~Nine Years Ago~

Maybe it is the way his bangs bounced as he ran towards the cafeteria that had caught my eye. Yes, eye. I am currently covering my other one with a book since I was supposed to be sleeping right now.

It is my first day in this new school, my mommy said to trust her and believe her that it is a good school.

She is lying.

I know that she is lying because she did not even go to this school; she did not even pass by it. She just told me that it is good because we moved here to this little town called Denovan from the big city of Lost Angels, Los Angeles.

Mommy said that we used to live here when I was young, but because of work, they moved to LA. For some whatever reason, six years later, my dad's job was relocated back here again, and so, we moved back.

My daddy, his name is Adam Emerson by the way, has an extremely extraordinary job. He kills people -that is his job. He is a cool assassin. While my mom, well, she's the owner of the company my daddy works in.

I know all of these because, on my 8th birthday two years ago, I saw daddy in an unusual position. He was on the ground with a stranger lying beneath him, the only physical thing that is connecting him from the stranger is a short and seemingly sharp knife. And so, I asked, and he answered.

And tada! I know what is happening.

Killing is bad, I know. “But if it is for a cause and the sake of the human civilization” it is not that bad. That is what my mommy told me. And I agree.

I really did not want to move back here. I am ten years old and I was enjoying the city life. I mean, I cannot drink the smelly liquid called beer or tequila, and I also cannot sniff bad illegal leaves, but still, I have friends back there. I more or less grew up there.

Earlier today, my mother woke me up an hour than usual since school here starts early. I guess I was a little, what do they call it, cranky? I guess I was a little cranky because of it. I am not a morning person like my daddy.

Anyway, when I arrived at school, I was shocked at how small it was. The School is big but compared to Los Angeles, it is so small. But what did I expect? It is Denovan after all.

The classes were more boring than before, but I must admit, the teachers are more approachable and nicer. But the act of kindness does not erase the idea that I am sleepy and in school. -Add the other point that I had to physical education which made it ten times worse, plus, I just learned that PE here is every day -that news made me want to crawl back to LA.

If I was tired earlier, I am dead right now.

As I have said earlier, I was supposed to be sleeping by now while waiting for my mommy to pick me up because the rain makes me sleepy, when this cute boy that looks two years older than me passed by. He was jogging, and he looked cute. Back in LA, my eyes are usually attracted to cute boys my age.

I am not crushing on them, but I am certainly only enjoying my view. Mommy told me it is okay, as long as I only appreciate their gifts.

He was blonde, has blue eyes, and was wearing a varsity jacket. From the looks of it, he is probably a varsity player, or also probably an ordinary boy wearing a varsity jacket. He looks good but compared to the little boys in Los Angeles, he's okay.

As the good-looking kid passed by, I trailed him down with my eyes and paused in awe. No, I was not amazed by the way he ran, which was really funny because he sways like a girl while running

he is cute, so it is okay

, but I was in awe as I watch this other kid wearing a red shirt and is simply walking under the rain.

I was not captured by his eyes, or how good-looking he is; for the first time, my attention was captured by a boy not only because he was good-looking, but because of what he was doing.

And the kids in Los Angeles are nothing compared to him.

He was walking in the rain. With no hoodie, no umbrella.

Fascinating.

My mommy always reminds me to bring a tiny umbrella since at this time of the month, here in Denovan, it always rains. And whenever she is saying that I want to do what the older kids in the movies do and roll my eyes because she keeps on reminding me. She keeps on telling me to bring an umbrella even when school has yet to start. And now that school did start and is currently raining with a cute boy underneath it, I silently thanked her and ran towards the boy while holding my pink Hello Kitty umbrella. Time to rescue the bachelor in distress.

As I approach him, I can see that he is shocked. His eyes widened as he blinked slowly. I have noticed that he was slightly shivering because of the cold raindrops and the cold wind. His lips were parted as it becomes pale, but his cheeks are so rosy that if I put my hello kitty umbrella next to his cheeks, there would be no difference.

He was completely, absolutely, and utterly adorable.

"Hi." I beamed while smiling widely and put my hands in front of me. "I'm Cobie Emerson, but you can call me Cobe."

His eyes did not leave mine though, which made me wonder why. "I'm new..." I chuckled silently as I trailed off. "But I used to live here." I gave him a cheeky smile and waited awkwardly for his hand to shake mine.

He did not. And that made the situation more awkward than it already is. I kind of wished that I did not go through all this trouble because I look like a creepy stranger trapped inside a little girl’s body. After all, who in their right mind would be weird enough to offer an umbrella to a random stranger… right?

I honestly think that it is okay though. I mean, I am not here to hurt anyone. I really just want to help. And okay, I guess also wanted to see this fascinating boy up close. There is nothing wrong with that… right?

Oh no, what if I am being creepy? Is he going to cry? I remembered crying and screaming when a random stranger asked if I wanted candy when I was playing in the sandbox in a park back in L.A. because that is what my dad told me to do. Although mommy did say that I should kick or punch the person’s middle body if the person decided to suddenly grab me.

When I started crying back then, the stranger was shocked and took a step back. The old woman tried to hush me while giving me more candies, but I simply cried harder. Not long after, my mommy ran towards me and told me that everything is alright because turns out, the stranger was a hired nanny to temporarily watch over me for a few days because mommy and daddy were going out for a business trip -I learned that “business trips” were a code that means: dangerous mission.

So really, it was all a misunderstanding according to mommy. So, if this boy will start crying right now, I think I can say that it was all a big misunderstanding… right?

"Cobie..." He muttered with eyes still wide, "Cobie Emerson..."

"Yup, that's me!" I laughed awkwardly and decided to put my hand down because I don’t want to look like I am harassing him, "And you are?"

His eyes twinkled with something I cannot explain, but it’s the same twinkle when my daddy is supposed to be giving me a surprise. He grins widely and said, “It's me, El."

"El?" I asked. From the way he says it, it seems like he is expecting me to remember who he is. But nope, his name does not ring a bell.

"Elliot." He flashes me a wide million-dollar smile that shines perfection.

Under the cold rain of Donovan, with cold water and wind surrounding us, I realized that I had just reunited with my mother's best friend's son. Aka, the boy I had a crush on back in the days where I could not even talk. Elliot Langston.