Leavesly

by Reni Huang



  Leavesly

  Reni Huang

  Copyright 2013 Reni Huang

  Dedicated to my love, Maurice

  Chapter One

  “Packages!”

  Julia Kyoto slammed shut her laptop just as the door flung open. Sure enough, there sat two brown-paper wrapped boxes stacked one on top of the other affectively blocking her roommate from entering their shared dorm room. Julia bit back a smile as she watched Lexi Lin attempt to scoop up both boxes, only to strain her reedy thin arms and fall back on the wooden hallway floor with a small thud.

  “Boy, those are heavy,” she remarked unnecessarily, giving them a slight kick with her foot. “They’re for you, from your mom,” Lexi announced, locating the address label.

  Between the two girls, they managed to push the boxes inside the dorm room. Strong salty air blew in from the open window, ruffling the sheer white linen curtains draped over the valance. Aosta Verde University was located in sunny southern California, nestled on a rocky cliff between Oceanside and San Diego. Yet on this late September afternoon, the weather was crisp rather than sweltering, thanks to the constant Pacific breeze blowing in from the beach.

  “Let’s see what Mama Kyoto has packed for you today,” Lexi murmured as she unceremoniously began tearing at the triple taped boxes. “Oh, I hope it’s the Shrimp chips I hinted at last time she called. I love dorm food, but I miss our weekly trips to Marukai,” Lexi sighed, reminiscing about the local Asian market from the neighborhood where she and Julia grew up.

  “Yeah, fifty pounds of Shrimp chips.”

  Impatient, Lexi grabbed her key and used its bronze teeth to tear into the box. After a final last struggle with the stubborn packing tape, she triumphantly threw open the cardboard flaps.

  “So, what’s the verdict?”

  Leaning in, Julia recognized the content immediately.

  The well-worn burgundy leather covers greeted her sheepishly, like they knew they weren’t supposed to be four hundred miles away from home. Away from where she had carefully hidden them deep inside the large armoire of her childhood bedroom.

  “Your journals?” Lexi said, not bothering to hide her disappointment. “Why did your mom send you these? You didn’t ask for them, did you?” One glance at Julia’s horrified, equally confused expression answered her question.

  As private as Julia was, it was a testament to Lexi’s trustworthiness that she had also been able to instantly identify what those unassuming notebooks were. They were the treasure troughs of Julia’s otherwise impermeable thoughts. The yearnings and moment by moment accounts of all things important and trivial in her everyday existence.

  “Do you think your mom read them before she sent them to you?” Lexi wondered. She kicked off her cherry pink flip-flop sandals and headed to the small cupboard on top of the mini-refrigerator in the corner of the dorm room.

  Julia felt her heart stutter at the thought. But as the blood began to rush through her head, it cleared away the mortifying notion.

  “No, you know how she is. The moment she realized what they were, I’m sure she squeezed her eyes shut and turned the other way.” Growing up Julia’s mom had avoided any hint of drama in her life. She believed that secrets should be swept away and unwelcomed feelings remain unspoken.

  “Hm, that’s true. I wonder how she found them. Don’t you keep your journals locked up in some vault?” Lexi teased. She rummaged around in their snack stash until she pulled out a half-eaten bagel wrapped in a napkin. The last time either girl had bought bagels was over a week ago.

  Julia had given up on organizing that cupboard after the first couple of days of school. It was hard to keep the shared area tidy at times without crossing the fine line of intruding into Lexi’s personal space. She was messy, but she had a good memory. And she didn’t like it when the last three M&Ms she had specifically saved had mistakenly been thrown away.

  “Ew! Lexi!” Julia balked as Lexi began nibbling at the crusty edge of the bagel.

  “What? It’s still good,” she retorted, shrugging off Julia’s disapproval as being pretentious.

  “It’s unsanitary. Speaking of which, please stop taking food back out of the garbage.”

  Lexi gave her a miffed look. “When did I do that?”

  “The banana I threw out yesterday? I found it back in our fruit bowl.”

  “I was going to eat that.”

  “But I had already thrown it away. It was sitting in our trashcan, with all of our garbage.”

  “You mean that wicker basket you keep by our desks? That basket is cleaner than my backpack. You line it with your Abercrombie and Fitch shopping bags, and spray it with Lysol. Even though the only thing we’re allowed to throw into it is paper.”

  “That’s not true. I threw away the banana in it. That’s not paper.”

  “Yes, a perfectly good banana.”

  “It was brown.”

  “The brown ones are the best! Don’t look at me like I’m crazy,” Lexi defended herself, flopping down on her bed with an impish and unapologetic look on her face. “You know the best banana breads are made with very ripe, very brown bananas.”

  “And you were going to bake a tiny little loaf of bread with that one left over banana you found in the trash.”

  “Yes,” she said with a smug smile. “And you just missed your chance of tasting it, what, with all your trash-talking,” she paused to relish her unintentional pun. “Now I’m going to let Ellie be the one to sample my latest confection.”

  “Well, of course, if anybody would enjoy your dirty banana bread, it would be him.” At the mention of his name, Julia glanced at the clock. “Where is he anyways? I thought he was meeting us here before three-thirty.”

  Lexi shrugged, unworried, and instead reached over to click on the iPod dock sitting on her nightstand. Colbie Caillat’s latest happy, carefree melody floated out to fill the room. Peering out the window, Julia scanned the tall grassy lawn with the windy path that curved up to their dormitory for the familiar tall and lanky figure.

  A moment later Elliott Lee came coasting down the path towards the girl’s dormitory on his bike. “Elliott’s here,” Julia informed Lexi, who had changed into her turquoise bikini and was pulling a white strapless linen dress over it. “You’re going to go swimming?”

  Lexi gave her a dubious look. “We’re going to the beach.”

  Julia glanced down at the white halter top and apple-green shorts she was wearing. “But I wasn’t planning on actually going into the water. Should I change?”

  “Not unless you want to. You look gorgeous as usual,” Lexi shrugged.

  Julia sighed at the compliment. There had been a time when appearances meant a lot to her. But she had learned the hard way that superficial things like that don’t mean much, if anything, it’s just more unwanted drama and heartache. She didn’t care whether or not people found her to be attractive, she just wanted to know if she was expected to wear swim attire.

  Everyday since the first day on campus, Julia felt like she was being thrown into all these foreign situations and it was starting to make her feel off-balance. She cherished her routines. Unlike Lexi who seemed to thrive off of these new situations as if she was on an exciting adventure.

  “Ellie!” Lexi called down to him, waving from the window. “We’ll be right down!” She turned and gave Julia a sympathetic smile. “It’ll be fun, Lia. I promise this will be the last fellowship event I’ll drag you to check out before we decide on the one we want to join.”

  Julia mustered up her best upbeat expression. “It’s cool. C’mon, let’s go.”

  Once outside, Lexi grinned at Elliott, who was leaning proudly against the second-hand bike he bought off his RA the first week of school.

  �
�Hey, Els,” Lexi said. “What’s with the bike?” Elliott’s dorm was only down the path, it took him literally five minutes to walk over.

  His infectious smile lit across his face. “It’s our ride.”

  Lexi and Julia stared at him wordlessly.

  Then Lexi burst out laughing. “Ellie! When I said to get us a ride, I didn’t mean your bike! I thought you were going to call that number on the A.A.C.F. flier to get us a ride to the beach.”

  “How are we supposed to all get on this thing?” Julia mused. “Climb up on your back?”

  “Well, I was thinking,” Elliott mumbled, “that Lexi could ride the handle bars. And Julia, you could put your feet on those spokes on the back wheel. And I would peddle, of course.” He shrugged at their dumbfounded expressions. “It’s doable.”

  “Ellie, we’re not the circus! I really don’t want to ride into this event like some magical acrobatic show.”

  Elliott’s smile faltered. “There was a number on that flier?”

  “Listen,” Lexi said, waving both hands in front of her like she was erasing away this problem. “Let’s just run back to your room to get your skateboard. Julia can ride the bike, with me on the handle bars.”

  So much for first impressions, Julia thought wryly. We’re going to arrive in style: Ellie-style. With an accepting shrug, Julia smiled. At least this was something she was familiar and comfortable with.

  The dormitories faced the ocean, and there was a fairly steep and winding path that led straight down towards the sprawling beach below. There were certain turns so steep that Lexi and Julia were forced to hop off the bike and walk down until the path became more leveled. It was going to be quite a trek biking back up. Once they made their way down the pebbly path and on to the wide and paved boardwalk, it was easy to peddle alongside the strip of sand until they found Life Guard Station 42.

  Chapter Two

  “Hey, so do you guys need a ride to Aosta Verde church on Sunday?” the guy who introduced himself as Randall Choi said. Self-consciously, Julia wondered how many people saw them cruising in on Elliott’s bike and skateboard. As far as she could tell, the rest of the freshmen had carpooled with the upperclassmen to the A.A.C.F., which stood for Asian-American Christian Fellowship, kick-off event.

  “Yes, that would be great!” Lexi said enthusiastically.

  “Cool, alright then, let me check our list here.” Randall busied over some charts. “I’m going to put you down with Wynn Yoshida. He can fit three people in his car. Let me see if I can find him for you.” Julia followed his gaze as he scanned the clusters of people laughing and chatting nearby. “Have you seen Wynn?” he called to a girl who walked by carrying a tray of watermelon.

  The girl nodded out towards the ocean. “Surfing,” she answered.

  “I’ll introduce you guys to him later. Have you eaten? There’s a ton of food and drinks over there. Feel free to get as much as you want.”

  “Thanks, Randall.”

  Looking around at all the strangers crowded around her, Julia felt a moment of dizziness. Reading her thoughts, Lexi clamped a protective hand on her arm, and pulled her towards the picnic benches. There was close to a hundred Asian-Americans hanging out in a big rambunctious group. There were guys strumming their guitars around the unlit bonfire pit, girls sunbathing on a stretch of colorful towels, and more people tossing a Frisbee around on the sand. The ocean was a shimmering expanse of a backdrop, clear blue and foaming white where the waves crashed against the steady pale blue of the spacious sky.

  The greasy smell of hotdogs and burgers being grilled wafted about them. Tubs of ice chilled beverages were lined up one next to another on the tables overflowing with buns, an assortment of chips, trays of cut fruit, and roasted corn on the cob.

  Grabbing some ice cold sodas, they found a place to sit. After getting in a couple bites, Julia started to feel better. Everyone was friendly and relaxed. Lexi and Elliott were deep in conversation with the people next to them.

  Julia noticed some of the girls checking out Elliott. It was still a bit strange acknowledging the fact that Elliott had grown into such a hot commodity. She still viewed him at times as that tear-streaked and scraped up little kid she and Lexi had first befriended back in grade school.

  Elliott was an oxymoron. He had been a late-bloomer, not having hit his growth spurt until the summer between his sophomore and junior year in high school. But once he got going, he just didn’t stop. Despite his height, he still viewed himself as the irresponsible slacker unable to outgrow the shadow of his brothers.

  Sipping on her Pepsi, a shadow fell over her, and Julia raised her arm to squint against the glare of the sun. A tall figure towered over her, his face hidden by the contrast of the brightness behind him.

  “Hi, I’m Wynn Yoshida,” he said, extending his hand in greeting. Cold water sprayed on her legs as he leaned over. “Randall pointed you guys out to me. Oh, sorry,” he apologized when he noticed Julia gingerly wiping away the water. “Hold on.”

  He turned to grab an orange, yellow and blue striped surf board leaning against one of the beach chairs. Tucking it under his arm, he jogged off towards the parking lot to a dark grey Honda Element and stuck his surf board in through the top of the open hood. Pulling open the inverted door, he searched around until he found a t-shirt and attempted to dry himself off. Tossing the shirt back in the car, he shook his head with a quick jerk, pushed his hair out of his eyes, and jogged back.

  Stopping to grab a water bottle from one of the tubs, several people called out greetings to him. But he just gave them a wave, and headed back to where they were sitting.

  “So, uh, sorry about the mix up,” Wynn said after taking a swig from the water bottle. “Randall was telling me he signed you guys up to be in my car. The problem is I won’t be attending Aosta Verde church on Sundays anymore. If you want, I can set you guys up with another carpool.” He hesitated. “Just wanted to explain, so there would be no confusion when another person picks you up Sunday morning.”

  “That’s cool,” Elliott said. “Don’t worry about it.” He threw Lexi a grin, and motioned riding his bike as an alternative, making her laugh.

  Julia remained silent next to them. She was watching Wynn, wanting to ask why he wasn’t going to attend the church anymore. But she didn’t want to pry. Lexi, however, felt no qualms in asking.

  “So why won’t you be going anymore?”

  Wynn glanced up at her, surprised at being asked. After a moment, he said, “I’ll be going to my home church instead. My dad asked me to help out with the youth group.” He didn’t sound thrilled about the idea.

  “Is your dad the pastor?” Lexi asked, her eyes brightening.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m a pastor’s kid, too!” Lexi announced with pride. Wynn found her reaction amusing.

  “Congratulations,” Wynn said with a guarded smile. Just then, a guy holding a football came jogging up to them.

  “Hey, Wynn, are you in for a game?”

  “Sure.” He glanced over at Elliott. “You want to play?”

  Elliott handed Lexi his plate, and stood up to join him. Noticing the girls, the guy with the football flashed an overconfident grin and said, “Hey, I’m Geoff Chen – Geoff with a G. And you are?”

  “I’m Lexi with an L, and this is Lia also with an L,” Lexi introduced them.

  “Leah, huh?” Geoff continued in his teasing manner. “Your parents should’ve named you Rebecca instead.”

  Julia tried not to roll her eyes, but Wynn didn’t bother suppressing the urge.

  “Wonderful. Biblical pickup lines.”

  “Actually,” Julia said, a bit irritated. “It’s Lia as in Julia.”

  Lexi nudged her, warning her to keep her composure. Julia bit her lip, feeling regretful. For all she knew Geoff was actually a really nice guy, and meant no harm. But she just didn’t have the patience for flirts.

  Geoff continued grinning at them, unaffected, “Alright then, J
ulia.”

  “He’s hot, huh?” Lexi teased once the guys were out of hearing, making Julia blush. Sometimes she forgot that just because she felt invisible didn’t mean that she was.

  “Was I staring?” Julia asked a bit self-consciously then tried to brush it off. What did it matter even if she had found Wynn attractive? To be honest, many of the guys here were. But that didn’t mean one thing or another. “Not bad,” she finally admitted, making Lexi laugh.

  “Aw. Look at him,” Lexi said, sympathy coloring her tone.

  It took Julia a moment to realize she wasn’t referring to Wynn. The guys were all fine and really preoccupied with the game.

  Julia followed her gaze, and landed on a guy sitting alone, wearing dark jeans and a painfully uncomfortable expression on his face. He was clearly not enjoying himself.

  “Do you think we should go and talk to him?”

  “Please don’t make me,” Julia began but Lexi wasn’t listening.

  Julia sighed. There was no point trying to dissuade her now. Lexi was compassionate to a fault, and by the way her gaze was locked on the guy Julia could tell that her mind was made up.

  “What are you going to say to him?”

  Lexi shrugged, still staring. “I don’t know. Just keep him company. It must be awful being all alone in the midst of so many people having fun. C’mon, let’s go.”

  Julia wanted to say “maybe he wants to be alone,” but instead got up and followed Lexi.

  “Hi, I’m Lexi, and this is Julia,” Lexi said, plopping down next to him.

  The guy startled and gaped at them. He quickly recovered and tried to look nonchalant.

  “Oh, hey,” he drawled. “I’m Stan.”

  “What year are you?”

  “Freshmen.”

  “So are we!” Lexi paused to wave at Elliott, who had lost track of the girls during the game and was scanning the beach to locate where they had moved to.

  Once Elliott spotted them, he threw them a curious look. It was clear he was wondering who the guy was and why they were sitting with him. Lexi just smiled and waved to him again. Elliott nodded then turned back to focus on the football game.