Personal Sunrise

A Lovely Mess

Key’s POV

                I jumped slightly as the lead of my mechanical pencil snapped, spraying a miniscule shower of graphite across my notebook paper. I hastily brushed it away and clicked the eraser until a new piece pressed against the paper. The teacher was talking so quickly, I didn’t have a second to spare. I had probably missed half the lecture in the 5 seconds it took to fix the lead. I turned the page and continued taking neat, detailed notes on the sources and function of carbohydrates.

                After an agonizingly boring half an hour, the projector whirred to a stop and the lights flickered back on. I dropped my pencil and desperately tried to massage the cramp from my hand. Who knew a Foods class could be so dull?

                “Okay, class,” the teacher began, running her finger along a sheaf of papers clutched in her left hand. “I have your grades for the food pyramid project right here. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with most of them. You guys did very well.”

                I watched the other students as they received their grades. Many of them smiled and happily tucked the results into their folders, but a few of them glowered at the paper and frantically scanned it to find what they had done wrong.

                I watched Taemin’s expression as the teacher set our results on his desk. He smiled slightly and nodded as he passed it to me. Scrawled across the top in bright purple pen were the words “Amazing job” next to a neatly circled score of 150/150.

                “We did so well!” Taemin exclaimed with a grin. I smiled at his enthusiasm.

                “Ne, Minnie, we did. Do you think Jonghyun will want to hear about this?”

                Taemin reached for the paper and slipped it into his backpack. “He doesn’t care about this class,” he mumbled. “I can’t believe he’s skipping again… He’s going to fail anyway. A good grade on this project isn’t going to change that.”

                I shrugged. That was definitely true. A pained look passed over Taemin’s features for the briefest of instants before he glanced down at his desk and fiddled with his notebook.

                Before I could ask him what was wrong, the teacher began passing out worksheets and explaining the details for their completion. I sighed as I wrote my name neatly across the top and began working. My friendships were becoming more and more complicated, and it pained me to know that it was all my fault.

                I walked beside Taemin with my hands in my pockets and my head bent against the freezing wind. The walk to his house wasn’t a long one, but the wind had picked up throughout the day, and ominous gray clouds hung low in the sky, making me claustrophobic and anxious.

                I wiped my feet carefully on the doormat before entering the house. I breathed a sigh of relief as warm air enveloped me, along with the faint scent of baking cookies. Was Taemin’s mom really baking cookies? Now all this scene needed was a barking dog and Taemin’s mom to come out in an apron and hug everyone. I laughed bitterly at the overly happy, drama-like scene and tried to ignore the fact that my life had once been that way.

                “Umma!” Taemin called, pulling the project results from his bag and waving them happily. Taemin’s mother came in from the kitchen, and I made a face when I saw that she was indeed wearing an apron. It was frilly, too. With a teddy bear on the front. She wrapped her arms around him and ruffled his hair. I looked away. Aish~ it was too much.