What's your name?" I ask like a dazed child. "Parker. Parker Luciani." "Well thanks a lot Parker!" He laughs and Piers puts a hand on his shoulder. "Forget about Chaelin?" I ask Piers. He says to shh and I understand, acknowledging that with a loud 'OH'.
So Parker stops in front of our houses and hands me the keys. "How are you getting home?" Piers asks. Aw, he cares about his fuck buddy! "I live two blocks down, I'll walk it. Have fun taking care of her." "Excuse me! I can handle myself!" "I'm sure you can. Have a good night guys." "He's cute." I whisper. Parker laughs as he walks. "Does he have super good hearing?! I thought I whispered that." "No, you kind of yelled it." "Oops. Sorry." He laughs and walks me into my house, luckily without my parents seeing. He then leaves me there and heads back to his house I guess.
Piers Nivans
Pre-Calc was seventh period on Tuesday and today it was one of the most awkward periods ever. Chaelin sat behind me, so when she came in and was walking passed me we had a weird moment of eye contact. Jill had her head down on the desk, dying from her hangover. She tried to blame it on me at lunch but I wasn't the one that told her to drink twenty shots. I was too busy in the bathroom with Parker. Parker was cool, he turned out to be only a year older than me and did live in the neighborhood so we could try going out. He'd asked if we could see each other again when we were at the club and I gave him my number, but that's all I really said about. I guess one of the reasons I like Parker is because he reminds me of Chris, but he's also really cool. I don't know, maybe I did still like Chris but I mean he's with Jill and now he's in the Air Force Academy so I don't have to worry about him.
"Hey," Chaelin taps my shoulder. "Uh, yeah?" "I wanted to say sorry about yesterday." "Don't worry about it." "So we can still be friends?" "Yeah, yeah. Sure. It doesn't have to be weird between us." I say. She smiles. "Good. Wanna hang out after school?" "Can't, I have football." "Oh right." "Aren't you a cheerleader?" "No, Excella...? Yeah, Excella didn't think I was good enough." "You're probably better than the rest of the squad actually." She laughs, "Thanks Piers but they don't think so." "They're wrong." We continue with stupid math, well technically advanced math.
It wasn't an eventful day at school, but after football practice Parker come to pick me up. "Parker! What are you doing here?" Jill comes running over with a confused smile. "I didn't know you two were dating already." "We aren't," he smiled at me, "Yet." I smile back but don't say anything. "You heading home?" Parker asks. "Yeah, we are." I motion toward Jill. "Well, don't you look better now that you're not drunk." She rolls her eyes with a smile. So, we walk with him back to my house. Did I actually want to be in a relationship with him? Not really, I wanted to be with Chaelin. She was pretty, and talented and smart and she never said she didn't want to be with me. She said she didn't want to because she was new to the U.S. I'm sure Jill was right and she'd warm up to it eventually, meaning I couldn't be in a relationship. I'll wait for her.
We arrive in front of my house and Parker asks if he can come in. "Uh, no sorry. My dad's probably home." "Oh, okay Piers. I'll see you around then." As he walks away I see Jill shoot me a look before heading toward her house. I head inside and my phone rings. "What the hell was that?! I thought you want to be with him!" "Well, I decided against it. I wanna be with Chaelin." "Well, you might have to do some waiting then. I'll get closer to her to push the idea if you want me to." "That'd be amazing Jill. This is why I love you!" She laughs, "Take it easy. I'll try. Doesn't mean I'll succeed." "Thanks Jill." She hangs up, I guess I'll have to deal with Parker sooner or later though.
AN: So I should explain Chaelin since I did on DeviantArt. She's based on Chaerin Lee from the Korean Band 2ne1. SO if you want to see what the music featured in the story sounds like and what she looks like, look her up.