“Right through the red light. Good job!” That was the last thing I heard before my world flipped upside-down. It was the last thing I heard before my life became all messed up.

I remember the first day I met him. I was on my way home from school trying to successfully tie my jet black hair into a ponytail. That’s when I saw him. He had blonde hair and green eyes. How rare. I had never seen anyone with green eyes. He craned his neck backwards as he was carrying boxes out of a moving truck. I had almost forgotten that there was a new neighbor moving in.

“Hey,” the boy called out, “my name’s Jay. Jay Walker.”

“Oh, umm, Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn Thornton. Nice to meet you,” I replied. He just smiled and continued what he was doing.

My second meeting was the next day. I was gathering my stuff and heading out the school doors at the end of the day.

“Hey wait up!” someone yelled. I turned around. It was Jay.

“Hey,” I said. He started walking beside me.

“So, tell me, what kind of person are you?” Jay asked. Wow. He sure is the straight-forward type. But, I surprised myself. I actually ended up having a nice conversation with him. We talked about school, our parents, his old town, everything. I can’t believe how comfortable I am. “So, do you go out during recess? I personally don’t because of my seasonal allergies.”

“I don’t either. There’s no one to play with anyway,” I responded looking away to avoid eye contact. “I’m not exactly the social type of person who hangs out with friends”

“Really? ‘cuz you seem pretty social to me right now, friend.”

“I know. I’m surprised myself. I usually don’t open up to people. And by the way, we’re not friends.”

“But, you’re so friendly to me even though I’m a complete stranger. So, doesn’t that mean we’re friends?” Jay asked with a genuine smile. I was so caught up with talking that I didn’t even realize that I had arrived at my house.

“All right. Gotta go, bye.” I said as I headed up my front steps. I honestly didn’t think I would have another conversation like that with him ever again.

I never expected to run into him so many times. I mean, yea I’m his neighbor and all but, I thought the next day I would go back to being that invisible girl who doesn’t talk to anyone.

The third meeting was in the library. I was doing my homework during recess when Jay entered. “Woah. Look at you doing your homework. So, how’re your grades,” Jay asked.

“I don’t really care that much,” I replied with a poker face.

“What?!” That earned him a few “shh”s and a look from the librarian. “How could you not care about your grades?” he brought his voice back to a whisper.

“Well, I don’t do good on test and I don’t understand anything when I study so I’m hopeless anyway. I don’t ask the teachers for help because then they’ll just seemed bothered. I don’t even think they know who I am.”

“Ok, then it’s decided. I’ll help you study from now on,” Jay declared. I opened my mouth to protest but, Jay put a finger in front of my face. I knew there was no point in fighting.

“Hey Jay, why do you care so much? You’re just wasting your time,” I said.

“It’s because we’re friends right?”

“Shut up,” I said and walked out the library while Jay followed like a lost puppy.

And so, the next day I had my fourth meeting with Jay. Then the fifth. Then the sixth. And it just kept happening.

One day we were walking home when Jay asked, “Kaitlyn, have you ever heard of firefly squids?”

“What?” I scrunched my eyebrows together.

“They’re glowing squid that gather at the edge of an ocean. Well, to be more precise, they’re bio luminescence. But, they always gather at Toyama Bay and if you see them at night, they look just like the stars. We should totally go together some day,” Jay explained.

My eyes widened. Wow did that sound cool. “We should go together. So where is it?”

“Its. A. Se-cret.”

I stopped at the edge of the sidewalk. I huffed. “You know, I can just google it and find out,” I told him. He stopped and turned around.

“I’ll tell you,” he said. My eyes lit up. “On one condition.” Great. There’s always a catch isn’t there.

“What do you want?”

“Answer my question from before,” Jay said grinning like a little kid.

“What question?” I asked. Jay put both his hand on his heart dramatically acting hurt.

“You don’t remember?” I shook my head. “Remember the question I would always ask you?” he asked while crossing the street. I stood there and tried to think.

“What did you ask me?”

Jay stopped and looked up into the sky. “You know, that question. ‘Aren’t we friends?’”

“What?! Isn’t the answer obvious?” I asked. Jay shook his head from left to right. I sighed. “My answer is-”

“Right through the red light. Good job!” We both turned our heads.

“Crap!!” Someone shouted. Before I knew it, I heard the screeching of the truck as it tried to skid to a stop. But, it was too late.

I can’t believe what just happened. I could only focus on Jay’s unmoving body. Oh My God! I ran into the streets. “Jay! Jay! Jay!” All I could do was call his name over and over and over again.

With shaky hands, I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. When I tried to turn in on, it slipped through my fingers. I scurried to pick it up. But then, I heard sirens. I lifted my head up and realized there was a huge crowd of people around us. Oh, I guess someone already called the ambulance.

I couldn’t move. Even after my mom had drove me to the hospital. Jay’s parents were there too. His mom was crying while his dad was trying to comfort her. The doctor walked out. I could see his mouth open but all I heard was a muffled “he’s in coma.” My heart sank. My legs started to shake. It felt like I couldn’t support my weight anymore and I dropped to the ground. This just couldn’t be real.

After Jay’s parents had left, I forced my feet to move and trudged into Jay’s room. His hair was still the same blond. His eyes were probably still that shimmering green under those closed eyelids. But, he was so pale and his lips were so blue. One look and I couldn’t take it.

I felt tears well up ready to fall. I shut my eyes tight trying to stop them but, it didn’t work. The warm liquid rushed down my face. My heart was beating against my rib cage. I covered my face as my shoulders shook while sobbing. I grabbed a tissue to wipe the snot threatening to come down. I sniffed and turned to a blurry image of Jay. Opening my mouth, I tried to talk but it just came out as a whimper. I spent the whole time crying until my mom told me I had to leave.

It’s funny how people wake up everyday and never really expect if it’ll be the one to change their life. I guess today was that day for me. But, once you’ve met someone, you never really forget them. It just takes a while for the good memories to return. Yeah, the good memories.

—2 YEARS LATER—

“Kaitlyn, be back by 8!” my mom shouted.

“Got it!” I shouted back. I could feel the cold night breeze as I strolled down the beach near my new house. Yea, we just moved. Again. After that whole incident, we moved to California. But, we moved again to Japan. I still don’t know what happened to Jay. One side of me hopes he’s okay but, another side thinks that he’ll never wake up from coma.

I walk down the sandy beach. Then, it happened. My eyes widened as I saw the coast light up in blue shiny lights. This can’t be. I turn my head and a sign catches my eye.

Toyama Bay, Japan.

Oh yea, Toyama Bay. I never searched it up. As I turned back, I caught a glimpse of a human figure. I whip my head back and see someone gazing into the ocean.

His blonde hair was pushed back by the sea breeze and the glowing lights reflected off his green eyes.

Green eyes. It can’t be. My heart starts racing at a thousand beats per second. Is it really? He starts to walk away.

“Jay!” He keeps walking.

“Jay!” He still keeps walking.

“Yes! My answer is YES!!”

He stopped.

~It’s hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember~