That bench by the pool (Daerin)

That orange storage room

8 months ago:

Haerin walked the halls of the school letting the crowd wash her away to her destination. The destination that she knew she would dread. It was the last day of ninth grade and the ceremony took place on that day at around 6:00 in the evening. Haerin hoped that after the draining speech by the principal, she would finally be released from this prison but a memory jumped into her head. She remembered the announcement about a week ago that a disco would be held this year after the ceremony. She cringed at the thought and while the crowd was now busy clearing up the chairs in preparation to do so, she took this opportunity to escape and disappear into the hallway. As she roamed around figuring out where her hideaway would be until 8:00 when the teacher would call the students for a roll call, she decided anything would be fine, and entered a random classroom hoping for it to be empty.

As she entered the room, she felt relieved. Finally a peaceful place. My peaceful place, she thought. Turns out it wasn't a classroom. More like a storage room. The place was basically flooded with random books, papers and instrument cases. It looked like this place hadn't been used in years and probably wouldn't be. This should do, she thought.

Haerin reached for her messenger bag and pulled out her phone. 7:42. How much longer would this take? She let out a sigh and let her eyes wander around the room. As they did, a certain heaviness fell upon them. The orange evening sunlight shone rays of light into the room. At that moment it felt so peaceful, almost like a dream.

Perhaps this dream would be interrupted though as haerin's eyes shot open at the sound of the door opening.

Who would it be? A teacher? Maybe a student?

Her question was soon answered as a tall and slim girl appeared before her with long dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a little makeup on.

"O-oh sorry I didn't know someone was already here", she blurted out.

Haerin stared questioningly at her.

"You know, since it says 'storage only' on the door"

"Oh...right", Haerin muttered a little confused. Had it really said that?

They both stayed in their exact positions staring at each other blankly.

"What are you doing here?", Haerin asked.

"What? You want me to leave so soon?", the girl chuckled.

Haerin's cheeks grew pink as she looked to the floor.

"Just wanted to escape the crowd, you know?, the girl replied.

"Yeah, same", Haerin answered back.

"..."

"Aren't you going to say anything?", the girl asked.

"Uh...ummm..yo-I mean I....umm never mind..."

"You sure are a little weird aren't you?"

Haerin was unsure how to respond to that.

"Um..yeah?", Haerin said questioningly with an awkward teeth smile.

The girl let out another laugh.

"So weird girl, you got a name?"

"Its...um...Haerin"

"Mines Danielle, my friends call me Dani"

Did Danielle mean that Haerin was her friend now so she could call her Dani? Haerin was a little lost at the thought. But if so, then...a friend?