Unusual Romance

Conflicted Feelings

Chapter 7 

It's finally December and it's freezing. I check the temperature on my phone. It says it 12 degrees out. I hate that we have to wear a longer skirt for our uniform. I am freezing. I put on my leg warmers under my skirt and slip my shoes on. My mom is making jjigae! Korean stew! I walk over to her and take a whiff of the stew. "Can I take some of that to school?" I question. She nods and grabs a bowl out the cabinet. 

"How are things going at school?" She questions. I nod, not wanting to bring up the fight between my boyfriend and Ren. 

"Fine." I say. She hands me the bowl of jjigae and I kiss her cheek. "I'll see you after school!" I call as I slip my jacket on. I grab my bag and I'm out the door. It's freezing! I hoover as I stand near the bus stop. When will the bus be here? A car slows down and stops in front of me. The window rolls down and I see that it's Ren. His face is bruised pretty bad. His nose is swollen and he has a black eye. He looks like absolute shit. Moonbin must have hit him pretty hard. He smiles at me. What is with this guy? One minute he hates me, the next minute he is smiling at me. Is he crazy? 

"Hey, wanna ride?" He questions. I glance towards the street. The bus still isn't here. What the actual fuck? "It's freezing out here. It'll be okay." I shake my head. 

"I appreciate the nice gesture but I don't think that's a good idea." He raises an eyebrow. 

"Because of Moonbin? I'm sure he' be thankful that you didn't freeze in the cold. C'mon." I stifle a laugh. I'm sure Moonbin would rather me freeze then to get a ride from Ren. The bus isn't coming though and if I walk, it'll take me at least 30 minutes to get there. "You're going to be late." I sigh and reach for the car door, opening it. I climb in it and my body instantly starts to heat up. It feels so good in here. 

"Only for today." I say as he puts the car in drive and drives off. I sit in silence, looking out the window. 

"I'm really sorry about yesterday. I hope you don't think less of me." I glance at him but don't say anything. "My face is really sore. Who would have known your boyfriend hits that hard."  We come to a red light and he sighs. "Things between us aren't going to be weird, are they?" 

"You're so confusing Ren. First, you're nice. Then you're mean to me in math without any context. Then you punch my boyfriend in the face for no fucking reason. I think we are passed the weird stage." I answer truthfully. The light turns green and he goes forward. He doesn't say anything for the rest of the car ride. Thankful school isn't far from my house, driving distance of course. He parks the car and I look around. I hope I don't run into Moonbin or his friends. He opens his door and closes it behind him. I sit in the car, scared to get out. Ren taps the window. 

"They aren't out here. You can come out." I slowly open the door and climb out. I take a deep breath as I close the door. Ren smiles as we start walking towards the building. "I meant what I said. I'm not going to stay away because you're dating someone. Aren't we friends?" No. 

"Hey Nabi." Rocky says, suddenly appearing by my side. I mentally slap myself in the face. Out of all people, it's loud ass Rocky. Ren nods his way but he completely ignores him. "C'mon. I gotta talk to you about something." He drags me away from Ren. When we are out of earshot, he pinches my arm. 

"Ouch, that hurt!" I yelp. He pulls my arm so we are so close to each other, I can smell his breath. 

"Are you fucking kidding me? Your boyfriend just got into a fight with him and you come to school with him?" 

"I didn't come with him, we just happened to run into each other." 

"Don't feed me that bullshit. I saw you get out his car." I turn red and he shakes my arm. "You're lucky it was me and not one of the others." I yank out his grip. "Stay away from him Nabi. You know he likes you. I know you aren't stupid." I glare at him. Why is everyone so sure that this guy likes me? They don't even know him. You don't either though.