Palm Trees

"Yeah. It's me."

You looked worried. "Of course."

"So..." I had no idea what to say to you at all. Maybe this was all a waste of time. I noticed you looked tired and sleepy-eyed. I checked my phone. It was ten in the morning. Why were you so tired? You never slept in very late on the island. Maybe things had changed. Then I remembered the time change. "Oh. Sorry I'm here so early."

"No, I guess it's okay," you said, then yawned. "It's not the best time, but..."

"Do you want me to come back later?" Or even come back at all? I taked on as an afterthought.

"Yeah. I think that would be best."



I came back in the afternoon. But when I rand the doorbell, it wasn't you who answered.

"Who the hell are you?" A small girl was standing there, staring at me.

I was confused. Maybe I was so exhausted that I had hallucinated the whole thing with you. But that was highly unlikely. This girl was shorter than you with black hair and brown eyes. I could never mistake her for you.

"Is Cassidy here?" I asked, not answering her question.

"Yeah, I am," you said. You had cleaned up a lot since the morning. Not to say that you looked totally gross, but no one looks really attractive when they first wake up. "It's alright, Minh. Just a friend."

Ah, so that was the Minh I had read so much about. I didn't know you lived with anyone. I watched Minh's face as she realized who I was - according to the letters, you had told her enough about me for her to make this assumption. Before she walked away, she said, "Well, have fun with your friend."

"Sorry," you said. "She's a bit rude."

"It's okay," I mumbled.

"She was waiting for this guy to pick her up for their date, so I guess she was disappointed when she saw you here instead."

"Who could be disappointed with this?" I joked. It felt natural to say it, but the thought of joking with you did not feel natural at all.

"Most people," you said, and I was reminded of old times. I waited for another moment of awkwardness, while I was just standing there on your doorstep. "We should go somewhere."

"Okay. Why not just here?" I was kind of curious to see the inside of your house.

"Minh will harass you. And I have somewhere to be in a little bit. We have some time, though."

"Sounds good," I said. "So where do you want to go?"

"I know this place. It's not that far from here. Just follow my car and we'll go."



We went to a small restaurant. We talked. But it was nothing I really wanted.

It was the little things. We didn't talk about anything too interesting, or even personal. None of my questions were answered.

There was still something tense in the air, but that was to be expected. I liked being with you though. I kept watching the way your hair moved when you talked and how your eyes looked at me. It might have been a bit creepy, but I couldn't help it. I was always a sucker for blond hair and blue eyes.

You said you had to go after we spent about half an hour in the restaurant. It was too short for me. You told me to come and visit again. I knew I would either way.

Before you left, I asked you one of the most prominent questions in my mind. "Are you dating anyone now?" Even though it shouldn't have mattered to me, it did.

You answered, "No."

"Why not?"

You sighed and got up from the table. "Guys are too complicated. They hurt you." I felt like I was being identified here. Which... I think I was.

"I see." I had nothing else to say to that.

"It's just what they do. They make you care about them, and all they do in return in confuse the shit out of you."