Chapter 1

JOYCE'S POV

"Drive safely," I say to my bestfriend, Preston West.

He is standing inches away from me on my front porch, wearing a white hoodie with a pair of navy blue knee-length jeans.

His messy, wavy brown hair is highlighted by the golden hour. His tall body blocks me from the sunshine.

"Whatever," he holds up his left hand to me.

We smack palms with our left hands and I throw my right fist to him and he blocks it with his right palm. We both each shake our right hands at our sides, pretending that they're hurt, before patting each other twice on the head. I need to tiptoe for my hand to reach his head.

It's a handshake we've been doing ever since primary five where we promised each other that we are, and will always be equal.

It's a stupid childhood promise. But we grew up doing it anyway.

"Be careful," I call out to him again. He is walking towards his black Alphard parked at the roadside.

Preston dramatically rolls his eyes, pretending to be annoyed. "Just cause you've only known the fact that I can drive for over a month, doesn't mean I haven't been doing it for over a year, Joy."

Joy is the nickname he calls me throughout the years of our friendship.

Sometimes I forget about the little new facts I know about Preston's current life. It's very hard to keep up when we've just started talking back after two long years of ignoring each other... It's a long story.

"I know that, geez. You don't have to make me feel like a criminal for being a little worried."

He plays a smirk on his lips as I walk towards him, intending to see him leave.

But Preston slams his car door shut back before entering. He grabs my shoulders and turns my body around, facing away from him before pushing me towards the house.

"Wha- what are you doing?!" I try to stand still but he's too strong.

"Get inside. You don't have to see me leave."

I struggle from his grip until we're standing directly in front of the door.

I've struggled too much at the point where I become breathless, but still with no luck in escaping, it makes me feel like laughing.

"Alright, alright," I burst into laughter when he releases me.

"Why are you even laughing?" He asks. But he's also smiling.

I find a lot of things funny. Random things that no one seems to understand. Even things that Preston doesn't understands. But he understands that I have a weird sense of humour anyway.

I shake my head in between my laughter.

Preston pats my head and turns away. "See you tomorrow, you adorable weirdo."

My stomach lurches at the word 'adorable'. I choose to ignore it.

Instead, I go into my house and peek at him in between the curtains where the window is placed near the door.

He shakes his head in amusement again before starting his car and drive away.

I wait a second longer after the sound of the car have drifted away before walking up the stairs to my bedroom, smiling broadly like an idiot to myself.

Feeling disgusted with myself, I just wanna slap myself across the face. I refuse to do so, though. Anyone's head would be stuck in the cloud after spending hours everyday with your old bestfriend.

Preston and I, along with Preston's twin brother, Easton, were bestfriends since eight.

But by the time we were fifteen, dramas happened.

Being the stupid girl I am, I accidentally said something that made Preston to stop talking to me. Though I remember it clearly that I honestly just meant for him to prioritise his girlfriend (Ex girlfriend now) before me.

We were some stupid 15-year-olds back than, but that silly situation dragged on for two whole years before Preston finally apologised and promised to make it up to me.

I'm glad we've finally got the chance to talk it out.

And here we are now. Making up for loss time in mid January by hanging out almost everyday. We've been doing so far so good. The formality between us seem to decrease everyday.

I sit on my bed and start picking the one perfect picture of me and Preston for me to post on Instagram.

Preston doesn't really like taking pictures, of course. But there's nothing like a little pushing and forcing that wouldn't do the trick.

After a while, I've decided to post the video of which I was trying on some Snapchat filters at the parking lot and I adjusted my phone so that Preston is in the camera frame when he was sipping on his coke behind me.

"Joy! That's just obnoxious!" Preston said when he realised that he was in the frame. It didn't make me quit laughing my head off when the tongue from the dog filter came out as he speaks.

I put 'LOML' as a caption, followed with a heart eyes emoji and tag him.

A few minutes later, I see a comment on the post from Easton West. It says 'I regret not tagging along' with laughing emojis.

I can't help but smile. Easton was the one who refused to tag along these past few days. He said that he have got nothing to catch up on. It's true cause he never has any problem with me before.

Back when Preston and I weren't talking, Easton was dying, trying to be understanding with the both of us. He never blamed anyone nor take sides. And I will forever be grateful to have him as a friend.

I walk towards the mirror to comb my straight, waist-lengthed black hair. Just like how I always do everytime before showering.

"Joyce?" the comb almost falls out of my hand when I hear mom calls from downstairs. I get shocked easily.

"Yea?" I call back.

"Raymond is here!"

This time, the comb really does falls from my grip.

I can hear mom's happy voice when she called.

What on earth is Raymond Wang doing here?

What is my ex doing here?