Chapter 2:

At the Promenade, March 31st

June 16

March 28th, 2017

A few days later, with the number I got on March 19th, I texted Kenzie to ask how her last week of term was going. Since Kenzie was in the year above, she was set to graduate right after Easter break.

[Kenzie]: It’s great I'm starting a memory book for graduation messages

Oh?

[Kenzie]: So ppl can write stuff in it
[Kenzie]: U can write in it too if ya want

That's a great idea actually

[Kenzie]: Everyone’s doing it :)

The only thing I thought I'd do for graduation was make cards for everyone

[Kenzie]: Cards for everyone? Isn't that gonna take forever

Hell nah did you think I was going to make one for everyone in the year HAHA

[Kenzie]: No of course not, just your friends

Though I do write a lot of cards
I’ve made Christmas cards and thank you cards for my friends before

[Kenzie]: That’s really sweet wow

On that note, Ray sweetly reminded me that we had run club the next day.

[Ray]: Run club tomorrow u smelly ass

I thought about a lunchtime meeting Ray had recently ditched in favor of chilling with his girlfriend.

Yes I don’t forget to attend commitments
Unlike some bo dy

[Ray]: you know what

I do know what

March 29th, 2017

…And so, we had run club on March 29th. Afterwards, following from the conversation I’d had with Kenzie, Ray and I sat down with Kenzie to write in her memory book. It was the first time I wrote in a memory book. I picked up a blue pen and started writing slowly.

It's a bit sad that I only started talking to you during your last few months at school; it’s been great knowing you and I think that you’re a really great person.

Thinking about what else to add, I paused and thought about the occasional conversations we had on Snapchat and over text, as well as the time we had lunch in Toast Box.

While I was thinking about what to write, Ray took an orange pen and wrote his entry in the middle of the page I was writing on.

“Oy,” I grunted at him.

“Eat my ass!” He replied, making sweeping motions at me with his hands.

"My father will hear about this!" I snapped back.

Kenzie bashfully watched as we squabbled over territory on a piece of paper.

Making do with the limited space I had, I continued:

You’re addictively fun to talk to and really nice to people. Hopefully, writing in your memory book isn’t an indicator that our interactions are beginning to come to an end.

I glanced at Kenzie. The afternoon sun was shining on her face, affirming the hazel brown color of her eyes. Before she could catch me looking at her, I looked back down at the book and decided to add:

Also, I think you have nice eyes and a great smile.

Suddenly not wanting what I wrote to look cheesy, I drew a detailed block of cheese next to my writing, so that what I wrote wouldn’t look as cheesy in comparison.

Out of respect for privacy, I didn’t read the other entries in Kenzie’s book, but I caught a glance when I was trying to flip to a blank page. I envied how everyone who was graduating could all take this chance to be honest with each other, tell each other about all the small and big things they’d noticed about each others’ lives, and thank each other for everything they’d experienced. That ceremonial and sentimental atmosphere. But I also knew it would be painfully brief. I couldn’t wait to be in their position, yet I didn’t want the next year to pass too quickly, because I still had a lot to experience.

Once I signed my message, I carefully handed the book back to Kenzie.

“Thanks for writing in my book even though you haven’t known me for that long.”

“Sure.” I turned around to stretch, pretending not to notice that she was already reading the message I'd written.

“Rather writing in memory books signaling the beginning of the end…maybe if you think of it as the end of the beginning, it’ll feel more optimistic.”

My excessive stretching intensified.

“Please just read the rest at home,” I begged.

Later that evening, I received a text from Yunyun.

[Yunyun]: Should I ask Kenzie what she’s doing on Friday?
[Yunyun]: Actually do u wanna hang out with her together as a 3
[Yunyun]: U can ask her if you want

I don't mind but why don't you ask?

[Yunyun]: What would u like to do if I said “we were wondering if you wanna join us to hang out”

I thought you’d want to go alone with her?

[Yunyun]: Nah she’d 100% say no I’d much rather hang out and have more fun than risk it

A few minutes later -

[Yunyun]: AYY she said she’s free in the evening we can watch a movie

I think watching a movie isn’t that great for a hangout idea
We can't really talk during movies

[Yunyun]: Exactly. Whenever you talk you’re just making trash puns

That’s it I’m gonna ask her out

[Yunyun]: NODO
[Yunyun]: DON’T DO IT
[Yunyun]: I WILL UN-ALIVE YOU

…and that’s how Yunyun and I made plans to watch a movie with Kenzie on March 31st.

March 31st, 2017

After school, Yunyun and I were stood in the cinema when Kenzie announced her presence to both of us with a surprise slap on the back.

As I said, the cinema isn’t much of a site for interpersonal interaction between a group of friends, so I can’t say much about what went down there.

During dinner, we talked about Studio Ghibli movies, because I’d recently watched my first Studio Ghibli movie and Kenzie was a Ghibli fan. Nothing particularly noteworthy happened, but we had a good time.

After the movie and dinner, the three of us walked around outdoors trying in vain to find somewhere dry to sit. Spring rain reigned over all the benches and sitting areas.
~~Haha! Pun!~~

Kenzie asked, “What should we do now?”

To which Yunyun said, “I don’t mind.”

It was getting late, but it was the last day of term and it seemed like we all wanted to celebrate a bit. I thought a bit, and an idea came to mind.

“It’s a station away, but do you guys want to come with me?”

Yunyun and Kenzie followed me to the nearby seaside promenade I discovered while exploring my neighborhood.

This promenade was my favorite place in the world. It smelled like wood and seawater. Whenever I approached the ledge and leaned forward against the glass railing, my senses would be overwhelmed by the vast waterfront, and it would feel like I’d gone out to sea. The smell, the sound, the wood, everything – words don’t do it justice. Benches lit by street-lamps lined the wooden walkway, which was bounded by the glass railing and patches of grass that held trees and exercise machines.

I looked back at them as they followed me onto the wooden planks. Kenzie twirled around, taking in every little detail of the setting, then gravitated towards the glass railing, speechless. Yunyun slowly took in the atmosphere, then flattened himself on the grass and napped.

Maybe they were feeling what I felt when I first discovered the promenade a few months earlier.

I walked up to the edge of the water, where Kenzie was leaning on the railing.

"How is it?"

She took a deep breath, and told me "It's really pretty."

"Mmhmm." The sound of gentle waves rolling against the shore made me feel at ease.

“I want to come back here when my exams are done in May. I want to enjoy this place without having to think, ‘I could be studying’ or ‘I don’t have time’ at the back of my mind.”

"Great that you have something to look forward to, then."

After we were done leaning on the railing to absorb the vastness of the sea, we joined Yunyun on the floor and had a little slumber party.

It was a little past 11 when I mustered the willpower to wake Yunyun up and say, “We should probably go.”

As Kenzie reluctantly pried herself away from the promenade, she looked back one more time. As if making a promise to the waterfront, she quietly exclaimed:

“We’ll be back.”

At the station, just before our trains came, Kenzie suggested taking pictures to commemorate the event.

April 1st, 2017

About an hour after getting home, I sent Yunyun the photos -

[Yunyun]: why is there a picture of a toilet?

Sorry I thought it was you

[Yunyun]: Thanks

Also remember how I said I'm gonna ask her out

[Yunyun]: What

Happy April 1st bb

[Yunyun]: Shutup

And I also sent Kenzie the photos.