The Jaebum Project.

4| goodie two shoes

Chapter four| goodie two shoes

NALA was sleepy. Only six hours ago she found her way back to the dorms after Lenore went ghost on her at the party last night. She recognized a few familiar faces from the party in her intro psychology class.

Though her class consisted of over two hundred freshmen one face stood out in particular as he assisted with the professors powerpoints.

He was good looking in a bad boy type of way in her opinion. Unlike the typical asian boy at Columbia he dyed his hair blonde. Nala couldn't remember where she seen his face before, probably he was one of the randoms she's seen at the party, she couldnt help but to daze out from taking notes to reminisce about last night.

She remembered talking to Jaebum out on the balcony before he left having to break up some fight involving this Bambam kid and some other dude. She also couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they had a chance to dance with each other, she never danced with a man other than her father so the act alone would have been foregin to her. She wanted to see Jaebum again but didn't know where he resided or any way of contacting him. All she could rely on was the arts building hoping she would bump into him again sometime. 

Throughout the years Nala has had her fair share of crushes here and there but never acted upon her infatuation due to her parent's constant interference. She wouldn't say she had a crush on Jaebum as she barely knew him. But one thing she can agree on is that he was easy on the eyes. 

Very easy on the eyes. 

"Uh Miss Summers may I have a word with you" The blonde called out to her. She nodded coming down a few steps of the auditorium.

"Is there a problem..." She trailed off not knowing his name.

He chuckled. "My apologies, my name is Jackson and I am the professor's teaching assistant. I wanted to give you a little advice in particular. This professor is no joke so I think its best if you pay attention and not phase out into la la land. As much as I want to see your pretty face I don't want to see you fail okay sweetie?" He patted Nala on the back, he could tell she was embarrassed due to the flush on her brown cheeks.

All she could do was smile with a nod before quickly exiting. She was paying attention until the very last minute of class. Why was he watching her she thought. Or did he want an excuse to talk to her?

-

Nala sat by the kitchen table of her family's house in Brooklyn, her Aunt Pamela serving food while her husband Uncle Sanjay fed their daughter Krishna carrots and chicken nuggets.

"How's the first week of classes college girl?" Her aunt asked excitedly placing food on the table taking a seat between her niece and husband. "It's okay so far" Not really having an formed opinion just yet she shrugged it off.

"Did you make any friends?" Uncle Sanjay added.

That question alone Nala made think. She wouldn't consider Lenore her friend since she basically abandoned her that night with no explanation, besides the few encounters and small talks with Jaebum he was more of an acquaintance. Chanté, her family's downstairs neighbor, was her only real friend here in the city.

"No".

Pamela shook her head realizing Nala had grown to be the naïve introvert her older sister and brother in law had raised. Countless times she told them to ease up on little Nala and let her live a normal childhood, but never listened.

"How about we go shopping this weekend. Just me, you, and we'll invite Chanté hm?"

"And meee!!" The four year old waved her hand.

Nala chuckled pulling her baby cousin into a tight embrace. "Of course we can't forget Krishna!" She looked up at her aunt in approval. "That would be nice".

"It's a girl's day out! You and Chanté meet me outside of Kings Plaza mall tomorrow around eh lets say five?".

She nodded making a plate for herself while working on her college algebra and psychology homework on her laptop. Jackson's words repeating in her head.

Was it that obvious when she drifted off?

The doorbell rang indicating that Chanté forgot her keys again. Nala stood up going downstairs to let her in.

"You do realized that there's a spare key in the plant" Nala referenced to her aunt's favorite flower pot. Chanté scoffed tossing her hair to one side. "I just got my nails done. You must be smokin dick if you think I'm putting my hands in dirt"

Chanté observed her younger friend carefully as if she had something in mind to tell her. "Oooh yeah. I went to your school's party last weekend. I was hoping to see you. Did you not go?"

"I did actually, but I left once things started getting too crazy. Guess parties aren't my thing" Nala answered playing with her fingers. 

"That's because you're not use to getting lit. If I saw you there we would have had a blast especially since I found this cutie there.  Girl when I tell you this man was so FIONE! I think his name was Yugyeom. Anyways two of his friends were wildin and almost had a threesome with someone's girlfriend"

Flashbacks of when Nala and Jaebum were out on the balcony flushed through her mind remembering something about a fight with his friends. Could Chanté's new flame know Jaebum she thought. 

"I think I heard about it...anyways are you free tomorrow evening? I wanna go shopping".

"Why what's wrong with your clothes? I kinda fuck with your cottagecore my hero academia aesthetic or whatever the fuck you got going on".

Nala smiled as an idea popped in her head as images of new styles and aesthetics that she found attractive appeared in her mind. 

"I wanna try something different"