LOVE:ZERO

The Hunter I knew wasn’t interested in anyone but me, so whatever he did to Sienna didn’t really matter.

But to hear her talk, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Hunter Hamilton was a perfect blessing from God.

The other kids were too busy watching Sienna’s every move to openly admit that they liked Hunter.

But when he walked by them on the way to school, they exchanged meaningful glances and giggled.

Things that had been invisible before were now visible to Jiyu.

Cliques, which had begun to form rapidly in fifth grade, had solidified by sixth grade. Kids instinctively recognized which clique they belonged to.

Jiyu’s clique was the Nerds. Most kids who were good academically but not socially or athletically fit into this category.

Kids, both boys and girls, wanted to join the “Populous Kids” clique, which Hunter and Rex belonged to.

They wanted to be noticed for everything they did, and they weren’t interested in learning.

For the upper-class kids from families you could recognize on a first name basis, going to a good college wasn’t as important as going to a shitty college.

Kids from that level of upper-class families had been going to Ivy League Universities for generations, either through Legacy or merit-based admissions, so they didn’t have to study hard or excel like other kids.

Hunter’s dedication to tennis was the exception to the rule.

Jiyu, who still hates being the center of attention, wouldn’t join Hunter’s or Sienna’s cliques, even if they offered, not that it would ever happen.

She’s been in the same school for seven years, starting in kindergarten, so she’s not the kind of dog who runs away with her tail between her legs when someone talks to her.

But it wasn’t a 180-degree personality change: Jiyu was still most comfortable playing with her best friend Chloe.

Aside from that, there was a tiny bit of curiosity.

‘I wonder what the kids see in Hunter that they like so much.’

I don’t know because I see him every day, but everyone says he’s handsome.

Tall, rich, athletic.

Well, that was pretty much true. But that was just the surface.

Would they still like him when they found out how self-centered and controlling he was?

Hunter Hamilton doesn’t seem like the kind of kid who could like anyone but himself.

Jiyu shrugged.

Whether anyone liked Hunter or not was none of my business, and I firmly believed it would never be.

It’s October, and the trees along the Bridle Path, the wide carriage path that surrounds the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir north of Central Park, are beautifully colored in a thick blanket of fallen leaves.

At 2 p.m., students from the surrounding private schools trickled onto the Bridle Path from the Upper East Side, many wearing sweatshirts emblazoned with their school logos.

Jiyu, Chloe, and a group of girls also entered the bridal path, led by their gym teacher.

A short distance away, the Alton School children, wearing short-sleeved sweatshirts with a white logo on the chest, also walked into the Bridal Path.

Starting in fifth grade at the beginning of middle school, each student had to choose a sport they wanted to play each semester.

Jiyu chose volleyball in the fall, softball in the winter, and lacrosse in the spring.

However, after some experience, she decided that team sports were a waste of time.

After a year of being a maid of honor on the sidelines while the populist kids bumped shoulders and passed the ball back and forth between themselves, she decided that team sports were a waste of time.

This year, she chose individual sports: track and field, cross country, and outdoor running.

Each semester had a slightly different name, but it was all running.

Astor School and Alton School, like many Manhattan private schools, did not have athletic fields.

There was a sports center, but it wasn’t big enough for track, so most schools used Central Park as a field.

This year, Hunter chose track and field. He chose track because, unlike team sports, he could get out of school at 3:20.

He had practice at the tennis academy on Randall’s Island from 4 to 7 Monday through Thursday, and it was impossible to make it to sports like basketball, football, and field hockey, which didn’t end until 5:00.

But Hunter’s choice of track and field didn’t anticipate the influx of pop culture kids like Sienna.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I would have just played volleyball.’

Jiyu regretted it in hindsight.

The location of each school’s base camp was a long-standing practice. Alton School set up a base camp a little further back than Astor School.

These days, Hunter seemed to have learned the hard way that there were certain courtesies to be observed between people.

As he walked past the bass player at Astor School, he made eye contact with Jiyu and gave her a slight jerk of his chin in acknowledgment.

Jiyu returned the gesture with a very slight nod of her chin.

It was a quick gesture, and thankfully no one noticed.

As usual, the kids warmed up and started off together at the starting line, moving ahead or behind at their own pace.

Jiyu liked this time to run alone.

Fifth Avenue was only one street away, and once inside Central Park, the air was crisp and fresh.

The mild temperature of the sun on her shoulders, the red leaves falling in flurries, the reservoir glistening in the afternoon sun, and the Upper West Side skyline in the distance.

As I ran, my eyes taking in the tourist guidebook scenery, I could hear nothing but my regular footsteps and breathing, and all other noise faded away.

This was normal.

But suddenly, I heard the sound of Jiyu running in time with my feet.

Startled, Jiyu jumped and glanced back.

The boys from Alton School were running in groups of ten. At the front of the pack was Hunter, who was a head taller than the others.

Panicking as she suddenly made eye contact with Hunter, Jiyu ran at an angle, glancing back to get out of their path.

Then her foot twisted.

She squeezed her eyes shut just before she tumbled to the dry dirt.

Her thighs and knees crunched together, and the pointy end of her elbow hit the ground, making her bones whine.

“Uh, look!”

“Shit, I fell hard.”

“What was her name?”

“Wasn’t it Olivia? Neverland Kids.”

“Uh, yeah! Can I help you?”

All at once, the voices of boys just entering puberty poured in.

She’d thought she’d been well hidden in the corner, playing an inconspicuous role throughout the musical.

She hadn’t expected any of them to remember her name.

“Shut up and run.”

Hunter’s fierce voice was unmistakable.

Jiyu squeezed her eyes shut. Aside from the pain, she felt unbearably embarrassed that she had fallen so ridiculously in front of Hunter and the boys at Alton School.

‘I want to jump into the reservoir like this.’

She pressed her bloody palms to the ground and heaved herself up, making eye contact again with Hunter, who had just walked by her.

He glanced at her with a pathetic frown, then turned away with a cold glare.

She felt strangely miserable. It burned like a fever with the flu.

‘I wonder how many times he’s going to tease me and laugh at me with this.’

As she leaned her head back, Ji Yu suddenly felt pain.

Her ankle throbbed, her knee gave out, and her thighs were bleeding from long scratches.

Even her elbow was starting to ooze red blood.

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I held them back.

Crying in front of others would only attract attention.

‘I need to get up.’

Then I saw a pair of legs in blue athletic shorts.

On the left end of the shorts, the logo ALTON was emblazoned in white.

Before Jiyu could look up, her arms were grabbed and she was hauled up.

A rough touch without care, an angular shoulder at eye level.

She didn’t have to look at his face to know it was Hunter.

When she glanced up, he gulped and wiped the sweat from his brow with his wristband.

“Are you crazy? Why are you running diagonally?”

“…”