For You, Lyubov

[Arc I]

Two weeks into summer vacation, Sasha suffers from absolute boredom.

California born and raised, she spends her days playing video games and lazing around with her guy best friends from middle school– Jae Dong, Ezra, and Sunnie– until she meets and befriends a self-styled gentleman of British-Filipino descent on her 18th birthday. Charmed by Laurent’s innocent ways of the modern day world, she views his one year leave from Cambridge as the perfect opportunity for chaos and mayhem.

Caleb, on the other hand, feels threatened by his presence. He pursues Sasha in the hopes of winning a bet brought on by Ezra himself, confident in his claim as the heartthrob of Golden Valley High to conquer her wild and free-spirited heart. However, she refuses to be swayed by his "lovable jock" charm. She still remembers how Caleb used to bully JD in Elementary school and she would always beat him up, or how he used to tease her for being gay despite dating Sunnie until sophomore year.

Sasha considers Caleb the bane of her existence, and she vowed never to date that jerk for as long as she lives. Thanks to her fun-loving and affectionate father and her bad-tempered bruiser of an older brother, they warded off the meek-hearted and shallow minded, bolstering her rebellious spirit.

Sasha loves all the men in her life, for better or for worse, but among them she harbors a secret yearning.

In the end, who’s to say love can promise happiness?