Some girls do

Chapter 10: Kazuha

Kim Chaewon is avoiding me.

At first, I thought I was reading too much into it. But after nearly a week of her skipping out on eye contact and me trying not to get caught staring at her in class with puppy-dog eyes, there is no mistaking it. It's deliberate.

God, why do I always go for girls like this?

I should have learned my lesson at my old school. I did learn my lesson at my old school. But here I am anyway, sneaking glances at the bleachers as I run laps around the track with Yujin, hoping she shows up again. Which she hasn't, not once all week, even though her friends have been here and that guy Sunghoon is always practicing in the center of the field.

Real talk, Chaewon could be straight. I mean, I know logically that's a possibility. A strong possibility. The strongest of possibilities ever, if we account for the captain of the lacrosse team. Maybe I'm reading too much into everything that happened. Maybe she just felt guilty for almost running me over and was trying to be polite . . . but then again, maybe I'm reading things exactly right, and that's the problem. Maybe she's scared.

I glance at the Chaewon-less bleachers again, just as Yujin laughs and pulls ahead at the last second. We both cross the line and bend over, hands on our hips as we try to catch our breath.

"You're eleven seconds late, Nakamura," Coach barks as she walks over. I rub my hip without thinking about it, and she raises her eyebrows. "You still sore?"

"No, Coach," I lie, straightening up. "I'm good."

She scribbles something down on the pages of her clipboard. "I want you to rest it. Take the weekend off."

"I don't need to."

"I'm not asking; I'm telling." Coach looks me in the eye before turning her attention to Yujin. "Good work today, An."

"Ugh," Yujin groans after Coach walks away. "Running without you this weekend is going to be so boring. Wonyoung can never keep up."

"At least you get to go." I sigh. Missing even our unofficial runs makes me want to crawl out of my skin.

"Hey, a day or two off from running isn't the end of the world. We all see how hard you're trying not to limp in front of us."

"Am not."

Yujin arches an eyebrow. "I'm still not buying that whole 'stepped off a curb weird' excuse you gave Coach."

I shrug because this is like the fifth time she's tried and failed to sniff out the truth. "Guess I just bruise easy?" I say as I sneak another glance at the bleachers.

"Who are you looking for?" Wonyoung asks, trotting over to join us. "Is your brother coming?" She flashes a hopeful smile. She's been semi-crushing on Bangchan since coming over after practice a few days ago to hang out. It would probably be disturbing if Bangchan actually noticed. Fortunately, he's completely oblivious. And I'm pretty sure he's super into this woman who brings her three-year-old into his shop for haircuts—even if he won't admit it yet.

"Sorry to disappoint, but he's working until seven today."

"Then who?" she asks, a puzzled expression on her face as she follows my line of sight.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just zoning out." Crap. I didn't think I was being that obvious.

"Maybe she's looking for the reason she gained eleven seconds on the eight hundred today," Yujin says.

"No, she's definitely looking for someone." Wonyoung taps her chin. "If it's not your dashing big brother . . . Ohh! Is it someone from Pride Club?" She studies my face. "Oh my god, you did meet somebody, didn't you? Were they supposed to come watch today?"