Lotus

Ren - 10: Rejection

“There are millions of words in the English language. However, there is only one saying to express love. The phrase ‘I love you’ is used and thrown around so many times that how are we sure what it even means anymore?”

     “Thanks for meeting with me,” Jason said. “I just wanted to ask you some things about Ren.”

     “Ren?” Rina asked. “I thought you just wanted to hang out. I don’t really know if I could help you, but I’ll try to answer what I can.”

     A week had passed since the day Rina looked through Ren’s photo album. Jason had picked up Rina from her school, wanting to meet solely with her. He wasn’t interested in pursuing her today, but he was concerned with discussing her understanding of Ren’s life.

     “Has he ever told you anything about his past?” he asked.

     “Nothing really,” Rina replied sadly. “He never told me anything, and I never asked him anything. The only things I know about him are from my own observations.”

     “Oh.”

     Jason rubbed his eye, then looked down at his hands, then back at Rina.

     “What could you infer from your observations?” he asked. “I can tell you if what you’ve guessed is correct.”

     Rina nodded and tapped her chin with her index finger.

     “I saw from his photo album that he did grow up with two parents… but his parents aren’t ever around,” she said shyly. “I was always careful with my friends to never ask them about their parents because I never knew, you know, if they were present or not. When I first met Ren, Alex was sick and asked for his mom and dad. Ren got upset and told him that they would come home soon, but I’ve never actually seen them around.”

     Jason’s face grew pale.

     “They’re not coming back, are they?” Rina asked.

     “No,” he replied regretfully. He paused for a moment. “They both died very recently. Actually, they just died over the summer. Ren was really close with them, so their deaths were just too much for him to handle.”

     Rina started feeling uncomfortable. Her heart sank, and tears begin to fill her eyes. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn’t allow herself to. Not in front of Jason.

     “Keep going,” Jason said.

     “His birthday is in the spring,” she said, unable to think of anything more detailed. “He comes off as being hot-headed and rude, but he’s actually very kind. He cares a lot about his family, and he cherishes everyone he’s close to. I know that he treasures you and Kai… and I would like to think that he secretly adores me.”

     She giggled, finding her thought silly. She tried to think harder about anything that Ren had ever told her. In her head, she went over every memory she had of him. Finally, she remembered the story that he had told her once before.

     “He was bullied when he was little,” she said. “Ren told me that you two were always picked on by this group of kids. Kai beat up everyone to defend you guys, and you three remained friends ever since.”

     “So he remembers that,” Jason laughed. “Is that all you know?”

     “He’s Japanese,” Rina said. “He can understand and sing in the language, but I’ve never actually heard him speak it in a full conversation.

     “He’s fluent,” Jason sighed. “I’m guessing Ren never told you about what happened over the summer. It seems that he himself really doesn’t remember.”