School 2017

chapter 2

I walked in and looked straight ahead to not make awkward eye contact. I stopped and turned to the class and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Lee Ah Ran. I moved just 2 days ago from Busan. I hope we can all get along." I looked at everyone and saw about 25 other students. There were many "Hi's." Mr. Park assigned me a seat next to a boy in the back of the room. He was lying on his desk, facing the wall. I ignored him and tried to follow along in the lesson.

When it was lunch time, I was packing my bags when 3 girls came up to me and kicked my bookbag out of my hands. I tried to get it back and picked it up.

"You're so dead." One of the girls said. I looked up.

"Sorry?" I asked.

"You're sitting next to NamJoon. Have you not noticed? You're so dead. Good luck." She flipped her hair and they left for lunch. I looked at his desk, he was still lying down. I took a look at him. I purposely tried to wake him up to get a good look at his face. I tapped his shoulder. No response. I tapped him harder. Still no response. I shook him sightly until he rapidly grabbed my wrist and slamed it on his desk.

I didn't say anything although it did kind of hurt. I realized that those girls were right. He had a sharp face, with scars on his cheekbones and lips. His eyes were like ice.

"I'm so sorry. I just wanted to tell you that everyone left for lunc-" I said as I tried to get him to let go of my wrist. He wouldn't budge. He noticed that my arm was getting red and let go fast. He looked, sort of, shocked he did that. I heard him whisper quietly, sorry, and left the room. His scars concerned me more than myself. My dad was a doctor in Busan and told me that untreated scars are easier to spot and can get worse. I got my books and went to lunch.

The lunch line was super long, so I grabbed an apple from the salad bar where nobody was and sat down in an empty table near the door. I took out a book and read as I ate my apple.

When I was finished with the apple, I went to the trash can to throw it out. I was still reading my book, distracted from everything. I didn't realize that there was a food fight going on in the table right next to the trash can. I threw out my apple and turned around to get back to my seat as a glass of milk splashed all over my book. I dropped the book, into the milk puddle, but I didn't care if there was milk on my clothes or my hair. This book was so important to me. My grandma gave it to me on the day right before she passed away. I couldn't help but tear up as I fell to the ground and tried to wipe away the milk. I felt my cheeks burn up as someone ran to me with napkins to help.

"I'm so sorry! Oh gosh, I could get you the same copy of this book! I'm so sorry." The guy said. I didn't look up because I couldn't find the right words.

"You can't" I gave up and put the book on the ground. "My grandma only made one copy for me. She can't make another copy because she's dead." I felt a hot tear roll down my face onto my lap. He looked at me with truely sorry , big dark brown eyes. I grabbed the book and threw it in the trash. I heard his last sorry before I left.

I went to the bathroom and tried to wash the milk off of my clothes and hair. Tears kept falling uncontrollably. I took of my flannel and tried to cover my leggings, which were more visable. I gathered myself to go to my next class. The bell rung and I walked to my next class. I stopped.

Where's my bag? I ran back to the lunchroom where I left my bag. When I went to the table I sat on, I asked the people who were sitting there if they've seen a bag.

"No, sorry." They all said. I didn't know where to look so I went around the entire grade hallway if they had seen it. I continued to walk, looking and searching. I guess I didn't focus what was in front of me, which was a big, standing sign about a charity or something. I was about 2 inches away from slamming myself into it, but someone has pulled me away from it. He was tall and skinny. I quickly pulled away thanking him. When I walked away, he ran in front of me and handed me something. My bag!

"My bag! Thank you! Wait, but how did you find this? Do you know me?" I asked as I reached for it.

"It's my apology from lunch. I threw the milk by accident to you. I meant to aim it at my friend. I'm really sorry." He trembled. "I heard what happend from Jimin. I'm so sorry about that book. I shouldn't have done that." He sounded like he was about to cry. I forced a smile and said it was totally okay. That I knew it was an accident. I turned away and the tears came back. First day going great Ah Ran.

The day went by pretty quick and it was now last period. Ms. Jhung assigned me a seat, again in the back of the room because there was no other empty seat. It didn't matter to me, so I took it. The guy next to me was wearing headphones, but it was still loud. I was some kind of rapping. I have to admit, it was catchy, but I tried to ignore it and listen to the teacher. Nobody noticed him but me, not even the teacher. It was math class and the teacher was calling on us to answer. I carefully wrote everything the teacher wrote from the date to every number and symbol. It was hard, but I learned fast. The guy next to me wasn't listening obviously. When the teacher finally noticed, she called on him.

"Yoongi. What's the answer to question number 16?" Ms. Jhung asked, knowing he won't know the answer. He didn't seem to hear so I tried to get his attention. He was still in his own world. I wrote the answer and gave it to him. He finally got up and noticed the paper I left on his desk. He took of his headphones and looked at me, then answered.

"Uh, the answer for number 16 is 362." He answered. The teacher wrote the answer on the board and moved on to the next question.

The last bell rung. I got my books and papers and put them in my bag. When I went to put away the textbook, I noticed a peice of paper on top of it. I unfolded it and read, "Thanks for the answer." I smiled and put it in the front pocket of my bookbag and left.

***

I went outside and took out $5. I grabbed the money and looked for the bus stop. It was 4:12. Didn't mom say the bus came at 4:15? Oh god. Where is it? I looked around if anyone was around. Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw a guy running. I ran up to him.

"Hey excuse me? Do you know where the bus stop is? Sorry, I'm new he-" He grabbed my hand and ran.

I didn't know what to do or say, so I let him drag me. His silky hair was flying in the wind. 4:14.He stopped suddenly.

"Sorry, I needed to get to the bus stop also. Thank goodness we aren't late. Don't worry. I'm new here too." He gasped for air then smiled. We were at the bus stop.

"Oh, thanks. I'm Ah Ra-"

"The bus is here, l-lets go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the bus. I didn't know what to say, so I sat down on an empty seat. The bus was nearly full, so He and I stood. The bus was now so crowded that he and I were nearly touching. I tried not to make it obvious that my head was on his chest. When the bus stopped, most people left, including him last. "This is my stop. Get home safe! See you tomorrow." He said as he walked out.

"Wait, what's your name?" I asked loudly so he could hear off the bus.

"HoSeok. Jung HoSeok. See you tomorrow Ah Ran!" He waved, smiling.