Lie Again! Chapter 96

<Chapter 96. A Season for Something to Ripen (1)>

 

Summer had arrived. It was a bit early to call it midsummer, yet one could have filled a soup bowl with the sweat already shed. Still, the scorching heat that turns a person into a turkey roasting in an oven was still a few steps away.

 

The small three-story house—tended by Riley with occasional help from the hands and feet of Ivy and Freckle the cat—was noisy from the morning with a guest who had rung the doorbell early.

 

“Jin isn’t even up yet. Why are you here so early?” 

 

Riley asked, pouring drip coffee into the cup set before Evan.

 

Since Evan had arrived ahead of schedule, Riley was playing host in place of Jin, who was likely busy rubbing sleep from her eyes upstairs.

 

“I wanted to make an impression on Ivy again. And on this cat, while I’m at it.” 

 

Evan replied, scratching under the chin of Freckle, who had suddenly leaped onto the dining table.

 

The calico cat was well aware that Riley would glare whenever he climbed onto the table, but he didn’t care in the slightest. Riley scooped up the loudly purring cat and set him back down on the floor.

 

“How is school?” 

 

Sitting across from Evan after diverting the attention of the complaining cat with a bowl full of kibble, she asked the question. 

 

“It’s buzzing with Prom preparations.”

 

“Prom! I don’t think I’ve even heard that word in fifteen years. Are you two going this time?” 

 

She let out an exclamation as she sipped her coffee. Prom—the flutter of excitement contained in that one word always thrilled American girls. That held true even after those girls became adults well into their thirties.

 

“No. We’re only in 10th grade. We’ll probably go next year.” 

 

On the other hand, the boy, who had never placed much value on Prom, shrugged off the biggest event of the year. At the same time, Evan mentally dismissed every partner request from juniors and seniors that had reached him, directly or indirectly. 

 

“That’s a shame. Evan, I wanted to see you pick up Jin in a tuxedo while she’s wearing a dress.” 

 

“You’ll see it next year.”

 

“Of course. You have no idea how pretty she was during Homecoming last year. It’s too bad you missed that.” 

 

Riley took a sip of coffee and teased Evan with a sly smile.

 

However, Evan didn’t miss the brief flicker of embarrassment she tried to hide behind her coffee cup.

 

“Hmm. I doubt that. I’ve probably seen her far more than you have, Riley.”

 

At his confession, which was as good as admitting he had never taken his eyes off Jin, Riley burst into a laugh. “Oh, my.” Evan also let the corners of his mouth lift in response.

 

Casual conversation continued in the warm atmosphere. Ivy, having just woken up, approached hesitantly in her pajamas and took a seat at the table. The cat, having finished his meal, walked over and rubbed his body against the child’s legs.

 

Evan smiled amidst the lethargic Sunday morning air that enveloped him.

 

However, the storm raging beneath his gentle smile never quite subsided.

 

His green eyes, now certain of something, sank deep into thought.

 

* * * 

 

“It’s hot.”

 

Jin tossed the book she had been holding and rolled over, burrowing into Evan’s arms. Evan, who had been lying on his back on the picnic mat turning pages, glanced down at Jin, who was now using his arm as a pillow.

 

“You just said it was hot.”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

Since there was no way to explain the contradiction of complaining about the heat while clinging to his even warmer body, Jin closed her eyes and feigned ignorance.

 

“Ow.”

 

The corner of the book in his long hand lightly poked her white forehead. Jin rubbed her forehead and glared at him, but Evan calmly returned to his reading.

 

Turning her head, Jin left a small, round bite mark on the forearm she was resting on, then closed her eyes again to focus on enduring the heat.

 

Despite the fact that the season was supposedly turning, Florida’s summer, which famously has no intention of yielding its place even in October, had begun heating the ground in earnest since April. Considering it was already like this, she felt a sense of dread regarding how hot the coming July and August would be.

 

The Ruths had warned her that the heat would be worse than anything she could imagine, though they also joked that she would eventually get used to it. Jin thought she had adapted as much as she could, but at times like this, she felt like a complete novice again.

 

But what could she do? She couldn’t stop the Earth from spinning, nor could she hold back the seasons.

 

All Jin could do was experience it. She had to console herself with the thought that this experience would make the next summer—and the coming August—easier to bear.

 

‘The next…’ 

 

Jin murmured to herself. Her thoughts drifted to where she would be at this time next year. After chewing on the word with a heavy heart, she consciously cleared her head.

 

Thinking about it now wouldn’t solve anything. She had already done her absolute best to prepare everything within her power.

 

‘I just have to do my part well.’

 

Jin renewed the vow she had recited countless times over the past month. Her family and the boy. She wanted to hurt neither of them, and the result of the path she had found was due to be revealed soon. Until then, the task given to Jin was simply to enjoy the present with all her might.

 

For example, lying in a park near the house looking at a book, hugging Evan, and waiting for the breeze to cool her sweat.

 

Lying on her back, Jin filled her lungs with the scent of grass and slowly exhaled. The shadows cast by the sun passing through the massive trees swayed gently over her pale face.

 

The sound of Evan turning pages over her head tickled her ears.

 

“Jin.”

 

Evan spoke up after Jin had heard the sound of pages turning about three times.

 

“Tryouts will be starting soon. Have you decided which club to join?” Evan asked casually, his eyes still fixed on his book.

 

“…”

 

Rustle. Another page turned.

 

“No. I haven’t found a suitable one yet.”

 

The reply was a half-beat late, but her voice sounded convincing enough. At least, it did to her. Fortunately, Evan didn’t seem to notice any strange undertone and continued in a level voice.

 

“Are you going to skip this time? Well, that’s fine too. There will be more openings in September than there are now.”

 

“…What about you? Are you going to apply this time?”

 

September. The new school year, moving up to 11th grade.

 

To Evan, who spoke of the future, Jin didn’t answer yes or no, but instead threw the question back at him. It wasn’t because she had nothing to say.

 

It was quite the opposite. There were so many things she wanted to say, but there was nothing she could say.

 

‘At least…’

 

At least not right now.

 

Jin blinked. Staring blankly at the blue sky visible through the gaps in the leaves, she turned her body to the right and hid her face against Evan’s chest. She looked like a small animal barely hiding its head in a corner to avoid something painful.

 

A light sigh drifted down from above. She felt the book he had been holding being set aside, and his long hand approached, tucking the strands of hair clinging to her face behind her ear one by one.

 

A heat that always felt slightly warmer than her own body temperature grazed her skin.

 

After a long silence, he spoke slowly.

 

“I thought I’d waited long enough. I guess there’s still a way to go.”

 

Jin’s body froze for an instant. It sounded as if he said it knowing something. But that lasted only a moment; barely recalling that they had been talking about clubs until just now, Jin forced a sound out of her tightened throat. “Huh?” She didn’t know what else to say beyond that.

 

While Jin struggled to find words, the hand that had finished tidying her hair pulled away simply.

 

“I’ll try waiting a little longer.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

What exactly was Evan waiting for? She felt that if she checked his face, she would be able to discern the true identity of what had been omitted in parentheses within his short words.

 

Whether it was a club, or her scheduled return home.

 

But in the end, Jin could not lift her head from Evan’s chest. She lacked the confidence. Jin closed her eyes and silently repeated the words to herself.

 

Just a little, just a tiny bit longer.

 

Until she had something in her hand that could hold onto this boy.