Jiyu's Late Invitation
Hunter was the kind of person Jiyu knew too well to ever share a single umbrella with anyone in the rain.
He had always run straight through the downpour, full speed, as if the weather itself were just another opponent to be conquered.
Except today, when he walked with that deliberate, almost lazy slowness, rain soaking him to the bone yet somehow still looking perfectly composed.
Jiyu’s lips parted to ask the question she had been holding back since the start of their walk.
Was he waiting for her?
Then she closed them again.
That didn’t make any sense.
Of course it didn’t. He would just laugh at her if she actually voiced it.
Instead, she turned her thoughts to safer ground.
Fortunately, he had stopped acting like the impatient little brother who used to hound her whenever their answers came too slowly.
That one small mercy let her land on a neutral topic that wouldn’t blow up in her face.
You going to the Spring Fling?
Spring Fling?
He raised one eyebrow.
The Spring Fling was the annual dance party held for students at the private Manhattan schools, open to middle-schoolers once their year began.
The spring edition went by that name; the fall one was called Fall Fest.
Tickets to the galas at five-star hotel ballrooms or grand event halls cost two hundred dollars each.
There’s a dance party, you know?
Oh. That.
Jiyu had never attended even once.
Her parents had kept her out of the middle-school dances until ninth grade.
So when her best friend couldn’t go, Jiyu had just… not bothered either.
She had been curious about it, of course. But not enough to risk it.
From what she knew, Hunter hadn’t gone to any of these parties either.
He was usually buried in weekend tournaments, so Friday afternoons were spent with his coach anyway.
You?
He asked.
I’m trying this time.
With Chloe.
When is it?
Two weeks from Friday.
You going?
He pulled out his phone from his pocket and glanced at the schedule displayed on the dense chart in his screen.
Maybe.
Maybe was as good as a yes from him.
Jiyu felt a small flicker of surprise but said nothing.
There was a review session once a month where they looked back on the previous week’s matches, and it just happened to fall on the right day.
As soon as the apartment building came into view below them, Jiyu let out a small sigh of relief.
No snide remarks. No argument.
Just civilized conversation all the way home.
Drop by the tree house for a second?
Hunter looked at her with a knowing glint in his eye as he handed her the folded umbrella.
I have a tournament this weekend.
L2, but this time I’m entering the under-eighteen category instead of sixteen.
College coaches are coming to watch. It’s a big deal.
Something sharp and bitter settled right into the center of Jiyu’s chest.
Of course.
She had almost forgotten that he never waited for her in the rain unless there was a reason.
Idiot.
Don’t you even have a change of clothes? You’re soaked through.
It doesn’t matter.
I’ll wait here until you change and come back.
…I don’t mind either.
Jiyu shrank like a deflating balloon, all her fight gone.
She had no energy left to argue, and she just wanted to get the jinx ritual over with so she could lock herself in her room and read a book in peace.
The two of them entered the apartment lobby, keeping a respectful distance, and walked silently toward the corridor leading to the courtyard.
Actually, Hunter had once realized how stupid this whole thing was and had stopped calling her over so often.
But he still summoned her right before important matches, even in ninth grade.
After she had searched the internet for how seriously athletes treated pre-game routines, she had finally convinced herself that she was just being paranoid.
He only asked her to come out to the tree house once every three times.
When she was younger, she had loved reading the books in his personal library, so refusing him had been hard.
Now she could just borrow the same titles from school.
But thanks to Hunter, she had cheap math tutoring with the best instructor in the industry.
And because of Lauren’s halo and his own possessive grip, she couldn’t ignore his demands completely.
Besides, there was always that twisted little thrill of seeing the great Hunter Hamilton have to ask her for something.
The courtyard in the rain looked strangely empty this evening.
It was still early, but the tall ceilings of the building had already begun to cast long shadows.
Between the iron benches painted in low-saturated green Art Nouveau style, a classic gas lamp had been lit.
In the middle of a summer night, thick raindrops swirled lazily around the golden light like golden bugs caught in a spiderweb.
The two people without umbrellas hurried toward the tree house.
You go up first.
Hunter pointed at the ladder entrance with a jerk of his chin.
Eh? Eh…
She answered awkwardly and began climbing the ladder.
Today he had surprised her again and again.
Ever since last year, she had vaguely sensed that Hunter was slowly becoming more of a person.
But she hadn’t expected him to hold back from jumping in first, like he usually did.
Lost in her thoughts, Jiyu lost her footing on the ladder.
One leg slipped through the rungs; the weight of her backpack pulled her upper body backward.
Whoa!
The backpack thudded hard against something.
Oof.
At the same moment, a long arm shot out and wrapped around her waist.
Hunter, who had been standing there blankly, caught the falling Jiyu by reflex and muttered above her head.
Hey, stay with it, Munchkin… Jyu Parker.
The physical shock had been absorbed by the backpack, but the mental one had hit full force.
He had called her Munchkin?
Munchkin was Daisy’s pet name for him whenever she tried to climb his exercise equipment and do something dangerous.
Jiyu had been so embarrassed she wanted to melt into the puddle on the ground, and now she was being treated like a kid again.
Her face turned scarlet in an instant.
Thank god she was facing away from him.
S-sorry. The new ladder is really slippery…
The plastic ladder had been replaced because the old wooden one had been too dangerous; its corners were rounded, and it was wet and slick.
Leaning against Hunter, Jiyu managed to lift her trapped leg back onto the ladder and started swaying as she tried to push herself up.
He muttered irritably,
Stay still. I’ll get you up.
He let go of her waist and gripped both her forearms firmly with his hands, then slowly pushed her upward.
Jiyu scrambled up the ladder and stepped into the tree house.
It was darker inside than outside, but it still felt as familiar as her own room.
Without hesitation she walked to the opposite side and collapsed onto the sofa with a thud.
She swept the wet hair stuck to her forehead and cheeks.
Then she noticed his glistening thighs through the rain-soaked skirt.
Oops. My skirt is too short; I guess he didn’t notice when I climbed up…
She was required to wear short leggings under her uniform skirt, so nothing revealing had shown, but it was still just shorts, not underwear.
Even knowing that, her cheeks burned hotter.
Jiyu shook her head hard, trying to erase the useless thought.
Hunter was different from the other boys who were obsessed with women.
He only cared about tennis.
If he had to choose between a sexy woman in a bikini and a tennis racket, he would pick the racket without a second thought, even betting a week’s allowance on it.
At that moment Hunter bent his upper body and stepped inside the tree house.
When they were kids, the tree house had felt large even when crowded with people, but now it somehow shrank every time he entered.
She was still sitting on the sofa reading a book while he had been clambering onto the roof and jumping down with loud thuds.
It had all happened just a few years ago, yet it felt like a lifetime ago.
Is this what adults meant by nostalgia?
Growing up felt strangely surreal.
Hunter straightened from his bent posture.
His head brushed the web-like strands dangling from the ceiling.
He looked surprised too and quickly ducked his head, then shook his hair like a big dog twice.
Water droplets flew everywhere.
Jiyu scrunched her nose and turned her head the opposite way.
Soon Hunter walked over with heavy steps and dropped heavily beside her on the sofa.