Page 86 of I'll Be the One

“Wait, what?”

He holds up his phone. On the screen is a round-trip ticket to Korea.

“You didn’t!”

He shrugs. “I have family there, remember? I can just crash with them over the summer while you’re there.”

“I thought you hated your family. Actually, don’t go. Your parents sound terrible.”

Panic flashes across my mind as I think about what they did to Henry.

His eyes get a faraway look, but then he squeezes my hand tighter. “Yeah... but seeing how you stood up against Bora made me realize something. And hearing about you and your mom.”

I spent a good part of last night giving Henry the play-by-play on what happened with Mom after the final round.

“Realize what?” I ask.

“I can’t just keep running away. They’re my family, so I have to deal with them sooner or later. They probably won’t ever accept me for who I am, but I can try my best on my end sothat when it’s time to let go, I can make peace with myself and say that I tried.”

I pull him into a hug.

“If you’re sure,” I say.

“I’m sure.”

We only stop walking when we reach the edge of the beach. The sounds of voices and laughter are faint now, nearly swallowed up by the soft roar of waves crashing onto the shore.

“When’s the last time you visited Korea?” Henry asks, looking out at the Pacific Ocean.

“I haven’t been since I was little. Once I hit puberty, my mom became too ashamed of my size to take me to see our family.”

It’s something I haven’t told anyone, and the rawness of my voice makes Henry squeeze my hand tight.

“I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is. But for what it’s worth, my mom seems oddly excited for me to go there now. She’s even insisting on traveling back with me. Probably because she has something to brag about.”

“Probably.”

“But you know what? Yesterday, I realized that I don’t really care about what she thinks anymore. My mom is who she is. But I can still change myself and what sort of impact I have on other people. So I’m going to try to become stronger as a person and keep having a positive impact on people, like I have here.”

“I have complete faith that you will.”

We look out at the ocean for a bit longer, until it becomes too chilly for comfort.

I check to see if Henry’s looking in my direction. He’s not.

“Still think it isn’t cold?”

I kick the water so it splashes onto his leg. I don’t stick around long enough to see his reaction, but I hear him curse as I run.

“Are you kidding me! Why, you little—”

He starts chasing me, and soon, we’re both laughing as we run across the sand, headed back toward the lights of the pier. Henry’s a faster runner than I thought he’d be, and he catches up with me in almost no time at all.

“Got you!”

We crash into a pile on the sand. Henry somehow ends up on top of me, and although it’s too dark for me to clearly see his face, I’m pretty sure he’s blushing. And that’s all it takes for me to kiss him, again and again.

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