Read Online Gravity (Free Falling) by Raven St. Pierre - Free Book Online

I’m an open book.  What is it?”
                  “What….. are you?” I said sheepishly.
    AJ broke out in a loud laugh that startled me.  “Are you asking my nationality?”
                  “Yeah, I mean… I know you’re Asian, but like…..what part of Asia.  I’m sorry if that didn’t come out right.  I just didn’t really know how to word it.  ”
                  “It’s fine.”  He said, still smiling.  “I’m Japanese.  My father’s parents came here about 55 years ago and started their own construction company, so my dad and uncle were both born here in the States.  He met my mom on one of his yearly trips back to Japan visiting my great-grandparents.  He saw her working in a market, fell in love, and they were married three months later.”
                  “Wow…..only three months?  That’s crazy.  How could they be that sure after such a short amount of time?”
                  “My dad said that one look was all it took.  Well…..for him anyway.”  AJ smiled again.  “Mom wasn’t as convinced as he was.  Being with him meant leaving her family behind and starting over.  I guess my dad won that argument too.  He can be relatively persuasive.”
                  “Have you ever been there?” I asked.
                  “Japan?  Yeah.  My dad still insists on visiting every summer.  You’d think my mom would be eager to get back, but she protests almost every year.  Dad thinks she just hates the long flight, but I don’t think that’s it.”
                  “What’s your theory?” I asked.
                  “Well, I remember the trip we took when I was like eight or nine.  The day before we were scheduled to leave she was crying uncontrollably.  Like…..the whole day!  It was like she was reliving that moment again, when she left to move here with my dad.”
    AJ ’s intuitiveness definitely impressed me.  He could’ve easily written his mother’s feelings off as nothing more than her dreading the long flight as his father had, but he saw that it was something much deeper than that.
                  “That makes sense.”  I replied.  “I can’t imagine not having my family around.  Don’t get me wrong, my dad can be a bit overbearing at times, but they are really important to me.  As much as I look forward to leaving for college and having more freedom, I get sad when I think about not being able to see my parents every day.”
                  “Yeah, that’ll be strange.  My mom won’t be able to handle the thought of three states separating her from me.”
                  “What school are you planning to attend?” I inquired.
                  “I just got my acceptance letter from Westwood a couple weeks ago.   What’s your plan?”
                  “I’m still waiting to hear back from Charleston.”  I was secretly nervous about being denied admission, but I tried to push that out of my mind.  “It’s a little scary to think of not knowing anyone .”
                  AJ looked at me curiously.  “What about this Antonio guy?  Isn’t he going with you?”
    I hesitated before answering.  “No, he’s got a scholarship to Blanchard.  But he said that’s only like an hour away from Charleston.”
    There was an uncomfortable silence before A. J. went on. “Hmm.”
                  “What?”  I asked, unsure of what he was thinking.
                  “Nothing, it’s just…”  He stopped.
                  “Just what?”
                  “I was just wondering how that’s gonna work out…..the long distance thing, but I guess it’s none of my business.”
                  “Well that’s not really long distance.  It’s only an hour…..but who knows what could happen by then,”