Spring Fling Chaos
Jared smiled silently. His tennis obsession made him worry that his puberty was arriving a bit later than others, but it seemed he was progressing steadily, and that was a relief.
Hunter was a child who had been born with everything. He needed to learn that not everything in the world would go his way.
No matter how much he had, the people he met at this age tended not to be swayed by those things. It was due to the unique purity of teenagers.
The experience of having his superiority overturned by the feeling of liking someone was essential for natural human growth. Jared had no intention of stopping that natural growth process.
Just like tennis, love also required practice. Only then could one make regret-free choices when real love finally arrived.
Jared carefully chose his words.
“When you grow up, you’ll realize that the people you meet at your age are just the beginning and a process. How much chance is there that you’ll end up marrying the girl you started dating at fifteen? Right? And I’m not saying you should deliberately avoid meeting them, understand? If there’s a girl you like, go on a date. It’s okay to date. You’ll definitely learn a lot.”
Hunter opened his mouth a couple of times as if he had something to say, then closed it. Pretending not to care, he asked in a lukewarm voice.
“The part about your body reacting first when you like someone….”
Jared barely suppressed the laugh about to burst out and nodded with a serious face. He had been curious about that.
“Right now, your hormones are going crazy, so just thinking about kissing a girl makes your body react. Men are designed to be hard to hide that kind of thing because of our physical structure, so you can’t help but notice. But just because your body reacts doesn’t mean you should automatically assume you like them. For the next few years, just looking at girls in bikinis in magazines will make your body react. It’s an extremely natural process, so you don’t need to feel ashamed or guilty or think about it seriously. That’s it for today. Any questions?”
Hunter, lost in thought with a bewildered expression, slowly shook his head.
Jared let out a dramatic sigh and made a show of wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“The next honest conversation will be before your wedding party. Have a fun time at the party.”
After patting Hunter on the shoulder and leaving the room, Hunter called out to his back.
“Close the door and go!”
***
Spring Fling, the swinging spring, short and fierce romance, or the party that opens in spring.
Finding a word to properly express this party as vividly as the poetic term had been difficult.
When teenagers whose hormones were at their peak gathered together like spring youth, it was truly a zoo of its own kind.
The entire event hall of Park Avenue 64 was rented out for the party. Aside from the rule that only non-alcoholic drinks were allowed, it was not so different from an adult party. Gleaming laser lights swirled from the dark ceiling of the spacious hall, and the DJ played the hottest dance music at ear-piercing volume.
On one side of the hall, a long table was set with catered food. On the other table, instead of wine and cocktails, lemonades and mocktail dispensers were placed.
On the stage, kids pretending to be adults stuck together and danced, while others just jumped around excitedly, all mixed in a chaotic mess. Around the Ping Pong table and Foosball table on the opposite side, kids surrounded them tightly and shouted over bets and penalties. A long line of kids had formed in front of the free photo booth, ready to take snapshots.
Jiyu and Chloe were arms linked, unable to let go of each other as they watched this bizarre sight. The first dance party they had attended was too noisy for normal conversation.
“Jiyu, look over there! They’re kissing! And it’s a French kiss. Eww.”
Chloe shouted at Jiyu’s ear in a loud voice. When Jiyu turned her head in the direction she pointed, a couple leaning against a shadowy corner were passionately kissing.
The silhouette of a girl with short pink dress and dirty blonde hair strangely felt familiar.
“Boy Crazy Riley.”
Both murmured at the same time.
She was one of the popular kids from Astor School, and her partner seemed to be her recent boyfriend. She had had a boyfriend since fifth grade and hadn’t stopped changing.
The two wandered around the event hall, watching various things, and finally joined at the edge of the stage. They faced each other awkwardly and danced, then looked at each other and burst into awkward laughter.
“Chloe, this doesn’t seem right.”
“Yeah? Let’s go to the selfie booth and take a photo.”
A longer line had formed in front of the photo booth than before. Since it was one of the most popular attractions along with the Ping Pong table, a new line kept forming behind them the moment they stood at the end. The waiting time was easily over twenty minutes.
It was actually better that way. Observing was much easier than becoming an active participant.
“If I had been born in the nineteenth century, I would have been called a wallflower or a bluestocking.”
Those were insults to nineteenth-century women, but Jiyu thought even then those names might have been satisfying.
Thanks to coming with Chloe, this crazy party wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
“But I don’t think I’ll come again.”
Since she valued experience, once was enough.
“Olivia, what should I do. I think I need to go to the bathroom. Do you have enough time?”
Chloe made a troubled expression and wrinkled her nose.
“Plenty. Don’t worry and go.”
“When I come back, can I get something to drink? My throat is getting dry.”
“I’ll have lemonade! Thanks.”
“Okay, I’ll be back soon!”
Jiyu walked briskly and waved back at Chloe who was turning around and waving. At that moment, the crowd around the Ping Pong table thinned slightly, and Hunter’s face flashed into view.
Jiyu leaned forward with curious eyes.
The area around the Ping Pong table was filled with popular kids from various schools who looked similar. Sienna and her group were standing right behind Hunter and cheering for him like cheerleaders.
Upon closer look, he was holding a racket in his right hand and his left hand was behind his back. It seemed like he was given a handicap as a tennis player.
Smiling lightly while catching the ball, it seemed he was enjoying the handicap himself. If he won too easily with his personality, he wouldn’t find it fun.
“Even though I know how to use both hands.”
His power and accuracy might be a bit lower than his left, but Hunter had practiced both hands since he was little. However, because he hit with the stronger hand on the forehand, people had mistakenly called him left-handed. So tying the left hand wasn’t a great handicap.
Unless you blindfolded him.
Jiyu let out a small laugh, but the moment Hunter, who was casually taking a point and giving her a high-five with a friend, looked up, their eyes met. His eyes widened a little then narrowed again as he scanned her. Jiyu avoided his gaze as if she hadn’t noticed and secretly pulled down her short skirt.
At that moment, a boy stood in front of her. She didn’t recognize him.
“…Olivia, right? You were a Neverland kid.”
Upon closer inspection, her memory was faintly recalled. In the sixth-grade combined musical, she had said one line together with an Alton School boy right next to her.
Back then he had been much smaller than her, but in the meantime he had grown quite a bit, and without thick-rimmed glasses and bushy eyebrows connecting to his forehead, she would have barely recognized him.
“Uhm… Hi, um, your name is… Steve?”
“Hah, lucky. You remember. My name is Stephen. I’m really sorry, but can I have your number?”
Jiyu looked at him with a wary expression and blinked.
Right away ask for my number?
“Why…?”
Stephen quickly looked around and confessed with a desperate expression.
“Actually… I made a bet with my friends to get girls’ numbers, but I didn’t get even one from that guy over there. I’m last place and have to take a kiss or slap penalty, but I can’t do that even if I die.”
“Oh no….”
Kiss or Slap was a kind of party game and penalty where you approached anyone of the opposite gender, said “Kiss or Slap,” and received a kiss from the other person or got slapped on the cheek.