Toward the Walk of Shame

23 {Suzy}

"Libras were known for bravery during desperate times."

As if! This proves that horoscopes are liars. I wasn't brave. I was a coward.

Hiding wouldn't solve anything. I knew that. But it probably make things worse, but I couldn't go to school. Not when Minho's kiss was still fresh in my head. And Sehun's aquarium date.

Since Sehun and I weren't dating, I wasn't necessarily a cheater.  But I still felt guilty. And it violate the contract. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I'd be the one to break that contract. Thank goodness I didn't add a penalty fine like I had planned.

Eomma came into the kitchen just as I took out a pickle out of the jar. With pursed lips, she watched me chop into even pieces. She finally spoke up when I reached for another one. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I just had a headache this morning, but I'm okay now."

"Good, now tell me what's wrong."

I wiped my juice-covered hands on a towel. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you skipped school today, and now instead of studying or working on something, you're chopping up enough stuff to feed an army." She crossed her arms on the counter across from me and leaned forward. "What's bothering you?"

Dang, how can she know? I let out a sigh and scooped the pickles into the mixing bowl. "Can't a girl make some tuna in peace?"

"A normal girl, yes. You? No." Eomma tilted her head and smiled.  "After your wait-listed letter, we had enough tuna to feed an army of cats. Then there was the time after your physics exam that you swore you failed. And before that -"

"Okay, okay, I get the point." I hadn't realized that I always made tuna when I was stressed, but I guess I did. We had one of those swift-chopping blender that cut everything up for us, but I liked chopping. There was something calming about cutting everything myself. It took more time, but I always felt better afterward.

Just then Appa walked into the kitchen and stopped when he saw us. "What's with the meeting?"

"Suzy's making tuna."

His eyes widened. "Oh. Um, I'm going back to the living room, then. Let me know when it's safe to come back for my ice cream."

I watched him run out of the kitchen and turned back to Eomma, who was trying to hide her smile. "Does everybody know about this tuna thing?"

"Basically." She picked up the hard-boiled eggs and knocked it against the counter. "So, what's wrong?"

My eyes shifted down to the cutting board, suddenly embarrassed to be conversing with Eomma. "I'm having some trouble  with . . . guys."

She let out a little squeal and clapped her hands. "You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that. For us to finally have a mother-daughter talk. Is it Sehun? What did he do? Is he pressuring you about sex?"

"Oh my god. No, Eomma!" I smacked my hand against my forehead. Maybe asking her was a mistake. I should've finished my tuna in peace. "Just forget about it."

"Noooo!" She grabbed my arm and pulled on it like Lucy did whenever she wanted me to buy her snacks from the store. "I'm sorry, just tell me what's wrong."

"It's just . . ." I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to figure out how to ask her opinion without revealing too much. "Why do you like Sehun so much?"

"What do you mean? He's sweet. Fun. And you have to admit, he's pretty easy on the eyes."

My brow wrinkled. "Yeah, but . . . we don't have anything in common. At all. I'm just surprised that you're so supportive of us dating, that's all."