Solo

Chapter 3

Myeong and Isa walked to SingulariTea. "Hello, girls." Mrs. Jung, Myeong's mother, greeted them with a bright smile and dirty apron. "You won't believe what happened today! A customer came in selling bunnies and I bought one!" Mrs. Jung was a beautiful woman with a perfectly symmetrical face and light hazel eyes. She was very social and never spent a day away from the coffee shop. Her favorite part was meeting new customers and hearing the local gossip. She was the perfect fit for Mr. Jung who never wanted to be at the forefront of the shop. He always stayed in the back prepping the boba and doing paperwork. They balanced each other well, and it was proven through how great the shop ran. "Mom, you bought a bunny?! Dad is going to kill you!" Mrs. Jung pulled out a small paper rabbit from her pocket and placed it on the counter. "I guess I should have worded that better. It was funny to see your expression!" 

The girls laughed at the miscommunication and sat down their things. "Isa how are you? You haven't been here in over a week. I've been wondering where you've been." Isa smiled thinking about being missed by Mrs. Jung. She always took time to make sure Isa was well taken care of since her father worked so much. "I'm great. I've been so busy with my dance classes lately. Tonight, is my final practice before my audition. I'm so nervous." "Oh, I'm so excited to see it!" Myeong hands Isa a black milk tea and gasps, "Isa, you should upload videos to TimeStamp. You're so talented. Everyone would love to see your dancing." The thought of using TimeStamp made Isa cringe. She already experienced so much embarrassment at school. Why would she put videos up for the whole world to critic? "I'll think about it. I don't have time now but maybe once I start college in the fall, I'll have enough routines to start posting. Myeong how have violin lessons been going?" Myeong sighed, "They're okay. I just wish I was better. There's so much competition in it. The closer we are to graduation the nastier the other girls get. I just want that scholarship so badly. Are you coming to my performance on Monday afternoon?" Isa pulls out her phone to check her calendar. "Looks like I can make it! My audition isn't until six. Speaking of that I need to head home! I have practice. See yeah later! Bye Mrs. Jung." Mrs. Jung smiled and waved "Bye Isa, tell your dad we said hi." "I will!"

Isa made her way back home. She had plenty of time to get back before her dad picked her up but she wanted to make sure she had a minute to be alone with her thoughts. Lacy hadn't messed with her for the rest of the day, so she felt at ease. The whole Wes situation made her feel odd for some reason. He kept acting so cold. He didn't talk to anyone in the other classes she had with him as well. She wondered why he moved here so last minute. It was unusual for Greenport to accept a student the last semester before graduation. Who does that? Isa put her headphones in and began running her dance routine in her head as she walked. She closed her eyes and envisioned every step. Right, left kick, jump and turn- Thud! 

Suddenly she opened her eyes, and she was on the ground. To her surprise on the ground with her was Wes Ducre. Where did he come from? Wes groaned as he tried to lift himself back to his feet. "Oh my goodness, are you okay? I didn't see you; I was just-" Wes put his hand out to stop Isa from explaining herself, "It's fine, I wasn't looking where I should be either. I'm good. Are you okay? It looks like you're bleeding." Wes pointed to Isa's knee that had been scraped by the concrete. She had been so embarrassed that she didn't even notice the pain she was in. "Oh, it's just a small scratch, I'm sure I'll be fine." Wes looked at her with an expressionless face. He grabbed her bag and handed it to her. "I should've watched where I was going. I'll buy you a bandage. There's a convenience store right over there." Isa grabbed her bag from him and gave a small chuckle, "I'm totally fine. It's just a small scratch." Wes gave a sharp look with his hazel eyes and leaned in, "Let's go." 

He started walking towards the convenience store. Isa didn't need the bandage but felt bad about knocking him over. It was such an embarrassing way to see a new classmate outside of school again. She turned and started to follow him. When she finally caught up, they were already at the convenience store. He walked straight to the bandage aisle as if he had worked there for years. "Are these okay?" He picked out a bandage that perfectly matched Isa's skin tone. She looked at him a bit puzzled and nodded in approval. She was surprised that they even sold bandages like that at that small store. Wes walked to the counter to check out without saying a word.

That was... thoughtful. They walked outside and Wes tossed the bandages to Isa. "Thanks, I appreciate these. You didn't have to do that." Wes turned and looked at her with his consistently expressionless face, "No problem. See ya later, Isa? Right?" "Oh yeah- I'll see you later." Wes walked away leaving Isa there to bandage her small wound on her knee. Isa was surprised at his kind gesture. Wes didn't seem like the type of person to take the time to care for anyone but himself. He was so cold in the way that he talked to everyone. Isa figured he was selfish, but this encounter made her think of him otherwise. When Isa was finished placing her bandage, she looked up and saw a slim blonde figure approach her. Lacy. 

"Excuse me, weird girl, usually I don't take my time on people like you, but do tell me why you were talking to Wes Ducre? And where your audacity came from to cross me?" This was the last thing Isa wanted right now. Lacy already didn't like her but now she's pinning a reason. "I don't know him well. He just bought me a bandage because he accidentally made me fall." Lacy scoffed as if Isa had said something offensive, "Well keep your grimy hands away or we will have problems. I'm planning on getting to know Wes myself so you better back out of the way." Isa rolled her eyes, "You don't need to worry about me." "I better not." Lacy turned and left to join her group sitting in her beamer. 

Isa took a deep breath and made her way home. Why would Lacy even think of something like that? She had a wild imagination. Isa knew Lacy was the jealous type but never thought that would be an issue with herself. The guys at Greenport weren't interested in dark-skinned girls. They liked messing around but they never got serious. Lacy was their type of girl and Isa always knew that. Isa shrugged off the encounter with Lacy. She needed to focus on her audition and her thoughts about Wes, Lacy, and whoever else needed to wait until afterward.