Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

The story focuses on the experiences of Albert Kim, a socially isolated child of Korean immigrants, after his sophomore year of high school. At the end of the school year, Albert's parents gave him a choice: participate in a myriad of summer activities or get a summer job. Albert chose the second option and, after a brief stint with a poorly-run summer camp called the Symposium for Teenage Development (STD), he accepted a job cleaning rooms at the Bern Inn.

Albert began his Bern Inn and discovered that one of his co-workers was his classmate Mia Stone, a smart and popular girl who was in an on-and-off relationship with Ryan Stackhouse. Albert quickly discovered he had romantic feelings for her but, due to his social isolation, had trouble interacting with her.

As the summer continued, they gradually grew closer together and bonded by playing games during breaks. At the end of summer Albert and Mia met at the small lake in the woods, between the Inn and Albert’s house. They threw stones at the large frogs in the lake without hitting them. Suddenly, Albert and Mia rushed into each other and started kissing passionately. They acknowledged their mutual affection and began a relationship.

Albert returned to high school with a newly found sense of confidence from his relationship with Mia. He used his relationship with Mia to gain social clout and make friends. Albert’s idyllic existence was shattered when a concerned Mia informed him that her former boyfriend, Ryan Stackhouse, had cancer and would need her help while in the hospital. Ryan now monopolized all of Mia’s spare time and it became apparent to Albert that Ryan was using his cancer to win back his old girlfriend.

As the school rallied around Ryan, Albert began to return to his status as a social outcast. Mia and Albert learned that Ryan had Hodgkin’s disease and had to have his spleen removed. After Albert made a joke about Ryan's situation, Mia left and went to the hospital to be with Ryan. Support for Ryan continued to escalate and included a candlelight vigil, a carnival in his honor, and ‘A Walk for Cancer’ after his release from the hospital. At the Walk for Cancer, tension between Albert and Ryan came to a boiling point. When the Walk began, Albert and Ryan began sprinting and yelling insults at each other. When the still weakened Ryan hunched over, taking huge lungful of air, Albert continued and crossed the finish line. Mia, the organizer of ‘The Walk’, was crushed and rushed up to him crying. This was the end of Mia’s and Albert’s relationship.