Page 229 - The Life of A Teenage Girl (Stories About Finding Your Way)
P. 229

IT WAS NEVER JUST SUMMER


               I  wanted  to  talk  more  about  it  with  them,  even  though  they
          wouldn’t really agree, but just as class started, Mrs. Johnson walked in

          with someone unfamiliar behind her.

               “Everyone,  this  is  Caelum.  He’s  our  new  student,  here  on
          scholarship from North Korea.”

               Gasps echoed through the room, and yeah... I joined in.
               They said he’d been awarded scholarships from programs all over

          the world, and somehow, he’d chosen to land here.
               And okay—he’s kinda cute. But no. We’re not doing that.

               His  appearance  wasn’t  easy  to  ignore:  he  had  light  blond  hair

          draping over his face and back. You could only see half of his eyes, and
          his lips tied it all together—a soft, light pink that matched the rest of

          his pale look. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a long
          black tie. One sleeve was rolled up, and his pants were just black—but

          cute.
               It wasn’t exactly the last day of school, though it felt like it. We

          were in the final stretch—the last week, only a handful of days left

          before summer. Most of the teachers had already stopped giving out
          lessons, trading them in for review games or long talks about next year.

               So when Caelum walked in, it didn’t feel as strange as it should

          have. Sure, he wasn’t here to learn equations or grammar rules, but at
          least he’d get to meet us before everything ended. A late start, maybe—

          but  not  too  late  to  matter.  And  honestly,  the  timing  only  made  his
          arrival stand out more.





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