Lacie+Analista+Chu

(Lay-cee Anna-list-ah Chew) __** ELIMINATED **__
 * Full Name**: Lacie Analista Chu


 * From**: Chicago; recently moved to New York City
 * Gender**: female
 * Ethnicity**: Korean father, British mother
 * Traits** **(Appearance)**: 18, though looks younger. Naturally peanut-butter blonde hair and dark green eyes (Inherited recessive traits from mother). Petite, ringing in at 5 foot 2 and only 102 pounds.
 * Reason for Going to Park:** Father owns a small but on-the-rise coffee shop franchise, where Lacie and cousin Jun work as baristas. Lacie has recently recieved a letter encouraging her family's business, Chu Your Heart Out, to open a shop in the amusement park. Lacie and Jun are going to the preview to decorate the store before the park's grand opening.
 * Brief** **History**: Lacie Analista was bullied throughout elementary school by the other Asians in her grade for looking different, but not quite accepted by the other kids either. The only one who would stick up for her was her older cousin and childhood friend Jun (pronounced June), but Lacie went on to start taking mixed martial arts classes in the name of self defense. Still, her parents took her out of school and put her in private school, where she regained all the confidence lost in her earlier years and soon found herself at the top of the class, both academically and in the dojo. After Jun's parents divorced, he moved to NYC to live with his mother, who moved states due to business connections in the city. Beside herself without her best friend, Lacie applied to colleges only located in New York City, so she could be with her cousin again. She got accepted to NYU, Jun's school, and will be starting classes in the fall, and is freshly moved into an apartment in Jun's complex. Although she knows next to no Korean, as her father is, like, fifth generation and knows next to nothing himself, people still come up to her and ask how long she's lived in America and if she speaks English. People also assume she dies her hair and wears colored contacts. All of these things annoy Lacie, but she's grown used to it.
 * Anything Else:** Jun often teases her for always smelling like the spiced vanilla syrup in her favorite flavored coffee drink. Likes to slack off at work and take spontaneous "breaks" to run around and take pictures of things with her small digital camera, which she always keeps on her person, as Lacie loves taking pictures. Doesn't stomach the sight of blood well.

=DAY ONE=

“Jun, Jun, Jun!” I had just finished zipping my bag as I looked up at the door. She was here, pounding as if the building were on fire. “Oppa*, we’re gonna miss the bus, hurry up!” Her voice rung loud but sweet, like resounding bells. “Coming,” I called as I stood, slinging the bag over my shoulder. I opened the door to a distracted Lacie, staring down at that camera of hers, so engrossed that she hadn’t even realized I had opened the door. As a result of her oblivion, she kept pounding her fist as if the door was still there, but instead nailed my chest. “Umph!” Her wide eyes sparked in surprise as she gasped. “Oh, Jun, I’m sorry!” “It’s alright,” I smiled kindly down on her. “I’ve grown up with you accidentally attacking me, remember?” As western as she looked, thanks to the blonde hair, when Lacie smiled her emerald eyes almost disappeared, replaced by arched crescents. As quickly as they arched, though, they went wide again as she held the camera up to my face in excitement. “Look at this picture of you I found! I took it last month in the shop, remember?” I opened my mouth to answer, but she pulled the contraption out of my face and whipped around before I could get a word out. As she pulled the handle out of her wheeled suitcase, I got a good look as what she was wearing. Black shorts and a light pink oversized sweater. Under the shorts were neutral stockings with black hearts on the knees, and on her feet were these massive black heels. I had tried to convince her they were unnecessary, but Lacie was convinced she was on the verge of midget-dom, and absolutely insisted on them. But her backpack threw me off. “Really, Lacie? We’re going somewhere where we’ll be making a lot of first impressions, and you’re already wearing those ridiculous shoes—what’s with the backpack?” As she turned to pout at me, the miniature panda bumped lightly against the small of her back. “I already look like I’m seven, what does it matter?” I rolled my eyes but said no more. We started for the bus, Lacie pulling the letter out of her pocket.


 * oppa: a Korean term of endearment girls use to address older boys who stand as a close brother figure in their lives.

= DAY TWO~ = I leapt up onto a bench and thrust my camera into the air like a sword. “Hark ye, Capt’ Jun! Hurry your ass up!” The bus ride took NINE HOURS, and by the time we finally arrived in Shakleton Ohio, wherever the hell that was, aka wherever the hell we were, it was already twilight. I could see the twinkling lights in the distance as the bus pulled into the parking lot. Now I was waiting for my less-enthusiastic cousin to catch up. Jun scowled as he adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder. “Don’t go jumping around in those heels, you’ll fall and die.” “Never!” I cried, jumping off the bench, my panda backpack lightly smacking my back. “Hurry, Mr-Let-Me-Hold-The-Tickets-Because-You’re-Irresponsible, it’ll be super dark soon and we won’t be able to find the store,” I whipped the letter I had received in the mail out of my pocket. “It says the shop is located by the ferriswheel.” I felt Jun against my side as he leaned over my shoulder to look down at the letter. I could just feel the skepticism oozing from his bones. “Don’t you think it’s weird that the owner of the park took the liberty to set everything up for making coffee, and we just have to decorate before the grand opening? I turned under my cousin’s nose and bopped him on the forehead. “He probably contacted my father and had the company send in employees. He only needs us on the opening day for the image.” Jun frowned, but sighed. We continued through the gates. ~ Foggy whisperings and champagne colored lights dizzily fell in and out of my conscience. There were voices, underwater somewhere…whether they were laughing or crying I couldn’t tell. Cotton candy clouds suddenly burst into the red of gore, and I sprung up in bed. Jun looked to me from across the hotel room, already dressed. “You were talking in your sleep—overtired from all those rollercoasters last night?” I nodded, but in confusion. That dream hadn’t left a good taste in my mouth. It didn’t take very long to find the store last night—probably because it didn’t take very long to find the ferriswheel. Here, I took a picture~ But today we’re spending all day in the shop, decorating and making things pretty. As I got up I smiled, leaving that seemingly ridiculous dream in the colorless covers.

= DAY THREE~ =

Jun was giving me looks from behind the counter. I was supposed to be helping him decorate, but sitting and talking to this Spencer man proved to be much more interesting. After about 20 minutes of easy, relaxed conversation his brow wrinkled and he looked down as he set his cup on the saucer. I had refilled it twice already. As he swallowed, ready to say something, a distracted thought popped into my head and I reached for my camera. “So I have a question,” “Mmm hmm?” I sifted through the images, trying to find what I wanted. “Well it’s not really a question, so much as a comment…we’ve been talking for almost half an hour and you’ve yet to bring up my accent.” I blinked and pursed my lips. Where was this picture. “You have an accent?” I looked up now. “Say something again.” Spencer blinked in surprise, completely dumbfounded. “Um…I like your shirt.” I always forget what I’m wearing when people say that. I looked down. Laughing, my eyes met his again and I nodded. “Oh yes, I see. Yeah I guess I didn’t really even notice because my mother was born in Manchester and has an accent, too.” I didn’t think it was possible, but his eyes went even wider in astonishment. “Your mum’s from England, too?” I nodded, returning to the camera. “Yup. She moved to Chicago in high school. Actually, that’s where I’m from—I only recently moved to New York.” Spencer sat back in his chair, and I could feel his eyes fixated on me as he repeated the last part of what I had said. Turned out Mr. Spencer and I had a lot in common—we’re even both going to NYU in the fall. We continued talking and laughing for what seemed like hours—I even put my camera away, that’s how in to the conversation I was—before someone I had never seen before burst in through our front door. “Good afternoon!” I cheered, promptly standing up and saluting the stranger. “Welcome to—” “Please,” they shouted coarsely, “Does this establishment have any kind of first aid? Anything? Anything at all!” I looked to Jun in alarm. “What happened?” The stranger’s eyes rung in fear. “One of the rollercoaster’s malfunctioned! Please, it’s critical!” Spencer stood up immediately by my side as Jun hopped the counter, a small first aid kit in his grasp. I doubted it contained anything more than disinfectant and a few bandaids.

As the three of us ran to the scene with the stranger, I felt my stomach turning in knots. Sure enough, as soon as I saw the blood, my vision went and I collapsed.

= DAY FOUR~ = I awoke the next morning grumpy. Fainting in front of strangers was so humiliating. Hmph. I’ll show them. Usually when I’m angry I go for walks. I asked Jun if he wanted to come with, but he opted to stay at the hotel. He said he wanted to start packing up at the shop to go home, and maybe go find the park manager to question just when opening day was, and if we really had to stay for it. So I went out on my own. I had ridden the carousal in boredom for maybe a full half an hour before noticing a package on a nearby bench that definitely had not been there before. I hopped off my metallic turquoise horse to go investigate. The top of the box had my name on it. I figured for some reason it was from management, maybe something for the shop. I opened the box. The panda backpack I had worn the first night here, which I thought I had lost on a ride, was staring up at me with his dull bead eyes as his mouth was sliced open, the stuffing being tugged out. Everywhere on the body were little slits. I set my jaw. “Nice try!” Whipping around I swiftly executed an axe-kick right into a man’s shoulder, coming down hard on his collarbone, knocking him down. As he stumbled I noticed he was holding a knife. I got in position. “Nice distraction, but I heard your footsteps as soon as you came out of that bush.” I flicked my head towards the shrub he had crept out of behind me. The stranger was wearing a freaky mask, a synthetic smile unchanging as he sprang back up, coming at me again. Like a dancer I spun in time with his lunge, twisting behind him and executing a flawless reverse roundhouse-heel kick, not only knocking his feet out from under him but also connecting with his head on his way down. This time as he fell he lost hold of the knife. Just as my luck would have it, he fell chest-down, and I leaned with my knees on his back, holding his hands behind his shoulder blades. He squirmed like a mother. “Listen,” I growled lowly, “I might be the size of a pea, but I know how to take care of myself. I’ve been in mixed martial arts since I was //seven//. Now talk.” Next thing I knew another force knocked me over and the man was up and running. I had just enough time to catch a glimpse of a little girl running on his heels.

=DAY FIVE=

//Jun had been absolutely beside himself as he fell to the floor in the coffee shop, pressing his back against the wall. His hand drove itself over his mouth and his vision blurred through the lens of tears as he was forced to listen to his sun and his moon being eating alive. Lacie had been his entire world. Sporadic flash-images of their childhood together distracted his conscious, so much so to the point where he wasn't even paying attention to the scene outside the door anymore. So much so that he hadn't even noticed the cool of metal pressed to his temple from the dark. But even if he had noticed, he would not have done anything in the least to fight back. Dante pulled the trigger on a young man who was ready to enter his last year of college, ready to launch his culinary career, ready to branch off from his uncle's coffee business and start his own restaurant somewhere...and a man ready to forget about it all, so hyper-focused on protecting his little cousin that a life without her in it was a life unknown and purposeless.//

//Dante felt somewhat dissatisfied with the oldest one's death. He hadn't even been paying attention. He had imagined that the boy would look up with these huge doe eyes and start pleading for his life. But Dante had shot a man who was already emotionally gone, and thus nothing even close to movie-material came out of it. He turned his camera off and left.//

"Oppa..." "Hold still, Lacie!" "Op-//PA!"// I yanked the bright green wad of a gumball out from the crown of her head just as she was about to take off. "Ah!" she gasped, whipping around to face me. Her eyes were rimmed red. I bet it had hurt. Or maybe she was crying due to something else. She looked at the gum for a second before looking up at me. "Jun, why doesn't anyone at school like me?" Sighing, i reached back and smoothed her hair down with the hand not holding the evil clump of candy. "It's not your fault." Her green irises glistened. "The other Korean kids talk about me behind my back because they know i don't know exactly everything they're saying, but i hear my name, so i know! And the other kids tell me i look weird! And everyone calls my Peanut Butter Cup! They're so mean in class, Jun, and i don't want to go back tomorrow or ever!" She gripped the wrist holding the gum as one singular tear cut down her cheek. "It's my hair, Oppa. Does it really look that much like sticky peanut butter?" Two more tears raced after the first. "I'm gonna dye my hair like yours." Sighing again, i stood up, tossing the gum into the grass. I offered Lacie my hand and she bowed her head as she took it and hopped off the park bench after me. She kept her eyes on the ground, though. She was only in grade school. As we walked home, i made a resolution. "Lacie." She looked up at me. "Your hair is a pretty color. Don't die it black and boring like mine. There's nothing wrong with you, and i'm gonna start taking better care of you. I'll walk you to school now, too, instead of only home, and if anyone picks on you, let me know, i'll take care of them at recess. I'm an entire two grades above you, so they'll be scared. No ones gonna pick on you anymore." I could feel her warm glowing gaze on my skin as we walked, but i kept my eyes straight ahead. I would protect her. I would protect her.

= DAY SIX = = = "Oh, Lacie Ana, they came out wonderfully!" My mother breathed as she flipped through the binder. "These Ads are precious, darling, just brilliant!" I shifted position in my chair, uncrossing my legs only to cross them again in discomfort. "Let me see one." My mother was in advertising and worked with a company that basically let her do whatever she wanted. When i was little she would take pictures of me in cute little outfits and edit them to look like i was in commercials and stuff. Well my father finally gave in and agreed to use my mother's company to design ads for the shop, to be hung in the windows and what not. It was my mother's idea that the model would be none other than myself. She handed me a copy. They were printed in three different languages: English, of course, as we lived in America; Korean, to appeal to my father's end of the demographic, and Japanese, as Jun's mother was from Japan and he managed to convince my father that three languages were better than two. Plus, like i said, my mother basically did whatever she wanted, so she went ahead and printed in as many languages as she fancied. I'm pretty sure if you rummaged through her office trashcan you'd find a joke-ad written in Russian. I cracked a half-smile as she handed me a Japanese copy. "Ew," i groaned, "I look so old!" My mother beamed. "Lacie sweetheart, i thought you would adore it, since you're always complaining of looking like your'e ten. Look," she leaned over the back of my chair, pointing at the third picture. "Your father even let you wear your favorite black heels." Wrinkling my nose, i pointed out that in the other two pictures, though, i was wearing her heels, not even my own. The first picture was the coffee shop uniform, minus the black apron, the second a picture of myself in my mother's jacket. I looked so old. So annoyingly old. But the third picture was my outfit, minus the hair. They wouldnt let me wear my bangs down as it made me look younger. And i'd admit, the picture where i got to pick how i looked did look younger than the other two. Maybe i did it to myself.... "Come along, darling," my mother called in her cheery voice as she plucked her coat off the hook by her office door, "We're having dinner at your aunt Eri's tonight, and Jun simply cant wait to see how these came out!" As she rummaged through her purse for the keys to her office, she added under her breath, "You father is excited, too, baby, but you know how he is with getting visibly excited." I smiled as i followed my mother to the elevator, but the expression didnt take long to melt. I was in high school now, a private school, but still ever afraid of running into a member of my class from elementary days. If one of them walked past a shop and saw this in a window, what would they think...? I shook it from my head as my mother strut out onto the street and called a taxi. If any of them came in and said anything to me, Jun would just descend from the rafters and beat the living shit out of them. I huffed a short laugh under my breath. Just like at recess all those years ago.

= DAY SEVEN =

"Lacie, what are you doing?" "Nothing...." "I see the phone, Miss! Put it away!" I hit //stop// and pouted. My mother set her jaw as she forked a cooked carrot. We were out to eat with Jun and his mother, no fathers. My uncle and Jun's mother were currently undergoing a divorce, so we were having a "girl's night"...nevermind the fact that Jun was very much not a girl. "Who were you talking to?" "I wasnt texting, Mother." "Then what were you doing?" "Don't worry about it!" She rolled her eyes and turned to my Aunt Eri. I took this opportunity to watch back the video i had been taking. "Lacie." His voice startled me and i jumped, almost dropping the phone. My eyes snapped up. "What?" Jun's gaze shifted down to my lap and back. He was suspicious. "What were you doing?" I smirked, anticipating his reaction. "You know my friend Alice?" "The one who's always in the shop i work in?" My nod was enthusiastic."Yeah, well you know it's because she thinks you're cute, right? That's why she's always there?" He tried to look surprised, gasping "Really?" and pretending to choke on his water, followed by a roll of the eyes. I giggled. "Yeah well i told her you got a hair cut and dyed the top and everything, and she wanted a picture." This time the choking was real. Jun almost spit up onto the table. "Is that what you were doing just now? Taking pictures of me?" Leaning across the table, i played the video under his nose. As it played i felt my phone vibrate. His eyes shifted up and i could tell he was taking advantage of that nifty thing iPhones do where they display a new message at the top of the screen. After reading his eyes went big and he lunged. "Give me this!" Giggling i snapped back and stuck out my tongue, reading the message for myself. I WANT TO HAVE HIS BABIES OMFG NO ONE HAS EVER LOOKED THAT ATTRACTIVE EATING BEFORE FJKQDEISNWIEHJKGHK As i replied, Jun sighed roughly. "When are you gonna start dating, Lacie? I've seen guys who come into the shop ask you out for icecream and stuff, how come you never say yes?"

My fingers slowed to a stop over the keypad as my mind wandered. Just last tuesday a boy in my english class had asked me to the movies. I denied every single poor soul who ever approached me like that. Of course, i knew why, but i was the only one...not even Jun knew. Yet. But maybe it was time to tell him....

note from the author~ Just because Lacie denies men doesn't mean she isnt into them. She is **not** a surprise lesbian.

=DAY EIGHT=

Sitting on the edge of my bed, i ruffled my hair with the towel and sighed contently. Showers were amazing. With the towel draped over my neck i planted my elbows on my knees and hung my head, watching driplets jump from the tip of my nose. Lacie had grown uncomfortable after i asked her about boys. Maybe there was someone she liked, but was to embarressed to talk to me about. I ran a hand through my hair. She always confided in me, as if i was her walking journal. But i guess its impossible to write, or in this case talk, about everything. Just then my cell rang. Hoisting up off my bed and readjusting the towel around my waist, i wandered over to where it lay on the dresser only to see Lacie's name illuminating the screen. "Hello?" "Listen up!" I blinked. She sounded winded. "Huh?" "All those boys? I deny them because i...because i...." Resting against the wall, i waited for her to continue. A solid minute passed before she spoke again. "H-hello?" "Yeah." "Jun-oppa?" "No, Demi Lovato." "Ok, i have something to tell you!" Cradling the phone to my cheek i sighed lightly. Walking journal. "Go ahead, anything. I'm here." A puppy-like whine escaped through the phone. "I...I cant. Nevermind! I'm hanging up!" The line went dead.

Jun was suspicious. Jun was very very suspicious. He kept looking at me as he wiped down the tables. He was on to me. "Oppa, my stomach hurts, i'm gonna go home early...." Spinning, i stepped forward to reach for the back door. But i couldnt make it before his iron grasp was on my forearm. Jun took me by the shoulders and turned me around, so that i found myself right under his nose. His eyes were hard but hurt. "Please tell me what's wrong." My lip quivered, just once, and i broke down, titling my head in a vain effort to hide my reddening face. "The person i like...is Jae." I didnt need to look into Jun's face to know he was shocked beyond words. "Jae? Daesung Jae? My best friend? You like Jae?" I sniffled, pleading Jun with my mind to stop talking. "I've known him since preschool! The three of us have had sleepovers together! Lacie, he's three years older than you! Do you even ever see him outside of when he's with me? You didnt even go to the same school! Why him? I mean i get that he has cool hair and plays guitar but--" "It doesnt matter!" the volume of my own voice surprised me. "Stop talking, Jun, because it doesnt matter anymore anyway--your parents are divorcing and youre moving to New York, which means i'll never see you again, which means i'll also never see him again, and you two were the only consistent friends i've had my entire life but now everything's changing and--" In the middle of my rant i had noticed Jun's grip go soft. The second i could, i broke from his grasp and dove through the back door.

ONE YEAR LATER
"Go home, Alice! You can't come to New York to see Jun with me!" She smiled sweetly. "Although i would love to see him again, you know i came here to support you." I wanted to remain unaffected, but ended up smiling sadly anyway. My parents and I had said our goodbyes at home. Alice, who i had been friends with since middle school, was the only other person in Chicago who cared to see me off. Not wanting any emotional connections left behind, i had tried to convince myself the entire taxi ride to the airport that she was only coming so that she could hide on the wing of the plane and fly to NYC to attack Jun with hugs and kisses. Of course i knew this was ridiculous, but i couldnt help myself. "Are you sure the apartment is good?" I nodded. "And you're sure the acceptance letter was to NYU?" A second nod. "...And you're sure you're ok with leaving Jae?" A third nod. Even though Jun had been so kind as to set us up, and we did end up having a relationship of almost a year, i realized i was still lonely, and knew that only one thing would cure that. Hugging Alice, i turned for the plane and my future in New York, but hesitated after a few steps. Listening intently, i made sure she was a good ways back before turning like the paparazzi and snapping a quick one. But i wouldnt look at it. I wouldnt look at the last picture of my only friend in Chicago until i felt sentimental one lonely night in my new apartment or needed a reason to stress-cry just to let out some pent-up anxiety over school work. I smiled as i boarded that plane. This would be an adventure.

ONE MONTH LATER
"This is ridiculous...." Pouting, Lacie twisted the key in the mail slot. "Oppa, i'm not used to this city yet...i could be jumped at any turn, and you vowed to always protect me. I find no ridiculousness in escorting your pint-sized cousin to get the mail." I rolled my eyes and leaned against the wall but stayed put. Ever since she moved in she was having me walk her everywhere, including work, which was a place her family owned anyway. Zero danger. But whatever. I had missed her over that year too, and to be honest, i didnt mind following her around everywhere. But i was careful not to introduce her to any of my friends from school. I didnt want another episode. She spun on her heel (literally...she's always wearing heels, remember?) and stuck a letter into my face like it was a precious jewel. "Jun, look--someone wants to open a store in an amusement park, and wants us to come to some preview to help decorate! Doesn't that sound absolutely wonderful?" Pushing the paper away from my line of sight, i looked down into her radiant green eyes. "Do you want to go?" She nodded like a bobblehead. "Alright," i smiled, stepping away from the wall. With a grandiose gesture of the hand i bowed deeply. "As you will, Princess Lacie, i shall escort you to the amusement park and offer the lady all my absolute assistance and protection." Suddenly there was weight on my back. As i was bowed, i didnt notice Lacie run around and leap onto me, deciding we were giving out piggy-back rides. "Ahoy ye, Cap't Jun!" She called, "Full steam ahead to Amusement-Park Cove!" I grinned. Not the theme i was implying, but anything for her. And who knew, maybe this amusement park would be fun.