I was riding in the back seat of my parents blue Cadillac when I saw him. He was walking alongside the road. He turned and stared at the car as we drove past. I got nervous and quickly turned my head so he didn’t see me.

We arrived at the banquet hall for my dad's business. He is the founder and CEO of a major weapon company, selling weapons to the U.S. for the war. That's how we got all our money. He wants me to take over when he steps down. He reminds me almost every day that it’s my “legacy” to take over the family business, but I have no interest in that kind of thing. I can’t tell him that though, he would be furious. After the banquet, we arrived at home pretty late and I had to get ready for bed because I had school in the morning. I told my parents goodnight and my mom kissed me on the forehead. 

My alarm went off in the morning and I sat up. I wasn’t happy to wake up, my parents were fighting again last night so I didn’t get any sleep.  I was dreaming about that guy I saw the day before. It felt so real. I feel like I know him even though I’ve never seen him before yesterday. I get dressed and head downstairs and find my mom listening to the news on the radio crying. 

“What are you crying about?’’ I asked.

“Oh, It’s nothing.” she responded.

“Where’s dad?” 

“He’s at work.” she said thinking I didn’t know I heard them fighting. If only he was actually at work, knowing him he’s probably out drinking somewhere. I told my mom I loved her and I left for school. I decided to walk to school today instead of riding the bus. It helps me clear my head. I had to walk through a small shantytown to get to school. Once I got there, I saw him again standing in the hall holding a piece of paper looking around. 

“Need some help?” I asked as I approached him.

“Yeah, I can’t find Mrs. Brown’s math class,” he responded.

“Oh, that’s where I’m going. Follow me.” I told him, “What’s your name?”

“My name is James. What's yours?”

“I’m Arthur. So are you new in town?”

“Yeah, I just moved in. I lived in Mississippi, but we had to move because my Mom got a new job.” We arrived in class and I sat down and told James to sit next to me. Mrs. Brown came in and James got up to tell her he’s a new student. I had two other classes with James which gave me time to talk to him more. After school I met up with him and we walked home together. He told me that he liked to draw and said I had very good facial features and he would like to draw me sometime. I blushed.

Later that night at dinner I told my mom about James. She was very happy to hear I had a new friend because I don’t have many. In the middle of dinner my dad came in, made a plate of food and went into his office to eat. I don’t like when my parents fight. 

The next morning I woke up and headed downstairs like any other day. My mom was listening to the radio crying again so I figured my parents fought again but then I heard the radio they were talking about the japanese. They bombed Pearl Harbor. I knew the war was bad but I didn’t know they were going to bring the United States into it. Everyone at school was talking about it and James was upset. 

“It’s going to be okay”, I said to James.

“NO!” he yelled. “My dad was there in Pearl Harbor. I have no idea if he is alright or not.” He covered his face with his hands and started crying.

“Sorry, I had no idea.” The bell rang and I walked away to leave him in peace. After school I went on a little walk to clear my mind and I went to my favorite place to pass the time. It's under a tree on top of a small hill in a meadow. I like to spend my time here because It’s away from everyone. After sitting there for a little, I heard a voice.

“Hey.” said James very quietly. I can tell he had been crying. 

“Oh, hi.” I responded, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I'm fine. Sorry about earlier, I’m just upset.”

“No, it's fine. I had no idea about your dad. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Sure”. He told me about his dad and why he joined the military. James never wanted him to go but he left because he said he had to. We talked for a long time and lost track of time. After a while I told him I had to go and he said he should too. We locked eyes and he kissed me on the cheek. I was surprised and startled by what just happened so I ran away. As I was running away I was thinking about what just happened. I know it’s wrong but I liked it. My parents were upset with me when I got home. They wanted to know where I was and who I was with, but I can’t tell them what happened or else they would be mad, so I just told them I was on a walk. 

The next day at school was very awkward with James. I don’t know what I should say to him. So I told him I don’t want to talk about it. After school he met up with me and we went to the tree. 

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

“I..I don’t know.” he said, stuttering. His head was lowered because he was upset with what he did. I don’t know what to tell him.

“I want you to know that I like you but we can’t be together.” He lifted his head and looked at me. He slowly came in and we kissed and then we hugged. I told him I wanted to be with him but we have to keep it a secret. We met at the tree everyday in private away from the world. We would talk about our futures and about wanting to be together forever. One day he brought his sketchbook because he wanted to draw me. I was nervous and was blushing.

After a month, James said he had something important to tell me.

“I’m thinking about enlisting in the army and fighting in the war.” James said nervously.

“What do you mean?” I replied, “Do you know what you are saying right now?”

“I know. I want to find my father.”

“But what about me? What about us?”

“We can still be together. I’ll write to you everyday.” I felt like he was breaking up with me. I started to cry. 

James did exactly what he said and he joined the army. He wrote to me everyday telling me what happened that day and where he was, but after a while, he stopped. I became concerned. I don’t know if he is still alive or not. So I waited for him but as time went on, I grew tired of waiting so I stopped, and I found someone new.