Stories by Rayen

(To read Part 1, click here .) (To read Part 2, click here .) Kai stood and drew Marin to her feet. Taking her hand, he led her back into the house, and down a hall to a bedroom. It had a square lamp and a low table with some candles on a dish surrounded by rounded pebbles. A thin mattress lay on the floor with one pillow and a duvet over it. On the wall hung a simple painting of leafy green bamboo stalks. There was nothing else in the room. “My mother wanted to buy me a Western bed when we moved here,” Kai said. “But I was afraid I’d fall out of it.” Marin thought of her own bed, which had a high platform frame and a princess canopy. Compared to his it seemed childish now. “You would never want to sleep in mine.” “If you were in it, I would.” He bent and pulled back the duvet, and took off his slippers before he stretched out on the mattress. “Come here.” To lay down beside him should have made her nervous, but as soon as she did Marin felt as if she were floa...

(To read Part 1, click here .) Marin watched Kai retreat back into the house, and went over to the screen to look out at the strangeness of his rock-and-sand yard. It seemed so stark and unfamiliar compared to her mother’s rose garden, and yet something about it felt just the way she did. It also looked a lot like the Japanese exhibit at the botanical gardens. Was he Japanese? She didn’t know that, either. She had seen him in her classes a few times. He sat at the back, kept quiet, and yet always got the best grades. He ate with some other Asian kids in the cafeteria, and they all brought their lunches in small, stacking boxes and ate with chopsticks. When they were together they spoke in low voices, and not in English. For some reason everyone left them alone, even the worst bullies. That was all she knew about Kai. Coming here with him had been the most reckless thing she’d ever done with a boy. She hadn’t told anyone she was going, so no one knew where she...

Marin hurried out of her last class and ran to her locker, fumbling with the combination until she finally got it open. Shoving her books and backpack inside, she grabbed her purse and closed it before she ran the gauntlet of the students packing the halls. “Rats. Oops. Sorry. Excuse me.” She smiled at a girl she bumped into as she tried to make her way to the nearest exit. Fortunately, a tall, black-haired boy was heading the same way, so she followed in his wake. She went around him to push open the door and run outside. The first day of school usually sucked, but not this one. This absolutely would be the best day she’d ever had. The afternoon sunshine felt wonderful on her face, and she knew it made her mop of curly red hair gleam like polished copper. She’d worn her favorite outfit, dark blue corduroys with a lacy white button-up blouse. Too much makeup made her pale blue-green eyes look alien, so she only used a little mascara to darken her red lashes and some s...