Episode 8: Something's Missing

Development: Summer

She didn't quite know where to look. She felt her face burning, undoubtedly very red. Isabelle slowly looked up again, and immediately  looked back down again. Moving her head slightly, she looked over at Karin who sat on the sand next to her. Karin was smiling, shamelessly watching the half naked boys running and wrestling in the water.

Uncle Chin had decided that in order to ease the tension and contempt the classical and rock musicians had for each other, they needed to go on a "bonding trip". After a long, heated argument they finally accepted their fates. Knowing Isabelle's luck, she had to sit next to Jay on the long drive in the van to the beach. Thank goodness he put his headphones on and didn't speak the entire way, Isabelle had thought.

Summer had come early this year. The blazing hot sun and humid atmosphere was intense. As soon as the van pulled to a stop, all the boys from the rock group ran out of the van and sprinted to the beach. Leaving a trail of t shirts and shorts, they dove into the ocean shamelessly in only their boxers. All, except for Jay. He strode over, cool, carelessly, black sunglasses gleaming under the sun. Isabelle and the classical group gathered their bags and walked with uncle Chin, and his brother to the beach. Isabelle couldn't help but glance over at Jay, who had plopped down onto the sand, spread out, enjoying the sun. As if he could sense someone looking at him, he turned his head in her direction. Isabelle whipped around, looking away, hoping he didn't see her.

Laying out some towels, Isabelle sat in between Karin and Hendrick, trying not to look at the half naked rock group boys running around the beach. Evie had of course gone off to look for food, Hendrick whipped out a book to read, and Karin sat twirling her hair, her eyes following the boys as they ran back and forth.

Even though Isabelle grew up right next to a beach, she never liked going there. She always stayed inside, either in her room, or the piano room to practice. Living in the always sunny, swimsuit season of LA, Isabelle grew tired of the sun, she wanted to dance in the rain. She was looking forward to the summer thunderstorms here in Beijing. She always loved the rain, even the incredibly humid air that came beforehand, announcing the arriving storm.

"Hey guys!" Evie came jogging back, carrying a snow-cone in both hands. "There's a little shop a little further down! You should go get some!" She sat down next to Karin, looked at the orange snow-cone in her right hand, and the blue one in her left, unable to decide which one to eat first. She took a bite into the orange one first, then the blue.

"Ach, you are alvays eating. Zo many calories." Karin mumbled. "I don't know how you stay so skinny." Evie ignored her, and continued eating from both snow-cones. Karin started making remarks on the boys from the rock group,

"They are zo good looking ne? Their abs are very refined, and their arms look very muscular." She smiled, a twinkle in her eye. Evie rolled her eyes, managing to say with a mouthful of ice,

"Wow...."

Isabelle giggled at how different the two were, yet how they were still good friends.

"Where's Raj?" Karin asked all of a sudden. Isabelle realized that she hadn't seen him since they got off the van.

"He went ahead to the beach house." Hendrick looked up from his book. "Said something about how he doesn't like the sun."

Karin scoffed, "No doubt to go play vith the chemicals he brought vith him."

"He's working on an experiment. He's not just playing with them." Evie corrected her.

"Ve have a mad scientist among us. How comforting." Karin flipped her golden curls over her shoulder.

"He probably would be a scientist if he weren't pursuing music." Hendrick mused. After a brief pause he asked, "What would you guys be doing if you weren't here?" There was an awkward tension. Then Karin scoffed and said disdainfully,

"Vat a stupid question. Ve are here are ve not? Why should ve sink about anysing else? I don't know about you, but I am very dedicated to my career as a pianist." She stood up abruptly, and grabbed her towel off the sand, "I am going to go to ze beach house now." She turned sharply on her heel, and strut off in the direction of the beach house.

"Was it something I said?" Hendrick asked, taken aback at Karin's curtness. Evie shook her head,

"Don't worry about it. She's just given up a lot for this career. Out of all of us, I think she's probably worked the hardest to get where she is now."  The three looked in the direction Karin had left in, each thinking about the things they had sacrificed to get where they were.

Isabelle closed her eyes, trying to imagine what her friends would be doing if they were not pursuing a career as classical musicians. She saw Evie putting down her viola, picking up a tall chef's hat and whisk and opening her own bakery. She saw Karin step away from the piano, dressing up in the latest styles as she opened her own boutique where only those in the high fashion world would shop. She saw Hendrick laying down his violin on his desk, and sit down next to it with a pen and paper as he wrote the next worldwide best- selling book. She saw Raj, setting aside his cello and discovering a magical potion to cure cancer. She saw herself sitting at the piano, but she didn't move. The spotlight was on her, she was on stage, but she wasn't playing. Isabelle opened her eyes. For the first time she realized that the piano had been her entire world for her entire life, and that she didn't know what she would do if she didn't play piano.

She opened her eyes. A feeling of emptiness that was never there before, started to sink in. She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head on her knees. Unconsciously, she had been looking at a figure dressed in a dark blue shirt and black shorts laying on the sand. Her mind began wandering as she continued to observe Jay.

"Isabelle?" A voice broke into her thoughts.  Her eyes snapped up to meet Hendrick's.

"What are you looking at?" He turned his head to look in the direction she had been looking in. Seeing Jay laying there, he turned back to her, a questioning look on his face. Isabelle immediately snapped up, sitting up straight, looking at the ground.

"Oh, nothing...I just...I just dozed off..."

What's wrong with me? She thought. Focus focus focus. She repeated to herself. Then she heard loud shouting and laughing.

"Hey! Why don't you get in the water?! Have some fun!" Isabelle heard the rock group boys speaking in Chinese to Jay. She looked over to see them pulling his arms and legs trying to carry him into the water.

"Let me go! NO! I don't want to get wet. No!" Despite his protests, his friends dragged him into the water anyway. They threw him into the incoming wave. He slowly stood up, clothes dripping wet, dyed blond hair covering his eyes. All the boys stood in silence and fear as Jay ominously stood there, unmoving. Isabelle was staring too, she found her heart racing too as she waited for him to do something. Then, he broke into a sprint and tackled the tallest member, LOQ, who happened to be standing the closest. They fell back into the water, and immerged laughing and play fighting in the water. The other three members joined in too. Isabelle smiled too. "He has a nice smile." She thought.

____

"I'll be back soon! Don't worry." Isabelle put on her shoes. She had seen a little dock down the beach earlier. Now that it was dark and cooler, she wanted to wander around.

"If you see the boys out there, tell them to come back soon and get their stuff settled into their rooms!" Uncle Chin called from the living room.

"OK!" She called back. Just as soon as she put her hand on the doorknob to go outside, the door burst open and she ran into someone's bare chest. She almost fell backwards when a hand came around her waist and on the small of her back. He pulled her into him, her face and hands against his chest, she stood unmoving not knowing what to do.

"Hey careful there." His deep voice vibrated in his chest, and Isabelle felt her face grow ten times redder than it already was. She slowly pulled away, not daring to look up. He kept his hand on her waist for a moment until she looked up.

"Oh...um sorry." She managed to reply as she was captivated by LOQ's dark, smoldering eyes. A look of surprise passed over his face,

"Oh right, I forgot. You're the one who can speak Chinese." His Chinese was very lazy sounding, but at the same time, the deepest, sexiest voice Isabelle ever heard. She was speechless. He just gave a little chuckle, and slowly brushed past her. Standing dumbstruck, the other boys rushed in after LOQ. Isabelle snapped out of her daze as she saw three other half naked boys brush past her. She started out the door again, and yet again ran into someone. She looked up and saw Jay. Blonde hair dripping wet, still wearing a soaked t-shirt and shorts, now covered with crusty sand. Her eyes met his black ones for a moment, but then she remembered how rude he was to her, and pushed past him without any acknowledgement.

"At least he had the decency to keep his shirt on..." she thought to herself as she walked quickly away from the beach house. She bounced down a set of stairs and was on the beach again, the sand filling her sandals. "But then again...I wonder why he didn't take it off...is he not as muscular as the others...?" She found herself wondering what Jay's body looked like, but as soon as she realized what she was thinking, she shook her head. "No no no! What are you thinking? Stop it."

Soon the beach house was out of sight and the little dock she had seen earlier came into sight. She walked to the end, took of her sandals, and sat down, dangling her feet in the cold water. She took a deep breath, and noticed the humidity in the air. "It's going to rain!" She thought. She couldn't wait to finally experience rain for what seemed like forever. Leaning back on her hands, looking up at the starry night sky, she felt peaceful and at home. But there was still the feeling from earlier, that feeling of emptiness, that feeling that something was missing from her life still. Then a voice broke her silence.

"Hey..."

She turned around and saw Jay walking down the dock toward her. Sighing a sigh of frustration, she turned back toward the ocean that stretched endlessly before her. Hoping he would go away if she didn't say anything, she remained silent. Nevertheless, he walked right up and sat down next to her. Isabelle tensed herself up, wondering "why why why why why?!!" in her head. "why can't I have some alone time?!"

"Hey..." He started again.

"What?!" She snapped at him, sounding a little meaner than she had intended to. He sighed loudly and turned to face her,

"Look, I don't know what kind of problem you have with me, but I'm sorry ok?"  He sighed and turned to look back out at the water. "I know I wasn't the nicest when we met, but I'm just...I don't know...you...you just caught me off guard. You like...speak Chinese and stuff, but you look like a foreigner...so I didn't really know...what to think."

This was the most he had ever said to Isabelle. She looked at him now, a sincere apology on his face. She notice he had changed into a clean shirt and shorts. Even though he had apologized, she was still prideful,

"You shouldn't judge people by how they look." She said quietly. He scoffed,

"Right, like you didn't just swoon and almost faint when LOQ caught you earlier."

Isabelle's eyes widened and she felt her face grow hot as she recalled the situation.

"I did not. You're making things up."

"Yeah right! You practically melted in his arms!" He said with an amused laugh.

"I did not!" She stood up angrily and turned to leave. "I came out here for some peace and quiet and you come and ruin it. 'Sorry' my ass, you like messing with me don't you? All of you, all of you guys hate us classical musicians, think our music is stupid." Isabelle's pent up frustration started coming out, "Well, we don't like your music either, it's...it's...bad!" She couldn't think of any other bad word to use at the moment. She began stomping off when he called out her,

"Are you just going to leave your shoes here?"

She turned and saw her sandals were still sitting on the dock. She began stomping back to get them, but Jay picked them up first. He dangled them in the air above her head. He was a good five inches taller than her.

"Give me my shoes!" She demanded angrily. He just smiled amusedly,

"What was that you were saying about our music...something like..." He pretending to think, "How it was bad?" Isabelle scowled at him. He only laughed. Then Isabelle noticed something. His laugh, she thought, it's...it's familiar. But before she could think or say anything else, a loud roar of thunder interrupted them. Isabelle looked up at the sky and smiled as she felt the first raindrops land on her face.

"Aw crap..." Jay muttered as the rain started falling steadily. It was Isabelle's turn to laugh as the rain came pouring down harder by the second.

"Are you crazy?!" Jay shouted over the sound of the pouring rain. The thunder roared again and the rain dove to the ground. Isabelle held her arms out and began twirling, letting herself get completely soaked.

"I haven't seen rain in years!" She shouted. She began jumping and dancing along the length of the dock as if she were ten again, forgetting all her worries and letting the rain wash them far away.

Seeing Jay making his way off the dock, she ran after him, grabbing his hand and pulling him back,

"I have to show you something!" She called, a mischievous look in her eye. He looked at her in disbelief.

"What? What are you thinking?!" He let her drag him back on the dock and to the end.

"There, look!" She pointed into the distance of nothing but dark storm clouds and ocean.

"What?! I don't see anything!" He shouted back, trying to find something. Taking this opportunity, Isabelle stood behind him, put both her hands on his back, and pushed him into the water. She laughed a long and hard laugh as she saw him fall, flailing into the water, letting out a small shout. His head popped up in the water. Isabelle kept laughing.

"Very funny!!" He shouted at her. "Now help me out." He came to the edge of the dock and reached his hand up to her. Still laughing, Isabelle reached out to help him up. But as soon as he grasped her hand, her smile left her face, and an evil smile appeared on his. But before she could resist, he pulled her into the water too. She felt the cold water surround her and the waves push her back and forth. She felt a strong arm around her waist pull her up to the surface. She found herself face to face with Jay, his arm holding her as he tread water. She looked into his eyes for a moment, and at the same time the two broke out laughing.

They let the waves push them to the shore, and they crawled out. They lay side by side on the beach, sand getting in their hair and clothes. Finally, Jay sat up, leaning his arms on his knees,

"Wanna race?" He asked.

"Race? Where?" Isabelle slowly sat up too.

"To the beach house. Loser has to wash the winner's clothes tomorrow."

Isabelle looked down at her soaked, sand ridden shirt and shorts, "Deal."

"Ready? Go!" He jumped up and took off running all of a sudden.

"Hey!" Isabelle stumbled to her feet, "You need to give me a fair start!" She started running after him, trying to catch up.

He made it back to the beach house first. He stood waiting for her, and as she came sprinting through, unable to stop in time, he caught her before she tripped forward on her face.

Laughing and panting, they stood there catching their breath. As Isabelle's breathing calmed down, she noticed her hands where on his arms, and his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. Slowly, she backed up, his arms falling to his side. The laughing had stopped, and now an awkward silence was there between them.

"Oh!" Jay lifted up his arm, "You forgot these." He held her sandals in his hand.

"Oh, thanks." Isabelle reached out to take them. She took her sandals, and turned to leave, but Jay grabbed her arm and spun her back around. He was looking deeply into her eyes, with a look of urgency which confused her.

"What's this?" He asked, pulling her arm up. Isabelle looked down and gasped. The makeup on her arm had been washed off. She pulled her arm from his grasp.

"It's nothing." She turned and ran back into the beach house. She didn't stop until she reached her room and locked the door shut. Panting, she dropped her sandals by the door and walked over to the window. She threw the window open letting the mist from the rain come into her room. The moonlight shone into her room. She slowly looked down at her arm. The black tattoo of a dragon curved along her inner arm, remnants of cover-up running off.

____

It was a dragon. Jay thought as he laid in bed awake. He jumped up off his bed and headed over to the large mirror attached to the wardrobe in his room. Looking at his reflection for a moment in the mirror, he pulled off his shirt. Turning slightly to see his back and the tattoo stretching across his shoulders, he whispered,

"Phoenix."

He pulled his shirt back on.

"It's her."