Head above the water

5

(The meme is me when I think that Hobi is about to drop Hixtape on all of us and none of us are prepared)

"You know nothing that he said was true, right?" Julianna asked me as she helped me wash my hair in the bathroom sink.

"Lia, I know that. I just couldn't let him talk about my dad like that. You know I can't let people do that," I said with a shaky sigh.

"And I thought I was the one that was going to fly off the rails," Marissa chuckled, easing some of the tension and getting a laugh out of me.

"Nope, I'm the unstable one in this trio!" I laughed proudly.

"Hold still or I'll never get you clean!" Julianna said as she thumped my forehead.

"Rude!" I shouted before falling into a fit of giggles.

"Fine, fine. I'm done with your hair, but we don't have any clothes for you to wear," Julianna told me.

We all began to brainstorm how to clean my clothes before lunch was over when there was a hesitant tap on the door of the bathroom. Marissa slouched to the door and pulled it open enough for all of us to see Jin standing with a bright red face and holding out a flannel shirt to Marissa. As soon as Marissa realized who it was her face went as pale as the snow, and she seemed, amazingly, at a loss for words.

"What is this for?" I asked him as I gently moved Marissa out of my way.

"Um, well, I had it in my locker, and I know you can't wear your shirt all day with that milk all over it. I thought it would be nice to let you borrow it," He said, but the whole time his eyes were focused on Marissa who had begun to breathe rather fast behind me.

"Thank you," I told him as I gently took the shirt.

"Oh, uh, no problem," Jin said back, and he waved a little before I nudged the door closed again.

I immediately took off my soiled shirt and began to clean my skin with paper towels and water from the sink. I had no pants to change into, but that was okay. My pants had managed to stay relatively clean, only a little bit of milk and a few drops of blood from where I had accidentally dug into my hands. Once I thought I was clean enough I slipped on the flannel, which fit me as more of a dress than a shirt, really.

Turning to my friends, I saw Julianna comforting a confused looking Marissa.

"What's got you so shaken, Rissa?" I asked her.

"He spoke," she whispered.

"Are you that surprised that he can talk?" Julianna asked her with a loud laugh.

"You don't understand, that's the first time I've ever heard his voice. It's so beautiful," she objected.

"I think you like him more than you think you do," I told Marissa, tapping her shoulder with my hand so she had to balance herself.

"You're one to talk," Julianna laughed at me like I had at Marissa.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Mrs. So sad because Jimin didn't talk to me. You listened to him when you needed to calm down but not us. You're already wrapped around his finger," Julianna pointed out.

"No, that's not it. We just have shared experiences," I protested.

"Like what? He just got to the school today," Marissa asked, finally coming out of her stupor.

"Do you remember that guy I told you both about? The one I jumped off the cliff a few days ago to save?" I asked them.

"You're kidding," Julianna gasped dramatically.

"No I'm not. It was Jimin that I pulled out of the water. I didn't expect to see him here, but I guess he feels like he owes me for saving him so he keeps defending me," I explained.

"So you're telling me Mr. Has abs like a Greek god and a beautiful little nose with really great hair is Jimin?" Marissa asked me.

"I never described him like that! I just said he was probably muscular and had good bone structure," countered her statement.

"Could have fooled me," she giggled.

I huffed and opened the door to leave the bathroom. As I walked out and away from the girls who were still giggling about Jimin I bumped into a chest. Looking up, I saw Namjoon. He wasn't the scariest of the group, that title belonged to Yoongi, but he was the tallest. He painted an imposing figure against the school lockers as he leaned back and away from me slightly.

"Hey, I just wanted to thank you for what you did for Jimin. He told us about the cliff. You're a really good person, you know." He stated in his deep voice, and it didn't seem to leave room for argument.

"Thank you. I only did what anyone would have done. I'm just glad that I was there." I said back.

"Why were you there, buy the way?" Namjoon asked.

"Oh! I was taking pictures, actually. It's a hobby of mine, and the cliff has a great view as long as there's not a lot of people there," I explained.

"That's cool. Taehyung and Jungkook are into photography, too. You'll have to talk to them about it some day. I'm sure they'd love to know anything you have to offer," Namjoon smiled and ruffled my wet hair, "You stay out of trouble, Anastasia."

"It seems like trouble follows me around," I said, and Namjoon laughed.

"Maybe it does. At least it keeps your life from being dull," he said. Namjoon turned his back and walked away, leaving me to wonder exactly what he meant.

It took me a while to work out that he had invited me to talk to members of his group. When I realized that, I was shocked. People didn't just walk up to one of them and start talking. You had to have something that you really needed to talk about with them for them to even acknowledge you half the time. And I had just gained a free pass to talk to two of them about my pictures.

What was happening at this school?

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Hiiiiiii guys! This is a new update because I was motivated and I had an idea. I don't want to leave you too long without anything new to read!

Can you believe we're almost at 30 reads? That might not seem like a lot to you, but for me it's pretty awesome. Thank you to those of you who have been loyal to my writing thus far, and hello to the ones that are just tuning in. I hope you enjoy what I have in store for you next.

Love Ya Always,
-Haleigh