THE TRACE OF LOVE // 양정원

제 26 과

The second to last period, Chemistry, comes slower than I hope—I have to meet Daisy and solve whatever withdrawn feeling she's giving me. Much to both my relief and apprehension, Daisy is found sitting at her last row, laughing with her 'other friends' that I'm never familiar with because of their reckless attitude.

She's laughing. She seems the opposite of what I'd assumed; sullen and torn.

I walk up to her in a swift, getting Daisy attention on me as soon as I stand right next to her table.

"Hey" I say chirpily.

Her smile vanishes at my sight, trading looks with the two girls sat next to her, Daisy returns the greet very strangely—perfunctorily.

"Why didn't you reply my text?" I still keep my smile to make the atmosphere less tense around us.

Her two brunettes friends are murmuring to each other as they give me a look that almost gushes a scorn.

Daisy looks down at her lap and lets some seconds pass to reply.
"I-umm-forgot." She answers, distant. Uncomfortable and unwilling as if to speak to me.

Only then I'm sure she has a problem with me. My smile too fades but my curiosity is yet to.
"Is there something wrong? Like did I do something?"

Daisy rarely looks me in the eye. Frostily, she fidgets with a little eraser put on her table, straining to reply me.

I glance at the other two but they pretend as if I'm not there. My chest churns with an unpleasant feeling of being stood up among group of girls who acts like they despise my presence.
Including Daisy—even all she does is having a hard time communicating with me and be weirdly standoffish.

"Daffodil, you're sitting here?"

The tightened mood shifts upon the interruption of a soft male voice. I spring myself back toward it and see Sunoo without his usual buoyant smile that normally brightens up my mood. He looks confused. Despite grasping all eyes from the tight-knit space, he has his eyes on me, waiting for me to possibly solve his bewilderment.

"No. I'm just talking to Daisy." I crack a smile.

Sunoo takes a very furtive glimpse at her then looks back at me.
"Oh, you're done?"

If Sunoo hadn't come interrupt me, Daisy probably would've kept me standing still in addled mind. The ambience doesn't feel welcoming to me and the notion of talking to Daisy only when we're alone makes me answer, "yeah."

"Then, can you help me with the homework?—" Sunoo softly grabs me away from the place and makes me sit at my standard seat; the second chair from the left end of the first row, to where he usually seats behind me. "—it's just one thing that I don't understand. I don't want to leave it at that."

Helping Sunoo with fixing the one equation problem, I take short glimpses beyond him, at Daisy. Ignoring me, her giggles with the girls can be heard from my seat and I grow sad somehow.

I used to be one of those girls she ardently converses with.

"Did you have a fight?" Sunoo opines when the class is dismissed.

I look up with a shrug. "I don't know what I did wrong. She's ignoring me."

The dark, messy-haired boy whose raven eyes glitter by the evening sunlight from the window raises his eyebrows. His fair skin as luster as his peachy lips makes me wonder if he could be the closest depiction of a glowing angel in the clouds.

"Why do you think it could be you who did wrong?" He puts on one stripe of his backpack.

My mind goes blank at his question. A sense striking me at once.

"What if you didn't do anything wrong?"

"Then why is she upset—with me?" I wonder.

Sunoo shrugs, we both taking a glance at the back of the class. Looking energetically, Daisy leaves through the back door with the two girls, with no regard for me.

"That's her problem, isn't it?"
"Oh, by the way, there's a party at Jay's place this Friday night." Sunoo suddenly beams.

He adds. "And you have to come."

"I don't know, Sunoo. If there isn't a special occasion then I won't—"

"It's Heeseung birthday. And not everyone can come to this party because it's private. Since Jay hates having strangers at his place, you won't have to worry about being uncomfortable."

An idea sparkles up in my head as he mentions about Jay's place; Daisy. But what Sunoo instantly says afterwards almost fades the hue of the spark.

"That's why you can't tell anyone, okay?"