Valentine Memories

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I don’t think I have much of a valentine’s day story that may have had an impact or me or something. But I want to continue talking about someone i hold dear to my heart even though he took advantage of me (first story). I think I’ll cut these “love” stories into many pieces for today.

Story number one:
I met this guy who happens to me a grade below me and we became good friends. I knew he had a crush on me for a while and so did his best friend at the same time. But I didn’t see myself dating someone a grade younger than me. So let’s call him A. A was sweet, friendly, always made me feel beautiful and took me out and play video games and we would go hiking a lot together. After a 3 years of knowing him, he never pursue me. He always kept our friendship as a friendship; even though I knew he paid for meals and shopping trips without my help sometimes. Held my bag, kept me a seat during lunch, boyfriend duties.

So… on that 3rd year, he invited me over to his house as usual, and we played games. It was during the weekend and during that year of knowing, I was living in the same condo apartment as he was and i was on the 5th floor and he was on the 3rd floor. So after playing games and such, i was feeling a bit tired, and i went to a bedroom and knocked out. I don’t typically knock out in someone’s apartment so it was a bit unusual that that happened. I always wondered if he put something in my drink when he asked if i wanted a soda and he gave me a glass instead of a can. I fell asleep in a bedroom and i believe it was a guest bedroom, and as soon as I woke up, i found him on top of me kidding my non-moving lips. I was so in shocked that i pushed him off and ran out of his place and ran up to the 5th floor to my condo.

I cried, even though my clothes were on but he was on top of me and kissing my lips. And he didn’t steal my first kiss but to me it was disgusting. I saw him as a friend or even family for that matter and I have told him I will never see him any more than a friend and he understood. But he took advantage of me and my kindness. After that incident, he tried to apologize to me and i couldn’t bring myself to talk to him because I was so uncomfortable. He practically attempted to sexual assault me. I was so afraid and after that, we stopped talking more and hanging out less and not contacting after. Though, i do forgive him, i kept my distance. He added me on Facebook and we would occasionally talk, but i can’t really that we can ever be as close as we used to.

Story number 2:
I wanted to start this story with saying that this story is in relation to A’s best friend…
As I said before, i knew A’s best friend really liked me as well. Though i didn’t feel uncomfortable with having J (we’re going to call him that) to be my boyfriend. But I don’t think I was ready for that either. J was doing boyfriend duties as well, very sweet and kind. And on Valentines’ day, he asked me to come to this little neighborhood park near his apartment (probably at 12 am) and meet him at our usual hang out. So I did.

I went there and i saw rose petals. He made me a trail and it led up to the roof of his condo apartment building (it was a different one from mine). He made a trail that led up to a big heart with candles and a cake and said will you be my girlfriend. So…. I never actually gave him an answer because i didn’t want to date anyone but it’s not like I didn’t like him. So he kissed me and I kissed back to confirm my feelings. It was a confirmation for him and more of a surprise for me because i didn’t know the kiss was coming. We settled down and didn’t speak and he took me to his apartment. We didn’t hold hands, kiss after that, and arrived to his apartment. He laid out Korean food for me (he prepared it ahead of time) and made it like a romantic late dinner. I was surprised and i thought it was sweet, so i decided to do a trail run with him. It didn’t end it like how he wanted and he was heartbroken but he is still my friend today after all these years (10 years). So i hope he is well and his gestures were sweet.

Story number 3:
When i started going to school in Vietnam, i met this very trouble-making kid. He and i were in the same classes and same dance class as well. He was known to date every single girl he has ever met, but that I didn’t know him by. Let’s call him… R. R was very smooth, but loud and had no filter. I knew him because he was trying to date my older sister (who was 2 years older than him, and he was in middle school and she was in high school). I told him to back off and never talk to my sister again or I will do something about it.

So after I told him that, he redirected his amusement and interest to me. I was bending over to tie my shoes after dance class and he flipped my skirt up and everyone saw my underwear. I was so embarrassed and angry that I chased him 3 floors up in our school and slapped the living soul out of him.

After that slap, everyone in the school knew i was the one that slapped him. And i honestly didn’t care. He disrespected me, my sister and other girls.

For that, the next day in dance class, he asked me out in front of the whole class and everyone pressured me to say yes. As a 7th grader and new to the school, i didn’t know better. And I was confused and wanted to make friends or anything but not be someone’s hoe. From there, I ended up being his girlfriend and R was my first boyfriend. While dating, he would pick me up from school, we would walk and we talked about his life and I was surprised because he treated me like a queen. He held my bag, asked me about my family and tried to get to know me. My sister was skeptical because of the rumors and how he acts in school. But once he was dating me, everything seems so sweet and nice and he was doing well in school and he was being praised for being good. I felt like I was being a good influence to him. But that all changed when I found him smoking pot outside of school with his 4 years older friends. They were all seniors in high school.

Everything was going so well and I told him to please not to smoke any more and he best not lie to me because i will end it. He promised me he wouldn’t and so i took his word. Everything was dandy after that. He met my parents, he was doing well in school, we were being a regular couple and there was no issues. Until one day… He told me he was going to hang out with friends and I said sure, until I saw him smoking pot outside of a restaurant and I saw it. He thought I was getting a ride from my mom, so I wouldn’t see him smoke first hand. I told him right then and there that were were breaking up because he lied and I ran.

We didn’t speak for a few days and he didn’t go to school and I refused to talk to him. Until maybe a week after we broke up, he brought in a knife and started to threathen a new kid I was talking to and helping out to see his new school and R was jealous. He tried to stab the new kid and the teachers got a hold of him and the police came and from there he was expelled. Though after that, i didn’t hear anything from him and I was shocked that happened and he would bring a knife to school. But I can say that he was an amazing boyfriend and if I was me now in the past, I would be okay with him smoking a little bit. I was a bit of a goody two shoes.

 

 

I hated my Extended Family

I’m going to take a step back in the past.
Basically before I left to Vietnam…

There was something I was meaning to talk about… and it was about my extended family.

As you may already know, my parents are very hard working. But they are also very generous. I’m not close to my extended family (or at least most of them); I actually dislike them. But i love my dad’s extended family side and I dislike my mom’s family side. My dad’s side all live in the countryside in Vietnam; happily and within nature. As oppose to my mom’s side, they all moved to the US and hates Vietnam. When my parents moved here, by boat, from Vietnam to Massachusetts, they were already trying to start up their own business. My dad started his business, got partners, and made a good reputation. He was starting out and for many other families who just moved to the US, my dad would lend money, give them a home, food, clothes and everything that they needed to live and find a job and or go to school.

With that saying, over the years, my parents were quite successful and many people didn’t like my parents success. They were jealous and saw my parents as enemies. This is where my extend family comes in. They were also in need of money, a place to stay and everything you can think of, and my parents gave them what they needed. After that, when my older sister and I was born, everyone just hated my family. Because they saw us as greedy business people who loves to make money and kept it all to ourselves. But we didn’t. My parents put all their money into helping others as well as our school funds, our food, and anything necessary to live a frugal life.

I was born with brown curly hair. Everyone, including my siblings, all had long silky black hair. They were skinny. I was not. I was average and curvy and they didn’t like that. My extended family bullied me and my siblings because of my parents success and also because of how different I look. Sometimes, I blame myself for the many enemies that came about because of the way I was born.

So it comes down to this story. Whether my family is being hated by my mom’s extended family, we still want to be polite and come to the family parties. In these family parties, typically we all would go to my cousin’s house, play in the pool, eat buffet or family style and watch a movie, play games and go to sleep while the adults drink and karaoke.
There was one memory I had was when I was possibly 7 or 8 years old and all of my cousins, and my sister was sleeping and I heard someone made a crack in the door and sneaking in.

It was a man, and reeked of alcohol. I knew the party had family only but I’m sure they could have had friends over. I was slightly awake but not really. Though I’m not sure who it was, but the man went over to me and spooned me and I felt uncomfortable because his hands were moving around and I was being fondled with. I started to cry and laid there still. And after maybe 2 minutes, he left and went downstairs. I covered my mouth so he wouldn’t hear I was awake and I still struggle today to know what really happened, or if it happened or if it was a dream.

But now thinking back, I think it was real.